Scout.com: C-USA Conference Roundup

Click on each team for game recaps, thoughts, schedules and more and scroll down for the games, results, players of the week and the conference roundup.

East UAB | UCF | East Carolina | Marshall | Memphis | Southern Miss
West Houston | Rice | SMU | Tulane | Tulsa | UTEP

Conference USA Game of the Week
East Carolina 45 ... UTEP 42 OT
UTEP got a 45--yard field goal from Jose Martinez in overtime, but ECU QB Rob Kass plunged in for a one-yard score to pull off a wild win. The Miners appeared to have the game won, as Marcus Thomas tore off a 31-yard touchdown run with 34 seconds to play, but the Pirates put it into overtime on a 34-yard Juwon Crowell touchdown catch with no time left on the clock. The two teams traded scores throughout, with Thomas starting things off with a 42-yard scoring catch, and ECU taking an early lead with a 50-yard Van Eskridge fumble recovery for a score. In the third quarter, ECU came up with a few haymakers, getting a 57-yard Dwayne Harris touchdown run and an 80-yard Jamar Bryant touchdown catch to go up ten. But UTEP would respond with the third of Martinez's four field goals and a 17-yard Jeff Moturi touchdown grab early in the fourth before the fireworks at the end. UTEP cranked out 589 yards of total offense, while ECU came up with 507.

Conference USA Player of the Week
Houston WR Donnie Avery caught 13 passes for 346 yards and two touchdowns, and RB Anthony Alridge ran 24 times for 205 yards and four scores in the win over Rice

Conference Roundup

East Carolina … If this wasn't a charmed season before, it is now. With the way Rob Kass led the team to a late touchdown to force overtime against UTEP, and with the scoring run to win it, this is a hot team that has control of the Conference USA race with all the lightweights ahead. Now the tough part is over. If ECU is as good as it's been playing, at least offensively, it should be able to roll through UAB, Memphis, Marshall and Tulane without breathing hard. However, getting more from the secondary would be nice.
Houston … Talk about explosion, Anthony Alridge continues to make a case for All-America honors with yet another breathtaking performance, but it was Donnie Avery who stole the show against Rice with the big plays early to set the tone for the game. Unfortunately, turnovers and defensive problems coming up with a first half stop made it closer than it should've been but the Cougars got the win, and now have to go on the road to deal with UAB and UTEP. Expect more fireworks.
Marshall … 0-6. Tulsa's offense might be blowing past everyone, and the Herd attack was decent this week, but the record is still an ugly 0-6 with Southern Miss up next. To have any hope against the Golden Eagles next week, the defense has to get more stops on third down and has to get off the field earlier. So what's going right? Tight end Cody Slate. In a tough year, he's one of the team's stars, deserving of All-Conference honor as both a receiver and a blocker.
Memphis … Where does Memphis go from here? Just when it seemed like the Tigers were going to go on a big run and turn its season around, it came up with a clunker against Middle Tennessee and now has to win on the road at Rice and Tulane just to get in range for a possible bowl bid. If the offense tanks like it did this week, it's not going to happen. The running game never got on track, and the passing game was inefficient and ineffective. Eventually, the team will come up with a consistent stretch of games. It just might be too late.
Rice … The defense might have given up 748 yards and 56 points to Houston, but Rice was still in the game until the very end. While Chase Clemens had a great day throwing it, and the offense showed its explosion, for the second straight week, the D collapsed late. After escaping from Southern Miss with a win, lightning didn't strike twice this week, but there's hope. With Memphis and Marshall ahead, if the offense can keep taking advantage of every opportunity, the Owls will come away with wins.
Southern Miss … Southern Miss overcame the ugly loss to Rice with a fantastic defensive performance against SMU, keeping the offense off the board until the outcome had already been decided. Stephen Reaves was efficient and effective, doing what he had to do to take some of the focus off the running game. While the UCF game should be tough, and going to UTEP won't be a walk in the park, there's no reason the Golden Eagles shouldn't win the rest of its games.
SMU … The offense simply didn't work against Southern Miss. Justin Willis was efficient, but he didn't put any points on the board until it was too late, and he didn't get enough help from the running backs. Now on a four-game losing streak, a win over hapless Tulane is a must to settle things down a bit. At some point, the team has to be consistent. It hasn't had the same game twice in a row.
Tulane … Matt Forte continues to dominate, and Anthony Scelfo threw well against UAB, but the 504 total yards of offense didn't do much with two interceptions and 12 penalties killing any momentum. UAB got the key plays when it needed them, and Tulane didn't get enough of them. Eventually, the offense will start overwhelming the average defenses, but the team needs to start taking advantage of Forte's production.
Tulsa … Tulsa is at it again. The offense keeps putting up numbers in bunches, but the defense is giving up stats and points just as quickly. While the defensive problems cost the Golden Hurricane against Tulsa, the offense was able to get up enough to hang on against Marshall. What's going to happen when the real teams start to kick in? If Tulsa can't handle Marshall, it's going to have a world of problems with UCF next week and Houston down the road.
UAB … UAB had been close at times, and had been playing better than its record, but it had nothing to show for it. It got outplayed by Tulane, but Sam Hunt had a nice day throwing the ball, and the defense did just enough to hold on to get the win. To have any prayer over the next few weeks against Houston, East Carolina, Southern Miss and UCF, Hunt has to be better on third downs. UAB only converted three of 12 chances.
UCF … Back to the drawing board. After a nice start, UCF has gone bye-bye on defense, and while losing to South Florida isn't anything to be ashamed of at the moment, giving up 116 points in the last two games is not a plus when going into the date with Tulsa. The offense might have to keep up the pace for a while until the defense comes around, and that might mean someone other than Kevin Smith will have to step up. South Florida spent all its energy on stopping Smith, and no one else produced.
UTEP… UTEP won two straight close shootouts, and then it got burned in heartbreaking fashion by East Carolina. The Miners had the game in hand, and appeared to have its charmed year continue with a Marcus Thomas late touchdown run, but the secondary couldn't come up with the big play at the end of regulation. Now the team has to get over this in a hurry with Houston coming up next. They're still in the C-USA title hunt, but they can't afford a loss to the Cougars with Southern Miss and UCF still to play.

Saturday, October 13
12:00 PM	at South Florida 64 ... UCF 12 CFN Prediction: USF 30-17 USF -12
3:30 PM	at Houston 56 ... Rice 48 CFN Prediction: UH 48-20 UH -21
7:00 PM	at UAB 26 ... Tulane 21 CFN Prediction: UAB 27-23 UAB -3
7:00 PM	at Tulsa 38 ... Marshall 31 CFN Prediction: Tulsa 43-31 Tulsa -14
7:30 PM	at Southern Miss 28 ... SMU 7 CFN Prediction: USM 31-17 USM -9
8:00 PM	Middle Tennessee 21 ... at Memphis 7 CFN Prediction: MU 38-21 MU -4
9:05 PM	East Carolina 45 ... at UTEP 42 OT CFN Prediction: UTEP 34-30 UTEP -2

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