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
-
Week 1
Conference USA
Game of
the Week
Rice 42 … Memphis 35
Memphis appeared to be driving for the game-winning score when Rice’s Chris
Jammer picked off an Arkelon Hall pass and took it 69 yards for a touchdown with
11 seconds to play to cap off a wild finish. Rice had tied the game just a
minute earlier on a two-point conversion pass to James Casey following a
nine-yard Chase Clement touchdown run. Memphis rolled up 523 yards to Rice’s 430
and was up 35-20 late in the game, but Rice scored 22 points in the final 6:28.
The loss glossed over a big game from Hall, who threw for 373 yards and three
scores. Charlie Jones ran for two touchdowns for the Tigers, and Maurice Jones
caught two touchdown passes.
Conference
USA
Player of the Week
Rice QB Chase Clement completed 26-of-44 passes for 318 yards
and a touchdown with two interceptions,
and he ran 15 times for 80 yards and two
scores.
| |
Division |
Overall |
| East |
W-L |
PF |
PA |
W-L |
PF |
PA |
STK |
| Temple |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
1-1 |
44 |
19 |
L1 |
| Akron |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
1-1 |
59 |
66 |
W1 |
| Buffalo |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
1-1 |
58 |
44 |
L1 |
| Bowling Green |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
1-1 |
44 |
59 |
L1 |
| Miami Univ. |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
0-2 |
19 |
50 |
L2 |
| Ohio |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
0-2 |
34 |
47 |
L2 |
| Kent State |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
0-2 |
28 |
69 |
L2 |
| |
Division |
Overall |
| West |
W-L |
PF |
PA |
W-L |
PF |
PA |
STK |
| Western Mich |
1-0 |
29 |
26 |
1-1 |
53 |
73 |
W1 |
| Ball State |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
2-0 |
83 |
37 |
W2 |
| Central Mich |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
1-1 |
48 |
68 |
L1 |
| Eastern Mich |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
1-1 |
62 |
42 |
L1 |
| Toledo |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
0-1 |
16 |
41 |
L1 |
| No. Illinois |
0-1 |
26 |
29 |
0-2 |
53 |
60 |
L2 |
|
|
Saturday, September 6 |
| 12:00
|
at Wisconsin
51 ... Marshall 14
CFN Prediction: UW 34-10 UW -20.5 |
| 12:30
|
at Auburn
27 ... Southern Miss 13
CFN Prediction: Aub. 26-7 Aub. -18.5 |
| 4:00
|
at
Florida Atlantic 49 ...
UAB 34
CFN Prediction: FAU 35-20 FAU -13 |
| 4:30
|
at East Carolina
24 ... West Virginia 3
CFN Prediction: WVU 34-20 WVU -8.5 |
| 7:00
|
South
Florida 31 ... at UCF 24 OT
CFN Prediction: USF 34-13 USF -14.5 |
| 7:00
|
at Alabama
20 ... Tulane 6
CFN Prediction:
Bama 30-9
Bama -29.5 |
| 7:00
|
Tulsa
56 ... at North Texas 26
CFN Prediction: Tulsa 51-21 Tulsa -21 |
| 7:05
|
at Oklahoma State 56
... Houston 37
CFN Prediction: OSU 41-34 OSU -15.5 |
| 8:00
|
Rice
42 ... at
Memphis 35
CFN Prediction: Rice 35-31 Mem. -3.5 |
| 8:00
|
at SMU 47
... Texas State 36
CFN Prediction: SMU 37-21 |
| 10:15
|
Texas 42 ... at UTEP
13
CFN Prediction:
Texas 55-13 Texas
-26.5 |
|
Games of the
Week
Aug. 30 - ECU 27-
VT 22
Sep. 6 - Rice 42 - Memp 35 |
Players of the Week
Aug. 30 - Pat Pinkney, ECU
Sep. 6 - Chase Clement, Rice |
Conference
Roundup
East Carolina
… If last week's win over
Virginia Tech got everyone excited about
East Carolina football then this week's
stomping of West Virginia will get the
BCS buster talk really rolling. The
defense has been terrific over the first
two weeks, while the passing game,
thanks to the ultra-efficient Patrick
Pinkney, has been nearly perfect. ECU
was physical, energetic, and tough.
There were nine penalties for 60 yards,
but that was it. Everything else worked
for the Pirates who should now be
favored in every game for the rest of
the regular season.
Houston … Alright, so defense
might be a bit of a problem early on. To
be fair, the Oklahoma State offense is
among the best in the Big 12 and it’s
going to put up big numbers all season
long, and Houston just couldn’t keep up
the pace. Even so, the play of Case
Keenum was still a major plus as he
bombed away for 381 yards and four
scores and ran for 81 yards. Let this
one go, but if the run defense doesn’t
improve next week, then it’ll be time to
worry for the meat of the Conference USA
season.
Marshall … Despite the 51-14
final score, Marshall actually gave
Wisconsin a battle for about 40 minutes.
The defensive line was doing a great job
against the run and was hitting UW QB
Allan Evridge, but the offense turned
into a liability. Key second half
interceptions ended the fun, and while
Mark Cann is still likely to be the main
man, a bad performance against Memphis
could mean more time for Brian Anderson.
Memphis … Pure, utter
devastation. Memphis pulled away to
apparently get the win over Rice only to
suffer a complete and total meltdown.
Everything that could go wrong in the
final seven minutes, did. Give Rice
credit for doing what it needed to and
making all the big plays, but Memphis
outplayed the Owls and now are a tough
0-2 with several tough games ahead.
Rice … How amazing is Chase
Clement? Things weren’t going well for
the Owls against Memphis, and it
appeared to be over late, but Clement
led the way to two great scoring drives,
came up with a two-point conversion, and
then the defense did its thing with
Chris Jammer coming up with the pick-six
to win the game. This was an all-timer
of a win for Rice, and now the team has
to build on it.
Southern Miss … Considering
Auburn badly outplayed Southern Miss,
there are good things to get excited
about. Shawn Nelson was dominant. The
star tight end caught 12 passes and
showed why he's a top pro prospect,
while Austin Davis, even with two
interceptions thrown, threw well. The
running game wasn't going anywhere, with
Damion Fletcher getting stuffed, but
against a non-Auburn defense, Davis will
be more effective. This is as bad as
it's going to get until the date with
the East Carolina defense in
mid-November.
SMU … That’s what the June Jones
offense is supposed to do. SMU’s passing
game rolled over Texas State as Bo Levi
Mitchell looked like a quarterback the
program can build around for the next
four years. However, the defense needs
work. Lots of work. Texas State
converted 12-of-15 third down chances
and outgained the Mustangs 465 yards to
431.
Tulane … Alabama might not have
brought the same effort it had in the
win over Clemson, but Tulane still has
to be thrilled at the way the defense
performed. It did a great job of
generating pressure with four sacks of
John Parker Wilson and held the Tide
running game in check. A loss is a loss,
and the offense only managed six points,
but with East Carolina up next, the team
showed it has the strength up front and
the make-up to keep it close against a
far better opponent.
Tulsa … Paul Smith, schmaul
Smith. The Tulsa offense is humming on
all cylinders with David Johnson moving
the offense like a long-time veteran.
The North Texas defense is hardly a
great test, but Tulsa ripped through it
like it wasn’t there. Johnson spread the
ball around well and kept things moving
with his legs as well as his arm, while
the defense stuffed the Mean Green when
it was still a game.
UAB … While it’ll never sit well
for a Conference USA team to lose to a
Sun Belt team, Florida Atlantic is
really good and UAB was able to move the
ball without a problem. Joe Webb was
special with 392 yards of total offense
as he kept the team in the game, but the
defense couldn’t come up with a big stop
when absolutely needed. Going forward,
the defense might need to step up and do
more to have any hope of being better in
conference play, but Webb could be a
talent who wins a game or two by
himself.
UCF … UCF should've been blown
away by South Florida considering the
way the defense struggled and with a
sputtering offense, but the team find a
way to get back in the game to almost
pull it out. Even in a loss, this has to
be a little bit of a confidence booster
as there was a chance to pull out the
win in overtime, but it just didn't
happen against a high-powered team that
could end up winning the Big East. Now a
running back has to emerge. QB Michael
Greco can't be leading the team in
rushing on a regular basis, but Boston
College has the potential to take away
the backs when the two meet in two
weeks.
UTEP… UTEP might have gotten
blasted by Texas, that was to be
expected, but at least the team showed a
few signs of life after the nightmare
against Buffalo with a decent day from
QB Trevor Vittatoe and 412 yards of
total offense to 404 yards for Texas.
The one big issue was penalties
committing 11 for 97 yards. With a week
off, the offense has to be ready for a
shootout against New Mexico State.