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C-USA Roundup - Week 11 Standings & More
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Staff
CollegeFootballNews.com
Nov 11, 2008

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 | 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.

 

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

Saturday, November 8

at Rice 38 ... Army 31
CFN Prediction: Rice 38-24  Rice -9.5
-
Rice's Clement sets record in close win

Memphis 31 ... at SMU 26
CFN Prediction: Memphis 35-27  MU -2.5
-
SMU Mitchell hurt | Memphis runs wild

at East Carolina 19 ... Marshall 16 OT
CFN Prediction: Marshall 27-23  ECU -9.5
-
ECU hits its field goal ... |
... MU doesn't

Southern Miss 17 ... at UCF 6
CFN Prediction: USM 31-24  USM -1
-
UCF does nothing | Davis comes up big

at Houston 42 ... Tulane 14
CFN Prediction: UH 37-21  UH -14
-
Keenum & O explode | Tulane punchless

UTEP 37 ... at UL Lafayette 24
CFN Prediction: ULL 41-24  ULL -9
-
Vittatoe perfect after early pick

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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