C-USA Power Rankings: Week Six

Tragedy will hang over the C-USA this week after Memphis DL Taylor Bradford was murdered on the University of Memphis campus Sunday night. The game between Memphis and Marshall scheduled for Tuesday night will be played, according to ESPN. Let’s hope the entire conference can rally behind Memphis this week.

In football news, here’s the week 6 power rankings:

1. UCF – Kevin Smith found his way back to the top of nation’s rushing leaders Saturday with a 200+ yard, 3 score outing against Louisiana Lafayette. UCF is starting to play to big houses on O-Town, and the squad is still in the top 3 in 12 of 17 C-USA statistical categories. Kyle Israel got most of the passing chances against Lafayette, and UCF is a big favorite to win the conference if his efficiency mirrors the 11-20, 153 yard performance from Saturday.
2. Tulsa – UCF is the clear cut favorite right now, but after the wildly sloppy contest between ECU and Houston, Tulsa vaults both squads to #2 on the list. The Golden Hurricane put up a whopping 695 yards of offense against UAB, getting a breakout 183 yard performance from Tarrion Adams. The defense showed some leaks in allowing the Blazers to make a late run, but Paul Smith & Co. are going to outgun almost everyone left on the schedule.
3. East Carolina – Big ups to the Pirates for gutting out a win in Houston, despite getting outgained by 160 yards and surrendering a 100 yard kickoff return TD. We’ll see if Skip Holtz sticks with sophomore Robert Kass at QB, but Chris Johnson was the game’s MVP with his highest rushing total in 3 years (147). They got it done at Houston, but I wouldn’t consider myself a big believer of this squad just yet. The Pirates have only outgained their opponents once this year.
4. Houston – Well, one week after winning one they probably shouldn’t have, the Cougars lost one they should have won, at home to ECU, 37-35. Sophomore Blake Joseph was a stud in relief of Case Keenum, going 24-29 for 250 yards and 2 TD. The offense doesn’t look to be any problem at all, but the Coug D let a new QB get on track in a crucial game Saturday, and the entire squad has to take better care of the ball – minus 6 in turnover margin isn’t the stuff bowl bids are made of.
5. Southern Miss – The Eagles didn’t have much chance last week in a must win game for Boise State, so they did what almost every visiting squad does on the Smurf Turf: looked disorganized and sluggish. Now’s the change for So. Miss to build momentum – they’ll be solid favorites against Rice, SMU and Marshall, and should be 5-2 when UCF comes to town on October 28^th.
6. UTEP – The Miners didn’t exactly make a believer out of me in squeezing out an OT win against the Ponies, but there they sit, 3-2 and waiting for Tulsa, ECU and Houston to come to town for a three game home stand that will obviously make or break UTEP’s year. QB Trevor Vittatoe was off an on, mostly off against SMU, but on the Miners’ two fourth quarter TD drives, the freshman was 9 of 11 for 123 yards and 2 TD. That’s moxie, and its hard to tell yet exactly what the kid’s learning curve will be the rest of the year. RB Marcus Thomas is really coming along, and he and Vittatoe will combine for plenty of fireworks displays in El Paso. The Miners are going to outscore at least one of the big three at home.
7. SMU – The Mustangs lost a game they should have won for the second straight week, falling to UTEP in OT 48-45. This time the culprit was an inability to just pick up hard first downs in the fourth quarter. Twice SMU inherited the ball in the fourth, nursing a 7 point lead and desperately needing to burn clock. The nine plays on those two drives netted 36 yards and just one first down, and only ran a total of 4:36 off the clock in two possessions. The running game (45 cars, 257 yards) can put up all the decent stats they want when the two teams are spreading it out and running and gunning, but if they can’t push the pile when the game’s on the line against the nation’s 106^th best defense, this squad is sunk.
8. Tulane – The Green Wave D came up with a thrilling first half performance against LSU Saturday, only letting the Tigers in the endzone once until the 5 minute mark of the third period. It wasn’t like LSU was committing a gaggle of turnovers, either. Tulane just got stops, and has to be proud of their effort. The offense didn’t have a chance against the swarming LSU defense, the nation’s best, but Matt Forte and the run game did OK for awhile. We’ll see what the emotional hangover is like this week at Army.
9. UAB – The Blazers made it exciting (kind of) after falling behind Tulsa big early, but it wasn’t enough, after a colossally bad defensive start which allowed Tulsa to run up almost 700 offensive yards. Tulsa has a great attack, but the defense was a huge disappointment; they had two weeks to prepare for Paul Smith & Co. coming off a 22-nil shutout of Alcorn State, but were totally overwhelmed. This squad has to win by running the football and keeping high powered offenses on the other sideline. Note that in the Blazers’ one win, they only threw 24 times. Against Tulsa, it was 46.
10. Memphis – The Tigers now have far larger issues than football, with the tragic death of DL Taylor Bradford Sunday night. The defense was already reeling after getting ripped for 29 second half points against Arkansas State, but now the Bradford death will obviously make that game a distant memory. When they return to football, Memphis has to figure out the punting game; their 22 yard net average is dead last nationally.
11. Marshall – The Herd have been sitting on the thrashing at Cincinnati for 10 days now, and we’ll see if they can do a little better job of turning yards in to points. The Herd offense is 67^th nationally in yardage, but just 106^th in scoring. QB Bernard Morris is in the top 25 nationally in both efficiency and total offense, and the defense could help by getting some negative plays. There’s almost no pressure from the defensive front right now, with LB Ian Hoskins and the defense 115^th nationally in both sacks and TFL.
12. Rice – The Owls hit the road again for Southern Miss Wednesday, and it’ll be ugly. Rice hasn’t been within 25 of a D-1 opponent this year. They’re not getting INT, recovering fumbles, or any semblance of a ground game, with leading rusher C.J. Ugowke at 39.25 yards an outing.