Game of the Week:
Houston at Tulsa – The battle for the West comes to Oklahoma this weekend with a bit of a role reversal. Tulsa has been squeaking by teams all year, but comes in to the contest off a big win over Tulane, while Houston got more than it wanted from SMU on Sunday night. The Golden Hurricane benefits from a few things here – both the home field and an extra day of rest compared to the Cougars. UH is probably the C-USA’s most solid team across the board, but has a weakness for turnovers. The Cougars don’t protect the ball like they should, so if Tulsa wins the turnover battle, I think they’ll win the game. They will, and they will. Tulsa 41, Houston 34.
Best of the Rest:
Memphis at Southern Miss – The Tigers don’t have one of the C-USA’s best teams, but still do possess one of the league’s best records, at 3-2 in the league. The three wins are by a combined 7 points over Marshall, Rice and Tulane, so Memphis should be no match for a So. Miss squad that, though inconsistent, is one turnover-plagued night against Rice away from leading its division. Incumbent to the Golden Eagles’ success is pressure on Memphis QB Martin Hankins. Memphis protects its QB better than anyone in the league, but So. Miss’ Maratavius Prince leads the league in sacks and will put Hankins on his back at least once. Southern Miss 38, Memphis 21.
Ho Hum:
UTEP at Tulane – This one doesn’t interest me too much, except that UTEP can’t play a non-exciting game, so you know there will be some fireworks. If you told me before this game that the final score would be 77-74, Trevor Vittatoe would pass for 600 yards, Matt Forte would run for 800, and aliens would land on the field just in time to overturn the final referee decision via instant replay, I wouldn’t be surprised at all. Tulane 40, UTEP 3
Boooooring:
Rice at SMU – The Ponies put up a fight against Houston, and I think the letdown comes this week. Another Texas tussle it is, but this time streaking Rice is the opponent. OK, so the Owls have only won one game straight, but that’s a streak by Ricean standards, and if Chase Clement is anything like the Clement that showed up against UTEP, SMU will be in for a long, long day. SMU’s best offensive weapon is punter Thomas Morstead, 15th nationally with a 44.11 yard average per kick. He’ll get plenty of practice. Rice 30, SMU 27.
ECU at Marshall – The Pirates are rolling squads left and right, and Marshall enters off a 34-point loss to UCF. If Marshall does one thing well, it’s pass; behind Bernard Morris’ arm, the Herd ranks 28th nationally throwing the ball, which may serve them well against ECU’s 115th ranked pass defense. The best team in the C-USA has the nation’s 115th ranked pass D? Is that even possible? Apparently it is, and the Pirates are good enough elsewhere to overcome a big day from Morris. Closer than you think, but not close enough. ECU 39, Marshall 30.
UCF at UAB – The way UAB is going right now, the Blazers could have played the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, and it would have bored me to tears. They’ve lost three straight C-USA games by 102 combined points and look absolutely stinkerrific
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