Conference USA Week 9 Recap

SCORES

Houston 73, Rice 34

Marshall 59, UAB 14

East Carolina 34, Tulane 13

Tulsa 38, SMU 7

Central Florida 41, Memphis 0

Southern Mississippi 31, UTEP 13

Let’s stop for a minute and contemplate what’s been happening in Conference USA over the past few weeks. One week, one team lands a devastating blow against an opponent; the next week, it finds itself knocked out and lying on the canvas. Such is the abrupt turnaround for the Southern Methodist Mustangs, who have gone from C-USA West favorite to a reeling and disorganized bunch in a very short period of time.

The big story of week nine in Conference USA was, without question, the emphatic statement made by the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. In a result few people could have honestly anticipated, Tulsa rocked SMU, 38-7, to join Houston atop C-USA West and send the Mustangs tumbling into third place in the division. This game marks the second straight occasion in which SMU has been blasted on the road. The Ponies mustered just three points in a lopsided loss at Southern Mississippi in week eight, so when they ventured to the state of Oklahoma this past Saturday, most pigskin pundits expected coach June Jones’s offense to bounce back. Maybe Tulsa would have won anyway, but at the very least, SMU’s offense was supposed to engage the Golden Hurricane in a high-octane shootout.

That shootout never unfolded. Tulsa’s defense simply wouldn’t let SMU break out of its sudden, severe and shocking slump.

This was a total nightmare not just for SMU’s offense, but especially for quarterback J.J. McDermott. You’ll recall that SMU’s quarterback this season was supposed to be junior Kyle Padron, but in the season opener at Texas A&M, Padron threw two early interceptions and was so unattuned to Jones that the Mustangs’ head coach benched him. Moreover, Jones not only put Padron on the sidelines for the rest of that season opener, he kept Padron on the bench while McDermott took hold of the offense. Through week seven, when SMU was cruising – the Mustangs thrashed defending C-USA champion Central Florida that weekend, in fact – McDermott certainly seemed like the answer to all the Ponies’ problems. Jones’s week-one move was looking like a stroke of genius. Now, in the past two games, McDermott has crumbled. He’s led his team to one touchdown drive and a total of 10 points in the last eight quarters. In this game against Tulsa, McDermott was just 17 of 37 as a passer for a mediocre 180 yards and four – count ‘em, four – interceptions. Tulsa’s defense was all over McDermott from start to finish, and that’s why the Golden Hurricane – under first-year coach Bill Blankenship – are tied with Houston atop the Western Division of the conference. Tulsa will get Houston at home in the regular-season finale on Nov. 26, so as long as the Golden Hurricane don’t lose two (or more) conference games before then, they’ll be playing Houston for the West title and a spot in the Conference USA Championship Game on the first Saturday of December. The journey that Tulsa has made this season – an under-the-radar journey which included an injury to now-healed quarterback G.J. Kinne and a post-midnight kickoff due to a lightning delay against Oklahoma State – is acquiring center stage in Conference USA.

Elsewhere in the conference, Houston quarterback Case Keenum – who is rewriting the college football record book as we speak – threw nine touchdown passes on Thursday night in a rout of Rice. Keenum’s amazingly prolific display enabled him to pass former Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell for the most touchdown passes ever thrown in a Football Bowl Subdivision career (139). Keenum has already become the all-time FBS leader in total offense. He has now bagged the touchdown pass record. His next major milestone is the all-time passing yards record set by former Hawaii quarterback Timmy Chang. Keenum needs just 267 yards to do the deed. Houston is looking good in its bid to get to 10-0. All the Cougars need to do is beat UAB and Tulane to reach that mark. As long as Houston avoids a stumble over the next two weeks, coach Kevin Sumlin’s team will enter its final two-game stretch – against SMU and Tulsa – fully in control of its own fate in C-USA West.

The other noteworthy story in the league is that the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles did not have a letdown on the road. One week after clobbering SMU, coach Larry Fedora’s club played a solid and steady game at the Sun Bowl in El Paso. USM’s defense clamped down against the UTEP Miners in a 31-13 victory that not only kept the Golden Eagles atop C-USA East, but maintained the sense of stability that’s been elusive for the program in recent years. This is the kind of game USM would have lost in the past, so the ability to maintain focus in a late-night away game only reinforces the belief that Southern Miss is ready to win a division championship.

WEEK TEN PREVIEW

MATCHUPS

Tulsa at Central Florida

Tulane at SMU

UTEP at Rice

Southern Miss at East Carolina

Houston at UAB

The most intriguing clash in week 10 of the C-USA slate is the Thursday night fight under the lights between Tulsa and Central Florida. This was the Conference USA Championship Game matchup in the 2005 and 2007 seasons, with each school winning once. It’s now a matchup in which Central Florida is playing for its life. The Golden Knights are already a game and a half behind Southern Mississippi in C-USA’s East Division. Coach George O’Leary’s team, which was viewed as the clear favorite to win the conference before the season started, faces a must-win situation against a surprising Tulsa squad that has roared to the top of the West Division under first-year coach Bill Blankenship. Houston and SMU received the preseason hype in Conference USA, and to be clear, Houston has justified that hype so far. However, Tulsa is on the same plane as Houston, racking up four C-USA wins without a defeat and looking very solid in the process. Central Florida’s offense has been balky all season long, so the fact that Tulsa just shut down Southern Methodist’s high-powered passing attack means that UCF quarterback Jeff Godfrey will have his work cut out for him. The Golden Knights need Godfrey’s speed to pry open opportunities against Tulsa’s defense. Godfrey is arguably more lethal as a runner than as a passer; he’ll need to call upon all his skills if the Golden Knights are to remain in the East race.