Conference USA Week #1 Football Recap

Tulsa 37, Tulane 13

Return specialist Damaris Johnson accumulated 252 all-purpose yards, including a game-sealing punt return for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, as Tulsa rolled over the Green Wave in New Orleans. The Golden Hurricane bolted to a quick 17-0 lead and never looked back, as quarterback G.J. Kinne, taking over the offense from David Johnson, efficiently operated coach Todd Graham's attack. Kinne completed 15-of-20 passes for 211 yards without an interception. The lack of mistakes from Kinne made it hard for an outmanned Tulane team to get its teeth into the tussle. Joe Kemp was serviceable as Tulane's quarterback, going 16-of-26 for 278 yards and a touchdown, but his one interception--thrown in the first quarter--enabled the visitors from Oklahoma to accumulate their 17-0 bulge.

East Carolina 29, Appalachian State 24
The Pirates roared to an early 17-0 lead, and led 29-7 after three quarters, but then let down their guard and almost got ambushed by their FCS opponent, the same Appy State program that stunned Michigan two years ago in Ann Arbor. ECU's sixth-year senior quarterback, Patrick Pinkney, was surprisingly rusty in this game. Pinkney completed just 12 of his 27 passes and threw two picks to keep the visiting Mountaineers in contention. Appy State outscored the Pirates 17-0 in the fourth quarter to get within one possession, but the Mountaineers' final drive stalled with 16 seconds left in regulation. What makes this result even more concerning for coach Skip Holtz and the ECU braintrust is that ASU was playing without starting quarterback Armanti Edwards.

UAB 44, Rice 24

The UAB restoration project under coach Neil Callaway is on schedule. The Blazers, needing to make progress in year three of Callaway's tenure, fulfilled their potential in this rout of Rice in Birmingham. Blazer quarterback Joe Webb was simply sensational on Saturday afternoon, rolling up 410 yards of total offense--221 passing, 189 rushing--while throwing no interceptions and completing 80 percent of his passes. UAB ran up more than 500 yards of total offense (513, to be precise) on the way to a 27-3 halftime advantage. While Rice is not the same team it was last season, when the Owls won 10 games, the authoritative victory is still quite encouraging for the Blazers.

Marshall 31, Southern Illinois 28

The Thundering Herd didn't spank the visiting Salukis in Huntington, W. Va.; they merely held on for a 3-point win against their FCS opponent. A win is a win, but the close-shave experience won't inspire a lot of confidence in coach Mark Snyder's group. Marshall was able to pull out this tense affair because of its pitch-and-catch proficiency. Quarterback Brian Anderson completed 75 percent of his passes (27-of-36) for 316 yards and 3 touchdowns, while his two prime receivers, Chuck Walker and Cody Slate, ran wild in the Salukis' secondary. Walker caught 10 passes for 119 yards, while Slate hauled in nine for 114 yards and two scores. Marshall will need more playmaking consistency in future weeks, but in the meantime, the Herd will need to protect the ball better (they committed two turnovers) and find an extra attitude on defense. Marshall forced three turnovers, but the home team's defense was very average for much of the evening.

Houston 55, Northwestern State 7

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Case Keenum lit up the night in Houston, as the Cougars rolled in a paycheck game against an FCS opponent. Keenum went 23-of-30 for 359 yards and 4 touchdowns without an interception, as coach Kevin Sumlin's crew accumulated a 35-0 lead against the visiting Demons. While some C-USA teams ( Tulsa, Tulane, Rice, UAB) played conference games on Saturday, the Cougs started with the equivalent of a scrimmage. Now, the going gets tough for UH, which will tackle Oklahoma State in a week two showdown.

Southern Miss 52, Alcorn State 0

Quarterback Austin Davis had a smooth evening at the controls of coach Larry Fedora's offense. The Southern Miss signal caller went 19-of-25 for 217 yards and 3 touchdowns without an interception, as the home team rolled to a 35-0 halftime lead and rested its starters in the second half. Star running back Damion Fletcher had 19 carries for 126 yards and a touchdown on a night when USM produced 631 yards of total offense.

UCF 28, Samford 24

The Golden Knights escaped with a win in their season opener, but trouble looms for coach George O'Leary's lads unless they can right the ship in practice this week. UCF trailed the FCS-level Bulldogs, 21-13, in the third quarter, and was heading for an embarrassing loss at the start of an attempt to blot out the memory of a disappointing 2008. O'Leary had to pull the trigger at quarterback, pulling starter Rob Calabrese in the second quarter in favor of backup Brett Hodges. In the third quarter, Hodges threw a pick-six that gave Samford its eight-point lead, but to his everlasting credit, Hodges battled back to lead the Golden Knights past the Bulldogs. The No. 2 quarterback on the UCF depth chart, thrust into the action because of Calabrese's ineffectiveness, directed a touchdown drive midway through the third quarter and then tied the score with a 2-point conversion pass to teammate Brynn Harvey. Later, after the Bulldogs retook a lead (24-21) on the strength of a 41-yard field goal, Hodges marched his mates smartly downfield before finding Jamar Newsome with a 9-yard touchdown strike to give UCF the lead for good with 10:53 left. The home team's defense held on the rest of the way in Orlando, sparing O'Leary an awful result in a season that's still searching for a spark. The Knights need to find some extra fire if they're going to amount to anything in '09.

Southern Methodist 31, Stephen F. Austin 23

When you've been victimized by something called the "NCAA Death Penalty," you won't care how you win... as long as it's morally and ethically acceptable, of course. The SMU Mustangs achieved that goal Saturday night in Dallas, edging the feisty visitors from the neighboring Texas town of Nacogdoches. The final score might indicate an eight-point margin of victory, but for all intents and purposes, this was a one-point triumph for coach June Jones's team, on the road back from football purgatory. The Lumberjacks from the FCS trailed, 24-23, with 2:13 remaining in regulation, and had a 39-yard field goal lined up, but SFA kicker Evan Engwall's boot floated wide left. The game was won and lost right there, but the Mustangs added a tack-on touchdown for a cosmetically pleasing final tally. Other than the decisive field goal missed by the Lumberjacks, the game's other huge play came midway through the fourth quarter, when the Mustangs--down 23-17--faced football's ultimate crucible: fourth and goal from the 1. SMU quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell was up to the challenge, hitting paydirt for the score that tipped the scales in the home team's favor. SMU isn't good enough to expect to crush opponents; merely adding to the "W" side of the ledger is the only thing the program can really ask for at this point.

Buffalo 23, UTEP 17

When you play a challenging game against a good team in week one of a college football season, the potential rewards are exceeded only by the sense of pain that can emerge from defeat. Unfortunately for the University of Texas-El Paso Miners, the pain is what's coursing through the veins of a shattered football team at the moment. The attempt to revive the Mike Price era in Southwest Texas suffered a major wound Saturday night in the Sun Bowl stadium, as the home team--despite committing no turnovers--couldn't overcome the Bulls from the Mid-American Conference. UTEP fell behind 23-7, only to rally for 10 second-half points and chip the Bulls' lead to just six in the final minutes. Driving at Buffalo's 20 late in the game, the Miners appeared on their way to a go-ahead score and the win that would lift their sails for the rest of the 2009 campaign. Just then, however, Price's pupils snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, as a holding penalty, quickly followed by an unsportsmanlike conduct flag, took the Miners and star quarterback Trevor Vittatoe out of reasonable scoring range. The drive fizzled, and a Buffalo team that made a bowl game last season (for the first time in the program's history) made another step toward respectability. As for the Miners, they're going to have to absorb this stomach-punch loss and move on quickly. If they carry the sting of this setback another week, their season will only get worse.

Ole Miss 45, Memphis 14

The Memphis Tigers played the No. 8 team in America on dead-even terms through three quarters in the heart of Tennessee, with one crucial exception: The interceptions thrown by the Tigers were more damaging than the ones surrendered by Ole Miss. Indeed, while Rebel quarterback Jevan Snead lost his Heisman candidacy in week one by tossing two picks in an ugly first half (he completed only five passes before halftime), Memphis signal caller Arkelon Hall was worse, because his two interceptions produced one pick-six (by Mississippi's Fon Ingram just before halftime), and very nearly another. On the pick-six that almost was, Rebel defender Johnny Flynn was racing toward the Memphis end zone when he fumbled at the Tigers' 3-yard line. Memphis recovered, sparing Hall from the dubious distinction of handing 14 points to Ole Miss in the first half; the wayward gunslinger had to settle for giving seven points to the SEC West school that entered preseason polls in the top 10. Interceptions aside, the game's other defining play came in the first minute of the fourth quarter, with Ole Miss leading, 17-7, following a scoreless third period. With Memphis threatening to make the proceedings interesting in the Liberty Bowl stadium, the Tigers faced 4th and 1 at the Ole Miss 43. Memphis coach Tommy West made the right decision to go for the first down, but his play selection was horrible. A shotgun formation--which took away the threat of play-action and created a handoff well behind the line of scrimmage--led to a running play that was eaten up by the Rebels' defense for no gain. Just two minutes later, the Rebs pounded the ball into the end zone for a 24-7 lead and a hammer-lock grip on the Southern showdown.