Conference USA Week 5 Preview

MATCHUPS

Houston at UTEP

Tulane at Army

Marshall at Louisville

SMU at TCU

North Texas at Tulsa

Memphis at Middle Tennessee

UAB at Troy

Rice at Southern Mississippi

North Carolina at East Carolina

The most intriguing clash in week four of the C-USA slate is Southern Methodist’s Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex battle with Texas Christian. TCU has been markedly vulnerable through the first four weeks of the season. The Horned Frogs, with a lot of new and young players, have struggled on defense, especially in the secondary. SMU coach June Jones will have a chance to exploit TCU’s Achilles heel with his spread passing game. Even though SMU has not set the world on fire this season, TCU’s slow starts against Louisiana-Monroe and Portland State indicate that the Frogs are ripe for the plucking. If SMU can play a complete game and get great decision making from the quarterback spot, it can definitely spring a surprise.

Other C-USA games are very winnable. East Carolina can definitely stare down North Carolina, especially since the Pirates played Virginia Tech close in week two. Tulane can definitely ambush an Army squad that lost to Ball State this past weekend. Marshall could beat a Louisville team that owns a very meager offense and a lack of imposing skill-position talent. So much is in play for C-USA in week five. The league has an opportunity to bolster its image.