C-USA Roundup - Week Four 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
- Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3
 
Conference USA Game of the Week

NC State 30 ... East Carolina 24 OT
In a wild finish, NC State got a five-yard touchdown catch from George Bryan, which was originally ruled incomplete, and then reversed after a lengthy review. In overtime, State's Shane McKeen forced a Patrick Pinkney fumble, and the Wolfpack offense took advantage almost immediately with a 10-yard Andre Brown scoring run to win the game. Brown caught a four-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson, who threw three touchdown passes on the day. East Carolina traded scores, but never led, getting a 39-yard scoring play off a short catch from Jarvis Williams in the third and a 42-yard Norman Whitely touchdown dash in the third from the offense, and started out the scoring with a 23-yard Van Eskridge interception return for a score in the first.

Conference USA Player of the Week
Tulsa QB David Johnson completed 24-of-39 passes for 469 yards and six touchdowns with two interceptions in the 56-14 win over New Mexico.

	Conference			Overall
East	W-L	PF	PA	W-L	PF	PA	STK
Marshall	2-0	51	43	3-1	100	104	W2
E Carolina	1-0	28	24	3-1	103	79	L1
UCF	0-0	0	0	1-2	48	65	L2
So Miss	0-1	27	34	2-2	118	106	L1
UAB	0-1	22	45	1-3	104	139	W1
Memphis	0-2	51	59	1-3	106	110	W1

	Conference			Overall
West	W-L	PF	PA	W-L	PF	PA	STK
Rice	2-0	98	62	2-2	129	152	L2
Tulsa	1-0	45	22	3-0	157	62	W3
Houston	0-0	0	0	1-3	145	118	L3
UTEP	0-0	0	0	0-3	63	118	L3
Tulane	0-1	24	28	1-2	54	58	W1
SMU	0-1	27	56	1-3	88	183	L2

Saturday, September 20
1:00	at Boston College 34 ... UCF 7 CFN Prediction: BC 24-10  BC -10.5
12:00	at NC State 30 ... East Carolina 24 OT CFN Prediction: ECU 17-14  ECU -7.5
3:00	at Tulane 24 ... UL Monroe 10 CFN Prediction: Tulane 27-15  TU -6
3:30	at Colorado State 28 ... Houston 25 CFN Prediction: Houston 42-31  UH -6
3:30	Marshall 34 ... at Southern Miss 27 CFN Prediction: USM 27-13  USM -9.5
4:00	at UAB 45 ... Alabama State 10 CFN Prediction: UAB 34-16
7:00	at Texas 52 ... Rice 10 CFN Prediction: Texas 52-14  UT -30.5
7:00	at Tulsa 56 ... New Mexico 14 CFN Prediction:Tulsa 38-34  Tulsa -10.5
8:00	at Memphis 31 ... Nicholls State 10 CFN Prediction: Memphis 35-17
8:00	TCU 48 ... at SMU 7 CFN Prediction: TCU 47-13  TCU -27.5
9:05	New Mexico State 34 ... at UTEP 33 CFN Prediction: UTEP 34-24 UTEP -6.5

Games of the Week
Aug. 30 - ECU 27- VT 22
Sep. 6 - Rice 42 - Memp 35
Sep 13 - AF 31 - UH 28
Sep 20 -NC St 30 - ECU 24 OT

Players of the Week
Aug. 30 - Pat Pinkney, ECU
Sep. 6 - Chase Clement, Rice
Sep 13 - Chico Hunter, USM
Sep 20 - David Johnson, Tulsa

Conference
Roundup

East Carolina … Much will be made of Skip Holtz and why he shouldn't have gone for it on fourth and goal from the one in the fourth quarter when up by four against NC State, but it was a statement call that backfired ... it was also a good call. Had ECU powered it in, it likely would've meant game over, and despite missing, the Wolfpack went 3-and-out and ECU got the ball back in good field position which then led to a field goal. Basically, ECU delayed the field goal by about seven minutes and weren't hurt by the mistake. The real problem was the ineffectiveness on third downs, converting just four-of-12 chances.
Houston … Houston shouldn’t have lost to Colorado State. The offense needed a half to wake up, and when it did it was unstoppable. Now the team has to learn how to do a better job of playing a full four quarters to the running game can get more involved, and that’ll happen if Case Keenum doesn’t make a slew of mistakes. The four UH turnovers turned out to be a killer, but Keenum did do a good job of leading the team back into the game. Now, on a three-game losing streak, the Cougars have to gear it up for a road trip to East Carolina.
Marshall … Marshall showed surprising offensive pop and a good, steady play from QB Mark Cann in the tough road win over Southern Miss. The defense did a great job of bottling up USM RB Damion Fletcher, but the game was about the Herd offensive weapons, Darius Marshall and Darius Passmore. Marshall was a steady runner who kept the attack on an even keel, while Passmore hit the home runs to pull the team away. At 2-0 in Conference USA play, it might be easy to overlook the rivalry game against West Virginia and the Big East battle with Cincinnati.
Memphis … After starting the season 0-3, Memphis needed an easy win. The game against Nicholls State wasn’t it, the offense took too long to get rolling, but eventually the defense paved the way for the blowout in the second half. Nicholls State turned it over three times and only had the ball 21:52, but the offense needs to be more explosive and more consistent to get past Arkansas State next week.
Rice … Rice was never going to have a shot against Texas, and while it was an expected blowout loss, it would’ve been nice if Chase Clement and the passing game could’ve gotten more going. He was fine, throwing for 254 yards and a touchdown, but he couldn’t keep the chains going early on. There was no help from C.J. Ugokwe and the running backs, but that should change next week against North Texas.
Southern Miss … Southern Miss put itself behind the eight-ball with the loss to Marshall. With UTEP up next, the Conference USA record will likely even out at 1-1, but this was a disappointing loss because Marshall was able to pound the ball so effectively and because of the penalties. USM committed 11 for 129 yards, and while they were why the team lost, they didn’t help. On the plus side, QB Austin Davis threw well outside of the key interception late in the fourth.
SMU … The offense still isn’t clicking, but that’s mainly because the offensive line wasn’t able to provide any time against TCU for Bo Levi Mitchell to operate. Mitchell moved the offense a little bit, but three turnovers and too many misfired on third downs proved costly. Again part of the problem was a lack of time for Mitchell to work, and he won’t get a lot more to work with next week against Tulane and its decent defensive front.
Tulane … Tulane’s defense is playing as well as any in Conference USA. UL Monroe might not be a juggernaut, but the Green Wave defensive front was dominant with four sacks and stuff after stuff against the run. The offense was effective with Andre Anderson pounding the ball well and QB Kevin Moore keeping the chains moving. With winnable games against SMU, Army, UTEP and Rice up next, the chance will be there to go on a nice run.
Tulsa … Is it time to start talking about the Golden Hurricane as a BCS buster? Ripping up UAB and North Texas is one thing, but destroying New Mexico is another. There’s no one on the schedule, Arkansas included, who can keep up with this offense at the moment. It’s still early, but this is an ultra-efficient passing attack that’s humming on all cylinders. It’s not going to be pretty over the next few weeks against some horrendous pass defenses. Central Arkansas, Rice, SMU and UTEP don’t have a shot of keeping up.
UAB … After a rough start to the year, UAB needed a layup game when everything was working. Alabama State turned out to be just the game, as the UAB defense held ASU to just 17 yards rushing and the offense struck a near-perfect balance with 238 passing yards and 248 on the ground. Joe Webb was fantastic running the ball, but he had help from a slew of different players who had yet to show up this year, like RB Rashaun Slaughter. Next week it’ll be a different story against South Carolina.
UCF … UCF isn’t getting enough of a running game to overcome mistakes. Michael Greco threw three interceptions, the team threw four, against Boston College, and he was the team’s leading rusher. That can’t happen. The offense didn’t keep the chains moving against the great Eagle defense, while the defense didn’t do enough to stop the BC attack in the second half. Fortunately, a layup against an awful UTEP is up next to kick off Conference USA play.
UTEP… On a nine-game losing streak dating back to last year, UTEP needed a spark. It might have found it in QB James Thomas, who might not be able to throw a lick, at least not yet, but he ran wild on New Mexico State. A more seasoned quarterback would’ve been able to come up with a late scoring drive, but that’ll come in time. Unfortunately, the Conference USA season starts out rough with UCF, at Southern Miss, Tulane and at Tulsa. There’s no time for grooming.