Houston (6-3) at Tulsa (6-3)
3:00 EST Why to watch: The best game left
on the Conference USA schedule, and
possibly the best league game all year,
takes place in Oklahoma Saturday. Tulsa
hosts Houston in a match up of two
high-voltage offenses and the last two
conference champs that should determine
the West Division winner. If the
Cougars win, they’re in, and can start
breaking down film on their championship
game opponent, likely East Carolina. If
the Hurricane prevails, it can clinch
the division with a win over Rice Nov.
24 or a Houston loss to Marshall next
Saturday. Houston leads the league in
scoring, and is No. 2 in total offense.
Tulsa leads the league in total offense,
and is No. 2 in scoring. Neither
program has played much defense this
fall. Do the metrics for what will be
an entertaining an emotionally-charged
game. Why Houston might win: No one has
been able to stop the Cougar offense,
and Tulsa certainly won’t be the first.
There’s no easy way to slow down
Houston, which has some of the fastest
skill position players in the country,
and can beat defenses with its
ninth-ranked running game or 17th-ranked
passing attack. While RB Anthony
Alridge is a game-breaker, the
combination of elusive Case Keenum and
strong-armed Blake Joseph has been
handled beautifully by head coach Art
Briles. Helping to make this a shootout
will be a Tulsa defense that’s weak up
front, and has held just two teams, SMU
and UL-Monroe, below 400 yards this
season. At times, the Cougar defense
has been bad, but it’s not Hurricane
bad. Why Tulsa might win: With Paul
Smith at the controls, the Hurricane’s
hurry-up, no-huddle offense has been
clicking, averaging 37 points and 539
yards a game. While RB Tarrion Adams
provides a steady presence between the
tackles, the young receiving corps gives
Smith options in the intermediate and
deep routes. Houston has yielded 21
touchdown passes and has no pass rush,
factors that’ll spur another huge game
for Smith and the passing attack, which
hasn’t been held under 300 yards or two
touchdown passes by any defense in 2007. Who to watch: Since both teams
are going to get their points, the
outcome will come down to who can make
stops in the second half. Tulsa will
air it out at least 40 times, which is a
lot of opportunities for tipped balls,
something Houston excels at on defense.
Four of the league’s top seven players,
safeties Ernest Miller, Rocky Schwartz,
and Brandon Brinkley, and DE Phillip
Hunt, in passes defended are Cougars.
That type of activity at the line and in
the secondary will present a problem for
Smith, who’s been intercepted more than
any other Conference USA quarterback. What will happen: Houston at
Tulsa will live up to its advanced
billing, producing a ton of offense and
an exciting final few minutes. The
Cougars will prevail by winning the
turnover margin for a fourth straight
game and ending key pivotal drives by
picking off a couple of Smith’s passes. CFN Prediction:
Houston
41 … Tulsa 37
... Line: Tulsa -2 Must See Rating: (5 Seinfeld:
Season 9 - 1 Bee Movie) ...
2.5
Conference USA Saturday,
November 10th
Rice (2-7) at SMU (1-8)
3:00 EST Why to watch: With no
hope for a bowl game, Rice and
SMU will be playing for pride,
postseason honors, and
positioning for when spring ball
starts in a few months. The
Owls are coming off a miraculous
comeback to beat UTEP, rallying
for the final 28 points behind a
Conference USA-record eight
total touchdowns from QB Chase
Clement. It was the second time
this season that Rice was
involved in a game that ended
56-48, a testament to the
volatility of the program. SMU
showed fight in the first game
since head coach Phil Bennett
got a pink slip, but it wasn’t
enough in a 38-28 loss to
Houston. Although the Mustangs
have been Conference USA’s
biggest disappointment of 2007,
they’ve got a legitimate shot of
snapping a seven-game losing
streak in this week’s homecoming
in Dallas. Why Rice might win: When
the Owl offense gets cranking,
it’s difficult to stop,
especially for an SMU defense
that’s been deplorable since the
opening kickoff of the season.
Clement will freely move up and
down the field on a leaky
Mustang pass defense, making
good use of an improving
receiving corps that’s led by
Jarett Dillard. In league
games, Rice is ringing up almost
40 points a game, a number it
could reach Saturday afternoon. Why SMU might win: The
Mustang defense is bad. At
least statistically, Rice’s unit
is worse. The Owls are a sieve,
yielding a league-high 42 points
and more than 500 yards a game.
Not since the opener with
Nicholls State has the program
held an opponent below 400 yards
or 29 points in a game. SMU
will capitalize, leaning heavily
on the scrambling and right arm
of Justin Willis, who’ll deliver
his most prolific game of the
year. The quarterback still has
the burning desire to win, and a
pair of receivers in Emmanuel
Sanders and Zack Sledge that’ll
have no problem navigating the
Rice secondary. Who to watch: This is a
duel between Rice’s Clement and
SMU’s Willis, plain and simple.
Not only do the quarterbacks
pilot a couple of dangerous
passing attacks, but they also
lead their respective teams in
rushing. Although each gets
some support from his receivers,
it’s all about Clement and
Willis, who’ll almost
single-handedly determine this
weekend’s winner. What will happen: No one
outside of Dallas is going to
see or pay much attention to
this game. Too bad, because
it’s going to be a track meet
with a ton of offense and an
exciting finish. In a
last-team-with-the-ball-wins
type game, Clement will guide
Rice to a second straight
victory, scampering for the
game-winner. CFN Prediction:
Rice
44 … SMU 41
... Line: SMU -6 Must See Rating: (5
Seinfeld: Season 9 - 1 Bee
Movie) ... 1.5
East Carolina (6-4) at Marshall
(1-8)
4:30 EST Why to watch: With last
week’s rout of Memphis, East
Carolina took a giant step
toward winning the East
Division. The Pirates control
their own destiny, needing only
to beat Marshall and Tulane to
earn a spot in next month’s
championship game. The catalyst
for the program’s success has
been a suddenly explosive
offense, in particular Chris
Johnson, who’s one of the most
dynamic off-the-radar backs in
the country. While East
Carolina is headed toward a
division crown, Marshall is on a
path to nowhere, wondering if
head coach Mark Snyder will be
back in 2008 to try and clean up
the mess in Huntington. The
Herd will spend the next few
weeks trying to win, while
mixing in some of the heralded
underclassmen that made
headlines in Snyder’s last
couple of recruiting classes. Why East Carolina might win:
The offense, led by Johnson’s
versatility and the
dual-quarterback system of Rob
Kass and Patrick Pinkney, has
been soaring for more than a
month. In the last five
conference games, the Pirates
have averaged a whopping 46
points a game, getting an ideal
mix of run and pass to keep
opposing defenses off balance.
A Marshall defense that ranks
110th nationally, and
hasn’t had a hint of a pass rush
since DE Albert McClellan went
down won’t get in the way of
East Carolina’s recent trend of
success on offense. Why Marshall might win:
East Carolina can score, but
that’s partly because it has to
in order to compensate for a
defense that’s horrid in pass
defense, and has allowed at
least 31 points seven times.
The Pirates have yielded 22
touchdown passes, four to
Memphis last Saturday, which
will prompt Marshall QB Bernard
Morris to loosen up his right
arm and test that ECU
secondary. The Herd averages
271 yards a game through the
air, boasting an improving corps
of receivers that’s headed by WR
Darius Passmore and TE Cody
Slate. Who to watch: Johnson is
beginning to finally attract
national attention after
shredding Memphis for 301 yards
rushing and four touchdowns on
just 20 carries. He’s a blur in
the open field, which explains
why the East Carolina staff also
tries to get the ball in his
hands as a receiver and a
kickoff returner. Marshall
lacks the depth and talent on
defense to keep Johnson from
significantly adding to his
already gaudy 2007 numbers. What will happen:
Smelling a conference
championship, East Carolina will
attack a weak Marshall defense
early and often, getting another
huge day from Johnson and enough
defensive stops to leave
Huntington with win No. 7. CFN Prediction:
East
Carolina 38 … Marshall 27
... Line: East Carolina
-7 Must See Rating: (5
Seinfeld: Season 9 - 1 Bee
Movie) ... 2
