Conference USA conference roundup, standings, player and game of the week
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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
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ACC |
Big East |
Big 12 |
Big Ten |
C-USA |
Ind.
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MAC |
M-West |
Pac 10 |
SEC |
Sun Belt |
WAC
East
UAB
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UCF
|
East
Carolina
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Marshall
|
Memphis
|
Southern
Miss
West
Houston
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Rice
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SMU
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Tulane
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Tulsa
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UTEP
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Week 1 |
Week
2 |
Week
3 |
Week
4 |
Week 5 |
Week
6 |
Week 7
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Week
8 |
Week 9 |
Week
10
Conference USA
Game of
the Week
East Carolina 19 …
Marshall 16 OT
Ben Hartman missed a 43-yard field goal with three seconds to play, but he made
up for it by nailing a 27-yarder in overtime to give East Carolina the win.
Tyler Warner missed a 42-yarder for Marshall in OT. Hartman had also connected
on field goals from 31, 51 and 21 yards away, while Patrick Pinkney connected
with Davon Drew for a five-yard touchdown pass late in the first half. Marshall
got two Cody Slate touchdown catches from seven and 34 yards out, but the extra
point was botched on the first one and it would later prove costly.
Conference
USA
Player of the Week
UTEP QB Trevor Vittatoe completed 24-of-33 passes for
294 yards and five touchdowns with an interception over ULL.
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|
Conference |
Overall |
|
East |
W-L |
PF |
PA |
W-L |
PF |
PA |
STK |
|
ECU |
4-1 |
114 |
101 |
6-3 |
209 |
191 |
W3 |
|
Marshall |
3-2 |
125 |
108 |
4-5 |
187 |
229 |
L1 |
|
Memphis |
3-3 |
161 |
175 |
5-5 |
273 |
278 |
W2 |
|
So
Miss |
2-4 |
221 |
175 |
4-6 |
319 |
271 |
W2 |
|
UAB |
1-4 |
109 |
214 |
2-7 |
204 |
334 |
L1 |
|
UCF |
1-4 |
79 |
154 |
2-7 |
141 |
239 |
L4 |
|
|
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 |
7-3 |
408 |
367 |
W4 |
|
Houston |
4-1 |
195 |
133 |
5-4 |
340 |
251 |
W1 |
|
UTEP |
3-2 |
201 |
197 |
4-5 |
301 |
339 |
W1 |
|
Tulane |
1-4 |
110 |
163 |
2-7 |
163 |
272 |
L5 |
|
SMU |
0-6 |
166 |
233 |
1-9 |
234 |
394 |
L8 |
|
|
|
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
Nov. 8 - ECU 19 - Mar 16 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
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
Nov. 8 - Trevor Vittatoe, UTEP |
Conference
Roundup
East Carolina
… East Carolina might be skating by in
overtimes lately, but the team is coming
up with wins even though things aren’t
going smoothly. The offense isn’t
getting into the end zone with way too
many drives ending up with three points
instead of seven, and that’s allowing
mediocre teams like Marshall and UCF to
stay around. On the plus side, Patrick
Pinkney woke up with one of his better
games in weeks. He was decisive throwing
the ball and kept things moving, even if
he had a hard time getting the O in the
end zone. Next up are road trios to
Southern Miss and UAB.
Houston … Houston wasn’t perfect
against Tulane, there were 12 penalties
for 143 yards and three turnovers, but
when you crank out close to 700 yards of
total offense, you can afford a few
mistakes. Case Keenum has remained
brilliant, throwing for 300 yards or
more in 10 straight games, but it was
the running of Bryce Beall who took the
pressure off Keenum and the passing
game. Now come the big battles in the
Conference USA race with Tulsa and Rice
in the final three games, along with the
home date with UTEP.
Marshall … Marshall has been
extremely mediocre in all phases on
offense, but the defense is doing a
decent job. It bent, but didn’t break
all that often against East Carolina,
especially against the run. Offensively,
Mark Cann couldn’t find his touch with
way too many misfires and two
interceptions, but he came up with the
big drive needed late in the game that
eventually forced overtime. Now the
tough tasks are up. MU has to win two of
its final three games against UCF, Rice
and Tulsa to go bowling.
Memphis … Memphis has been able
to plug in players when needed to keep
the offense going. Against SMU, Brett
Toney was along for the ride at
quarterback as Curtis Steele and Brandon
Ross dominated on the ground. Now the
Tigers are within range for a bowl game,
but Steele’s hamstring has to be healthy
and more production will be needed from
the passing game. With a week off for
everyone to heal up before winnable
games against UCF and Tulane, the chance
is there for a nice finishing kick of
four straight wins.
Rice … Chase Clement has now
crossed over and could be called the
greatest quarterback in Conference USA
history, at least statistically. He
won’t have a Conference USA title on the
résumé, but he and Jarett Dillard have
combined to have special careers as the great final season keeps on rolling. The run defense was
non-existent against Army, but it held
when it had to at the very end. Now the
Owls have secured a bowl bid with seven
wins and can push for even more. With an
open date before closing against
Marshall and Houston at home, a ten-win
season is still possible.
Southern Miss … Austin Davis came
up with a big performance to get the
offense moving against UCF without
Damion Fletcher, and while he got the
job done with his legs as well as his
arm, the win was on the defense, too.
UCF might be punchless, but the Golden
Eagle defense never allowed a thing
after the first quarter getting off the
field time and again without a problem.
A bowl game is still in play, needing to
beat East Carolina and SMU to close out.
If Davis is able to keep running well
and be efficient, and mistake-free, and
the defense plays like it has over the
last two weeks and not like the first
half of the year, head coach Larry
Fedora will have pulled off the
turnaround.
SMU … SMU’s run defense is what
it is … awful. It doesn’t matter who’s
running the ball, he’ll produce against
the Mustang defense, but the offense
showed that it can stay in any game when
the passing game is working. Memphis
couldn’t handle Logan Turner, who proved
to be a more-than-capable fill-in for an
injured Bo Levi Mitchell. However, at
1-8 and without a win over an FBS team,
the Mustangs could use something
positive to build on. Passing yards are
nice, but the results aren’t there.
Tulane … Tulane doesn’t have the
firepower to keep up with a team like
Houston, but earlier in the year, it had
Andre Anderson to keep things moving and
give the defense a break. Now there’s no
one able to keep the chains moving, the
passing game doesn’t have the ability to
explode, and the defense is a sitting
duck. Now on a five-game losing streak,
and giving up points in bunches, the
goal for the final three games is to
figure out who the playmakers are going
to be for next year. Beating UAB in the
final home game is a must to give the
season something positive to build on.
Tulsa … Didn’t Play This Week
UAB … Didn’t Play This Week
UCF … The offense just isn’t
working. It was non-existent against
Southern Miss after a great first
quarter drive as Rob Calabrese struggled
to keep the chains moving. He got little
help from the running game and had to
start forcing a few passes; he’s just
not able to carry
the team on
his shoulders. The defense held up
surprisingly well considering the
offense did absolutely nothing. Now the
Knights are ensured of a losing season
with road games ahead against Marshall
and Memphis.
UTEP… UTEP’s offense is in high
gear, while the defense came up with one
of its best performances of the year in
the win over UL Lafayette. The
linebackers did a good job of keeping
the Ragin’ Cajun running game in check,
while the secondary was suffocating at
times. Can this win launch a big
finishing kick? With SMU up next, UTEP
should be able to get to 5-5 and needing
to win on the road at Houston or East
Carolina to be bowl eligible.
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