C-USA Roundup - Week Five 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 | Week 4
 
Conference USA Game of the Week

Houston 41 … East Carolina 24
Houston busted open a close game with an 84-yard touchdown catch from Kierrie Johnson in the fourth quarter, and two minutes later, got a five-yard Bryce Bell touchdown run after a turnover. The Cougars cranked out 621 yards of total offense while the defense stuffed the ECU attack, holding it to just 275 yards. The Pirates got an 11-yard interception return for a touchdown from Emanuel Davis and a four-yard Brandon Simmons touchdown run, but Houston never trailed. ECU converted just one of 13 third down chances and the two teams combined for seven turnovers.

Conference USA Player of the Week
Rice QB Chase Clement completed 22-of-28 passes for 298 yards and five touchdown, and ran ten times for 69 yards and two scores, and Jarett Dillard caught eight passes for 114 yards and four touchdowns in the 77-20 win over North Texas. The two have combined for 42 career touchdowns, a new NCAA record for a QB-WR duo, breaking the mark held by the former Louisiana Tech combination of Tim Rattay and Troy Edwards. 

Standings	Conference			Overall
East	W-L	PF	PA	W-L	PF	PA	STK
Marshall	2-0	51	43	3-2	103	131	L1
East Carolina	1-1	52	65	3-2	127	120	L2
Southern Miss	0-1	27	34	2-2	118	106	L1
UCF	0-1	13	58	1-3	61	123	L3
UAB	0-1	22	45	1-4	117	165	L1
Memphis	0-2	51	59	2-3	135	127	W2

Standings	Conference			Overall
West	W-L	PF	PA	W-L	PF	PA	STK
Rice	2-0	98	62	3-2	206	172	W1
Tulsa	1-0	45	22	4-0	219	96	W4
Houston	1-0	41	24	2-3	186	142	W1
UTEP	1-0	58	13	1-3	121	131	W1
Tulane	0-1	24	28	2-2	88	85	W2
SMU	0-1	27	56	1-4	115	217	L3

Thursday, September 25
8:00	at Tulane 34 ... SMU 27 CFN Prediction: Tulane 38-17 Tul -17

Saturday, September 27
2:00	at Memphis 29 ... Arkansas State 17 CFN Prediction: ASU 38-31  MU -1
3:30	at West Virginia 27 ... Marshall 3 CFN Prediction: WVU 34-20  WVU -15.5
3:30	Houston 41 ... at East Carolina 24 CFN Prediction: ECU 34-24  ECU -11
5:00	at Rice 77 ... North Texas 20 CFN Prediction: Rice 45-27  Rice -18.5
7:00	at Tulsa 62 ... Central Arkansas 34 CFN Prediction: Tulsa 54-10
7:00	at South Carolina 26 ... UAB 13 CFN Prediction: USC 24-9  USC -24.5
8:00	at UTEP 58 ... UCF 13 CFN Prediction: UCF 28-20  UCF -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
Sep 27 - UH 41 - ECU 24

Players of the Week
Aug. 30 - Pat Pinkney, ECU
Sep. 6 - Chase Clement, Rice
Sep 13 - Chico Hunter, USM
Sep 20 - David Johnson, Tulsa
Sep 27 - Chase Clement & Jarett Dillard, Rice

Conference
Roundup

East Carolina … How could ECU not be emotionally fired up for a huge Conference USA battle? Houston has the potential to win the title, yet the Pirates were sluggish, struggled to keep the chains moving, and didn’t look like it was anywhere near the same team that was so good to start the season. All is not lost, there’s an off-week before facing a bad Virginia, but to get back on track, Patrick Pinkney has to be as efficient as he was over the first three games and the defensive pressure has to be turned back up a few notches. Houston was able to roll for 621 yards. The Cougar offense is good, but ECU should’ve been far, far better.
Houston … The Cougars might have had their problems, but they turned it on once again when the Conference USA spotlight turned on. The dominated East Carolina on the road, and with an off-week, UAB, and SMU coming up next, there’s a chance to go on a big run before going to Marshall. Case Keenum was tremendous and he bombed away at will thanks to the time allowed him by the line, while the defense did a great job of keeping ECU in check. There were too many turnovers (4) and ECU was able to stay alive a bit too long considering how well the Cougar offense played, but this was a nice, big win to set up the Conference USA pecking order.
Marshall … The offense that made such tremendous strides in Conference USA play in wins over Memphis and Southern Miss went into the tank against West Virginia. The Mountaineers had a lot to do with that, but the running game went nowhere, netting just 39 yards, and the passing game fizzled. The problems began on a line that couldn’t handle the West Virginia defensive front, while the Herd defense couldn’t generate enough pressure to throw off the Mountaineer attack. Now comes a battle with Cincinnati before an off-week.
Memphis … The Memphis defense came up with one of its best performances of the season, holding Arkansas State to just 3-of-13 third down chances and keeping the Red Wolves to 179 rushing yards. The offense ran wild, Curtis Steele was tremendous, but the passing game has to be better. Arkelon Hall struggled way too much and was lousy on third downs. However, stopping the Arkansas State offense is a good sign with UAB and running QB Joe Webb up next.
Rice … Chase Clement is a special player. Now he’s an all-timer, combining with Jarett Dillard for an NCAA record 42 career touchdowns. After the win over UNT, the Owls have a real, live shot to be in the mix for a bowl as long as the offense keeps on rolling. The defense struggled, but it forced six turnovers to make the game a blowout. Now comes Tulsa in what should be one of the fun offensive shootouts of the Conference USA season.
Southern Miss … Didn’t Play This Week
SMU … Yeah, SMU is all about throwing the ball under head coach June Jones, but there has to be some semblance of a running game. When kicker Thomas Morstead is the team's leading rusher, with 34 yards on his one play against Tulane, then the ground attack isn't working. On the plus side in the loss to the Green Wave was the way Bo Levi Mitchell got the offense making plays in the second half. While Mitchell wasn't always sharp, he made a few big plays and gave a glimpse of what the offense can potentially become.
Tulane … Tulane was nearly flawless at times against SMU with a balanced offense and yet another great game from Andre Anderson, but as the second half showed, there's little margin for error. With ten penalties and two key turnovers, Tulane allowed SMU to get back in a game that should've been a blowout. The defense, overall, has been fantastic and should be strong enough to hold its own against the better Conference USA offense. The defensive line won the battle up front, and it should have few problems against Army and UTEP over the next two games.
Tulsa … The machine keeps on rolling. The offense remains unstoppable, cranking out 641 yards of total offense against Central Arkansas, but the secondary had major problems with Nathan Park, an NFL prospect who bombed away to keep the game close. With Rice coming up next, led by QB Chase Clement, the Golden Hurricane has to be ready for an even bigger shootout. If David Johnson keeps throwing like he’s been throwing, all will be fine.
UAB … The South Carolina defense is fantastic and is going to stuff everyone’s running game. UAB wasn’t able to overcome the Gamecock defensive front as Joe Webb failed to complete anything deep and was picked off twice. Even though it was a blowout, the defense did a decent job of keeping too many USC drives from turning into touchdowns.
UCF … UCF has fallen very far, very fast. This was a horrible UTEP team that blew away the Knights. Rob Calabrese had an awful day throwing the ball, the offense couldn’t stop giving it away, and the defense didn’t do anything to stop the momentum. This was bad, but if UCF loses to SMU at home next week, it might be time to officially declare the season in the tank. The secondary will have to be far better.
UTEP… Finally, the UTEP offense showed pop and explosion while the defense was tremendous at forcing mistakes and stuffing the UCF offense. Trevor Vittatoe wasn’t sharp, but he was effective enough to keep the offense moving, while the defense was aggressive and dominant when it came to getting the Knight offense off the field.