AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE FOOTBALL REPORT 2020 Season • Week 12 @American_FB Contact: Chuck Sullivan, Assistant Commissioner for Communications [email protected] • 469.840.3132 • @ChuckSullivan15 545 East John Carpenter Freeway • Irving, TX 75062 AMERICAN OVERALL SCHOOL AP/Coaches W-L PCT PF PA H A W-L PCT PF PA H A N STREAK CINCINNATI 7/7 5-0 1.000 212 57 4-0 1-0 7-0 1.000 291 87 6-0 1-0 0-0 Won 8 TULSA rv/rv 4-0 1.000 138 93 2-0 2-0 4-1 .800 145 109 2-0 2-1 0-0 Won 4 SMU 19/19 4-2 .667 202 191 2-1 2-1 7-2 .778 348 257 3-1 4-1 0-0 Lost 1 UCF 4-2 .667 259 180 2-1 2-1 5-2 .714 308 201 2-1 3-1 0-0 Won 3 MEMPHIS -/rv 3-2 .600 162 190 3-0 0-2 4-2 .667 199 214 4-0 0-2 0-0 Won 1 HOUSTON 3-2 .600 173 155 2-1 1-1 3-3 .500 199 198 2-2 1-1 0-0 Won 1 NAVY 3-2 .600 143 164 1-1 2-1 3-4 .429 153 259 1-2 2-2 0-0 Lost 2 TULANE 2-4 .333 199 188 1-2 1-2 5-4 .556 330 248 3-2 2-2 0-0 Won 3 TEMPLE 1-5 .167 136 232 1-1 0-4 1-5 .167 136 232 1-1 0-4 0-0 Lost 4 EAST CAROLINA 1-5 .167 163 229 0-3 1-2 1-6 .143 192 278 0-3 1-3 0-0 Lost 4 USF 0-6 .000 135 243 0-2 0-4 1-7 .125 162 301 1-2 0-5 0-0 Lost 7 THIS WEEK THE AMERICAN TODAY THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19 Cincinnati and Tulsa have established themselves as the top contenders for the American Athletic Tulane at Tulsa * Conference Championship as those teams hold a two-game advantage in the loss column of the league Time: 7:30 p.m. standings through Week 11 of the 2020 season. Series: Tulsa leads, 11-5 Last Meeting: Nov. 2, 2019 (Tulane, 38-26) Cincinnati stayed true to form in the Bearcats’ 55-17 win against East Carolina at Nippert Stadium Friday. The Bearcats opened up a 35-10 halftime lead and held the Pirates to 87 passing yards and 293 total SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20 yards to improve to 7-0 overall, 5-0 in The American, and win their 19th consecutive home game. QB East Carolina at Temple * Desmond Ridder accounted for 402 yards of total offense behind a season-high 327 passing yards with Time: Noon three touchdowns throws to go wtih 75 rushing yards and a TD on the ground. Series: Temple leads, 10-7 Last Meeting: Oct. 3, 2019 (Temple, 27-17) Tulsa remained unbeaten in conference play as the Golden Hurricane overcame a 21-point halftime deficit Houston at SMU * to rally past No. 19 SMU 28-24 Saturday at H.A. Chapman Stadium. Tulsa scored its second win against a Time: Noon top-25 opponent this season, marking the first time in program history that Tulsa has two top-25 wins Series: Houston leads, 21-13 in the same season. QB Zach Smith threw for 325 yards and three touchdowns, including two fourth- Last Meeting: Oct. 24, 2019 (Houston, 34-31) quarter TDs to bring Tulsa back, while LB Zaven Collins delivered the clinching play with an interception on SMU’s final possession. Stephen F. Austin at Memphis Time: Noon UCF could make the conference race interesting as the Knights bring a 4-2 league mark into Saturday’s Series: Memphis leads, 1-0 Last Meeting: Sept. 19, 1959 (Memphis, 25-6) game against Cincinnati in Orlando. The Knights won their third straight last night with a 38-13 decision against Temple at the Bounce House as QB Dillon Gabriel and WR Marlon Williams connected on a pair of Cincinnati at UCF * touchdown passes. Williams had 102 yards on four receptions, while WR Jaylon Robinson had 113 yards Time: 3:30 p.m. on four catches. Series: UCF leads, 3-2 Last Meeting: Oct. 4, 2019 (Cincinnati, 27-24) Houston snapped a two-game slide as the Cougars were wire-to-wire winners against USF Saturday at TDECU Stadium. Houston reeled off 505 yards of offense, scored 14 points in each quarter and found the Navy at USF * end zone on offense, defense and special teams. QB Clayton Tune had a hand in five touchdowns (three Time: 8 p.m. passing , two rushing) and ran for 120 yards on 10 carries, while the Cougars also scored on a 72-yard Series: Navy leads, 2-1 Last Meeting: Oct. 19, 2019 (Navy, 35-3) punt return and an 85-yard fumble return. All times Eastern The lone nonconference game of the week saw Tulane pick up its first win against a top-25 opponent since * American Athletic Conference game 1984 as the Green Wave pulled away for a 38-12 victory against No. 25 Army at Yulman Stadium. Tulane clung to a 14-12 halftime lead, but outscored the Black Knights by a 24-0 margin in the final 30 minutes to win its third consecutive game. QB Michael Pratt threw two touchdown passes to lead the offense, while Tulane forced three turnovers, including an 8-yard special teams touchdown by WR Jaetavian Toles. This week’s schedule begins Thursday as Tulane visits Tulsa in a matchup of two of The American’s hottest teams. Tulane has won three in a row and has scored at least 31 points in six consecutive games, while Tulsa has won five straight conference games dating to last season. Saturday’s ledger is highlighted by Cincinnati’s game at UCF at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. Houston visits SMU at noon ET on ESPNU as both teams try to remain in the championship game chase. East Carolina is at Temple (noon ET, ESPN+), Navy is at USF (8 p.m. ET, ESPNU) and Memphis hosts Stephen F. Austin (noon ET, ESPN+). 1 AMERICAN NOTEBOOK Perfection That’s Offensive 2020 COLLEGE FOOTBALL RULES CHANGES Cincinnati is one of seven NCAA FBS teams that is unde- The American Athletic Conference ranks as the highest- feated while having played at least five games in 2020. scoring NCAA FBS Conference in 2020. Players Numbering 2020 NCAA FBS Unbeaten Teams 2020 NCAA FBS Scoring by Conference No more than two squad members may be assigned or (at least five games played) Conference Games Points Avg. wear the same jersey number. There were no limits to Team W L American 77 2463 32.0 duplicate numbers in previous seasons. With the recog- BYU 8 0 Pac-12 16 511 31.9 nized popularity of the single-digit numbers, the digit “0” Liberty 8 0 ACC 118 3658 31.0 is added as a legal number. Any number to be preceded Notre Dame 8 0 MAC 24 737 30.7 by “0” such as “07” or “00” remains illegal. Cincinnati 7 0 Big 12 70 2109 30.1 Coastal Carolina 7 0 SEC 86 2538 29.5 Targeting - Disqualified Player Marshall 7 0 Sun Belt 78 2198 28.1 There were no changes to the targeting rule from an Alabama 6 0 Mountain West 44 1182 26.8 on-field officiating perspective and the rule continues to Conference USA 83 2173 26.2 serve the game well and is changing player behavior in Defend This House terms of use of the helmet. The change for 2020 is that Cincinnati has won its last 19 games at Nippert Stadium, On A Roll now a player disqualified for targeting will be declared which is the fourth-longest home field winning streak Cincinnati has gone 31-5 since the start of the 2018 ineligible for further participation in the game, but the nationally, while Memphis is fifth with 13 straight home season. UCF is 40-6 since the beginning of the 2017 player may remain in the team area. wins. Clemson leads the nation at 27 straight home wins, season. SMU is 17-5 and Memphis is 15-5 since the start followed by Notre Dame (23) and Ohio State (22). of the 2019 campaign. All other disqualifying fouls such as fighting, two un- sportsmanlike conduct fouls, flagrant personal fouls, etc. Representing The Defense Moving The Chains will be reclassified as fouls requiring ejection. Players Cincinnati ranks third nationally in scoring defense at UCF leads the nation in total offense, averaging 619.1 ejected will be required to leave the playing enclosure 12.4 points allowed per game. The Bearcats are fourth yards per game, more than 25 yards better than North and must remain out of view of the field of play under nationally in pass efficiency defense (91.41) and 10th in Texas, which is second at 593.6 ypg. team supervision. total defense (300.9 ypg). Air Travel Pregame Warmup /Officials’ Jurisdiction Pulling Rank UCF is also the national leader in passing offense at 396.9 The Rules Committee address issues of unsportsmanlike Cincinnati and Tulsa both have two wins against top-25 yards per game. behavior in the pregame and took steps to clean this teams in 2020. The Golden Hurricane has defeated two action up. The officials’ jurisdiction will now begin at 90 top-25 opponents in the same season for the first time Big Three minutes before kickoff (previously 60 minutes).