AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE FOOTBALL REPORT
2022 Season • Week 1 (Sept. 1-3)
THIS WEEK
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1
South Carolina State at UCF
Time: 7 p.m.
Series: UCF leads, 3-0
Last Meeting: Sept. 8, 2018 (UCF, 38-0)
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2
Temple at Duke
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Series: Duke leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: Dec. 27, 2018 (Duke, 56-27)
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3
NC State at East Carolina
Time: Noon
Series: NC State leads, 18-13
Last Meeting: Aug. 31, 2019 (NC State, 34-6)
Delaware at Navy
Time: Noon
Series: Navy leads, 10-7
Last Meeting: Sept. 14, 2013 (Navy, 51-7)
Cincinnati at Arkansas
Time: 3:30 p.m.
Series: First meeting
Houston at UTSA
Time: 3:30 p.m.
Series: Tied, 1-1
Last Meeting: Aug. 29, 2014 (UTSA, 27-7)
Tulsa at Wyoming
Time: 3:30 p.m.
Series: Tied, 3-3
Last Meeting: Sept. 21, 2019 (Tulsa, 24-21)
BYU at South Florida
Time: 4 p.m.
Series: Tied, 1-1
Last Meeting: Sept. 25, 2021 (BYU, 35-27)
Massachusetts at Tulane
Time: 7 p.m.
Series: Tulane leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: Oct. 1, 2016 (Tulane, 31-24)
Memphis at Mississippi State
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Series: Mississippi State leads, 34-11
Last Meeting: Sept. 18, 2021 (Memphis, 31-29)
SMU at North Texas
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Series: SMU leads, 34-6
Last Meeting: Sept. 11, 2021 (SMU, 35-12)
All times Eastern
THE AMERICAN TODAY
All 11 American Athletic Conference teams are in action in Week 1 of the 2022 season as the conference looks for another history-making season.
The 2021 season saw The American send a team to the College Football Playoff for the first time (Cincinnati) and place seven of its 11 teams in bowl games. The conference matched its best showing in the NFL Draft with 19 players selected, including 10 selections in the draft’s first two days.
Nine of The American’s games in Week 1 will be on linear television, including Saturday doubleheaders on ESPN and ESPNU and a tripleheader on CBS Sports Network.
The American has two teams in the preseason national polls as Cincinnati is ranked No. 23 in the Associated Press poll and No. 22 in the coaches’ poll. Houston is No. 24 and No. 25, respectively.
The American is one of six conferences with two teams ranked in the preseason poll (along with the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC). It is the second time in the last three years that The American begins a season with two ranked teams.
Cincinnati’s season-opener against No. 19/23 Arkansas Saturday is one of three Week 1 games between nationally ranked teams (along with Oregon-Georgia and Notre Dame-Ohio State). Houston’s season-opener at UTSA Saturday is the only Week 1 game between teams that won 12 or
more games last season.
Two American Athletic Conference teams will host top-25 opponents in Week 1. East Carolina welcomes No. 13/13 NC State to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, while South Florida entertains No. 25 BYU in Tampa.
TALKING POINTS
UCF
9-4, 5-3 American
@UCF_Football
Next: Sept. 1 vs. South Carolina State (ESPN+)
American Ranks
Total Offense…………………………. 402.5 ………………….. 7th
Total Defense…………………………369.3 …………………..4th
Scoring Offense ………………………..31.9 …………………..4th
Scoring Defense ……………………… 24.5 …………………..3rd
• UCF closed the regular season with five wins in its last six games after the victory against South Florida in the War on I-4.
• UCF went 7-0 at home in 2021 and has gone 30-2 at FBC Mortgage Stadium since the start of the 2017 season.
• The Knights are 49-12 in their last 60 games, trailing only Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Georgia and Clemson in that stretch.
• Head coach Gus Malzahn has named QB John Rhys Plumlee, a transfer from Ole Miss, as the Knights’ starter against South Carolina State.
• UCF returns its top five rushers and six of its top seven receivers from the 2021 season.
CINCINNATI
13-1, 8-0 American
@BearcatsFB
Next: Sept. 3 at Arkansas (ESPN)
American Ranks
Total Offense…………………………..414.5 …………………..5th
Total Defense………………………….318.4 …………………. 2nd
Scoring Offense ……………………….36.9 …………………. 2nd
Scoring Defense ……………………….16.9 ……………………1st
• Cincinnati became the first American Athletic Conference team to reach the College Football Playoff with its No. 4 finish in the 2021 CFP
rankings.
• Cincinnati has won its last 27 home games and has the second-longest homefield winning streak nationally (Clemson, 31).
• Cincinnati is 45-7 since the start of the 2018 season and 22-2 in the last two seasons.
• The Bearcats had nine players selected in the 2022 NFL Draft, trailing only Georgia (15) and LSU (10) nationally.
• The Bearcats have been ranked in an American Athletic Conference-record 45 consecutive national polls.
EAST CAROLINA
7-5, 5-3 American
@ECUPiratesFB
Next: Sept. 3 vs. NC State (ESPN)
American Ranks
Total Offense…………………………..433.2 …………………..4th
Total Defense………………………… 394.4 …………………..6th
Scoring Offense ………………………..29.7 …………………..6th
Scoring Defense ………………………26.3 …………………..4th
• East Carolina won four of its last five games to close the 2021 season.
• RB Keaton Mitchell and K Owen Daffer were named as first-team all-conference selections by The American’s head coaches.
• Mitchell finished the regular season as The American’s leader in rushing yards (1,132).
• QB Holton Ahlers threw for 3,126 yards and 18 touchdowns and had six rushing TDs in the regular season.
• Ahlers enters the 2022 season with career totals of 812 completions, 10,219 passing yards, 11,481 total yards and 69 touchdown passes.
HOUSTON
12-2, 8-0 American
@UHCougarFB
Next: Sept. 3 at UTSA (CBSSN)
American Ranks
Total Offense……………………………413.1 …………………..6th
Total Defense…………………………..301.1 ……………………1st
Scoring Offense ……………………….35.9 …………………..3rd
Scoring Defense ……………………… 20.4 …………………. 2nd
• Houston became the fourth team in American Athletic Conference history to finish 8-0 in conference games, joining UCF’s 2013, 2017 and 2018 teams.
• The Cougars registered their ninth 10-win season in program history and their first since 2015.
• Houston made a nine-game improvement in the win column from 2020 to 2021. The Cougars went 3-5 in 2020 and 12-2 last season.
• The Cougars’ eight-game conference winning streak is Houston’s longest since a 10-game stretch from 2011-12, when Houston was in Conference USA.
• Houston was chosen as the American Athletic Conference favorite for the second time in the league’s 10 seasons (2016).
MEMPHIS
6-6, 3-5 American
@TigersAthletics
Next: Sept. 3 at Mississippi State (ESPNU)
American Ranks
Total Offense………………………….434.9 …………………..3rd
Total Defense………………………….418.2 …………………..9th
Scoring Offense ………………………..30.1 …………………..5th
Scoring Defense ………………………29.3 …………………..8th
• Memphis has been bowl-eligible in eight consecutive seasons, the longest such stretch in program history.
• The Tigers are 31-4 at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium since the start of the 2017 season.
• QB Seth Henigan passed for 3,322 yards and 25 touchdowns as a true freshman on his way to FWAA Freshman All-America honors.
• Memphis has won 71 games since the start of the 2014 season, the most among American Athletic Conference institutions.
• Memphis’ game at Mississippi State marks the first season-opener on the road for the Tigers since 2010, also against the Bulldogs.
NAVY
4-8, 3-5 American
@NavyAthletics
Next: Sept. 3 vs. Delaware (CBSSN)
American Ranks
Total Offense…………………………. 282.3 ………………….11th
Total Defense…………………………348.6 …………………..3rd
Scoring Offense ………………………..20.1 …………………10th
Scoring Defense ………………………28.3 …………………..6th
• Navy enters the 2022 season with 729 wins in program history, tying Arkansas for 26th among NCAA FBS teams.
• Navy has gone 33-22 in the American Athletic Conference since joining the league in 2015.
• The Midshipmen are 55-22 at home under head coach Ken Niumatalolo.
• Navy’s 12 opponents in 2022 were a combined 100-52 (.658) last season, making the Midshipmen’s schedule the toughest in the nation based on opponents’ winning percentage.
• The Midshipmen committed only eight turnovers in 2021, by far the fewest among American Athletic Conference teams and the third-fewest of any NCAA FBS team.
SOUTH FLORIDA
2-10, 1-7 American
@USFFootball
Next: Sept. 3 vs. BYU (ESPNU)
American Ranks
Total Offense…………………………..351.2 …………………10th
Total Defense………………………….472.2 ………………….11th
Scoring Offense ………………………. 23.2 …………………..9th
Scoring Defense ……………………….34.7 …………………10th
• South Florida returns 20 starters from last year’s team (nine on offense, nine on defense, two on special teams).
• QB Gerry Bohanon, who led Baylor to the Big 12 championship game last season, was named as the Bulls’ Opening Day starter by coach Jeff
Scott.
• RB Brian Battie was chosen as an NCAA Consensus All-America selection as a return specialist. He is the first South Florida player since George Selvie in 2007 to be named to the Consensus All-America team.
• South Florida has 12 ‘super seniors’ on its roster.
• Nine of South Florida’s 12 opponents earned bowl bids last season. Three of the 12 finished in the final national polls of 2021.
SMU
8-4, 4-4 American
@SMU_Football
Next: Sept. 3 at North Texas (CBSSN)
American Ranks
Total Offense………………………….465.9 ……………………1st
Total Defense………………………….414.5 …………………..8th
Scoring Offense ……………………….38.4 ……………………1st
Scoring Defense ……………………… 28.4 …………………..6th
• Saturday’s game at North Texas will mark Rhett Lashlee’s head coaching debut.
• QB Tanner Mordecai had an American Athletic Conference-record 39 touchdown passes in 2021.
• SMU has won at least eight games in two of the last three seasons.
• SMU won its first seven games of the 2021 season, but the Mustangs dropped four of their last five to close the regular season.
• SMU has been bowl-eligible four times in the last five seasons. The Mustangs were slated to face Virginia in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl last
year before the game was canceled.
TEMPLE
3-9, 1-7 American
@Temple_FB
Next: Sept. 2 at Duke (ACC Network)
American Ranks
Total Offense………………………….. 287.4 …………………10th
Total Defense…………………………398.3 ………………….. 7th
Scoring Offense ………………………..16.3 ………………….11th
Scoring Defense ……………………….37.5 ………………….11th
• Stan Drayton was named as Temple’s 29th head coach. Drayton had most recently served as associate head coach at Texas and was running back cocah at Ohio State in 2015, when the Buckeyes won the College Football Playoff National Championship.
• The Owls started the 2021 season with three wins in their first five games, but dropped their last seven games, all by at least 20 points.
• Temple had been bowl-eligible in six conecutive seasons prior to the 2020 COVID-affected season.
• More than half of Temple’s 2022 roster has four years of eligibility remaining.
• Temple scored at least 34 points in each of its three wins last season, but was held to 14 points or fewer in each of its nine losses
TULANE
2-10, 1-7 American
@GreenWaveFB
Next: Sept. 3 vs. Massachusetts (ESPN+)
American Ranks
Total Offense………………………….386.5 …………………..8th
Total Defense………………………… 429.6 …………………10th
Scoring Offense ………………………..27.6 ………………….. 7th
Scoring Defense ………………………34.0 …………………..9th
• Tulane saw a streak of three consecutive seasons with bowl eligiblity come to an end last season.
• The Green Wave features one of the nation’s more experienced teams, with 18 returning starters (nine on offense, nine on defense).
• RB Tyjae Spears rushed for 863 yards and nine touchdowns in only nine games, including 264 yards in the season-finale against Memphis.
• QB Michael Pratt enters his third season as the Green Wave’s starting signal-caller. Pratt threw for 2,390 yards and 21 touchdowns in 2021.
• Tulane, which didn’t play a game at Yulman Stadium until Sept. 25 last season, plays three of its first four at home in 2022, beginning with
Saturday’s contest against Massachusetts.
TULSA
7-6, 5-3 American
@TulsaFootball
Next: Sept. 3 at Wyoming (FS1)
American Ranks
Total Offense…………………………. 443.5 …………………. 2nd
Total Defense………………………….370.9 …………………..5th
Scoring Offense ………………………. 26.4 …………………..8th
Scoring Defense ………………………26.6 …………………..5th
• Tulsa won its last three games of the regular season to secure bowl eligibility for the second consecutive year. The Golden Hurricane closed
the year with a win against Old Dominion in the Myrtle Beach Bowl.
• Tulsa came from behind to win four games in the 2021 regular season and has 20 comeback wins under coach Philip Montgomery.
• The Golden Hurricane went 6-2 in its last eight games to offset a 1-4 start.
• Tulsa was picked eighth in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll. The Golden Hurricane has finished at least three places higher than its predicted finish in the last two seasons.
• Tulsa’s schedule included three games against teams ranked in the top seven of the final Associated Press poll of the regular season.
