The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Louisiana sends off coach with league title
Levi Lewis scored on a careerhigh 56-yard run and passed for another touchdown, and No. 24 Louisiana-Lafayette capped off soon-to-be Florida coach Billy Napier’s time with the Ragin’ Cajuns by defeating Appalachian State 24-16 on Saturday in the Sun Belt Conference Championship game.
Emani Baily rushed for 117 yards, highlighted by his 35-yard touchdown run on a third-and-9 play to give the Cajuns a two-touchdown lead early in the fourth quarter.
Lewis passed for 210 yards without a turnover and finished with 43 net yards rushing as Louisiana-Lafayette (12-1, 9-0 Sun Belt) lengthened its school-record winning streak to 12 games.
Cameron Peoples ran for a 43-yard touchdown in the first half for Appalachian State (103, 7-2), but the Mountaineers’ offense struggled to match its usual production while trying to play catch-up from its first possession.
Appalachian State QB Chase Brice, who averaged 241.8 yards passing per game during the regular season, completed just 12 of 30 passes for 119 yards and was sacked four times — twice each by Cajuns defensive lineman Zi’Yon Hill and edge rusher Chauncey Manac.
But Brice kept the Mountaineers’ hopes alive in the fourth quarter when he rolled out on fourth-and-10 and connected over the middle with Thomas Hennigan, who slipped tacklers to get into the end zone. The Mountaineers elected to go for two but Brice was pressured into an incomplete pass, leaving the Cajuns ahead by eight.
App State got the ball back once more at its own 35-yard line with 29 seconds left, but Manac stripped Brice as he was about to throw near mid-field and recovered the fumble.
Mountain West
Utah State 46, (at) No. 19 San Diego State 13:
Brandon Bowling caught two touchdown passes
from Logan Bonner during the decisive third quarter, and Utah State won its first Mountain West Conference title with a rout of No. 19 San Diego State.
Bonner passed for 318 yards and four TDs, while fellow Arkansas State transfer Bowling had eight catches for a career-high 154 yards. The Aggies (10-3) punctuated their inspiring turnaround under first-year coach Blake Anderson by blowing out the short-handed Aztecs (11-2) for their first win over an AP Top 25 opponent since 2015.
Utah State earned a berth in the inaugural LA Bowl on Dec. 18 at SoFi Stadium, the Los Angeles Rams’ multibillion-dollar arena about 12 miles northwest of the site of this victory at San Diego State’s temporary home. The Aggies are likely to face Oregon State.
Jordon Brookshire passed for
117 yards before getting replaced by Jalen Mayden for San Diego State, which had its four-game winning streak snapped in the school’s most lopsided loss since a 35-point defeat at Ohio State in 2013. Utah State’s 46 points were the most allowed in Aztecs coach Brady Hoke’s four seasons at SDSU.
The Aztecs played without starting tight end Daniel Bellinger, two additional tight ends, receiver Tyrell Shavers and roughly a dozen other backups due to what the school termed “a medical concern.” San Diego State has declined to explicitly confirm any COVID-19 issues, but the problems prevented the Aztecs from holding a full practice all week.
Mid-American
Northern Illinois 41, Kent State 23 (at Detroit): Quarterback
Rocky Lombardi ran for three touchdowns and Jay Ducker ran for 146 yards on 29 carries to power Northern Illinois to a victory over Kent State in the Mid-American Conference title game.
It is the Huskies’ (9-4) sixth MAC title in the past 11 years and first since 2018 when it beat Buffalo. Kent State (7-6) was shooting for its first conference championship since winning it in 1972.
Momentum appeared to be shifting to the Golden Flashes at the start of the second half. Andrew Glass kicked a 41-yard field goal on the opening drive for their first points of the game and the Kent State defense forced Northern Illinois to punt for the first time.
But on the next drive Dustin Crum, the MAC’s most valuable player this season, was intercepted by C.J. Brown, who returned it 26 yards for a touchdown as the Huskies went ahead 24-3. The Golden Flashes cut the deficit to 24-10 with 27 seconds left in the third quarter when Crum hit Nykeim Johnson on a 17-yard scoring strike.
The Huskies ended Kent State’s comeback hopes when Lombardi scored on a 3-yard keeper with 10:54 left, making it 31-10. He added a 2-yard TD run nearly four minutes later.
“This is historic,” said Huskies coach Thomas Hammock, whose team was predicted to finish in last place this year after going 0-6 in 2020. “I don’t think any team has gone winless the year before and won a championship.
“When everybody said we would finish last, all I told our team was we are the best team in the MAC until proven otherwise. Obviously, they didn’t prove us otherwise.”
Conference USA
(At) UTSA 49, Western Kentucky 41 (late Friday):
UTSA entered the season with a huge chip on its shoulder, and the Roadrunners set it down to hoist the Conference USA trophy.
Sincere McCormick rushed for 204 yards and three touchdowns, and the UTSA Roadrunners escaped another prolific outing by Western Kentucky quarterback Bailey Zappe to beat the Hilltoppers and claim their first C-USA championship at the Alamodome.
The Roadrunners continued a dream season by twice overcoming Zappe’s own dream season.
After escaping with a 52-46 victory over Western Kentucky on Oct. 9, UTSA had to sweat through the final seconds again.
Zappe completed 36 of 59 passes for 577 yards and four touchdowns. He set a single-season school record with 5,545 yards passing, surpassing Brandon Doughty.
“My fellas never disappoint,” UTSA coach Jeff Traylor said. “They didn’t disappoint tonight. We’re the champs. It’s freaking awesome.”