C-USA Power Rankings: Week Five

Kind of a ho-hum week in C-USA this week; but before conference action picks up steam and we draw closer to October, let’s take a look at how the teams stack up. Remember, this is my ranking for how good the teams are right now, and how’d they fare tomorrow on a neutral field. I’m not talking about how they’l l end up in November, or how their schedule looks. Let’s get to it:

1. UCF – Kevin Smith is 3^rd in the nation in rushing, and the Golden Knights are the toast of Orlando. Sure, things would be a lot rosier if UCF had finished the job against Texas, but they probably shouldn’t been in that game at all, and the Smith led offensive juggernaut shows no signs of slowing down until November. All things considered, the defense hasn’t too bad, either. UCF’s D is tops in C-USA in sacks, led by Antonio Wallace’s 1.5. The D is a solid third in C-USA in scoring and yards, and 4^th in rush D. Time will tell if the two-QB system that worked like gangbusters against Memphis will hold up.
2. Houston – The Cougars look like easily the class of the West division, with two nice wins and a loss against Oregon that looks more and more impressive as time goes on. QB Case Keenum looked awfully sharp against Colorado State, making plays with his arm (18-22, 197 yards, 2 TD) and feet (12 carries, 57 yards, 2 TDs). This team doesn’t look spectacular, but up and down, look like the most solid team in the West. The Cougars are 4^th or better in the conference in a ton of categories: rush yards, pass yards, total yards, total D, scoring D, pass D, TFL and sacks allowed.
3. Southern Miss – This is kind of a de facto pick, as none of the next group has really established themselves as a top three team yet. The Golden Eagle D has looked like a stopper against decent competition, with Gerald McRath & Co. making three giant stops two weeks ago against East Carolina to help So. Miss get a big road win. McRath is second nationally in tackles, and DL Martavius Prince has 2.5 sacks in three games. Cutting down on turnovers will put this team in contention for a C-USA title; 7 giveaways in three games ain’t good.
4. Tulsa – Paul Smith is putting up gargantuan numbers at QB, and is currently on pace for a 4400 yard season. He might get there, too, if the line protects him. Smith has gone down 8 times already, over halfway to his 2006 total of 15. But the line isn’t protecting or opening holes for the running game, at least doing either well enough to give the Hurricane a chance to enter the conference’s upper echelon quite yet. While we’re talking negatives, the defense has been pretty bad against two scary offenses, and currently sits at 114^th in the NCAA in both scoring and yardage defense. Getting in to the backfield would help; Tulsa is 86^th in sacks and 90^th in TFL.
5. East Carolina – I’d consider the Pirates one of the more dangerous 1-3 teams in America, despite being totally embarrassed Saturday in Morgantown. Everyone’s going to get drilled by West Virginia, so ECU has to regroup and get back on the right foot at Houston this week. The schedule is killer out of the gate for Skip Holtz’s bunch, with VA Tech, UNC and West Virginia in the non-conference paired with an opening C-USA lineup of Southern Miss, Houston and UCF. The defense has been good enough, but the offense isn’t getting enough first downs, and both units are killing themselves with penalties, racking up 37 for 229 yards in just four games.
6. UTEP – Nothing like beating down Texas Southern to get your mojo back. Trevor Vittatoe and the UTEP offense looked scary-efficient Saturday, and Marcus Thomas scored 2 TDs on 9.5 ypc while the Miners raced to a 38-0 halftime lead. But UTEP was playing a horrible Texas Southern squad that sits at 0-4 in the SWAC. The defensive line has been terrible, applying almost no QB pressure (4 sacks in 4 games) and not giving the d-backs a chance to cover anyone (111^th in passing defense). I don’t think we know a whole lot about the Miners just yet, but we will soon: after SMU this week, its consecutive home dates against Tulsa, ECU and Houston.
7. UAB – Good news: Blazer kicker Swayze Waters has a name to die for, and a pretty good leg, too. Waters is 9 of 10 on FGs for the year (1^st in the nation), averages 10.67 ppg (17^th), punts OK (39.0 ypp), and has four tackles on special teams. Bad news: Waters is the best player on the team. Of 17 major statistical categories, UAB ranks above 5^th in C-USA in only two (turnover margin and TFL), and hasn’t shown many bright spots. The Blazers battled Florida State to a 10-point defeat two weeks ago with a nice game from senior QB Sam Hunt, but cost themselves any chance of an upset with 12 penalties for 110 yards. You can’t do that.
8. Memphis – The Tigers went to Orlando and got whipped Saturday, but the loss shouldn’t kill them. Memphis might be favored the next five weeks in a row, and although they won’t win all five, this team really could be 5-3 or even 6-2 before the C-USA schedule picks up. Martin Hankins is having another nice year under center (67-105, 713 yards), but the INTs have to slow down if Memphis is going to make a run at a bowl game. Memphis has been great in the return game (C-USA ratings: 2^nd in punt returns, 3^rd in kick returns), but terrible in the kicking game. Tiger kickers haven’t made a field goal in 4 tries, and are averaging just 26 yards per punt.
9. SMU – Saturday was a rough day for SMU, as Phil Bennett’s Ponies lost a game they really, really needed to win and should have. The ‘Stangs dominated TCU between the tackles, outgaining the Frogs 352-250, owning them in almost every statistical category. But SMU got brutalized on special teams, giving up a 58 yard INT-return TD and a 17 yard blocked punt return TD. The defense deserved better, as they held TCU to 13 first downs; where will they go from here, after seeing their best effort of the year fall short?
10. Tulane – Matt Forte, where you have been all my life? The Tulane senior RB set C-USA records with 303 yards and 5 scores against a porous SE Louisiana D Saturday. When you can have a day like that, and still your team only sits at 67^th in the nation in rushing, you know you’ve got big problems. The defense is giving up points in bunches, even to a bad FCS team like SE Louisiana. If Forte even gets 100 yards against LSU this week, I’ll be shocked. The Tigers lead the nation in rush D, total D, and pass efficiency D.
11. Marshall – Mark your calendars for October 27^th, when Rice and Marshall do battle for this 11^th spot. The Herd has a few more bright spots, giving them the nod as of now. The passing attack has actually been fairly potent, ranking 22^nd nationally in yards. But the bulk of those came against New Hampshire, and the 4-5 TD-INT ratio in the three D-I contests isn’t going to help. Other bright spots: DB C.J. Spillman is ripping off almost 12 tackles a game, and Darius Marshall has been a stud on kick returns, averaging 30 yards a pop without a long one for TD.
12. Rice – The Owls are 10^th or worse in the conference in 15 of 17 major stat categories, and haven’t been within 25 points of beating a D-1 squad. There are easier routes to the winner’s circle than taking on three Big 12 south squads, but Rice has almost nothing to build on heading in to Hattiesburg next week. Both lines are getting positively manhandled, having given up 17 sacks and only tallied 5.

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