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This is the first of two or three parts covering the C-USA teams as they cross the six game mark. Today we look at Memphis, SMU, Tulsa, Southern Miss, and UTEP.
Memphis
Record: 1-5, 0-3 Conference USA
Highlights: Big win over in-state rival Middle Tennessee stopped a two game losing streak to the Blue Raiders.
Weak Points: Last in the league in offense, 10th in defense. Kick return and turnovers among the worst in the country.
Grade: D-. MTSU is down this year, but still a decent win for the Tigers. Otherwise, nothing has gone right for this team with four of their five losses coming in blowouts.
Remaining Games: Southern Miss, Houston, Tennessee, at Marshall, at UAB, UCF
Best Case: 3-3 with wins over UAB and Marshall, plus a home upset in four chances.
Worst Case: 0-6, since UAB and Marshall are both road games.
Prediction: 1-5, for a 2-10 season. They have a bunch of home games down the stretch, but they’re against UT and 3 of the best teams in the league. Tough road ahead for the rebuilding Tigers.
Southern Methodist
Record: 4-2, 3-0 Conference USA Read Post
The league went 0-fer out of conference Saturday, but saw a pair of wild league games come down to the wire as the championship races are starting to take shape.
Louisville 56, Memphis 0: Not much to say that isn’t pretty obvious from the final score. Memphis got annihilated by it’s old basketball rival. Next Week: Southern Miss at Memphis
Army 41, Tulane 23: Army dominated the first three quarters, leaving Tulane to put up a few points in garbage time. Next Week: Tulane at Tulsa
East Carolina 44, Southern Mississippi 43: Read Post
UCF joined ECU, Southern Miss, Houston, and SMU among the unbeaten teams in the league last night in their conference opener. The league has 3 conference games this week, including a premium matchup that’s usually reserved for November, and a couple chances to grab nice non-conference wins.
2:00 PM- Memphis at Louisville: Louisville hasn’t set the [...]
Conference USA is almost into full-blown league play, with 3 conference games this week and 3 non-conference, including a surprising notch in the Wins vs BCS belt.
Tulane 17, Rutgers 14- One would think that Rutgers would start taking these lower conference games seriously after FIU nearly beat them in week 2, but such is not the case. The Scarlet Knights did lose their starting QB along the way, but Tulane led at halftime and the teams only traded a pair of touchdowns in the second half, leaving Tulane with one of the biggest upsets of the year so far. Next Week: Tulane at SMU
North Carolina 42, East Carolina 17- Another week, another BCS rival, another second half collapse for ECU. Read Post
C-USA has an interesting weekend coming up, with a pair of rivalry games, three league matchups, and a bit of an odd game against another BCS school to start the afternoon. Like the Sun Belt, another league game is slated for a weeknight, when UAB comes to UCF on Wednesday.
2:00 PM- Tulane at Rutgers: It’s hard to imagine just how this game came about, although the Big East’s 5 non-conference game schedule must allow them to reach for more interesting (?) OOC opponents. Rutgers hasn’t looked impressive so far this year, with a low scoring win over FIU and a loss to North Carolina. Their defense is playing at a pretty high level, and Tulane will have a hard time scoring against the Scarlet Knights. Line: Rutgers by 17. I’m a little skeptical of this line considering Rutgers low scoring games so far this season. I think it will be 21-7 instead.
3:30 PM- East Carolina at North Carolina: ECU has more rivals than they know what to do with, so here comes another one. Read Post
C-USA notched a pair of one point victories to go 2-0 against other non-BCS conferences this weekend, and came up just seconds short against another pair of BCS schools. Conference play picked up some and will be in full swing next week.
Tennessee 32, UAB 29- UAB shut out Tennessee in the second half as they came back to force overtime. OT1 saw a pair of field goals, and UAB got their field goal in OT2 before UT scored their first offensive touchdown since the first quarter to steal the game back.
Kansas State 17, UCF 13- UCF dominated the game but came up short on offense, including two missed field goals that might have changed the game for good. The Wildcats slowly and steadily drove for the winning touchdown, which came with 24 seconds left on the clock.
Houston 42, Tulane 23- Read Post
After a good start Friday night, Conference USA had a mostly forgettable Saturday in week 3. Both unbeaten teams lost to 0-2 BCS schools and injuries decimated the preseason favorites. On the upside, teams went 4-1 against non-BCS leagues and did get a BCS win to bring the total to 2.
Virginia Tech 49, East Carolina 27- Neither team could make stops in the first half, but the Hokies figured something out at halftime to turn the tide- ECU led at halftime 24-21, but was outscored 28-3 in the second half to suffer their first loss of the year. Next Week: ECU is idle, At North Carolina October 2.
SMU 35, Washington State 21- The Mustangs improve to 2-1 on the season and get their first win against a BCS league since 2000. Kyle Padron led the way with 5 touchdowns, pulling away from the Cougars after being tied at 14 at halftime. Next Week: TCU at SMU (Friday)
UAB 34, Troy 33-  This one looked like it was over in the second quarter, with Troy steadily driving away up to a 23-0 lead. A quarterback change to Bryan Ellis turned the tide, but it still took a frantic 99 yard, 1:09 drive to score the winning touchdown with no time on the clock. Next Week: UAB at Tennessee
Bowling Green 44, Marshall 28- Read Post
Another speed-round preview coming your way- the league has 10 games against six conferences Saturday, which is a ton. Lots of chances for statement wins for the league.
1:30 PM- East Carolina at Virginia Tech: Either the Boise State or James Madison game was a fluke for Va Tech, and I’m inclined to think it was the JMU one. ECU can put up the points, but it will take a miracle to limit Tyrod Taylor. Line: Virginia Tech by 20 (!!). This was a shock when I looked it up. I see where the oddsmakers are coming from- VT needs to win by a bunch to make a statement. And they certainly might, but I think ECU can score enough to keep it closer than that. I’ll predict a VT win, 42-28.
3:30 PM, CBS College- Washington State at SMU: SMU was Washington State’s only win in 2009, and the Mustangs are looking for revenge. Line: SMU by 22.5. That’s a heck of a lot of points for SMU, even against a team as bad as Washington State. I think they win comfortably but not THAT comfortably. 35-20.
4:00 PM- Troy at UAB: Big rivalry game, and a crucial one if UAB is going to break out of its winless start. But I don’t think they will, Troy has looked much better so far this year. Line: Troy by 3.5. I’m comfortable predicting that the Trojans win this one by a touchdown, 24-17, even on the road.
7:00 PM, Regional Cable- UCF at Buffalo: Read Post
This was just a bad weekend for non-BCS conferences. The Sun Belt wasn’t great, the MAC was a disaster, and C-USA had two chances to get BCS league wins fall flat in the waning moments, plus their best candidate for individual trophies went down with a concussion Friday night (Case Keenum is questionablish vs. UCLA this week). We covered the Marshall meltdown and Houston’s win over UTEP already, so here’s what happened Saturday:
East Carolina 49, Memphis 27- 28 first quarter points removed all doubt from this one, as ECU advances to 2-0 in the league, although they don’t see another conference team until Week 6. Next Week: East Carolina at Virginia Tech (1-1), Middle Tennessee (1-1) at Memphis
Rice 32, North Texas 31- Conference USA steals one back from the Belt after a back and forth game, with Rice calling on their backup QB to get things going again after an early lead evaporated. Next Week: Northwestern (2-0) at Rice
Tulsa 33, Bowling Green 20- Bowling Green scored first, but seven of the next eight scores went to Tulsa as their passing attack overwhelmed the Falcons. Bowling Green showed signs of life in the passing game, but managed only 41 rushing yards. Next Week: Tulsa at Oklahoma State (2-0)
North Carolina State 28, UCF 21- Read Post
Conference USA started off with an ugly weekend, with no wins over a FBS team except for East Carolina’s defense-free win over Tulsa to open the conference season. No Sunday games this week, just tonight’s pair and then seven more tomorrow. The league gets two more conference games and a handful of winnable non-conference games.
12:00 PM, CSS- Memphis at East Carolina: East Carolina should be the superior team here, giving them the chance to be 2-0 in the league before any of their competition even faces a league team. But if Memphis doesn’t put up some points here, even in defeat, then we know they’re in for a miserable season. Line: East Carolina by 13.5. ECU should run up and down the field against Memphis, but can they make two stops to win by 14? I’ll say yes. ECU 42-28.
7:00 PM- Prairie View A&M at Southern Mississippi: Southern Miss needs this one to recover from the nationally televised beatdown at the hands of South Carolina. No line.
7:00 PM- Rice at North Texas: Rice put up a fight in their loss to the Longhorns last week, and North Texas did keep Clemson to 35, so…I have no idea. I’m inclined to think Rice does have more talent, but they’re not so much better that North Texas can’t pull an upset on its home field. Line: North Texas by 2.5. I don’t check the line until I get to this point in each blurb, and I’m a bit floored that the Mean Green is favored over anybody. So I guess picking Rice is the upset call, but I think they win on the order of 24-17.
7:00 PM- Bowling Green at Tulsa: These two gave up a combined 81 points last weekend, both to teams with a lot of new personnel in Troy and ECU, respectively. Thus, I think the team that discovers how to play defense should win this one, but otherwise I’m not sure Bowling Green has the firepower to match Tulsa score-for-score. Line: Tulsa by 17. That’s a lot of points for a team that can’t stop anyone. I think it’s closer, Tulsa 45-35.
7:30 PM, CBS College- North Carolina State at UCF: Read Post
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