Conference USA Week 12 Recap

WEEK TWELVE REVIEW

SCORES

UAB 34, Southern Mississippi 31

Rice19, Tulane 7

Houston 37, SMU 7

East Carolina 38, UCF 31

Marshall 23, Memphis 22

Tulsa 57, UTEP 28

The big story of week 12 in Conference USA was Southern Mississippi’s stunning collapse against Alabama-Birmingham. A few weeks ago, UAB took down Central Florida on a Thursday night. That victory against the defending Conference USA champion was impressive, but because of UCF’s fall from grace this season, the triumph still didn’t possess as much cachet as it would have last year. UAB was still in search of a signature win, the kind of win that the Blazers, up and down their roster, could remember for a long time to come. The fact that Southern Mississippi had legitimate BCS bowl aspirations heading into this game only added fuel to UAB’s fire. Don’t laugh – if Southern Mississippi had been able to beat UAB and then win the rest of its games – including a possible Conference USA Championship Game showdown against Houston – it would have had a chance to make the top 16 of the final BCS standings. That achievement could have landed the Golden Eagles in the BCS as long as they stayed ahead of TCU in the BCS standings. Coach Larry Fedora’s team wasn’t a lock by any means for a BCS bowl, but that precious pigskin prize was legitimately on the table. It was in the realm of possibility and not in a fringe way, either.

Now, UAB can bask in the glow of knowing that it knocked off a team with such lofty aspirations.

How did this upset go down, and how did the Blazers fashion a memory that will last a lifetime? Very simply, the Blazers took advantage of Southern Miss’s leaky defense. The Blazers, behind quarterback Jonathan Perry, were able to roll up more than 420 yards on USM despite committing two turnovers. In the second half, the Blazers were particularly effective at throwing the ball downfield. UAB receivers continuously found holes in the Golden Eagles’ secondary, either on short-intermediate sit-down routes or on seam routes beyond 20 yards. Southern Miss’s corners played soft and often didn’t get the safety help they needed, and UAB took advantage. In the fourth quarter, the Blazers were able to convert multiple third downs through the air and keep USM’s offense off the field. Indeed, the time of possession favored UAB by 13 and a half minutes (36:48 to 23:12).

After gaining a 34-31 lead on a field goal with 3:04 remaining in regulation, UAB – though in the lead – still had to fill uneasy about its prospects. Southern Mississippi’s offense, behind veteran quarterback Austin Davis, had delivered the goods throughout the first two and a half months of the 2011 season, with the sole exception being a September loss at Marshall. Davis and the rest of the Golden Eagles had to feel good about their chances, and this was especially the case when they moved past midfield on their final drive with well over one minute remaining.

Then the house fell down for this BCS bowl aspirant from Conference USA.

An illegal crackback block tagged the Eagles with a 15-yard penalty, forcing them into a 3rd and 20 situations. Davis completed a 15-yard pass to create 4th and 5, but his fourth-down pass was superbly defended, and it fell incomplete thanks to blanket coverage on a short sit-down route near the right hashmark of the field. UAB took over with 1:08 left, and since Southern Miss had only two timeouts instead of three, the Golden Eagles weren’t able to get the ball back with any meaningful amount of time left on the clock. UAB punted the ball away with 11 seconds left, giving USM the ball with only three ticks remaining. One snap from its own 19-yard line naturally produced nothing for Southern Miss, and the upset was complete. The Golden Eagles can still wrap up the C-USA East Division title by beating lowly Memphis this upcoming weekend, but they’re done in the chase for a BCS bowl.

Elsewhere in the league, Houston remained unbeaten and kept its own BCS bowl hopes alive with a win over SMU. The Cougars’ defense has been playing really well of late, and a strong outing against the Mustangs bolstered UH’s hopes of staying the course en route to the C-USA West Division title.

Also of note in week 12: Defending champion Central Florida was knocked out of bowl eligibility by East Carolina. UTEP fell to 5-6 with its loss to Tulsa.

MATCHUPS

Houston at Tulsa

UTEP at Central Florida

Rice at SMU

East Carolina at Marshall

UAB at Florida Atlantic

Memphis at Southern Mississippi

Tulane at Hawaii

In week 13 of the 2011 college football season, Conference USA will truly command the attention of the wider football world. While Southern Miss will formally wrap up the East Division title and two teams (UTEP and East Carolina) will play to become bowl eligible, the focus in C-USA will be the de facto West Division title game between Houston and Tulsa. It’s much more than just that, however: If Houston wins, the Cougars will host Southern Miss for the league title and, more importantly, a Sugar Bowl invite. If Houston runs the table, it will crack the BCS and give C-USA its first BCS bowl participant. The league is rooting for Houston, but Tulsa – also unbeaten within conference play (8-3 overall) – is playing every bit as well as Houston is. The Cougars’ defense will have to be at its best; if UH can hold Tulsa under 30 points, Cougar quarterback Case Keenum should be able to pull out a win. If, on the other hand, the Golden Hurricane and their own formidable offense run wild on home turf, UH will be in for a long day. We’ll see what happens in a game whose outcome will substantially affect the postseason landscape.