After Week 9 delivered one of the best weeks of play in the AAC this season, Week 10 gave us a worthy sequel. A trio of upsets and some postgame handshake drama created another memorable week for fans of the American Athletic Conference.
The Beef in Boca Raton
Even with a pair of upsets involving two of the league’s top teams this week, the drama at the end of South Florida-Florida Atlantic still became arguably this week’s biggest headline. Last year, FAU kicked an onside kick in the fourth quarter up 56-14 against the Bulls. Bulls’ Head Coach Alex Golesh remembered that and went for a two-point conversion up 23 in the 4th quarter against FAU this past Friday. The conversion proved inconsequential in the Bulls’ 44-21 win. After the game, though, Golesh failed to acknowledge FAU head coach Tom Herman, so Herman chased Golesh down, creating an unforgettable moment and a rivalry renewed.
Postgame drama aside, USF’s offense had its best performance of the year under backup QB Bryce Archie. Archie’s 206 passing yards allowed the Bulls to run for 319 yards, including 117 from RB Nay’Quan Wright. That’s encouraging given that USF now looks forward to a showdown with Navy this coming weekend.
The Bulls (4-4, 2-2 in the AAC) look primed to make back-to-back bowl appearances despite their slow start. On the other side, whatever bowl hopes Florida Atlantic (2-6, 0-4 in the AAC) once held, those now look all but lost.
A Pair of Contenders Fall In Upsets
A pair of big-time upsets reshaped the AAC title race. First, UTSA showed that the AlamoDome remains one of the conference’s toughest places to play. The Roadrunners shocked Memphis, 44-36. UTSA came back from a ten-point deficit, scored 30 unanswered points, and thereby created an insurmountable 20-point lead. Worse, the Roadrunners made the Memphis attack one dimensional, holding Tiger RB Mario Anderson Jr. to just 53 yards rushing after he ran for a combined 324 yards in his last two games. Moreover, UTSA QB Owen McCown continued his improvement this season, throwing for four touchdowns and no interceptions in the upset.
With two conference losses, including one to Navy, Memphis (7-2, 3-2 in the AAC) now needs plenty of help to make it to the AAC Championship Game. Meanwhile, UTSA’s bowl hopes have rebounded somewhat. The Roadrunners (4-5, 2-3 in the AAC) can still qualify for the postseason, but they’ll need to beat Temple and upset either North Texas or Army. Otherwise, UTSA could miss its first bowl since the 2019 season.
Navy (6-2, 4-1 in the AAC) also suffered an upset loss to a Texas school, losing to Rice, 24-10. In their first game since firing former Head Coach Mike Bloomgren, the Owls (3-6, 2-3 in the AAC) held Navy to just 260 yards of total offense while forcing two turnovers. Both teams endured a nearly five-hour weather delay, creating a rare #AACAfterDarkMoment with play resuming around 9:30 Eastern. Rice QB EJ Warner torched Navy’s defense with 239 yards passing. This followed a 402-yard outing by Warner last year when he was still with the Temple Owls in another upset win over the Midshipmen.
Navy QB Blake Horvath put up a season low 38.1 QBR and completed less than half of his 21 passes. With that, the Mids never got within one score after the first quarter. A drive into Rice territory in the third quarter with the Mids trailing by 10 ended on downs after Eli Heidenreich slipped on the wet Rice Stadium surface at the Owl 20-yard line. Momentum swung Rice’s way, and the Owls drove 80 yards to take a 17-point lead.
Despite the loss, Navy still controls its own destiny to reach the AAC title game thanks to Memphis’ loss to UTSA. The Midshipmen will face Tulane on November 16th, but as noted, they’ve first got to travel to USF.
Other Notes From Around the League
Tulane (7-2, 5-0 in the AAC) remained undefeated in league play with a dominant 34-3 victory over Charlotte (3-6, 2-3 in the AAC). Green Wave RB Makhi Hughes ran for over 100 yards for the fourth-straight game and crossed the 1,000-yard milestone for the second straight year. Hughes looks to continue his 100-yard game streak against a terrible Temple run defense this week.
Meanwhile, UAB Head Coach Trent Dilfer may have cooled his seat just a little with a statement win over Tulsa, 59-21. The Blazers (2-6, 1-4 in the AAC) raced out to a 45-0 lead in the second quarter, and QB Jalen Kitna finished with a school-record 404 yards passing and six touchdowns. This marked the Blazers’ first win since their week one victory over Alcorn State. Meanwhile, Tulsa (3-6, 1-4 in the AAC) must now beat East Carolina, South Florida, and Florida Atlantic in order to qualify for the postseason.
Go Army! Beat North Texas!!!
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