American Athletic Conference Football Report 2014 Season • Week 7 Contact: Chuck Sullivan, Director of Communications ([email protected] • 401.453.0660) 15 Park Row West • Providence, RI 02903 TheAmerican.org • Twitter: @American_FB • Facebook: fb.com/AmericanConf 2014 STANDINGS AMERICAN OVERALL SCHOOL W-L PCT PF PA H A W-L PCT PF PA H A N STREAK NOTABLE East Carolina 19/19 1-0 1.000 45 24 1-0 0-0 4-1 .800 218 126 3-0 1-1 0-0 Won 3 Pirates are in top 25 for first time since 2008 Temple 1-0 1.000 36 10 0-0 1-0 3-1 .750 156 48 1-1 2-0 0-0 Won 2 Owls have won two straight road games Memphis -/rv 1-0 1.000 41 14 0-0 1-0 3-2 .600 178 97 2-0 1-2 0-0 Won 1 Tigers are above .500 for first time since 2007 UCF 1-0 1.000 17 12 0-0 1-0 2-2 .500 92 83 1-0 1-1 0-1 Won 2 Knights have won 10 straight regular-season conference games USF 1-0 1.000 17 14 1-0 0-0 2-3 .400 97 145 2-2 0-1 0-0 Lost 1 Bulls have matched win total from 2013 season Tulsa 1-0 1.000 38 31 1-0 0-0 1-4 .200 117 212 1-2 0-2 0-0 Lost 4 Tulsa has not scored in the first quarter this season Cincinnati 0-1 .000 14 41 0-1 0-0 2-2 .500 131 149 2-1 0-1 0-0 Lost 2 Bearcats had possession for 19:05 against Memphis Houston 0-1 .000 12 17 0-1 0-0 2-3 .400 138 91 2-2 0-1 0-0 Lost 1 Cougars have forced a turnover in 28 straight games Tulane 0-1 .000 31 38 0-0 0-1 1-4 .200 106 174 1-1 0-3 0-0 Lost 2 RB Sherman Badie has two 100-yard games this season SMU 0-1 .000 24 45 0-0 0-1 0-5 .000 36 247 0-2 0-3 0-0 Lost 7 SMU was 5-for-6 on fourth down against East Carolina UConn 0-2 .000 24 53 0-1 0-1 1-4 .200 74 142 1-3 0-1 0-0 Lost 3 Huskies rank second in the conference in total defense THIS WEEK OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK Shane Carden • Sr. • QB • East Carolina • Houston, Texas Thursday, October 9 Carden accounted for 457 yards of total offense and threw four first-half touchdown passes to lead Brigham Young at UCF ......................7:30 p.m. East Carolina to a 45-24 win against SMU in the Pirates’ first American Athletic Conference game. Television: ESPN Carden completed 31 of 41 passes for 410 yards and four TDs and rushed for 47 yards on seven carries. Series: Brigham Young leads, 1-0 He turned in his third consecutive game with at least 400 passing yards and became East Carolina’s Last Meeting: Sept. 23, 2011 — Brigham Young, 24-17 career passing leader in the win. Carden has thrown for 9,134 yards in his career, passing the old mark of 9,029, which was set by David Garrard from 1998-2001. Saturday, October 11 Cincinnati at Miami (Fla.) ........................ Noon Television: ACC Regional Networks DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK Series: Miami leads, 10-1 Last Meeting: Sept. 12, 1998 — Miami, 38-12 Tank Jakes • Sr. • LB • Memphis • Phenix City, Ala. Jakes led a Memphis defense that limited preseason American Athletic Conference favorite Cincinnati Tulsa at Temple ......................................... Noon to 14 points and just three third-down conversions in the Tigers’ 41-14 win on the road. Jakes had a Television: ESPNews team-high 10 tackles, with three tackles for loss, two sacks, two quarterback hurries, a pass breakup Series: Tulsa leads, 2-0 and a forced fumble that set up a touchdown. Jakes is the national leader in tackles for loss (2.4 per Last Meeting: Nov. 19, 1988 — Tulsa, 15-10 game) and is ranked sixth nationally in sacks (1.2 per game). East Carolina at USF ..............................7 p.m. Television: ESPNU SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK Series: USF leads, 4-0 Kyle Bullard • Jr. • K • Houston • Boerne, Texas Last Meeting: Dec. 23, 2006 — USF, 24-7 Bullard accounted for all of Houston’s scoring in the Cougars’ 17-12 loss to UCF, including a pair of long field goals in the fourth quarter that allowed Houston to have a chance to win on its final possession. He was Houston at Memphis ..............................7 p.m. 4-for-4 in field goal attempts for the game, with first-half makes from 39 and 42 yards and fourth-quarter Television: CBS Sports Network kicks from 51 and 49 yards. Bullard, who has made a school-record 18 consecutive field goals dating to last season, is Series: Houston leads, 13-9 the leading scorer in the American Athletic Conference (9.4 ppg) and is the national leader in field goals (2.4 per game). Last Meeting: Oct. 12, 2013 — Houston, 25-15 UConn at Tulane ......................................8 p.m. HONOR ROLL Television: ESPNews Brandon Alexander • Sr. • S • UCF • Orlando, Fla. Series: First meeting Had nine tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, an interception and a pivotal forced fumble inside the 1-yard line on Houston’s final series in a 17-12 win against the Cougars. Open Week SMU .......................Next Game: Oct. 18 vs. Cincinnati Jaryl Mamea • Sr. • DT • UCF • Fagasa, American Samoa Had four tackles, three sacks and four quarterback hurries in a 17-12 win at Houston, leading a defense that held the Cougars without a touchdown. Justin Hardy • Sr. • WR • East Carolina • Vanceboro, N.C. Had eight receptions for 120 yards and three first-half touchdowns in a 45-24 win against SMU. Stands 47 receptions shy of the NCAA career record (349, Ryan Broyles, Oklahoma). Paxton Lynch • So. • QB • Memphis • Deltona, Fla. Threw for a career-high 311 yards with two touchdowns on 18-of-25 passing and added 45 rushing yards and two more TDs in a 41-14 win at Cincinnati. Darius Joseph • Jr. • WR • SMU • Abilene, Texas Had 13 receptions for 100 yards and two touchdowns in a 45-24 loss at No. 22/23 East Carolina. AMERICAN NOTEBOOK Introduction Best Of The Best WATCH THIS The 2014 season is the second for the American Athletic Four of the 11 teams in The American have earned top- Conference. The 2014 American lineup consists of 11 10 rankings in the BCS since the 1998 season: A look at American Athletic Conference players under consid- eration for 2014 major national awards. Football Bowl Subdivision teams that will play eight Team Highest Ranking - Year conference games. Cincinnati No. 3 - 2009 Maxwell Award (Player of the Year) Shane Carden, QB, East Carolina Houston No. 6 - 2011 Deontay Greenberry, WR, Houston Elite Company USF No. 2 - 2007 Justin Hardy, WR, East Carolina The American Athletic Conference was one of three Tulane No. 10 - 1998 John O’Korn, QB, Houston P.J. Walker, QB, Temple Football Bowl Subdivision conferences that had two 12-win teams in the 2013 season (UCF, Louisville). The Hardy Boy Bednarik Award (Defensive Player of the Year) Lorenzo Doss, CB, Tulane Big Ten and the SEC also had two teams with at least East Carolina WR Justin Hardy needs just 47 receptions Martin Ifedi, DE, Memphis 12 wins. to set the NCAA career record, currently held by former Tyler Matakevich, LB, Temple Terrance Plummer, LB, UCF Oklahoma standout Ryan Broyles. Hardy has 303 career Turnarounds receptions, while Broyles had 349 between 2008 and Mackey Award (Top Tight End) Sean Price, USF Three American Athletic Conference teams (Memphis, 2011. USF, Temple) have already matched their wins totals Rimington Trophy (Top Center) Deyshawn Bond, Cincinnati from last season. Pick Plays Dylan Foxworth, Tulsa Temple and Houston have registered eight defensive Kyle Friend, Temple Running The Table Joey Grant, UCF interceptions in 2014 — good for eighth nationally. Taylor Lasecki, SMU UCF is 9-0 all-time in American Athletic Conference Alex Mateas, UConn games. The Knights went 8-0 in The American last Bryce Redman, Houston Come Back, Shane Austin Reiter, USF season and won their 2014 conference opener against East Carolina QB Shane Carden is among the NCAA Houston last Thursday. UCF has won 10 straight regular- leaders in virtually every passing category in 2014. Lou Groza Award (Top Kicker) Jake Elliott, Memphis season conference games, dating to the 2012 season. Category NCAA Rank Marvin Kloss, USF Completions 6th (28.4 cpg) Shawn Moffitt, UCF Carl Salazar, Tulsa Security Instruments Pass Efficiency 15th (156.8) Temple leads the nation in turnover margin, with a net Passing Touchdowns 8th (15) Bronko Nagurski Trophy (Top Defensive Player) average of 2.50 per game. The Owls have 17 takeaways Lorenzo Doss, CB, Tulane Passing Yards 4th (375.8 ypg) Martin Ifedi, DE, Memphis in just four games this season after they registered just Total Offense 3rd (389.0 ypg) Tyler Matakevich, LB, Temple Derrick Mathews, LB, Houston three in the entire 2013 campaign. Points Responsible For 8th (108) Outland Trophy (Outstanding Interior Lineman) Bring It On Eric Lefeld, OT, Cincinnati Passing Fancy Torrian Wilson, OG, UCF Collectively, the American Athletic Conference plays American Athletic Conference teams averaged a Jim Thorpe Award (Top Defensive Back) the most challenging nonconference schedule of any combined 259.07 passing yards per game in 2013.