Conference USA Week 4 Preview

WEEK FOUR PREVIEW

MATCHUPS

Central Florida at BYU

SMU at Memphis

Tulane at Duke

UAB at East Carolina

Southern Mississippi at Virginia

Virginia Tech at Marshall

UTEP at South Florida

Rice at Baylor

Tulsa at Boise State

Georgia State at Houston

The tastiest offering in week four of the C-USA slate is Marshall’s home date with Virginia Tech. Marshall whipped Southern Mississippi at home and put up a credible fight against West Virginia earlier this season. Virginia Tech’s offense, led by first-year quarterback Logan Thomas, is struggling each and every weekend, so Marshall – with a flinty defensive performance – could very realistically keep this game close into the fourth quarter. That’s all the Thundering Herd can possibly ask for. If they do push Virginia Tech to the limit, they’ll have a lot to build on when they return to C-USA play.

Southern Mississippi has a great opportunity to beat a BCS conference school when it plays Virginia. The Cavaliers are languishing at the bottom of the ACC and show no signs of making any vast improvements in the near future. Southern Miss performed poorly in a road game at Marshall, but a win in Charlottesville, Virginia, would wash away the bitter taste of that setback in week two. This is a very important moment for USM coach Larry Fedora, as he tries to take the Golden Eagles to the proverbial next level.

Tulsa ’s game at Boise State will be interesting only if Kinne can play with appreciable movement and verve. If he’s too injured to be effective, the Golden Hurricane will have no chance at all in Boise.

Central Florida will take on a BYU team that is playing some of the worst football in the United States. The Golden Knights need to win this game after losing at Florida International.

UAB faces a must-win situation against East Carolina; though it’s still September, that’s not an overstatement at all.