American Athletic Conference Football Report 2015 Season • Week 5 @American_FB Contact: Chuck Sullivan, Assistant Commissioner for Communications [email protected] • 401.453.0660 • @ChuckSullivan15 15 Park Row West • Providence, RI 02903 AMERICAN OVERALL SCHOOL W-L PCT PF PA H A W-L PCT PF PA H A N STREAK Temple rv/rv 1-0 1.000 34 26 0-0 1-0 3-0 1.000 86 59 1-0 2-0 0-0 Won 4 USF 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 1-2 .333 82 72 1-0 0-2 0-0 Lost 2 UCF 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 0-4 .000 50 93 0-2 0-2 0-0 Lost 5 EAST UConn 0-1 .000 18 28 0-1 0-0 2-2 .500 66 69 2-1 0-1 0-0 Lost 2 East Carolina 0-1 .000 21 45 0-0 0-1 2-2 .500 108 124 2-0 0-2 0-0 Won 1 Cincinnati 0-2 .000 72 87 0-1 0-1 2-2 .500 161 130 1-1 1-1 0-0 Lost 1 SCHOOL W-L PCT PF PA H A W-L PCT PF PA H A N STREAK Navy rv/rv 2-0 1.000 73 39 1-0 1-0 3-0 1.000 121 49 2-0 1-0 0-0 Won 7 Memphis rv/rv 1-0 1.000 53 46 1-0 0-0 4-0 1.000 215 117 2-0 2-0 0-0 Won 11 Houston rv/rv 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 3-0 1.000 145 69 2-0 1-0 0-0 Won 4 Tulsa 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 2-1 .667 125 117 1-0 1-1 0-0 Lost 1 WEST Tulane 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 1-2 .333 55 109 1-1 0-1 0-0 Won 1 SMU 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 1-3 .250 134 173 1-2 0-1 0-0 Lost 2 THIS WEEK WEEKLY HONORS Thursday, October 1 OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK Miami (Fla.) at Cincinnati ....................... 7:30 p.m. Keenan Reynolds • Sr. • QB • Navy • Antioch, Tennessee Television: ESPN Reynolds had a hand in four touchdowns to lead Navy to a 28-18 win at UConn, extending Series: Miami (Fla.) leads, 11-1 the Midshipmen’s winning streak to seven games. Facing a defense that ranked 15th Last Meeting: Oct. 11, 2014 — Miami, 55-34 nationally in scoring and 18th in yards allowed, Reynolds rushed for a game-high 142 yards with three touchdowns on 28 carries, while he completed 3 of 4 passes for 40 yards and one TD. Reynolds turned in his NCAA-record 14th career game with at least three rushing Friday, October 2 TDs and moved into second place on the NCAA’s career rushing touchdowns chart (73).. Memphis at USF * .......................................... 7 p.m. Television: ESPN2 Series: Memphis leads, 4-3 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK Last Meeting: Nov. 22, 2014 — Memphis, 31-20 William Jackson III • Sr. • CB • Houston • Houston, Texas Jackson helped Houston to remain unbeaten as the Cougars took a 59-14 win against Temple at Charlotte ...................................... 7 p.m. Texas State. He contributed to the Cougars’ scoring with a 35-yard interception return for Television: CBSSN a touchdown and had a first-quarter fumble recovery, which he returned 13 yards. Jackson’s Series: First meeting pick-six ended a streak of 223 passes without an interception for Texas State’s quarterback. Jackson ranks third in The American in passes defended (1.33 per game). UConn at Brigham Young .......................10:15 p.m. Television: ESPN2 SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK Series: Brigham Young leads, 1-0 Spencer Smith • So. • P • Memphis • Newnan, Ga. Last Meeting: Aug. 31, 2014 — Brigham Young, 35-10 Smith averaged 52.7 yards on six punts to help Memphis to a 53-46 win against Cincinnati, extending the Tigers’ winning streak to a school-record 11 games. Smith had four punts of at least 50 yards, with a long of 72 yards. In a game win which Cincinnati scored on nine of its Saturday, October 3 possessions, only two of those scores came after a Smith punt. Smith leads The American UCF at Tulane * ............................................... Noon and is third nationally in punting average at 49.9 yards per kick. Television: ESPNews Series: UCF leads, 5-1 HONOR ROLL Last Meeting: Oct. 18, 2014 — UCF, 20-13 Hayden Moore • Fr. • QB • Cincinnati • Clay, Ala. Came off the bench to complete 31 of 53 passes for an American Athletic Conference-record 557 yards Houston at Tulsa * .......................................... Noon and four touchdowns with two interceptions in a 5346 loss at Memphis. Television: CBSSN Series: Houston leads, 21-18 Last Meeting: Nov. 22, 2014 — Houston, 38-28 James Summers • Jr. • QB • East Carolina • Greensboro, N.C. Rushed for 169 yards and two touchdowns and completed 5 of 8 passes for 110 yards and another TD in Air Force at Navy ..................................... 3:30 p.m. a 35-28 win against Virginia Tech. Television: CBSSN Series: Air Force leads, 28-19 Greg Ward Jr. • Jr. • QB • Houston • Tyler, Texas Last Meeting: Oct. 4, 2014 — Air Force, 30-21 Completed 17 of 21 passes for 274 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 91 yards and two more TDs on 10 carries in a 59-14 win against Texas State. East Carolina at SMU * ..................................4 p.m. Television: ESPNews Paxton Lynch • Jr. • QB • Memphis • Deltona, Fla. Series: East Carolina leads, 3-2 Completed 24 of 36 passes for a career-high 412 yards and two touchdowns in a 53-46 win against Last Meeting: Oct. 4, 2014 — East Carolina, 45-24 Cincinnati. Micah Thomas • So. • LB • Navy • Cedar Park, Texas Had 10 tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss in a 28-18 win at UConn. AMERICAN NOTEBOOK Streaking Play On Memphis extended its winning streak to a school- Seven of the 12 American Athletic Conference record 11 games with its win against Cincinnati. The teams in 2015 were bowl-eligible in 2014 (UCF, only teams with longer active winning streaks are Cincinnati, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, Navy, Ohio State, which has won 17 straight, and TCU, Temple). Houston, Memphis and Navy earned bowl which has 12 straight wins. Navy takes a seven- victories last season. game winning streak into Week 5. Staying Active Perfection American Athletic Conferece players among the The American has four unbeaten teams (Memphis NCAA FBS active career leaders. is 4-0, while Temple, Navy and Houston are 3-0). Rushing Yards Yards Only the Big 12 (six), Big Ten (five) and SEC (five) 2. Keenan Reynolds, Navy ..........................3,491 have more unbeaten teams than The American, The first American Athletic Conference Football Tackles Total Championship will be played Saturday, Dec. 5, That’s Offensive 1. Tyler Matakevich, Temple ........................ 383 2015, at noon ET and will be televised nationally Six of the 12 American Athletic Conference teams 3. Michael Mudoh, Tulsa ...................................311 on either ABC or ESPN. have averaged at least 400 yards of total offense 4. Trevon Stewart, Houston .........................308 through four weeks of the season. Cincinnati The 2015 season will be The American’s first in its (622.5) and Tulsa (607.0) have both averaged more Sacks Total new 12-team, two-division format, in which each than 600 yards per game, while Houston and 5. Derrick Alexander, Tulsa........................... 18.0 team will play eight conference games. Each team Memphis are both better than 500 yards per game. will face the other five teams in its own division as Forced Fumbles Total well as three teams from the other division. Grand Totals 4. Nigel Harris, USF ...............................................7 Temple LB Tyler Matakevich registered 117 tackles in The American’s East Division includes UCF, Cincin- his junior season, marking the third straight season Inerceptions Total nati, UConn, East Carolina, USF and Temple. The in which he had at least 100 tackles. He is only the 4. Adrian McDonald, Houston .........................15 West Division lineup is Houston, Memphis, Navy, third player in Temple history with three straight SMU, Tulane and Tulsa. The two divisional cham- 100-tackle seasons, joining Joe Klecko (1974-96) Eyeballs pions will meet in The American Championship at and Steve Conjar (1979-81). Temple and Cincinnati opened their 2015 seasons the home site of one of the participants. in front of record crowds. The Owls drew 69,176 at A Man With A Purpose Lincoln Financial Field for their win against Penn The winner of the American Athletic Conference Temple RB Jahad Thomas set an American Athletic State, while the Bearcats had an on-campus record Football Championship will have the opportunity Conference record with 342 all-purpose yards in 39,095 on hand at the newly renovated Nippert to participate in one of the College Football Playoff the Owls’ win against Cincinnati. Thomas leads Stadium for their win against Alabama A&M. Mem- New Year’s Bowls if it is the highest-ranked team the nation in all-purpose yards, averaging 225.7 phis and East Carolina have both played in front of among the champions of Conference USA, the yards per game. home crowds of at least 45,000 this season as well. Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West Conference and the Sun Belt Conference. Rank And File Veteran Presence Seven of the 12 teams in the American Athletic Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo, who is in his eighth Conference were ranked in the top 25 of the Bowl year as the Midshipmen’s head coach, has more Divisional Champions Championship Series standings or the College head coaching experience than the other five West The divisional champions will be the teams from Football Playoff committee rankings between Division coaches combined (six years).