2021_Sun_Belt_Conference_Football_Championship_Game
2021 Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game
College football game
The 2021 Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game was a college football game played on December 4, 2021, at Cajun Field in Lafayette, Louisiana. It was the third edition of the Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game and determined the champion of the Sun Belt Conference for the 2021 season. The game began at 2:40 p.m. CST and aired on ESPN. The game featured the Appalachian State Mountaineers, the East Division champions, and the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, the West Division champions. Sponsored by tire company Hercules Tires, the game was officially known as the 2021 Hercules Tires Sun Belt Football Championship.
| 2021 Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 3rd SBC Championship Game | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 4, 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Cajun Field | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Lafayette, Louisiana | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | QB Levi Lewis, Louisiana | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Appalachian State by 2.5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Kyle Olsen[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 31,014 | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Dave Pasch (play by play), Dusty Dvoracek (color), Tom Luginbill (sideline) | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| East Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appalachian State xy | 7 | – | 1 | 10 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia State | 6 | – | 2 | 8 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coastal Carolina | 6 | – | 2 | 11 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Troy | 3 | – | 5 | 5 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia Southern | 2 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| West Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 16 Louisiana xy$ | 8 | – | 0 | 13 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas State | 3 | – | 5 | 4 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Louisiana–Monroe | 2 | – | 6 | 4 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Alabama | 2 | – | 6 | 5 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arkansas State | 1 | – | 7 | 2 | – | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Championship: Louisiana 24, Appalachian State 16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2020 Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game was set to have Coastal Carolina face Louisiana. However the game was cancelled due to a positive COVID-19 test in the Coastal Carolina program.[2]
Appalachian State and Louisiana have faced each other in every other Sun Belt Championship Game held. Since the move to divisions, Appalachian State has won Sun Belt’s East Division three times, while Louisiana has won the West four times. Appalachian State has won both previous matchups in the Championship Game. This was the first Sun Belt Championship held in Lafayette, Louisiana where the attendance record for Sun Belt Football Championship games was broken with 31,014 total in attendance.[3]
Appalachian State
Appalachian State clinched a spot in the Sun Belt title game following their 45–7 win over Troy.[4]
Louisiana
Louisiana clinched a spot in the Sun Belt title game following their 21–17 win over Georgia State.[5]
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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| Appalachian State | 0 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 16 |
| No. 24 Louisiana | 7 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 24 |
| Scoring summary | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Statistics
| Statistics | APP | LA |
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| First downs | 18 | 20 |
| Plays–yards | 64–290 | 73–398 |
| Rushes–yards | 34–171 | 41–188 |
| Passing yards | 119 | 210 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 12–30–0 | 15–32–0 |
| Time of possession | 27:23 | 32:37 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appalachian State | Passing | Chase Brice | 12/30, 119 yards, 1 TD |
| Rushing | Camerun Peoples | 8 carries, 61 yards, 1 TD | |
| Receiving | Thomas Hennigan | 6 receptions, 71 yards, 1 TD | |
| Louisiana | Passing | Levi Lewis | 15/30, 210 yards, 1 TD |
| Rushing | Emani Bailey | 14 carries, 117 yards, 1 TD | |
| Receiving | Peter LeBlanc | 4 receptions, 67 yards |
- "Officiating crews for the 2021 college football conference championship games". footballzebras.com. November 30, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2021.
- "Sun Belt Conference Championship Football Game Canceled". sunbeltsports.org. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
- "Louisiana Wins First Outright Conference Championship in Front of a Championship Game Record 31,014 at Cajun Field". sunbeltsports.org. December 4, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
- "Appalachian State clinches Sun Belt East, tops Troy 45-7". keyt.com. November 20, 2021. Archived from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
- Long, Charlie (November 4, 2021). "Louisiana Clinches Sun Belt West With 21–17 win against Georgia State". ESPN Lafeyette. Archived from the original on November 14, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
- Game statistics at statbroadcast.com