American Athletic Conference Football Report 2015 Season • Week 10 @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 23/23 4-0 1.000 137 66 2-0 2-0 7-1 .875 246 126 3-1 4-0 0-0 Lost 1 Cincinnati 2-2 .500 161 107 2-1 0-1 5-3 .625 308 211 4-1 1-2 0-0 Won 2 USF 2-2 .500 100 87 1-1 1-1 4-4 .500 227 183 3-1 1-3 0-0 Lost 1 EAST UConn 2-3 .400 122 119 1-2 1-1 4-5 .444 183 190 3-2 1-3 0-0 Won 1 East Carolina 2-3 .400 127 140 1-1 1-2 4-5 .444 252 264 3-1 1-4 0-0 Lost 2 UCF 0-5 .000 77 226 0-2 0-3 0-9 .000 127 319 0-4 0-5 0-0 Lost 10 SCHOOL W-L PCT PF PA H A W-L PCT PF PA H A N STREAK Houston 18/18 4-0 1.000 188 69 1-0 3-0 8-0 1.000 367 138 4-0 4-0 0-0 Won 9 Memphis 15/16 4-0 1.000 184 118 2-0 2-0 8-0 1.000 383 213 4-0 4-0 0-0 Won 15 Navy rv/rv 4-0 1.000 133 70 3-0 1-0 6-1 .857 238 132 5-0 1-1 0-0 Won 2 Tulsa 1-3 .250 123 165 0-2 1-1 4-4 .500 282 306 2-2 2-2 0-0 Won 1 WEST Tulane 1-4 .200 89 194 1-1 0-3 2-6 .250 144 303 1-2 1-4 0-0 Lost 4 SMU 0-4 .000 96 176 0-2 0-2 1-7 .125 230 349 1-4 0-3 0-0 Lost 6 THIS WEEK WEEKLY HONORS Friday, November 6 OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK Temple at SMU * ............................................. 8 p.m. Gunner Kiel • Jr. • QB • Cincinnati • Columbus, Ind. Television: ESPN2 Kiel became the first NCAA FBS player in 20 years to finish a game with as many as 15 Series: SMU leads, 1-0-2 completions without a single incomplete pass as he led Cincinnati to a 52-7 win against Last Meeting: Oct. 26, 2013 — SMU, 59-49 UCF. He went 15-for-15 for 319 yards and five touchdowns against the Knights, finishing one TD pass shy of his own American Athletic Conference record. Kiel, who only played in two quarters against UCF, turned in his second straight 300-yard game since returning to the Saturday, November 7 starting lineup. He had a passer rating for the game of 388.64. UCF at Tulsa * .................................................. Noon Television: ESPNews DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK Series: Tulsa leads, 5-3 Steven Taylor • Jr. • LB • Houston • Cedar Hill, Texas Last Meeting: Nov. 14, 2014 — UCF, 31-7 Taylor had 12 tackles to go with an interception to lead a Houston defense which limited Vanderbilt to 44 passing yards and 185 total yards in a 34-0 win against the Commodores. Cincinnati at Houston * ........................... 3:30 p.m. Taylor returned his interception 25 yards to set up a Houston touchdown and help the Television: ESPN2 Cougars become the first nonconference opponent to shut out a team from the SEC since Series: Houston leads, 13-9 a 28-0 win by Louisville against Kentucky Sept. 5, 2004. Taylor is the American Athletic Last Meeting: Dec. 6, 2014 — Cincinnati, 38-31 Conference leader in both sacks (8.0) and tackles for loss (13.0). UConn at Tulane * ..........................................4 p.m. SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK Television: ESPNews Jake Elliott • Jr. • K • Memphis • Western Springs, Ill. Series: Tulane leads, 1-0 Elliott scored 13 points, all as part of a run of 41 unanswered points to close Memphis’ 41-13 Last Meeting: Oct. 11, 2014 — Tulane, 12-3 win against Tulane, giving the Tigers their 15th straight win. Elliott made field goals of 24, 40 and 34 yards, moving him into second place on the Tigers’ career chart (51). He was 4-for-4 Navy at Memphis * ......................................... 7 p.m. on PATs, extending his streak to 128 consecutive made points after. Elliott has 89 points this Television: ESPN2 season, which leads all American Athletic Conference kickers and ranks fifth among all players. Series: First meeting HONOR ROLL USF at East Carolina * ............................. 7:30 p.m. Arkeel Newsome • So. • RB • UConn • Ansonia, Conn. Television: CBS Sports Network Rushed for 179 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries and finished with 244 all-purpose yards in a Series: USF leads, 4-1 31-13 win against East Carolina. Last Meeting: Oct. 11, 2014 — East Carolina, 28-17 Paxton Lynch • Jr. • QB • Memphis • Deltona, Fla. Completed 26 of 42 passes for 343 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 43 yards in a 41-13 win against Tulane. Keenan Reynolds • Sr. • QB • Navy • Antioch, Tenn. Rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns in a 29-17 win against USF, tying former Wisconsin running back Montee Ball for the NCAA career rushing touchdowns record (77). Courtland Sutton • Fr. • WR • SMU • Brenham, Texas Had eight receptions for 165 yards and two touchdowns in a 40-31 loss to Tulsa. DeAngelo Brewer • So. • RB • Tulsa • Tulsa, Okla. Had 23 carries for 119 yards and a touchdown in a 40-31 win at SMU in his first game back from injury. AMERICAN NOTEBOOK Streaking What A Rush Memphis extended its winning streak to a school- Navy QB Keenan Reynolds has tied the NCAA’s record 15 games with its win against Tulane. The career rushing touchdowns record after he ran only teams with longer active winning streaks are for two TDs in the Midshipmen’s win against USF. Ohio State, which has won 21 straight, and TCU, Reynolds has 77 career rushing touchdowns, tying which has won 16 in a row. Houston has won nine former Wisconsin running back Montee Ball for the in a row. most in NCAA history. Perfection Reynolds trails Ball by six on the NCAA career list The American has two of the nation’s 11 remain- for total touchdowns ing unbeaten teams as Memphis and Houston are Player, School (Years) TD both 8-0. The only other conferences with multiple 1. Montee Ball, Wisconsin (2009-12) ............83 unbeaten teams are the Big Ten and the Big 12. 2. Travis Prentice, Ohio (1996-99) .................78 The first American Athletic Conference Football 3. Keenan Reynolds, Navy (2012-) ................. 77 Championship will be played Saturday, Dec. 5, Conference Calls 2015, at noon ET and will be televised nationally The American is a combined 10-1 against opponents Staying Active on either ABC or ESPN. from Conference USA, the MAC, the Mountain West American Athletic Conference players among the and the Sun Belt conferences this season. The NCAA FBS active career leaders. The 2015 season will be The American’s first in its American is 8-11 against teams from the ACC, Big Rushing Yards Yards new 12-team, two-division format, in which each Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC. 2. Keenan Reynolds, Navy .........................3,939 team will play eight conference games. Each team will face the other five teams in its own division as Look West Tackles Total well as three teams from the other division. The top three teams in the American Athletic Con- 1. Tyler Matakevich, Temple ........................ 432 ference’s West Division — Houston, Memphis and 2. Michael Mudoh, Tulsa ................................ 358 The American’s East Division includes UCF, Cincin- Navy — are a combined 22-1 this season. 5. Trevon Stewart, Houston ......................... 334 nati, UConn, East Carolina, USF and Temple. The West Division lineup is Houston, Memphis, Navy, Depth Perception Forced Fumbles Total SMU, Tulane and Tulsa. The two divisional cham- Seven of The American’s 12 teams have at least a 3. Nigel Harris, USF .............................................. 8 pions will meet in The American Championship at .500 winning percentage this season. the home site of one of the participants. Inerceptions Total That’s Offensive 2. Adrian McDonald, Houston ......................... 17 The winner of the American Athletic Conference The American has four of the top nine teams Football Championship will have the opportunity nationally in terms of total offense. Cincinnati is Passes Defended Total to participate in one of the College Football Playoff fifth nationally at 576.9 yards per game, followed 5. William Jackson, Houston .......................... 37 New Year’s Bowls if it is the highest-ranked team by Memphis (sixth, 560.3 ypg), Houston (seventh among the champions of Conference USA, the 537.4 ypg) and Tulsa (ninth, 532.0 ypg). Eyeballs Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West Temple and Cincinnati have played in front of record Conference and the Sun Belt Conference. Half And Half home crowds. The Owls drew 69,176 at Lincoln Temple has outscored its seven opponents by a Financial Field for their win against Penn State and 147-39 margin in the second half. broke that mark with 69,280 against Notre Dame. Divisional Champions The Bearcats had an on-campus record 39,095 on The divisional champions will be the teams from Rank And File hand at the newly renovated Nippert Stadium for each division with the highest winning percent- Seven of the 12 teams in the American Athletic their win against Alabama A&M before surpassing age in all conference games – both divisional and Conference were ranked in the top 25 of the Bowl that number with 40,101 in attendance against non-divisional.