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
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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.
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