2007 CONFERENCE USA TM FOOTBALL fff OMPETITION LIVES HERE East Carolina • Houston • Marshall • Memphis • Rice • SMU Southern Miss • Tulane • Tulsa • UAB • UCF • UTEP CONTACT: Russell Anderson ([email protected]) Tod Meisner ([email protected]) FINAL RELEASE 2007 STANDINGS EAST DIVISION C-USA ALL GAMES W-L Pct. H W-L Pct. H A Pts Opp xUCF 7-1 4-0 10-4 .714 6-1 4-3 502 372 EAST CAROLINA 6-2 3-1 3-1 3-2 8-5 .615 4-2 4-3 403 395 MEMPHIS 6-2 3-1 3-1 3-2 7-6 .538 4-3 3-3 380 419 SOUTHERN MISS 5-3 3-2 7-6 .538 3-3 4-3 361 314 MARSHALL 3-5 3-9 .250 3-3 0-6 298 411 UAB 1-7 .125 1-3 2-10 .167 2-3 0-7 235 421 WEST DIVISION C- SA ALL GAMES W-L Pct. W-L Pct. H A Pts Opp TULSA 6-2 .750 10-4 .714 5-1 5-3 576 467 HOUSTON 6-2 .750 8-5 .615 5-1 3-4 449 379 TULANE 3-5 .375 1-3 2-2 4-8 .333 2-5 2-3 293 375 RICE 3-5 .375 1-3 2-2 3-9 .250 1-5 2-4 377 515 UTEP 2-6 .250 1-3 1-3 4-8 .333 3-3 1-5 403 445 SMU 0-8 .000 0-4 0-4 0-5 1-11 .083 1-5 0-6 340 477 /inched Conference USA Champions 1p C-USA CHAMPIONSHIP BOWL RESULTS COACHES AWARDS Saturday, December 1 Friday, December 21 COACH OF THE YEAR George O'Leary - UCF BRIGHT HOUSE NETWORKS R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL Florida Atlantic 44, Memphis 27 OFFENSE PLAYER OF THE YEAR C-USA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME Paul Smith , QB, Tulsa UCF 44, Tulsa 25 Saturday, December 22 PAPAJOHNS.COM BOWL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR (20) Cincinnati 31, Southern Miss 21 Gerald McRath, LB, Southern Miss SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR Sunday, December 23 Chris Johnson, KR, East Carolina SHERATON HAWAl'I BOWL East Carolina 41, (22) Boise State 38 NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR Brennan Marion, WR, Tulsa Friday, December 28 FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR TEXAS BOWL Case Keenun, QB, Houston TCU 20, Houston 13 MEDIA AWARDS Saturday, December 29 COACH OF THE YEAR AUTOZONE LIBERTY BOWL George O'Leary - UCF Mississippi State 10, UCF 3 CO-OFFENSE PLAYERS OF THE YEAR Sunday, January 6 Kevin Smith, RB, UCF GMAC BOWL Paul Smith , QB, Tulsa Tulsa 63, Bowling Green 7 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR Gerald McRath, LB, Southern Miss SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR Chris Johnson, KR, East Carolina NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR Brennan Marion, WR, Tulsa FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR Case Keenun, QB, Houston Conference USA • 5201 N. O'Connor Blvd., Suite 300 • Irving, TX 75039 • P· (214) 774-1300 • F: (214) 496-0055 • www.ConferenceUSAcom 2007 C-USA FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK Page2 FINAL RELEASE 2007-08 BOWL SCHEDULE 2007 BRIGHT HOUSE NETWORKS C-USA .NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Jan. 7, New Orleans, La. FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME 38, Ohio State 24 ORLANDO, Florida (AP) - UCF junior Kevin Smith has run through 13 teams for GMAC Jan. 6, Mobile, Ala. 2,448 yards this season. Now all that stands in his way is a Hall of Fame rusher who Tulsa 63, Bowling Green 7 hasn't played college ball in 19 years. INTERNATIONAL Jan. 5, Toronto, Ontario Smith had 284 yards and four touchdowns on Saturday as Central Florida beat Rutgers 52, Ball State 30 Tulsa 44-25 for the Conference USA championship. He moved into second place FED EX ORANGE Jan. 3, Miami, Fla. behind Barry Sanders on the NCAAs single-season rushing list, and still has one Kansas 24, Virginia Tech 21 game left, UCF's Dec. 29 Liberty Bowl appearance. TOSTITOS FIESTA Jan. 2, Tempe, Ariz. West Virginia 48, Oklahoma 28 As he had all year, the 6-foot-1, 211-pound junior downplayed his gaudy numbers. ALLSTATE SUGAR Jan. 1, New Orleans, La. Georgia 41, Hawai'i 10 "I'm expected to be back there and make the right cut at the right time," Smith said. ROSE Jan. 1, Pasadena, Calif. "You can't run up the sideline without a hole. My guys gave it to me, and I tried not to let them down." USC 49, Illinois 17 CAPITAL ONE Jan. 1, Orlando, Fla. Then, perhaps his biggest understatement: "Coach gives me the ball a lot." ,, Michigan 41, Florida 35 TOYOTA GATOR Jan. 1, Jacksonville, Fla. Smith on Saturday also set the NCAA all-time single-season record in season rush• Texas Tech 31, Virginia 28 ing attempts with 415, 12 more than Marcus Allen had at USC in 1981. Allen had AT&T COTTON Jan. 1, Dallas, Texas been ahead of Smith in season rushing yardage, but the junior passed him with a Missouri 38, Arkansas 7 six-yard carry in the third quarter. Smith had 24 carries for 161 yards at halftime, and OUTBACK Jan. 1, Tampa, Fla. piled up even more with a 7 4-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. Tennessee 21, Wisconsin 17 It was the second time in three years the teams played for the conference champi• CHICK FIL-A Dec. 31, Atlanta, Ga. onship. Tulsa (9-4, 6-3) won in 2005, but the Golden Hurricane's star quarterback Auburn 23, Clemson 20 (OT) Paul Smith made too many mistakes this time. INSIGHT Dec. 31, Phoenix, Ariz. Oklahoma State 49, Indiana 23 Paul Smith passed for 426 yards, his third 400-yard game this season, on 28 of 55 GAYLORD HOTELS MUSIC CITY Dec. 31, Nashville, Tenn. completions, but threw three interceptions. Two were in the second half, and each Kentucky 35, Florida State 28 one happened inside or near the end zone. BRUT SUN Dec. 31, El Paso, Texas Oregon 56, South Florida 21 'They play as well as anyone we've played - physicality, speed, strength," Paul Smith said . • DY'S HUMANITARIAN Dec. 31, Boise, Idaho no State 40, Georgia Tech 28 UCF led 31-23 at halftime, but couldn't stop Paul Smith early. The Golden Hurricane, L HELICOPTER ARMED FORCES Dec. 31, Fort Worth, Texas the country's top offense with 548 yards a game, rolled up 376 yards and 13 first California 42, Air Force 36 downs. The Knights let Smith slip out of several third-and-long situations with long PETRO SUN INDEPENDENCE Dec. 30, Shreveport, La. completions over the middle, including a 29-yarder to Trae Johnson on third-and-12 Alabama 30, Colorado 24 that set up Tulsa's first score. ALAMO Dec. 29, San Antonio, Texas Penn State 24, Texas A&M 17 But the Knights clamped down in the second half, pressuring Smith into Tulsa's AUTO ZONE LIBERTY Dec. 29, Memphis, Tenn. third-worst offensive outing of the season. UCF used the same blueprint when the Mississippi State 10, UCF 3 teams met in the regular season, picking off four Smith passes in a 44-23 win. MEINEKE CAR CARE Dec. 29, Charlotte, N.C. 'A lot of it is they've got some really, really explosive guys up front, and I think that's Wake Forest 24, Connecticut 10 the key to their defense," Graham said. TEXAS Dec. 28, Houston, Texas TCU 20, Houston 13 Down 37-23, Tulsa stayed alive when Paul Smith found Brennan Marion for a CHAMPS SPORTS Dec. 28, Orlando, Fla. 33-yard completion on fourth down to the Knights' 3-yard-line. Despite four chances Boston College 24, Michigan State 21 at point-blank rage, Tulsa couldn't score until it turned the ball over on downs and EMERALD Dec. 28, San Francisco, Calif. tackled UCF QB Kyle Israel for a safety. Oregon State 21, Maryland 14 PACIFIC LIFE HOLIDAY Dec. 27, San Diego, Calif. Knights coach George O'Leary saved a touchdown in the second quarter after Paul Smith ran in an eight-yard draw. The Golden Hurricane lined up for the extra Texas 52, Arizona State 34 point, but O'Leary challenged, saying Tulsa had 12 players on the field. The review MOTOR CITY Dec. 26, Detroit, Mich. showed he was correct, and Tulsa came away without any points when Smith was Purdue 51, Central Michigan 48 intercepted by Johnell Neal at the 5-yard-line. SHERATON HAWAl'I Dec. 23, Honolulu, Hawaii East Carolina 41, Boise State 38 Cornerback Joe Burnett scored UCF's first TD on an 83-yard punt return. It was the PIONEER LAS VEGAS Dec. 22, Las Vegas, Nev. school's first since the conference title game last year, when he ran one back 68 BYU 17, UCLA 16 yards. NEW MEXICO Dec. 22, Albuquerque, N.M. New Mexico 23, Nevada 0 The real offense was coming from the Smiths. Tulsa's senior Paul turned in his 13th straight 300-yard game after never having one before this year. PAPAJOHNS.COM Dec. 22, Birmingham, Ala. Cincinnati 31, Southern Miss 21 Kevin Smith's four touchdowns gave him 30 on the season, fourth-best in history R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS Dec. 21, New Orleans, La. behind Sanders (39), Boise State's Brock Forsey (32) and Louisiana Tech's Troy Ida Atlantic 44, Memphis 27 Edwards (31). ,~SETTIA Dec. 20, San Diego, Calif. h 35, Navy 32 Smith is now 180 yards behind Sanders, and averages 188 a game. 2007 C-USA FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK Page3 FINAL RELEASE 2007 C-USA ACADEMIC HONOREES 2007 C-USA ALL-AMERICANS C-USA footbal players earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Conference USA had several football players earn All-American honors from various rs, while 13 were named Academic All-District.