C-USA Roundup - Week One Standings & More

Conference USA conference roundup, standings, player and game of the week

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 27 ... Virginia Tech 22
East Carolina pulled off the stunner on the special teams as T.J. Lee took a blocked punt 27 yards for a touchdown with under two minutes to play. Virginia Tech appeared to have the game in hand with the momentum going its way after Stephan Virgil returned a blocked extra point for a two-point conversion late in the third quarter for a 16-13, Hokie lead, and Darren Evans ran for a three-yard score for a 22-13 advantage held late into the fourth. But ECU went on a nine play, 73-yard march finishing with a three-yard Patrick Pinkney touchdown run, the defense held, and then the Pirate special teams came through. Tech had a 14-0 lead late into first half on a Virgil 30-yard fumble return for a score and a six-yard Kenny Lewis touchdown run, but Sean Glennon threw a touchdown pass in Hokie territory leading to a one-yard Jon Williams touchdown run with 16 seconds to play in the half. ECU outgained ECU 369 yards to 243.

Conference USA Player of the Week
East Carolina QB Patrick Pinkney completed 19 of 23 passes for 211 yards and a touchdown, and ran 11 times for 24 yards and a score in the win over Virginia Tech.

	Conference			Overall
East	W-L	PF	PA	W-L	PF	PA	STK
East Carolina	0-0	0	0	1-0	27	22	W1
Marshall	0-0	0	0	1-0	35	10	W1
UCF	0-0	0	0	1-0	17	0	W1
So Miss	0-0	0	0	1-0	51	21	W1
Memphis	0-0	0	0	0-1	24	41	L1
UAB	0-1	22	45	0-1	22	45	L1

Standings	Conference			Overall
West	W-L	PF	PA	W-L	PF	PA	STK
Tulsa	1-0	45	22	1-0	45	22	W1
Rice	1-0	56	27	1-0	56	27	W1
Houston	0-0	0	0	1-0	55	3	W1
Tulane	0-0	0	0	0-0	0	0	-
UTEP	0-0	0	0	0-1	17	42	L1
SMU	0-1	27	56	0-1	27	56	L1

Thursday, August 28
7:00	at Buffalo 42 ...UTEP 17 CFN Prediction: UB 35-31  UB -3

Friday, August 29
8:00	at Rice 56 ... SMU 27 CFN Prediction: Rice 44-38  Rice -3.5

Saturday, August 30
12:00	at East Carolina 27 ... Virginia Tech 22 CFN Prediction: VT 20-13  VT -10
4:00	Tulsa 45 ... at UAB 22 CFN Prediction: Tulsa 38-20  Tulsa -14.5
4:30	at Marshall 35 ... Illinois State 10 CFN Prediction: Marshall 45-10
6:00	at UCF 17 ... South Carolina State 0 CFN Prediction: UCF 35-17
7:00	at Ole Miss 41 ... Memphis 24 CFN Prediction: Ole Miss 24-16  OM -9.5
7:00	at Houston 55 ... Southern 3 CFN Prediction: Houston 45-13
7:00	at Southern Miss 51 ... UL Lafayette 21 CFN Prediction: USM 27-7  USM -11

Games of the Week
Aug. 30 - ECU 27- VT 22

Players of the Week
Aug. 30 - Pat Pinkney, ECU

Conference
Roundup

East Carolina … The upset of Virginia Tech in Charlotte was a program-defining win for Skip Holtz and the Pirates, and the first time ever a Conference USA team has won back-to-back games over ranked opponents. A hard-fought win over the defending ACC champs is just the type of game that can propel this veteran team to one of the league's favorites for the Conference USA title, and the season can take an even bigger turn if they can beat West Virginia next week. LB Pierre Bell and the rest of the defense were the stories, picking off a couple of passes and holding the Hokies to only 12 first downs and 243 total yards.
Houston … Talk about your opening debuts, Houston made things easy for head coach Kevin Sumlin as the passing game was unstoppable from the start against Southern. Case Keenum had a huge day, while Blake Joseph was perfect. The two QBs combined to complete 39 of 49 passes for 467 yards and six touchdowns. Converting 10 of 15 third down chances is always a plus.
Marshall … For the first time in three years, the Herd started the season with a win, beating Illinois State, 35-10. It was a chance for rookie QB Mark Cann to get his feet wet against a lesser opponent and DE Albert McClellan to rejoin his teammates after sitting out all of last year with a knee injury. McClellan’s presence was felt immediately, as he bagged Marshall’s only two sacks and helped open up the rushing lanes for the rest of the front seven.
Memphis … The defense had its moments against Ole Miss, but it couldn't come up with the big play to turn things around. The offense didn't do nearly enough in any phase to mount a serious challenge, but there were some bright spots. Arkelon Hall is a viable option at quarterback, and Curtis Steele ran well. Now the attack has to be more explosive with Conference USA play starting up, and the run defense will need to be far tighter. Fortunately, Rice and Marshall, the next two opponents, don't have the speed of Ole Miss.
Rice … For the first time in four years, the Owls won an opener, getting the rare fast start that they craved. As long as QB Chase Clement is healthy, the program will be competitive every weekend and be back in the hunt for a postseason game. He spread the ball around magnificently, tossing six touchdown passes and leading the offense in rushing. Yeah, the defense won’t have much luck stopping better offenses, but it did create five turnovers and the passing game is good enough to survive in shootouts. 
Southern Miss … Yeeesh! UL Lafayette might not have a brick wall of a defense, but the Southern Miss offense was unstoppable cranking out 633 yards and 427 on the ground. The offense line was tremendous from the start, while the defense did a good job of keeping the Ragin' Cajun running game under wraps. Austin Davis had a nice day throwing the ball, but he didn't have to do anything fancy with the way the running game was working. Now comes the real test: Auburn.
SMU … The one-sided loss to Rice provided ample evidence that the Mustangs have a long way to go under first-year head coach June Jones. After jumping out to a 13-0 lead on a couple of Bo Levi Mitchell touchdown passes, reality set in and the defense was shredded by the Owl passing attack. Although the offense will get better as the season progresses and WR Aldrick Robinson looks like a keeper, SMU won’t start winning until the defense can significantly improve.     
Tulane … Didn’t Play This Week
Tulsa … New quarterback, same results for the high-powered Tulsa offense. In his first start as Paul Smith’s successor, David Johnson was near-perfect, throwing for 332 yards and three touchdowns, while misfiring on just four passes. The Hurricane racked up more than 600 balanced yards, picking up where it left off last season. From the play of the defense, which didn’t wake up until the second half, it looks like Tulsa will need all the points it can get this fall.
UAB … As usual, a lack of depth and defensive playmakers did in the Blazers in a 45-22 loss to Tulsa. UAB actually led at halftime, but ran out of gas in the second half and was never a threat in the final 15 minutes. The defeat overshadowed the play of QB Joe Webb, who was dangerous through the air and on the ground, accounting for more than 300 yards. He’s the type of dual-threat who can engineer an upset this season if the rest of the team plays above its ability.
UCF … The defense was suffocating against South Carolina State allowing just five first downs, 126 yards, and no points. The offense was another story. It did what it had to do, and it ran for 228 yards, but the passing game was pedestrian and too many drives stalled. That's fine against SCSU, but the offense has to ramp it up a few notches against South Florida next week.
UTEP… It's not just that UTEP got blasted by Buffalo, it's that it played so poorly after getting chances to make a game of it with a 14-14 tie early on. Trevor Vittatoe had to press a bit, and it showed with three interceptions against the pumped up Bull defense. The offense didn't get enough from the running game and didn't do enough through the air to counteract the UB passing attack that ended up averaging over 22 yards per throw. This isn't exactly the performance the team was looking for with Texas ahead. To have any chance of keeping that close, the D has to limit the big plays.