C-USA Roundup - Week 10 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.

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
- Week 8 | Week 9
 
Conference USA Game of the Week

Rice 49 … UTEP 44
Chase Clement threw five touchdown passes and James Casey scored four times, including two touchdown grabs in the fourth quarter, to hold off UTEP. The Miners got three touchdown passes from Trevor Vittatoe and Jeff Moturi caught three scoring throws including a 53-yarder on a halfback pass by James Thomas in the first quarter. But Casey proved to be too much as he caught touchdown passes from 37, four and 12 yards out and ran for a two yard score.

Conference USA Player of the Week
Southern Miss QB Austin Davis completed 6-of-7 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown and ran 10 times for 81 yards and five touchdowns in the 70-14 win over UAB.

	Conference			Overall
East	W-L	PF	PA	W-L	PF	PA	STK
ECU	3-1	95	85	5-3	190	175	W2
Marshall	3-1	109	89	4-4	171	210	W1
Memphis	2-3	130	149	4-5	242	252	W1
UCF	1-3	73	137	2-6	135	222	L3
So Miss	1-4	204	169	3-6	302	265	W1
UAB	1-4	109	214	2-7	204	334	L1

	Conference			Overall
West	W-L	PF	PA	W-L	PF	PA	STK
Tulsa	5-0	271	135	8-1	468	239	L1
Rice	5-1	262	226	6-3	370	336	W3
Houston	3-1	153	119	4-4	298	237	L1
UTEP	3-2	201	197	3-5	264	315	L2
Tulane	1-3	96	121	2-6	149	230	L4
SMU	0-5	140	202	1-8	208	363	L7

Saturday, November 1

at Arkansas 30 ... Tulsa 23
CFN Prediction: Tulsa 37-28  Tulsa -7
- Tulsa

at LSU 35 ... Tulane 10
CFN Prediction: LSU 41-10 LSU -25.5
- Tulane

at Southern Miss 70 ... UAB 14
CFN Prediction: USM 35-28  USM -8.5
- UAB | Southern Miss

Rice 49 ... at UTEP 44
CFN Prediction: Rice 42-34  Rice -2
- Rice | UTEP

Sunday, November 2

East Carolina 13 ... at UCF 10
CFN Prediction: ECU 23-17  ECU -3.5
- East Carolina | UCF

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 40
Oct 25 - Memp 36 - USM 30
Nov. 1 - Rice 49 - UTEP 44

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
Oct 25 - Curtis Steele, Memp.
Nov. 1 - Austin Davis, USM

Conference
Roundup

East Carolina … This is a far cry from the East Carolina team that was so good to start the season, but even though the offense didn’t go anywhere, and the passing game continues to be abysmal, the team is still atop the East standings and in the driver’s seat to play for the Conference USA title. The defense is playing extremely well, the UCF offense didn’t get a chance to breathe, but to keep up down the road, Pat Pinkney, Rob Kass and the passing game have to be far better..
Houston … Houston's offense sputtered and coughed early on against the Marshall defense, and as good as Case Keenum was late, the damage had already been done. Turnovers were a problem, and the lack of a big defensive stop was a bigger issue. The Herd seemed to be all over the field and Keenum struggled to keep the chains moving. The lack of a pass rush was an issue, but keeping Keenum clean was a bigger problem as the offensive line struggled against a quick, aggressive Marshall defensive front that had one of its best performances of the year. With a week off to recover, the Cougars need a dominant win over Tulane before dealing with the showdown against Tulsa. The Conference USA title is still there for the taking, but there's no room for error. The loss of star receiver Patrick Edwards, who broke his leg running into an equipment cart, is a big problem.
Marshall … Just when it was needed the most, and after the disaster against UAB ten days ago, the Marshall defense came up with a tremendous performance in the win over Houston to turn the season around. Now, the Conference USA title dream is back on at 3-1 so far going into an off-week. The offense took advantage of every opportunity with Mark Cann coming up with a good, efficient game both with his leg and his arm, but this win was on the defense. It took its foot off the gas late, but it held the high-powered Cougars under wraps allowing just three points for most of the first three quarters. Could this be the win that turns around the program and the Mark Snyder era? It's possible, but that might only be true with a win at East Carolina coming up next.
Memphis … Didn’t Play This Week
Rice … Rice is bowl eligible, but it needs two losses from Tulsa to have a shot at winning the Conference USA title. After yet another offensive explosion, and a win over UTEP, the team has won four of the last five games with three home games against Army, Marshall and Houston to close out the regular season. If Chase Clement can continue to keep up his hot pace, the Owls will win at least two of those games.
Southern Miss … USM broke a five-game losing streak by pounding away with the offensive line for 463 rushing yards and nine touchdowns, but the loss of star RB Damion Fletcher to a leg injury is a problem. Tory Harrison had few problems keeping the ground game going, while QB Austin Davis was unstoppable running the ball around the goal line. While the season has still been a disaster, it’s possible to end on a major high note with winnable games against UCF, East Carolina and SMU to close.  
SMU … Didn’t Play This Week
Tulane … Without Andre Anderson, the Green Wave running game is a big problem. Kevin Moore had a problem getting the chains moving, and before the offense could block, it was down 21-3 with no real hope in sight. On a four-game losing streak, the Green Wave has to be ready for Houston as part two of a stretch of four road games in five days. All things considered, the lines held up well throughout, even if they weren’t flawless by any stretch.
Tulsa … Alright, so the perfect season might be gone and the one shot against a BCS conference team didn’t work out well, but that doesn’t mean Tulsa’s other goals are gone. With a week off, the team has to get the focus back for the showdown at Houston. Losing to Arkansas stings, but a loss to the Cougars would be a killer. The offense worked against the Hogs, but there weren’t enough points off of all the yards. The three turnovers didn’t help, but the silver lining will be the 528 yards. The offense works, and now the team needs to hope it works in the Liberty Bowl.
UAB … Obviously things aren’t going well when you give up 70 points to a 2-5 team. UAB got run over, around and through by Southern Miss with an unfocused Blazer effort coming off a bye week. The six turnovers didn’t help the cause, and once the wheels started to come off, the offense didn’t do a thing to turn things around. Now there’s another off week to sit around and stew about the loss and change things up for the final three weeks. The goal against Tulane, East Carolina and UCF will be to figure out who to build around for 2009.
UCF … UCF simply isn’t generating any consistent offense. Outside of the 54-yard touchdown from Jamar Newsome, the Knights generated just 170 yards of offense. There isn’t any production from the running backs and Michael Greco isn’t the type of quarterback who can carry a team. There aren’t any offensive juggernauts left on the schedule, but much more is needed to keep up with Southern Miss next week.
UTEP… UTEP didn’t have the offense to keep up with Rice, even though Trevor Vittatoe threw well. The defense didn’t come close to bothering Rice QB Chase Clement, who was never thrown off his game on the way to a five-touchdown day. The Miners now have to deal with UL Lafayette, the Sun Belt’s best team at the moment, and they have to prepare to stop the run before facing SMU’s passing attack. A bowl bid is still a possibility, but winning out is a must. That’ll be a problem with the final two games on the road at Houston and East Carolina.