No. 20 App St faces Louisiana-Lafayette for Sun Belt title

Louisiana-Lafayette (10-2, 7-1 Sun Belt) at No. 20 Appalachian State (11-1, 7-1, No. 21 CFP), Saturday at 12 p.m. EST (ESPN).

Line: Appalachian State by 6.

Series record: Appalachian State leads 7-0

WHAT'S AT STAKE?

This is the Sun Belt Conference championship game, so this is for all of the marbles — and a pretty snazzy trophy for the case. Appalachian State defeated Lafayette 30-19 in the conference’s inaugural championship game last season. The 20th-ranked Mountaineers are looking for their fourth straight conference title overall.

KEY MATCHUP

Appalachian State QB Zac Thomas vs. Louisiana-Lafayette’s defense: The junior QB accounted for both touchdowns in the Mountaineers’ 17-7 win on Oct. 10 at Lafayette. Thomas has been on fire of late. He had four TD passes and ran for another score last week at Troy, marking the second time he has scored five TDs in the last three games. He was also named the Sun Belt Conference offensive player of the week.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Louisiana-Lafayette: QB Lei Lewis. Last week Lewis completed 15 of his 23 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-30 win over Louisiana-Monroe.

Appalachian State: RB Darrynton Evans scored three touchdowns last week against Troy, pushing his season total to 20 during a game in which he rushed for 82 yards on 13 carries. However, the Ragin’ Cajuns limited Evans to 69 yards rushing on 22 carries and no touchdowns in the last meeting.

FACTS & FIGURES

The game will be played at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, North Carolina because App State won the head-to-head tiebreaker. ... App State is going for the Sun Belt record for single-season victories. Four other teams have won 11 games but none have won 12. ... App State WR Thomas Hennigan set career highs with 11 catches for 140 yards last week against Troy. ... Malik Williams caught two touchdown passes against Troy.

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