Each week, American Conference’s storylines seem to go absolutely bananas. This week, yet another huge matchup between College Football Playoff hopefuls threw the league race into flux. Of course, this was not the only storyline we saw. The league had a fifty-point Thursday night explosion while several teams in the middle of the pack kept their bowl hopes alive.
Without further ado, let’s go on Around the American.
Tulane Beats Memphis in a Shootout
A week after a Thursday night embarrassment at the hands of UTSA, Tulane shocked many with a 38-32 statement-making road victory over Memphis. So yeah, perhaps we were premature in eliminating the Green Wave from College Football Playoff contention.
Tulane QB Jake Retzlaff responded to his benching last week with 332 passing yards and three touchdowns while adding another score on the ground. Meanwhile, Tulane’s defense stymied Memphis QB Brendon Lewis, sacking him six times. A nagging ankle injury made Lewis a non-factor in the run game. He ended the night with -41 yards on the ground.
With the win, Tulane re-inserted itself into the College Football Playoff race, though the UTSA loss will be hard to overlook. Nonetheless, this is a team with two wins against Power Four schools that are themselves a win away from bowl eligibility. That alone may be enough to forgive last week’s nightmare loss. The Green Wave will face Florida Atlantic, Temple, and Charlotte to close the year. A 10-2 overall record with a berth to the Conference Championship Game looks entirely realistic.
Memphis, however, now hits panic mode. The Tigers have two losses in conference play while multiple one-loss schools have relatively easy slates ahead of them. The Tigers need Tulane to drop at least two of their final games to move ahead of them in the conference standings. Thankfully, the Tigers do at least have the head-to-head tiebreaker over USF.
South Florida Defense Dominates UTSA
QB Byrum Brown usually headlines South Florida wins. Against UTSA, however, the defense took the spotlight with two early touchdowns in a 55-23 win over UTSA. USF DB Tavin Ward returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown on the game’s opening play, and DL Fred Gaskin returned a fumble 85 yards for another touchdown to give USF a 14-0 lead before the offense even touched the ball.
These plays proved more than enough to spur Brown and the Bulls’ offense. Brown completed 14/15 passes for 239 yards and a pair of touchdowns, both to WR Keshaun Singleton, while running for 109 yards and another touchdown. USF scored 45 points in the first half before going into cruise control.
The Bulls will play a de facto elimination game against Navy this week, but if they win, they’ll have a strong case for the College Football Playoff. They own wins over the potential Mountain West champion Boise State as well North Texas (8-1, 4-1 in the American). Moreover, their losses to Miami and Memphis seem excusable… for now.
UTSA dropped to 4-5 with the loss and could be playing to avoid missing a bowl game for the first time since 2019 when they host Army on Thanksgiving weekend.
Navy Loses Eighth Straight to Notre Dame
Despite entering their yearly game with Notre Dame as 26.5-point underdogs, some Navy still had hope that the Mids could pull a much-needed upset over the Irish. Much of that hope dissolved after QB Blake Horvath became a late scratch to the lineup with an undisclosed upper body injury.
Midshipmen backup QB Braxton Woodson performed admirably, posting 101 rushing yards and a touchdown. Still, Notre Dame scored 28 unanswered points to pull away, finishing with a 49-10 win. The Fighting Irish dominated both sides of the ball, outshining the Midshipmen with 502 yards of total offense to just 208.
The Mids can still win the American, but they needed a better showing against the Irish for their College Football Playoff resume. A 39-point loss will not look good, regardless of the opponent. Nonetheless, Navy can force a tiebreaker with Tulane, North Texas, and even East Carolina if they win out.
Other Notes From Around the American
East Carolina got revenge for last year’s blowout loss to Charlotte with a 48-22 drubbing of the 49ers. QB Katin Houser threw for 224 yards and a pair of scores in the Pirates’ win.
It’s honestly hard to believe that Charlotte blew out East Carolina last year. Both programs have gone in dramatically different directions since then. East Carolina is 11-5 since last year’s meeting; Charlotte is 3-12.
The Pirates may not receive the College Football Playoff hype that others in the league have gotten, but they have a path to win the conference with a 4-1 record in league play. Moreover, their game against Memphis next Saturday looks even more winnable after this past week.
Rice’s option offense did just enough to get past UAB, 24-17. The Owls slogged to 191 rushing yards on 3.4 yards per carry, while QB Chase Jenkins threw for 41 yards and a pair of touchdowns. We have credited Temple QB Evan Simon plenty for taking care of the ball, but Jenkins deserves credit on that front, too. He’s thrown just two interceptions in 142 passes. Keep in mind this is a guy who played wide receiver last year. The Owls now stand 5-5, but they must get past either North Texas or South Florida to earn that elusive sixth win.
RB Kaden Shields-Dutton gave Florida Atlantic its first 100-yard rusher since the third game of the season in a 40-21 win over Tulsa. The loss pushed the Golden Hurricane to 2-7, while FAU now stands 4-5. Like the other Owls in the conference, FAU has a difficult path to a bowl game. The Owls need to win two of their last three against Tulane, UConn, and East Carolina.
But anything can happen. After all, this is The American Conference.
Go Army! Beat Tulsa!!!
