C-USA Review: Week 9

Three out of six games decided by less than a touchdown, a 250 yard passing day, a couple 350 yard passing outings…just par for the course in the C-USA. Let’s take a look at the weekend action.

Game of the Week
Tulsa 29, SMU 23 – The Ponies didn’t look like much on paper, but they just kept plugging away, getting a 52-yard field goal to take the lead with over ten minutes to go. After a Paul Smith fumble and another Tulsa punt, SMU drove to the Tulsa 2-yard line with second and goal. But the Golden Hurricane defense made its biggest goal line stand of the year, stuffing SMU and giving Paul Smith and the offense the ball back, 99 yards from victory. Smith found Charles Clay for a 51 yard score just under minute to go, and Tulsa survived. I thought this one might be closer than the experts thought, but certainly wasn’t prepared for Tulsa to need a 99-yard drive with the game on the line. Golden Hurricane fans have to be pleased that the defense stood up for a big play, but this wasn’t nearly the performance Tulsa needed to build momentum for the stretch drive.

Best of the Rest

Memphis 28, Tulane 27 – Oh, Tulane. Up my six at the Memphis 5, Green Wave kicker Ross Thevenot missed a 22-yard field goal. Memphis took over with five minutes to go, and drove 80 yards down the field, converting three straight third downs as Martin Hankins found Duke Calhoun for a 5-yard score with 36 seconds to play, and an extra point gave the Tigers a win. The Wave lost its third heartbreaker in four weeks while Matt Forte put up another gargantuan outing, getting 278 yards on 44 carries. Forte now leads UCF’s Kevin Smith for the national rushing lead by a whopping 37 yards a game, but it hasn’t been enough to help Tulane win close games. The Tigers got their second straight gutty performance from Martin Hankins, who chucked for 355 and two scores, including the winner.


Houston 34, UTEP 31 – The total score wasn’t quite as high as we would have guessed, but the outcome was just as close. Houston held off UTEP’s late charge to win another barn burner in El Paso, and leaves west Texas the clear-cut division leader. The Miner offense looked like it might post another heroic late drive, but Lorne Sam couldn’t corral a sideline pass on 4th and 1 from the 36 and Houston took over for the W. The Cougars’ QB carousel swung to Case Keenum, who paced UH with a 13-20, 116 yard day. Anthony Aldridge was as great as he’s been all year, topping the 200 yard mark on just 27 carries.

Ho Hum

Marshall 34, Rice 21 – Marshall plowed its way in to the win column with an emphatic 34-21 over Rice, riding a monster dual-threat day from QB Bernard Morris (223 passing yards, 120 rushing yards) and a great start by the defense, which gave Marshall a chance to build a 17-0 lead and get some breathing room. Don’t ask me how Vegas saw this one coming: the Herd was a 9-point favorite despite a rough early season that saw them start 0-7. Now, it’s the Owls looking up at the rest of the C-USA, sitting at 1-7 themselves and ranked 118th nationally in almost every single defensive category. Ouch. Owls fans: Hoo’s looking forward to next year?

UCF 34, Southern Miss 17 – The Knights sent a little message to the East that they aren’t dead yet, winning an easy Sunday night victory over the sometimes-great sometimes-brutal Golden Eagles. Kevin Smith got yards, but QB Kyle Israel is the linchpin to UCF’s late season success, and with very solid outings in his last three C-USA outings, the signal-caller is starting to hit peak form. If the defense plays like it did tonight, forcing four turnovers and making life easier for Israel and the offense. Southern Miss has potential, but when they turn the ball over, like they did tonight, the Eagles are really, really bad.

Boooooooooooooooring

East Carolina 41, UAB 6 – The Pirates now boast what is easily the most impressive bowl resume of any C-USA squad, with wins over North Carolina, UTEP, Houston, UCF and UAB. Get a load of Patrick Pinkney’s QB rating: 370.8. Egads. Pinkney was 6 of 7 for 159 yards and 2TD and the running game rolled to the tune of 216 yards on 35 carries. The bright spot for UAB was…the final gun?