This Week in the Conference USA
UPCOMING GAMES (ALL TIMES CT)
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30
North Texas at Rice (ESPN3) 1 pm
FIU at Marshall (Stadium) 2:30 pm
Southern Miss at Middle Tennessee (ESPN+) 2:30 pm
LA Tech at Old Dominion (CBSSN) 2:30 pm
Charlotte at WKU (ESPN+) 3 pm
UTEP at Florida Atlantic (ESPN+) 5 pm
QUICK HITTERS
A LOOK AT WEEK NINE
Twelve Conference USA teams are in action in Week Nine, all of which are conference matchups, and all of which are on Saturday. Rice, coming off a huge win at UAB looks to stay in the West Division race when they kick off the weekend by hosting North Texas at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN3. WKU looks to win its third straight when it hosts Charlotte at 3 p.m. CT on ESPN+ in a battle of a couple teams tied atop the East Division at 2-1 in C-USA play. Saturday ends with a bang as 6-1 UTEP travels to Florida Atlantic, who is also tied atop the East Division, at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN+. UAB and No. 23 UTSA are both on byes this week.
Rice (3-4, 2-1 C-USA) is coming off a huge win at UAB last week, when the Owls knocked off the Blazers 30-24 in Birmingham. Rice hosts North Texas (1- 6, 0-3 C-USA) in Houston to open the C-USA slate on Saturday, at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN3. North Texas suffered its sixth straight loss, falling 35-26 at home to Liberty, despite holding a 26-14 lead in the second half. For Rice, QB Wiley Green had a monster performance against UAB, completing 17-22 passes for 205 yards and three scores, with no interceptions.
Marshall (4-3, 2-1 C-USA) is fresh off a bye week, and hosts FIU (1-6, 0-3 C-USA) at 2:30 p.m. CT on Stadium, another team who is on a six-game skid. Marshall beat North Texas in Denton 49-21 its last time out, and QB Grant Wells totaled five touchdowns in the road win. FIU fell at home last week to East Division foe WKU, 34-19.
Louisiana Tech (2-5, 1-2 C-USA) travels to Norfolk, Virginia, to battle Old Dominion (1-6, 0-3 C-USA) at 2:30 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network. The Bulldogs fell at home 45-16 to then-No. 24 UTSA, and are looking to get back on track this week. Old Dominion was idle last week, and fell at home against WKU, 43-20, its last time out. Southern Miss (1-6, 0-3 C-USA) travels to Murfreesboro to take on Middle Tennessee (3-4, 1-2 C-USA), also at 2:30 p.m. CT, on ESPN+.
Southern Miss was off last week, and fell 34-0 at home against UAB its last time out. Middle Tennessee wrapped its nonconference schedule last week in a comfortable win on the road at UConn. QB Chase Cunningham was efficient for the Blue Raiders yet again, throwing for four touchdowns in the win in Storrs.
WKU (3-4, 2-1 C-USA) is on a two-game winning streak, and has one of the most explosive offenses in all of the FBS. The Hilltoppers took care of business down in Miami last week, knocking off FIU 34-19 on the road. WKU hosts Charlotte (4-3, 2-1 C-USA) at 3 p.m. CT on ESPN+ in a tussle of two of the four teams tied atop the East Division. Charlotte fell 38-9 at home last week to Florida Atlantic.
Saturday concludes with UTEP (6-1, 3-0 C-USA) traveling to Boca Raton to take on Florida Atlantic (4-3, 2-1 C-USA) at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN+. The Miners are one of the feel-good stories in college football this season, having already surpassed its total win output from the past four seasons (five from 2017-20). FAU utilized a 31-0 run in the second half to take down Charlotte, thanks to an incredibly efficient evening by QB N’Kosi Perry and huge night defensively by LB Caliph Brice.
UTSA CLIMBS IN POLLS
UTSA moved up in both of the major polls after its 45-16 win at Louisiana Tech last week. The Roadrunners come in at No. 23 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 22 in the USA Today AFCA Coaches Poll. UTSA is one of just nine undefeated teams remaining in the FBS, and heads into its bye week ahead of a West Division showdown at UTEP on Saturday, Nov. 6, on ESPN2.
NO. 24 UTSA STAYS PERFECT
The No. 24 UTSA Roadrunners improved to 8-0 (4-0 in C-USA) and picked up their first-ever win at Louisiana Tech, knocking off the Bulldogs 45-16. RB Sincere McCormick carried 23 times for 113 yards and three touch- downs, and WR Zakhari Franklin hauled in five catches for 118 yards and two scores. Defensively, DB Dadrian Taylor added a 51-yard interception return for a touchdown in the win, as the Roadrunners, who recorded six sacks, clamped down.
RICE UPENDS UAB IN BIRMINGHAM
Rice hadn’t scored on the road since Week 1, and posted 30 on the road to upend UAB, 30-24 at Protective Stadium in Birmingham. Rice QB Wiley Green completed 17-22 passes for 205 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, while WR August Pitre III hauled in six catches for 106 yards and a score in the win. Rice went 5-5 on fourth down in the win and going into play, UAB had held opponents to 5-12 on fourth downs (and Rice entered play having converted 2-5 on the season).
CUNNINGHAM LEADS MIDDLE TO WIN AT UCONN
Middle Tennessee QB Chase Cunningham had a monster night for the Blue Raiders, who knocked off UConn 44-13 in Storrs on Friday night. Cunningham completed 25-36 passes for 297 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions, while also rushing for 26 yards in the win. Middle Tennessee improves to 3-4 on the season with Friday’s road victory.
THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY
Despite trailing 9-7 at halftime, Florida Atlantic utilized a massive second half performance, highlighted by 31 unanswered second half points to knock off Charlotte 38-9 on Thurs- day night on the road. The win for the Owls means FAU improves to 2-1 in conference and 4-3 overall. The Owls are now in a four-way tie
atop the Eastern Division alongside Charlotte, Marshall and WKU.
PERRY’S EFFICIENT NIGHT
Florida Atlantic QB N’Kosi Perry had a very efficient evening for the Owls in their win at Charlotte Thursday night. Perry completed 9-11 passes for 225 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. He also rushed for 26 yards, helping lead the FAU offense to 427 yards of total offense on the night.
BRICE LEADS OWLS’ DEFENSE
Florida Atlantic clamped down defensively on Charlotte in Thursday night’s road win. LB Caliph Brice paced the Owls with 10 tackles, 3.5 for loss (0.5 sack) and a pair of quarterback hurries. FAU held Charlotte, who had averaged 43.5 points per game in its first two conference games, to nine points and just 351 yards of total offense.
AERIAL ASSAULT IN C-USA
Conference USA has been the home of some of the most prolific passing attacks in the FBS through the first eight weeks of the 2021 season. Four CUSA quarterbacks rank in the top-20 nationally in passing yardage per game – WKU’s Bailey Zappe leads the FBS (428.6), Marshall’s Grant Wells is fifth (331.9), FIU’s Max Bortenschlager is 13th (289.4) and Louisiana Tech’s Austin Kendall is 19th (270.4). Additionally, four C-USA signal-callers rank inside the top-20 nationally in passing touchdowns – Zappe is tied for the lead in the FBS (29), Middle Tennessee’s Chase Cunningham is 13th (17), Charlotte’s Chris Reynolds and UTSA’s Frank Harris are tied for 17th (16). Zappe (71.1%) and Harris (68.3%) rank sixth and 19th, respectively in completion percentage among FBS quarterbacks as well.
C-USA quarterbacks also rank 1-3-4 nationally in yards per completion – Bortenschlager (18.59), UTEP’s Gavin Hardison (17.01) and UAB’s Dylan Hopkins (15.94)
