2008 Conference USA Roundup

Conference USA 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.

Conference Roundups
- ACC | Big East | Big 12 | Big Ten | C-USA | Ind.
- MAC | M-West | Pac 10 | SEC | Sun Belt | WAC

East  UAB | UCF | East Carolina | Marshall | Memphis | Southern Miss
West  Houston | Rice | SMU | Tulane | Tulsa | UTEP
- Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7
 
Conference USA Game of the Week

Rice 45 … Southern Miss 40
In a wild shootout with the two teams combining for 905 passing yards, Rice’s Chase Clement threw six touchdown passes including three to Jarett Dillard from 17, 51 and 44 yards out. As good as the Clement-to-Dillard combination was, Southern Miss had a better duo of QB Austin Davis to DeAndre Brown. Brown caught touchdown passes from eight, 16, 42 and 17 yards out, with the last two coming in a wild 4:16 span to pull the Golden Eagles to within five. But Rice recovered the onside kick with 17 seconds to play to hold on.

Conference USA Player of the Week
Rice QB Chase Clement completed 30-of-44 passes for 444 yards and six touchdowns, and he ran eight times for 22 yards. Jarett Dillard caught seven passes for 141 yards and three touchdowns

Standings	Conference			Overall
East	W-L	PF	PA	W-L	PF	PA	STK
E Carolina	2-1	82	75	4-3	177	165	W1
Marshall	2-1	72	66	3-4	134	187	L3
UCF	1-1	44	75	2-4	106	160	L1
Memphis	1-3	94	119	3-5	206	222	L2
UAB	1-3	95	144	2-6	190	264	W1
So Miss	0-3	104	119	2-5	202	215	L4

Standings	Conference			Overall
West	W-L	PF	PA	W-L	PF	PA	STK
Tulsa	4-0	222	116	7-0	396	190	W7
Houston	3-0	130	82	4-3	275	200	W3
Rice	3-1	171	165	4-3	279	275	W1
UTEP	3-1	157	148	3-4	220	266	L1
Tulane	1-2	79	79	2-4	122	153	L2
SMU	0-5	140	202	1-7	201	329	L6

Saturday, October 18

at East Carolina 30 ... Memphis 10
CFN Prediction: ECU 31-27  ECU -9
- ECU replaces Pinkney | Hall breaks thumb

at Rice 45 ... Southern Miss 40
CFN Prediction: Rice 35-30  Rice -3.5

at UAB 23 ... Marshall 21
CFN Prediction: Marshall 27-20  MU -3.5

at Tulsa 77 ... UTEP 35
CFN Prediction: Tulsa 48-28  Tulsa -17.5

Houston 44 ... at SMU 38
CFN Prediction: Houston 38-27  UH -12.5

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
Oct 4 - UTEP 40 - USM 37 OT
Oct 11 - UTEP 24  - Tulane 21
Oct 18 - Rice 45 - USM 0

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
Oct 4 - Trevor Vittatoe, UTEP & Damion Fletcher, USM
Oct 11 - Case Keenum, UH
Oct 18 - Chase Clement & Jarett Dillard, Rice

Conference
Roundup

East Carolina … Patrick Pinkney had been struggling for a while and was overdue to get a break. Starting out 3-for-7 against Memphis made that happen, and while Rob Kass didn’t make the earth move, he was effective at leading the way to the win. Getting a 68-yard touchdown run from Jon Williams helped. The defense did its part against the punchless Tigers, especially in the second half. The team is struggling a bit overall with its consistency, but as long as it’s winning, everything is fine.
Houston … Houston’s defense is an ongoing issue, but the team is finding ways to come up with wins thanks to an offense that can explode at any time from anywhere on the field. Case Keenum is playing extremely well and he has shown he can be clutch when he has to be leading the Cougars to a 21-point fourth quarter to beat SMU. On a three-game winning streak and 3-0 in conference play, now the job is to focus on Tulane before the shootout against Tulsa.
Marshall … Marshall is supposed to be in the hunt for the Conference USA title, but it isn’t playing like it with a three-game losing streak just when it needs to start rolling. Losing to UAB wasn’t a plus with Houston and East Carolina up next, and to get by those two, there can’t be the turnovers there were against the Blazers. More from the running game is a must after only coming up with 82 yards on 30 carries and no big plays.
Memphis The Memphis offense quickly went into the tank against East Carolina after losing starting quarterback Arkelon Hall, and the defense couldn’t pick up the slack in the second half. Brett Toney wasn’t asked to throw the ball deep, and he didn’t, and while he completed 11-of-15 passes, he didn’t get the offense moving.  LB Greg Jackson had a nice day making 11 stops and 2.5 tackles for loss, but the line struggled to get into the backfield.
Rice … Rice has everything set up perfectly to go to a bowl game, but there’s a chance to push for even more. It’ll take a mini-miracle with Tulsa needing to lose twice, but with the win over Southern Miss, the Owls are deep in the hunt for the Conference USA title. Chase Clement and Jarett Dillard are unstoppable. These two continue to set records, or improve upon the ones they already own, and while the defense hasn’t shown up this year, it hasn’t mattered. The Owls are 16^th in the nation in total offense and tenth in scoring.
Southern Miss … The Larry Fedora era isn’t exactly taking off. With a back like Damion Fletcher and an emerging star in QB Austin Davis, the offense is finally exploding, even if the loss to Boise State might seem otherwise. Now the defense needs to go back to being the Southern Miss defense. There was no pass rush on Rice QB Chase Clement and the run defense hasn’t shown up. On a four-game losing streak, it’s win out or there won’t be a bowl bid. It’s possible. Outside of the East Carolina game, there isn’t another game the Eagles can’t win.
SMU … SMU will eventually start to win games like the one it gave away to Houston. On the positive side, Bo Levi Mitchell and the SMU passing game is getting better and better, but three turnovers and 11 penalties turned out to be a problem and the defense couldn’t come up with a stop late to pull off the win. This is going to be a process to become a big-time Conference USA team, but the Mustangs are getting closer and closer as the season goes on.
Tulane … Didn’t Play This Week
Tulsa … The Tulsa machine keeps on rolling. David Johnson and the skill players got time to work against SMU, and they came through as they ripped through the UTEP defense throughout the 49-point first half. Nothing is stopping Johnson and the attack right now with 470 passing yards and 321 rushing yards. With a home game against UCF up next before three road games in the final four games, Tulsa has to stay hot.
UAB … UAB was carried by Joe Webb to a win over Marshall, but it was the defense that came up with a stunning performance against the run. Webb was able to roam free and do big things with his legs as well as his arm, while Rashard Slaughter helped the cause with the ground game. Now the Blazers have to stay hot on the road with three road games in the final four starting with a trip to Southern Miss in a few weeks.
UCF … Didn’t Play This Week
UTEP… UTEP’s offense is playing well, but it’s not good enough to keep up with Tulsa right now. Even so, it showed in the first quarter that it could get on a roll, but it couldn’t sustain the momentum. Trevor Vittatoe threw for four touchdown passes, but his play wasn’t nearly enough. Third down conversions were the biggest issue converting just 2-of-11 tries. The offense has to gear it up again next week against Rice.