C-USA Preview: Week Six

With two weeknight contests out of the way, it’s a fairly light weekend in the C-USA, with only two conference battles. But both of the showdowns are big, as the winners of the conference clashes will be the leaders of their division races. Let’s get to it:

Game of the Week

UCF at East Carolina – ECU got a huge win over Houston last week, keeping alive its bowl hopes and outside chances of winning the East. With a win over the Golden Knights, the Pirates will be the division leaders and possess a tiebreak over UCF. On paper, the Golden Knights are clearly the better team, but this Pirate bunch is still a team that went bowling last year and has a lot to prove. ECU’s first task will be stopping Kevin Smith, still the nation’s leading rusher at 178.25 yards per game. The Pirate defense is getting solid contributions from junior DL Zack Slate (2 sacks, 7 TFL, 27 tackles) and junior LB Quentin Cotton (7 TFL, 44 tackles). ECU’s rush D is the strongest of its 4 units, and that should help in containing Smith. UCF will likely counter with a bit more passing from Kyle Israel, who hasn’t thrown deep much, but has protected the ball well. ECU is dangerous, but the Golden Knights are the better team on paper, and they’ll assert their dominance on the field. UCF 30, East Carolina 17.

Best of the Rest:

Tulsa at UTEP – The Golden Hurricane get the Miners this week, in the first of three home games for UTEP against three of C-USAs best teams. The UTEP pass D is 112^th in the nation, surrendering 112 yards an outing, so once again Paul Smith and the air attack should have no trouble at all slinging around the pig skin. This is a scarier offense than the UAB one that earned 400+ yards against Tulsa in a late come from behind effort last week. Trevor Vittatoe put on a clinic in the fourth quarter against SMU last week, leading the Miners to a come from behind 48-45 win that should have the offense playing with a ton of offense. UTEP is going to nab a win one of the next three weeks; let’s just hope its not this one. Tulsa 38, UTEP 28.

Ho Hum:

Houston at Alabama – If I were ‘Bama, I’d be wary of the Cougars Saturday, with Houston coming off a tough loss and the Tide looking down the road at the SEC battles of October. Alabama has been pretty average this year, with the exception of a surprising win over an Arkansas squad that I still think can’t pass or play defense. Regardless, the Cougars missed a chance to size the C-USA West by the throat last week against ECU, but I still think the Cougars could be the class of the division. Houston is running well (24^th nationally), throwing well (23^rd nationally), and giving up the fewest yards in the C-USA (364.25 per game). They’ve also played the toughest non-conference schedule in the league, but all that prep won’t be quite enough. The Cougars come out inspired, but Bama put them away midway through the fourth quarter. Alabama 34, Houston 26.

Tulane at Army – It’ll be interesting to see how the Green Wave respond after an LSU game that was clearly really important to them. Tulane trailed just 10-9 at half, but couldn’t do anything in the second half as the Tigers won going away. You might be surprised to know that Army’s defense is actually not too bad; the Cadets are giving up just 21 points an outing, and are 2-0 at famed Michie Stadium on the year. Army is getting contributions from a lot of bodies on defense, and the atmosphere on the banks of the Hudson will help them get a win. Army 21, Tulane 17.

Booorrrrrrring

UAB at Mississippi State – The Blazer offense may have gotten on track last week against Tulsa, scoring 14 points in the last 7 minutes to make a blow out respectable, but the defense is still in the bottom ten nationally in almost every category. The alarming numbers from last week’s battle weren’t the passing ones surrendered to Paul Smith, but the 183 yards given up on the ground to Tarrion Adams, easily the most yards the junior has ever posted against a D-I opponent. UAB is getting a lot of help from tackling machine Will Dunbar (1^st nationally, 13.67 per game), but when anybody is making that many tackles, it means nobody’s getting off the field soon enough. Mississippi State 33, UAB 13.