Conference USA Football Week Eight (10/21/06) Preview

Due to time demands, we were unable to include a preview of the Tuesday night game between Tulsa and Southern Miss. We apologize, but there will be a recap of this game included in the weekly conference recap that will be posted on Sunday night or Monday morning. Thanks for visiting CUSA-Fans.com!

SMU @ East Carolina

After a slow start, SMU has rebounded to win four of its last five games. They are entering Greenville at 4-3 overall and 2-1 in CUSA, following a 31-21 win at home over Marshall. The Pirates, on the other hand, are coming off a poor all-around performance in their 31-10 loss at home to defending conference champ Tulsa.

The East Carolina defense played well in the first half, but was worn down by a talented Tulsa offensive line in the second half when the Pirates’ offense could muster nothing against the stout Golden Hurricane defense.

ECU’s defensive focus this week will most likely be on redshirt freshman Mustang quarterback Justin Willis. Willis has completed over 70 percent of his passes, while throwing for 1,049 yards. He has thrown 16 touchdown passes and has only been intercepted three times. Willis can also hurt you with his legs, as he has rushed for 179 yards and two scores.

Willis’ top two targets are Bobby Chase and Emmanuel Sanders. They both have 24 receptions for over 300 yards, while Sanders leads the team in touchdown receptions with five.

Running back DeMyron Martin missed last week’s game with hamstring and foot injuries, but Coach Bennett has stated that Martin should be back this week. Without him in the lineup, it has been tailback by committee for the Mustangs.

The SMU defense has shut down opponents’ rushing attacks this year, as they are only allowing 86 yards per game on the ground. On the other hand, the Pirates’ rushing attack has been a work in progress all season. They have also handled their tailback position by committee with Brandon Fractious, Brandon Simmons and Michael Hickman getting the most carries lately.

The weakness of the Mustang defense is their ability to stop the pass, as they are allowing 261 yards a game. The Pirates’ passing game is the strong suit of their offense. James Pinkney and company struggled last week against a strong Tulsa defense, but this week they will have star receiver Aundrae Allison back. They will be without Bobby Good, who is out with a fractured bone in his foot.

If East Carolina wants to finish strong and go bowling, this is one that they really need to win, particularly at home. SMU is a good football team, but a determined bunch of Pirates will win this one by ten or less.

SMU @ East Carolina detailed preview from our ECU Correspondent

SMU @ East Carolina detailed preview from our SMU Correspondent

Tulane @ #7 Auburn

Chris Scelfo and his Green Wave have ventured into SEC territory twice this season. The first time, Tulane knocked off Mississippi State; however, the second wasn’t nearly as good of an experience as LSU throttled Tulane in Baton Rouge. Tulane is coming off a 34-20 loss at UTEP, while Auburn collected a thrilling victory over No. 2 Florida the last time out.

Tulane has a potent passing attack with quarterback Lester Ricard. Ricard threw for 248 yards against UTEP last week, while also rushing for 35. Ricard’s biggest threat is Preston Brown, who caught 11 balls for 98 yards against the Miners. Matt Forte leads the rushing attack. Forte ran for 141 yards on only 16 carries. He also caught four passes for 36 yards and a touchdown.

The Green Wave has been prone to committing turnovers, but that must cease this week if they want to have any shot whatsoever at upsetting the Tigers.

Auburn’s defense is only allowing 12.1 points per game, but they have not been very good at creating turnovers, as they have only nine in seven games. The Green Wave had better make sure they block DE Quentin Groves. Groves had three sacks and two quarterback hurries last week against Florida.

Auburn’s offense played fairly well against a very good Gator defense, but they weren’t able to score a touchdown. They ran the ball well, as Kenny Irons rushed 13 times for 67 yards while backup Brad Lester finished with a career-high 94 yards on 17 carries. Brandon Cox has not had a stellar season thus far. He has been plagued by injuries, his own mistakes, inconsistent protection and inexperienced receivers. Against UF, he completed 18 of 27 attempts for 182 yards without committing a turnover.

Tulane’s defense is surrendering nearly 36 points per game and this is just the kind of game Auburn needs to get their kinks worked out. If Tulane can play turnover free football and get something going offensively, it could make it closer than most expect. However, Auburn should win this one by at least three-four touchdowns.

Southern Miss @ Virginia Tech

Southern Miss’ prides itself on playing and beating the nation’s best programs. They popularized the expression, “Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere.” This week Jeff Bower and his Golden Eagles have an opportunity to play one of these games as they travel to Blacksburg to take on a struggling Virginia Tech team.

Southern Miss is coming off a 31-27 win at home over Houston while Virginia Tech fell to Boston College last Thursday night, 22-3.

USM (4-2, 2-1) can definitely play with the Hokies, but in order for them to do so they must be able to establish the running game. Freshman Damion Fletcher is near the top of the nation in yards per game and ran for 80 yards on 21 carries against Houston. This was despite not playing the first half due to breaking curfew.

Quarterback Jeremy Young has had a roller coaster first season under center, but had perhaps his best game yet the last time out against Houston. Young did a very good job of managing the game and he was efficient with his arm. He was 17 of 26 for 180 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 20 yards and two big first downs despite being hampered by a toe injury.

The Hokies (4-2, 2-2) have been solid defensively, allowing only 247 yards per game. They are only giving up 101 per game on the ground. They are also very good at stopping the pass. They only give up 146 a game through the air and have intercepted ten passes.

Virginia Tech’s offense has been plagued by a combined six turnovers in the Georgia Tech and Boston College losses. Quarterback Sean Glennon has been responsible for five of those, as he has thrown two interceptions and lost three fumbles. Tailback Brandon Ore leads the Hokie offense. Ore is the second leading rusher in the Atlantic Coast Conference, averaging 88 yards per contest. Overall, the Virginia Tech ground attack is struggling though, averaging only 92 yards per game.

Southern Miss’ defense is only giving up 18.7 points per game, but they have allowed too much of their yardage in big chunks. The Golden Eagles have given up 22 plays of 20 yards or more, which accounts for more than a third of their total yardage.

UTEP @ Houston

After getting off to a red-hot start at 4-0, UH is now in the midst of a three-game losing streak. The Cougars have not played all that poorly, but they just haven’t done the things necessary to win the close ones. Their three losses are by a combined seven points. UH (4-3, 2-1) is still in the thick of the CUSA West Division race. This is a huge match-up between two division foes that are each 2-1 entering the contest.

It is no secret that Houston’s offensive weakness has been their inability to run the football. However, despite that, senior quarterback Kevin Kolb has managed to put together a great season up to this point. Kolb, who has started all four years at UH, has thrown for 2,095 yards through seven games. The most impressive stat is his touchdown to interception ratio of 16:1. He leads CUSA in passing and ranks sixth in the nation, as he averages 307.3 yards per game.

Kolb’s top two targets are Vincent Marshall and Jeron Harvey. Marshall leads all active Division I-A players in receptions and receiving yards, while Harvey hauled in five passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns in the Cougars close loss at Southern Miss last week.

The Cougars are playing without three offensive tackles, all of who have been lost for the season.

UTEP is coming off a 34-20 win at home over Tulane in which they were out gained by the Green Wave, but took advantage of numerous turnovers. Quarterback Jordan Palmer and his favorite target Johnnie Lee Higgins, Jr lead them. Palmer has connected on 71.4 percent of his passes while throwing for 1,673 yards with 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Recently, he has done a better job of taking care of the football. Higgins has caught 36 balls for 555 yards and seven touchdowns. Overall, the rushing game has struggled, but Marcus Thomas can get it done when given the room to run.

UH’s defense has struggled at times, particularly against the run. The Cougars allow over 200 yards per game on the ground. Something is going to change in this one. Either UH is going to stop the run or UTEP is going to get better production from its ground attack.

Kolb will have another big day through the air, throwing for 300 or more. I like Palmer and company to do the same. This one could feature 800 plus yards of offense. Houston is at home and I like them to win a close one in a pretty high scoring affair.

Detailed UTEP @ Houston game preview from our UTEP Correspondent

Tulsa @ Memphis

Tulsa improved to 5-1 last week by winning 31-10 at East Carolina. The Golden Hurricane’s huge offensive line dominated in the trenches and TU ran for 160 yards in the second half, as they dominated the time of possession by controlling the ball for nearly 22 minutes. Meanwhile, Memphis lost a heartbreaking 26-23 decision at home to Arkansas State when the Indians connected on bomb as time expired. The loss was the Tigers fourth straight.

Tulsa’s offense has really been playing well and is very balanced. Junior quarterback Paul Smith runs and passes very effectively, while Courtney Tennial has come into his own the past two games against Southern Miss and East Carolina. The Golden Hurricane lead CUSA in rushing, averaging 171 yards per game.

Conference USA’s top ranked defense will face a Memphis offense that has been good at times, but has struggled a lot lately. The Tigers did look more like themselves two games ago at UAB. Martin Hankins has completed nearly 62 percent of his passes for 1,330 yards with 11 touchdowns and eight picks. Duke Calhoun and Ryan Scott each have over 300 yards of receiving on 18 and 19 receptions, respectively.

Tulsa is only allowing 263.5 yards per game, including 115.3 through the air. They have only forced nine turnovers up to this point this year after forcing 36 for the season last year.

Marshall @ UAB

Marshall (1-5, 0-2) is still seeking their first Division I-A win of the season when they travel to Legion Field in Birmingham this weekend. The Thundering Herd is coming off a 31-21 to SMU in Dallas last week in which they were haunted by turnovers. UAB is also entering the game off a loss, as they were stunned in the final seconds at Rice last week.

MU quarterback Bernie Morris played really well in the first half last week at SMU, but then proceeded to go 7 of 16 with three interceptions in the second half. Running back Ahmad Bradshaw hasn’t had much running room at times, but he has made the most of what he has to work with. He has rushed for 103.5 yards per game. What the Thundering Herd’s offense needs to do is get Bradshaw more touches in the passing game. Last year, he was the team’s leading receiver with 56 receptions and this year he only has six.

The Marshall defense is allowing 30.5 points per game and 399 yards of offense. They have played better against the pass than the run. They have also only forced six takeaways on the season. Defensive tackle Byron Tinker provided a spark last week, recording three sacks.

UAB (3-4, 2-1) received a strong performance from quarterback Chris Williams against Rice last week. Williams had what was easily his best game of the season, completing 15 of 28 passes for 288 yards and four touchdowns without throwing an interception. Marculus Elliot could see significant action at running back if seniors Corey White and Dan Burks can’t play due to injuries. He has posted 170 yards on 27 carries this season.

UAB’s defense was eaten up pretty well last week by Rice’s passing attack. Linebacker Chris Guyton played one of the best games of his college career, but unfortunately most people will probably remember him for fumbling after making what appeared to be the game clinching interception.

UAB has been the best football team up to this point and I see them beating Marshall by around 10 to 14 points at historic Legion Field this weekend.

Rice @ UCF

Rice is coming off an extreme high while UCF is entering this game off an extreme low. The Owls stunned UAB last Saturday night by winning on a touchdown pass from Chase Clement to Jarett Dillard with 3.5 seconds remaining. It looked as if the Owls would lose to the Blazers when UAB picked off a Clement pass; however, the Blazers fumbled on the return and Rice took advantage of their opportunity. UCF (2-4, 1-1) was shellacked 52-7 by Pitt last Friday night.

Chase Clement used his arm and legs to produce 332 total yards of offense, which included 141 on the ground and 191 through the air. Jarett Dillard has quickly become one of the nation’s top receivers. Dillard hauled in nine passes for 111 yards and three touchdowns in the Owls’ dramatic win over UAB. The Owls are only converting 33 percent of their third down conversion attempts. They are also allowing 20 sacks.

The Owls’ defense has surrendered some eye-opening numbers this season (35.6 ppg, 428 total ypg, 208 rushing ypg), but they do possess the top tackler in CUSA in linebacker Brian Raines. Raines has made 67 tackles, including 50 solo stops. DE/LB Dietrich Davis left the UAB game early with an injury and it is unsure of whether he’ll be able to return for the UCF game.

Offensively, UCF will likely use quarterbacks Steven Moffett and Kyle Israel. Moffett has struggled recently while Israel has given the Golden Knights a spark. They will be trying to get their playmakers, wide receiver Mike Walker and running back Kevin Smith, plenty of touches. The Golden Knights’ have had issues with turnovers this season and it was even truer against Pitt when they committed four in the first half.

Defensively, UCF has not been very good the entire year and that continued against Pitt. The Golden Knights surrendered 467 total yards to the Panthers, and allowed 206 passing yards on only 13 completions. They allowed Pitt to convert far too many third downs, as the Panthers successfully converted ten of their twelve.