NEW ORLEANS – The Sun Belt Conference announced on Monday the 20 student-athlete attendees for the upcoming Sun Belt Football Media Day, which will be conducted in New Orleans, July 21-22.
Joined by their head coach, two student-athletes will represent each Sun Belt institution.
Sun Belt Media Day begins Sunday, July 21 with the Sun Belt Fais-DoDo taking place at Mardi Gras World. Monday, July 22 will see the formal portion of Media Day begin at 8 a.m. CT in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Sun Belt Commissioner Keith Gill will give his “State of the Conference” address Monday morning at 8:30 a.m. CT.
Sun Belt Conference Football Media Day
Student-Athlete Attendees for Appalachian State:
Josh Thomas (Sr., DB, Montgomery, Ala.)
One of four team captains and one of two juniors in that role last season … Second-team All-Sun Belt from PFF College … Started all 13 games at free safety … Totaled 43 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and four interceptions, including one apiece in the Sun Belt Championship Game and R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl … Made a career-high eight tackles (all solo) in the 45-13 bowl win and intercepted a pass at the App State 15 with Middle Tennessee looking to add on to a 3-0 lead … Intercepted a pass in the second quarter of App State’s 30-19 win against Louisiana in the Sun Belt title game … Also had picks at Arkansas State and at Coastal Carolina, two of three opponents that didn’t score an offensive touchdown against the Mountaineers …
In the opening minutes at Texas State, forced a fumble at the App State 34 to help swing momentum in a 38-7 victory … Key part of stingy defense that set a Sun Belt record by allowing only 20 defensive touchdowns, and the eight touchdown passes allowed tied for the national lead. Appalachian was No. 3 nationally with only eight passes of 30-plus yards allowed and No. 4 with one pass of 50-plus yards allowed.
Zac Thomas (Jr., QB, Trussville, Ala.)
Played and started in 12 of 13 games in 2018 … Injury limited to three plays at Georgia Southern, so otherwise was 10-1 as a starter with the lone loss coming during his first career start in an overtime game at No. 9 Penn State … Completed 159 of 254 passes (62.6 percent) for 2,039 yards with 21 touchdowns and just six interceptions. Also had 92 rushes for 504 yards (5.5 average, counting sacks) with a team-high 10 touchdowns on the ground … One of five FBS quarterbacks in 2018 with at least 20 passing TDs and 10 rushing TDs … Led Sun Belt quarterbacks in QBR, passing efficiency, yards per completion and point responsibility per game …
In his first career start at Penn State, completed 25 of 38 passes for 270 yards with two touchdowns and rushed for 43 yards with one touchdown. In the fourth quarter, completed 9 of 15 passes for 153 yards and accounted for three touchdowns (two passing) as the Mountaineers turned a 14-point deficit into a 38-31 lead before Penn State won 45-38 in overtime. He finished a single yard short of tying the school record for total offense by a quarterback in his starting debut …
Named the CFPA’s National Performer of the Week by going 14-of-14 for a season-high 295 yards and three passing TDs at Charlotte, marking the first time an App State or Sun Belt QB finished a game with 10-plus completions and no incompletions … As MVP of the New Orleans Bowl, had three passing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown while having a hand in 213 yards (177 passing, 28 rushing, 8 receiving). Had TD passes of 1, 17 and 11 yards in that win, and his touchdown catch on an 8-yard wide receiver pass from Malik Williams was the first catch of a TD pass by an App State quarterback in at least 35 years … Had touchdown runs of 25 and 35 yards in a 30-19 win against Louisiana in the first Sun Belt Championship Game …
To reach the title game, threw two TD passes and rushed for a touchdown to help App State build a 21-0 lead in a 21-10 win against Troy in the regular season finale … Had touchdown runs of 50-plus yards against South Alabama (54) and Arkansas State (62) … After sitting out a win at Coastal Carolina, was 63-for-97 passing for 717 yards with 11 total TDs (seven passing) and no INTs in the next four games.
