C-USA Review: Week 12

We’re coming up on season’s end now, and the final bell tolled for a bunch of teams across the land this Saturday. How did they finish the year, and who lived to tell about it? Check it out:

Game of the Week

Houston 35, Marshall 28 - The Cougars got off the mat following last week’s humiliating shellacking at Tulsa with a close win over Marshall that was still in doubt until the end. For three quarters, the game was quietly subdued, as Houston led 20-14 with 15 minutes to play. Then, the cork popped, as the teams traded TDs throughout the fourth, with the last coming on Kelvin Turner’s 1 yard run with two and a half to go. Marshall couldn’t score again, though, and the Cougs held on. If Todd Graham and Tulsa fail in the homecoming game vs. Rice, UH still grabs the West title.

Best of the Rest

Tulsa 49, Army 39 - It certainly wasn’t a defensive performance to write home about, but the Golden Hurricane dodged a textbook “Trap game” scenario and escaped Army with a win. Tulsa never really had the game wrapped up until 93 seconds remained, when QB Paul Smith ran in from a yard out, making it a 10 point margin for good. Smith dazzled, throwing with sharp efficiency and big play potential (22-32, 390 yards, 2 TD). Tulsa was especially clutch on third downs, grabbing 7 of 12 conversions.

Ho Hum

Southern Miss 56, UTEP 30 - The Miners didn’t just go in the tank during this year’s second half, they crawled in the tank, set up shop, and started getting their mail forwarded there. UTEP completed an epic second half collapse with a 26 point loss at home against Southern Miss, and gave up 40 points on D for the sixth time this year. The way the Miners are going right now, they wouldn’t fare well in the Texas High School Playoffs; all Southern Miss had to do was stay in bounds and not beat themselves; RB Damion Fletcher did that and then some, galloping for 211 yards on 34 carries, along with three scores.


Tulane 45, Rice 31 - Matt Forte is now the single season rushing leader in C-USA history, and there’s still one game left on the ticket. Forte has ripped off 2,007 yards in 2007, with 194 yards on 39 carries in this one, getting his fifth score with a full seven and a half minutes left in the game. Rice cut it to a 14 point game after that, but Ade Tuyo got in from 1 yard out to ice it for Marshall with two minutes to go. Chase Clement broke some records of his own on the Rice side of the ball, with 353 passing yards, setting a school record for 3,319 offensive yards in a season.

Booooooooring

UCF 49, SMU 20 - The Knights drew one step closer to holding C-USA’s annual post season pow wow in Orlando, and that’s what’ll happen if they do to UTEP next week what they did to SMU this Saturday. The Ponies haven’t won since Sept. 8th, and the Phil Bennett farewell tour continued in style, as SMU was once again unable to overcome turnovers and mental letdowns to stay competitive. This is the kind of play that has marked the Bennett regime in Dallas, and it was on display yet again in the second quarter; with SMU just 2 minutes from heading to the locker room competitive, down 28-13, the ‘Stangs let Kevin Smith tromp 80 yards for a score, to send them to the break tails between their legs. Smith finished with 177 on just 20 carries; Kyle Israel was efficient as ever with 11-16 passing for 173 yards.


Memphis 25, UAB 9 - Memphis cracked the ranks of the bowl eligible for the fourth time sine 2003 with a boring win over UAB that brought the Blazers’ abysmal campaign one step closer to a merciful end. The Tigers got their fifth C-USA win of the year thanks to Martin Hankins’ ability to terrorize the UAB defense on a day when he averaged 21 yards per completed pass. He only connected on 14, 4 of which went to rising star Duke Calhoun, but those accounted for 159 yards, including a long of 70. Kicker Matt Reagan nailed four FGs to keep Memphis scoring even when its drives were stalling in the red zone.