The American Conference promises another solid week of action despite airing a small slate of games. Once again, the league will have weeknight exposure, and we’ll even get broadcast TV this week! With that, the conference has another chance to strengthen its reputation as the preeminent force in the Group of Five conference. Perhaps more to the point, league favorites can strengthen their College Football Playoff resumes with wins this week.
Navy Hosts Air Force in First Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy Game
Navy takes a break from conference play this weekend to kick off the Commander-in-Chief Trophy series. The Midshipmen, now 4-0 in back-to-back years for the first time since 1979, will host an Air Force squad (1-3) with a dramatically improved offense. Falcon QB Liam Szarka has thrown for over 230 yards in each of the last two weeks. Szarka threw for 278 yards with completions on 10/12 passes last week against Hawai’i. His 417 yards of offense set a program record. Navy’s defense has looked good, but they’ll have their hands full.
Getting a win on CBS (Saturday, 12 PM ET) could help Navy QB Blake Horvath’s Heisman campaign immensely. Though the Mids have won all their games, they haven’t yet had that dominant performance against FBS competition. Last week, for example, they escaped with a 21-13 win over Rice.
Navy’s offense should thrive if they can limit mistakes. Air Force has allowed 93 points in the last two weeks. This year’s game should be closer than last year’s 34-7 blowout, but Navy still looks to have the edge.
USF and Charlotte Share the Friday Night Lights
USF returns from its bye week with a game against a struggling Charlotte squad (Friday, 7 PM ET, ESPN2). This is the second of three weeknight games for Charlotte despite their lackluster conference record.
Perhaps the league needs to rethink its distribution of weeknight games?
Unfortunately, things don’t look great for the 49ers. Starting QB Conner Harrell will miss the remainder of the year.
Charlotte will have to hope to catch USF looking ahead to their showdown with North Texas next Friday. However, USF QB Byrum Brown and the Bulls offense should excel in this one. Charlotte allowed 410 passing yards to FCS Monmouth earlier in the year.
Week 5: Roll it back ⏪#ComeToTheBay | #StayInTheBay pic.twitter.com/EZBNk3RFZe
— USF Football (@USFFootball) October 2, 2025
Robert Henry Jr. Continues Outstanding Season Against Temple
UTSA RB Robert Henry Jr. looks like an early frontrunner for the Doak Walker Award. Henry Jr. is averaging 155 yards per game for UTSA and nearly ten yards per carry. He could break 200 yards for the first time all season this week against Temple (Saturday at 1 PM ET, ESPN+). Temple has improved, but their run defense remains porous. The Owls allowed 307 rushing yards and ten yards per carry against Georgia Tech in their last outing. This followed a 228-yard performance from Oklahoma earlier in the season.
Temple QB Evan Simon will need to keep up with the UTSA offense if Henry Jr. runs wild. Luckily, Simon is himself putting together an elite season. He has 10 touchdown passes and zero interceptions in 92 passes so far this year.
The fit for Philly is a 𝕂𝕟𝕠𝕔𝕜𝕠𝕦𝕥 🥊#210TriangleOfToughness | #210wned pic.twitter.com/XqxfqyA4UH
— UTSA Football 🏈 (@UTSAFTBL) October 1, 2025
Other Notes From Around the League
Rice takes on Florida Atlantic in a Battle of the Owls this Saturday (7PM ET, ESPN+). Florida Atlantic struggles mightily defending the run, having allowed 505 yards in their last two games. That might be trouble. Rice’s option offense has started finding its rhythm even after a tough game against a formidable run-stuffing Navy squad. However, the Rice defense has the tall task of stopping Florida Atlantic’s high-octane passing game, averaging 325 yards per game.
Finally, Memphis hopes to continue its undefeated season against Tulsa (8 PM ET, ESPNU). The Tigers have the best backfield in the conference. A week after RB Sutton Smith ran for 147 yards against Arkansas, RB Greg Desrosiers Jr. ran for 204 yards against FAU.
To keep up, Tulsa’s offense must improve. The Golden Hurricane have only scored 20+ points against FBS competition once this season. Their defense stood tough enough to keep Tulsa in the game against Tulane last week, but without much offense, they eventually fell, 31-14.
Ready for battle 🥊#ALLIN | #GoTigersGo pic.twitter.com/HnRfYwpPW5
— Memphis Football (@MemphisFB) October 2, 2025
Enjoy the games, friends. This should be a good week of American Conference football!
Go Army! Beat UAB!!!
Editor’s Note: We got a lot of boxing-themed stuff from the various teams’ social media managers. I really liked UTSA’s set-up for their showdown in Philly. But friends, UTSA is Apollo Creed in this particular analogy.
