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Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
Today is apparently the day where I recap horrifyingly inconsistent 2009 seasons, because now we come to Houston. The Cougars started out the year beating Oklahoma and Texas Tech, only to fall UTEP. They rebounded by beating Mississippi State on their own field, then four conference teams by steadily decreasing margins. They’d worked back to #12 nationally before losing to UCF, who was at least a bowl team. They also lost to East Carolina in the conference championship game and seemed uninterested in their bowl against Air Force, falling 47-20.
The storylines for Houston this year all revolve around QB Case Keenum. He led the Cougars to the #1 total, passing, and scoring offense in the country in 2009 and he will probably be setting NCAA records in this, his senior season. He gets 3 of his starting WRs back as well as experienced players in the backfield. But while Keenum gets all the attention, the season hinges on the play of the defense. They weren’t good enough last year to keep the Cougars ahead of everybody, no matter how sharp the offense was, and Houston can’t count on winning every game in a shootout. Seven defensive starters return- if they can improve, Houston could be unstoppable.
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Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
The SMU Mustangs enjoyed a historic season in 2009, reaching (and winning) their first bowl game in the post-death penalty era in an 8-5 season. In fact, only a 3 point road loss to Marshall kept them out of the championship game. Their 45-10 surprise win over high-powered Nevada was the largest margin of victory in the 09-10 bowl season.
Six members of 2009′s offense are back this year, including talented sophomore QB Kyle Padron, who threw for a school record 460 yards in the Hawaii Bowl last year. The defense gets seven players back from the West division’s top defense a year ago.
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Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
Like their conference-mates Marshall, Southern Miss is accustomed to being tops in their league and a threat to break the top 25, but haven’t lived up to those expectations in a while. 2009 was their third consecutive 7-6 season, capped off with a loss to surging Middle Tennessee in the New Orleans Bowl.
Expectations are high as always for the Golden Eagles this year, but coach Larry Fedora will have to work with a nearly complete rebuild of the offense. He still has his star WR, DeAndre Brown, and both of the QBs that saw starting time last year, Martevious Young and Austin Davis. Davis should be the starter going into the season, but Young may see some time as well. However, four-time 1000 yard rusher Damion Fletcher is gone, leaving a big hole at tailback. The defense comes back in better shape, including the entire front seven.
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Football on the Fringe Season Previews were ranked, then delivered in random order.
The Tulane Green Wave endured a 3 win season in an uncompetitive 2009, including four losses by 37 or more points. The squad will look to 2010 as a chance to rebuild the defense while hoping for gains on offense, where QB Ryan Griffin is back for his sophomore season. Six other offensive starters join Griffin, while only 4 starters return on the defensive side.
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We’ve made it through 12 games in 13 weeks and now it’s time to put a bow on the 2009 season in C-USA and the MAC. The MAC preview is coming this afternoon, to get you ready for tonight’s game. The Conference USA Championship Game kicks off at noon Saturday on ESPN2. The Houston Cougars (10-2/6-2) come to Greenville, NC to take on the East Carolina Pirates (8-4/7-1). The Pirates host the game on account of a better record in league play, despite Houston’s better record overall. The teams did not meet in the regular season.
Storylines
Houston’s story has been pretty well documented- wins over Oklahoma State and Texas Tech vaulted them into the top 25, only to lose to UTEP, perhaps the most inconsistent team in the league. They got back on track by beating Mississippi State and only lost once more, on the road at UCF. They come into the weekend ranked 21st and are hoping to see QB Case Keenum get a trip to New York for the Heisman ceremony.
East Carolina has had a lower profile this year than they usually do. Rarely does a year go by without a signature win for the Pirates over one of their regional rivals, but this year they lost to West Virginia, North Carolina, and Virginia Tech. Their only conference loss was on the road at Southern Methodist, a 28-21 affair. Their coach, Skip Holtz, is a rising start and his name has even come across in at least one rumor tied to Notre Dame. Expect to hear the name in conjunction with several jobs as they start to break open at the more mid-level BCS schools. Read Post
Another eventful weekend in C-USA, as we now have the league championship game set, while at least one team saw their bowl hopes go up in smoke and another stumbled across the finish line, lucky that the league has a lot of bowl ties. Read Post
Last night, UAB upset Southern Mississippi at home, which is just throwing everything into confusion in CUSA East. USM had a chance to drive, down 6 inside the last 90 seconds, when UAB snagged a pick-6 to put the game away. UAB now moves to 2-1 in conference play, temporarily out in front.
Tonight, BYU hosts Utah State as they look to advance to 4-1 after beating CSU last week. They are, of course, heavily favored, and I do expect them to take care of the Aggies without much difficulty. And with that, let’s look at weeks 4 and 5 in the Mountain West: Read Post
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