College football has hit its stride, and with that, the American Athletic Conference has a BIG week of non-conference games.
Tulane Looks For Deja Vu Against Kansas State, 12 PM ET (ESPN)
Two years ago, Tulane shocked the country with one of the American’s greatest non-conference victories to date. The Green Wave traveled to Manhattan, Kansas, and beat eventual Big 12 champions Kansas State enroute to an unforgettable Cotton Bowl championship season.
This year, the Green Wave enter their game against Kansas State not as an upstart but a proven Group of Five winner. Though they’ve not received the hype of other Group of Five College Football Playoff contenders like Liberty, Texas State, Boise State, or even conference-mate Memphis, the Green Wave have a very real shot at the field of 12. However, they must beat Kansas State at home to stay a frontrunner in the Group of Five playoff race.
QB Darian Mensah looked comfortable in Tulane’s first game in the post-Michael Pratt era, completing 10 of his 12 passes with a pair of touchdowns. But RB Makhi Hughes, a 1000-yard rusher last season, must have a larger role than he did this past week against Southeastern Louisiana. Hughes ran for just 59 yards on 14 carries. Meanwhile, Tulane’s defense needs to hone in on Wildcats’ RB DJ Giddens, who ran for 124 yards on a mere 13 carries a week ago against UT-Martin.
Make no mistake about it. This is a defining game for the American Conference.
South Florida Visits Alabama, 7 PM ET (ESPN)
Remember when folks thought Nick Saban was washed last year?
The Tide’s game against USF served as arguably the largest contributor to that narrative. The Tide needed a touchdown with under a minute remaining to seal a 17-3 victory over what was then thought of as one of the AAC’s worst teams. Quarterback instability played a large role in Alabama’s struggles, but the results appeared somewhat alarming.
By the end of the year, however, both teams had disproved the narratives. Alabama made the Playoff — albeit with controversy — while USF earned its first bowl appearance since 2018.
Now, Alabama faces a real test against the Bulls. The Crimson Tide easily demolished Western Kentucky, 63-0, this past week and held well-traveled transfer quarterback TJ Finley to all of 92 passing yards.
USF needs another competitive showing to keep themselves in the playoff conversation. A close loss to ‘Bama and a win over Miami on September 21 would make the Bulls hard to snub for the Playoff should they win the American. However, a blowout loss this week makes their playoff path immensely more difficult since it will all but prove that USF can’t hang with the Power 4.
UTSA Looks to Remain Unbeaten Against Texas State, 4 PM ET (ESPNU)
Friends, the Texas State hype machine is alive and well. Trusted college football analyst Brett McMurphy has the Bobcats in his Playoff projections this week, and many others expect the Bobcats to win the Sun Belt. And while the Bobcats made a bowl for the first time in 2023, the UTSA Roadrunners were the one obstacle they could not clear. UTSA owns a five-game winning streak in this series.
Could this be the year that the Bobcats finally beat UTSA?
The Roadrunners looked mediocre against new FBS squad Kennesaw State, only winning by 12. Fortunately for the Roadrunners, Texas State struggled with Lamar from the FCS Southland Conference last week as well, escaping with a 34-27 win.
UTSA must stop the Bobcats RB Ismail Mahdi. Mahdi had 156 yards against Lamar. Thankfully, the Roadrunners seem well-equipped to do it, having held Kennesaw State to 51 rushing yards on a whopping 39 carries.
While a UTSA win does not officially end Texas State’s playoff hopes, since the Bobcats have a home game against Arizona State still, that result would make it hard to justify selecting Texas State over the AAC Champion for the playoff if it comes down to those two choices.
Charlotte Looks For Tar Heel State Bragging Rights Against UNC, 3:30 PM ET (ACC Network)
Hardly any AAC school has a tougher gauntlet to start the season than Charlotte. The 49ers just lost at home to James Madison and now they must travel to Chapel Hill for their first meeting with North Carolina. Coach
Charlotte Coach Biff Poggi’s squad stayed competitive against James Madison last week — at least for a while — trailing 9-7 at halftime and 16-7 to start of the final quarter.
Does Charlotte have any hope this weekend?
Last year, the 49ers made a name for themselves on NBC’s B1G Saturday Night against Maryland. The 49ers led Maryland at the half, 14-9, and entered the 4th quarter down just 3 before faltering down the stretch. Moreover, UNC looked lackluster against a middling Minnesota squad, and the Tar Heels just lost starting QB Max Johnson for the season. These factors could give Charlotte a legit shot at its second win ever against an ACC team this Saturday.
UAB looks to spoil Bryant Vincent’s ULM Payback Game, 3:30 PM ET (ESPN+)
2022 saw real uncertainty for UAB. Head Coach Bill Clark, who guided the Blazers when the school reinstated the football program in 2017, stepped down. Offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent stepped in as interim head coach and guided the Blazers to a 7-6 record and a win in the Bahamas Bowl. Despite that admirable performance, however, UAB hired a head coach without prior collegiate coaching experience in former Ravens Super Bowl-winning QB Trent Dilfer for the job in 2023.
After a year as New Mexico’s offensive coordinator, Vincent finally got his full-time head coaching gig at Louisiana-Monroe. As far as we can tell, no hard feelings exist between Vincent and UAB, but you can bet UAB’s snub has been on Vincent’s mind.
Both schools are fresh off dominant wins against SWAC opponents. ULM hopes to make it two years in a row with program-defining non-conference wins after having beaten Army last year to open the 2023 campaign.
The AAC Looks For Even More Supremacy Over the Sun Belt
— East Carolina @ Old Dominion, 6 PM ET, ESPN+
— Troy @ Memphis, 12 PM ET, ESPNU
— Tulsa @ Arkansas State, 7 PM ET, ESPN+
This week might as well be called the AAC-Sun Belt Challenge Week. We’ve got FIVE games between the two leagues littering the slate. We already mentioned two, but East Carolina-Old Dominion, Tulsa-Arkansas State, and Troy-Memphis round out the schedule.
Old Dominion could pose problems for ECU after the Monarchs lost a heartbreaker to South Carolina last week. ODU’s pass defense held Monarch’s QB LaNorris Sellers to 114 yards through the air and could cause ECU QB Jake Garcia some issues after he threw three interceptions against Norfolk State this past weekend.
Memphis-Troy once looked like a resume building win for the Tigers after the Trojans won back-to-back Sun Belt titles. Now, however, Troy looks like they’re in rebuild mode after a loss to Nevada last week. The Tigers run game should have a field day this week given that the Trojans allowed 214 yards and six yards per carry to Nevada.
QBs Kirk Francis of Tulsa and Jaylen Raynor of Arkansas State will form one of the top quarterback matchups in all of college football when they face off this weekend. Francis threw for 299 yards and four touchdowns against Northwestern State last week, while Raynor accounted for 366 yards in Arkansas State’s questionable win over Central Arkansas.
FCS Games
— Texas Southern @ Rice
— Stephen F. Austin @ North Texas
Rice looks to rebound after a stunning loss to San Houston State. North Texas plays a team with the distinction of beating an opponent so badly that the officials shortened the game to five minute quarters in the second half. Two of the conference’s more prolific quarterbacks look to have big days. E.J. Warner looks primed for a quality performance against Texas Southern, while Chandler Morris could throw for 400 yards against the Lumberjacks.
Enjoy the games, everybody.
Go Army! Beat FAU!!!
Leave a Reply
Your email is safe with us.