C-USA Football: Week 12 Preview

Week 12 Conference USA action begins with a nationally-televised Friday night non-conference game featuring Florida Atlantic.  Saturday’s slate includes three C-USA contests and one non-conference matchup, all in the afternoon.
 
Florida Atlantic (4-1, 4-1 in C-USA) is in action for the second straight Friday night when its hosts Massachusetts (0-2) for its first non-conference game this season (7 pm CT on CBS Sports Network.  The Owls are allowing just 13.0 points per game through its first five outings and are fourth in the .
 
FIU (0-4, 0-2 in C-USA) is set to play its first conference road game as it makes the trip to WKU (3-6, 2-3 in C-USA) on Saturday afternoon ( 1 pm CT on ESPN3).  Panthers junior RB Dvante Price leads the league in rushing and is eighth nationally with an average of 120.5 yards per game.  Hilltoppers senior DE DeAngelo Malone, who had two sacks last week to give him a WKU FBS era record 25 in his career, will lead a defense ready to slow him down.
 
Lone Star State rivals Rice (1-1, 1-1 in C-USA) and North Texas (2-3, 1-2 in C-USA) are set to square off in Denton (1 pm CT on ESPN3).  Owls’ graduate transfer QB Mike Collins has thrown eight touchdown passes in his first two games in a Rice uniform.  Mean Green senior WR Jaelon Darden (46 catches for 460 yards) continues to lead the FBS in receiving touchdowns (10), despite not playing since Oct. 17 due to a bye and three game postponements.
 
Fresh off a record-setting offensive explosion in last week’s win, UTSA (5-4, 3-2 in C-USA) will seek win No. 6 when it visits Southern Miss (2-6, 1-3 in C-USA) on Saturday (2 pm CT on ESPN+).  Roadrunners junior QB Frank Harris led the way to a school-record 600 yards of total offense by throwing for 312 yards and three touchdowns, while adding 43 rushing yards and two scores on the ground.  The Golden Eagles defense has been stingy the last couple of weeks, allowing a total of just 23 points in the last two games.
 
A rare same season rematch will take place when Middle Tennessee (2-6, 2-4 in C-USA) will visit Troy (4-3, 2-2 in Sun Belt) looking to avenge a loss to the Trojans in September (2:30 pm CT on ESPN3).  Blue Raiders senior WR Jarrin Pierce has a league-best 55 receptions after his nine-catch, 90-yard showing at No. 15 Marshall last weekend.
 
Marshall (7-0, 4-0 in C-USA) was scheduled to welcome Charlotte (2-3, 2-1 in C-USA) to Huntington on Saturday, but that game had to be postponed due to COVID-19-related issues.
 
Louisiana Tech (4-3, 3-2 in C-USA) was scheduled to step out of league play to battle Louisiana-Monroe (0-8, 0-5 in Sun Belt), but ULM had to cancel the game due to COVID-19-related concerns.
 
 
WEEK TWELVE C-USA FOOTBALL PREVIEW
 
MASSACHUSETTS (0-2) at FLORIDA ATLANTIC (4-1, 4-1 in C-USA)
Friday, November 20
8 p.m. ET
Boca Raton, Florida (FAU Stadium)
Television: CBS Sports Network
Announcers: Jason Knapp (PxP), Malik Zaire (AN)
All-Time Series: First Meeting
 
FAST FACTS
**This game was added to the schedule on November 5 and it will mark the first non-conference game of the season for Florida Atlantic. 
**Redshirt freshman QB Javion Posey set a new FAU single-game rushing record by a quarterback with 182 yards on 18 carries in the 38-19 win at FIU in the Shula Bowl.  That rushing mark is fourth-highest by a QB in C-USA history, and most ever by a player on the road. Posey has run for 242 yards and two touchdowns in five quarters of action. The Owls ran for 381 yards as a team in posting their fifth straight victory in the Shula Bowl.  Posey was also 10-of-16 for 80 yards through the air with two passing touchdowns and no interceptions, becoming the sixth FAU quarterback to win in his starting debut.  His five-yard scoring strike to junior WR Brandon Robinson that put FAU up 24-10 late in the second quarter made him the first Owl to record a TD reception (2019), a rushing TD (2020 vs. WKU) and a passing TD (FIU 2020). Posey will have his named etched on the Shula Bowl trophy as FAU’s MVP, becoming the 14th Owl to be so honored.
**Junior RB Malcolm Davidson returned to action at FIU after missing the WKU game with multiple injuries and rushed for 88 yards on just nine carries.  Included was a 37-yard scoring run.  He is averaging 8.1 yards per carry with 35 attempts for 283 yards in four games this season.
**Florida Atlantic is allowing 13.5 points on the season, second-lowest in C-USA and fifth among all FBS teams.  In holding FIU to a scoreless first quarter, the Owls set a school record with 10 straight periods not allowing a touchdown before surrendering a second quarter TD.
**With five sacks against FIU, the team is up to 19 sacks this year.  The Owls are averaging 3.80 sacks per game, tops in C-USA and fourth among all FBS teams.
**Playing in his last Shula Bowl, senior LB Leighton McCarthy led the Owls’ defense as his senior class finished 4-0 against FIU during their four-year playing careers.  He tallied five tackles, including 2.5 sacks for a loss of 18 yards and added two quarterback hurries.  With 7.0 sacks on the season he is tied for the C-USA lead and tied for fifth nationally.  His sack average of 1.40 per game is the best among players with more than two games played. 
**This will be the second straight game for UMass against a Conference USA school.  The Minutemen lost at No. 15 Marshall, 51-10, on Nov. 7.  UMass is currently scheduled to play four games this fall.

 
 
FIU (0-4, 0-2 in C-USA) at WKU (3-6, 2-3 in C-USA)
Saturday, November 21
1 p.m. CT
Bowling Green, Kentucky (Houchens Stadium)
Television: ESPN3
Announcers: Nate Gutter (PxP), Brandon Doughty (AN)
All-Time Series:  WKU leads 7-6
Last Meeting: WKU 20, at FIU 14 (Sept. 7, 2019)
 
FAST FACTS
**In last year’s meeting in Miami, Gaej Walker rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown to lead WKU to a 20-14 win.  Rishard Dames had an 80-yard interception for a touchdown for FIU.
**Senior RB D’vonte Price is coming off the best game of his career, having carried 26 times for a career-high 178 yards and a touchdown vs. Florida Atlantic last Friday.  The rushing TD was his fourth in four games and his 77-yard scoring run in the second quarter stands as a new career long.  Price now ranks fifth in the FBS for rush yards per carry (7.89) and eighth in the country for rush yards per game (120.3).
**After his 116-yard receiving game vs. Florida Atlantic, Rivaldo Fairweather became the first true freshman TE to earn a 100-yard receiving game at FIU.  He also scored on a 67-yard catch and run.
**Senior DB Richard Dames has registered at least eight tackles in each of the first four games, leading the team three times.  Of his 33 stops, 24 have been solo and he has added 2.0 tackles for loss and two pass breakups.
**FIU’s defense has earned 32 tackles for loss this season in only four games, to give the Panthers an 8.0 TFL average per contest.  That total leads C-USA and is tied for the 19th-best in the FBS.  Junior DL Tevin Jones and junior DL Jason Mercier lead FIU with 3.5 so far this year.
**FIU senior P Tommy Heatherly has earned a 44.4 average on punts this season, ranking 20th overall in the country.  The senior from Oklahoma has also pinned six punts inside the 20, while booming seven over 50 yards. 
**The great punting from Heatherly has also led to the Panthers ranking fifth in the nation for punt return defense. FIU has allowed an impressive -0.20 yards per return this year (five returns for -1 yard).
**This is Senior Day in Bowling Green and WKU has won nine consecutive Senior Games, having not lost a home finale since 2010.  The Hilltoppers have scored at least 31 points in eight of those nine games.
**WKU leads C-USA and ranks sixth nationally (fifth among teams with multiple games) in passing defense, allowing 167.2 yards through the air per game.  The Hilltoppers have not allowed a passing touchdown the last two games and have given up eight total on the season (three each vs. Louisville and BYU and just two in the other seven games). WKU is second in the FBS in passes defended with 48. 
**Senior DE DeAngelo Malone tied a season-high by recording 2.0 sacks for the second straight game in the Hilltoppers’ 10-7 win against Southern Miss. His two sacks resulted in 13 yards of loss for the Golden Eagles, and the senior also contributed 5 total tackles (3 solo, 2 assisted) in the game.  Malone’s second sack of the day was the 25th of his career, setting a WKU FBS Era record.  Malone is currently tied for sixth in the nation with 6.0 sacks on the season and tied for eighth in the country with 11.0 tackles for loss.
**Senior DB Devon Key had six tackles against Southern Miss last week to extend his team lead to 71 (41 solo, 30 assisted) this season.  That pushed his career total to 329 tackles, which set the record for most by a Hilltopper in WKU’s FBS Era (since 2009).  Key needs 14 more tackles for 343 in his career, which would put him in 10th place all-time in WKU’s 102-season history.
**Graduate transfer QB Tyrrell Pigrome has 212 pass attempts this season without an interception, the second-longest active streak among all FBS quarterbacks.  Those 212 straight attempts without an interception mark the longest streak in WKU history, surpassing Brandon Doughty’s 176 attempts from the end of 2013 into the beginning of 2014.
 
 
RICE (1-1, 1-1 in C-USA) at NORTH TEXAS (2-3, 1-2 in C-USA)
Saturday, November 21
1 p.m. CT
Denton, Texas (Apogee Field)
Television: ESPN3
Announcers: Doug Anderson (PxP), LaDarrin McLane (AN)
All-Time Series:  Rice leads 6-4
Last Meeting: at Rice 20, North Texas 14 (Nov. 23, 2019)
 
FAST FACTS
**Rice scored on four of its first five possessions to take a 20-0 halftime lead and hold on for a 20-14 win last November in Houston.  Charlie Booker and Aston Walter each had TD runs for the Owls.
**Rice has extended its C-USA road winning streak to three games.  The last time Rice won more than three consecutive C-USA road games was during a five-game streak from 10/27/12 to 10/12/13.
**Rice’s 30-6 victory over Southern Miss was the Owls’ first win by 20 or more points since a 44-24 victory over UTEP on Nov. 19, 2016.
**Rice has scored 30 or more points in back-to-back games for the first time since closing the 2014 season by scoring more than 30 in the final three games, including a victory in the Hawai’i Bowl.
**Rice senior WR Austin Trammell is one of five offensive standouts from around the nation who were named to the Paul Hornung Award Weekly Honor roll on Nov. 2.  Trammell set career highs with three touchdown receptions and 143 receiving yards to lead Rice to a 30-6 win at Southern Miss as the Owls snapped a five-game losing streak vs. Southern Miss.  He extended his reception streak to 29 games (tied for the fourth longest active streak in the nation) with a six-yard completion in the second quarter, his shortest reception of the afternoon.  He reached the end zone for the first time on a 72-yard catch and run, the longest pass play for the Owls since 2014 and added scoring grabs of 13 and 14 yards later in the game.  After being shutout in the first half of the season opener vs. Middle Tennessee, Trammell has 10 receptions for 219 yards and five TDs in his last six quarters.  He is the first receiver in school history to have five touchdown catches in the first two games of a season and the first to have five in a two-game stretch since James Casey and Jarett Dillard in 2008. 
**Before its season opener on Oct. 24, a Rice quarterback had not thrown four touchdown passes in a game since the 2016 season opener. Mike Collins, a graduate transfer from TCU, has now done it in his first two games as an Owl.  Last Saturday at Southern Miss, he finished 12-of-17 for 233 yards and four TDs.  After just two games, Collins is tied for third in C-USA with eight TD passes.  He is the first player in Rice history to throw eight touchdowns in the first two games of the season.
**Owls redshirt sophomore RB Juma Otoviano rushed 24 times for 107 yards in the game at Southern Miss.  It was his second career 100-yard rushing game.
**Sophomore QB Jason Bean was the C-USA Offensive Player of the Week and the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose National Player of the Week following the 52-35 win at Middle Tennessee on Oct. 17.  Bean entered the game with the Mean Green down 21-7 early in the second quarter and accounted for 350 total yards and five touchdowns in a little under three quarters.  He completed 12-of-17 passes for 181 yards and a pair of touchdowns with no interceptions, while rushing 10 times for a career-high 169 yards and three scores as the Mean Green outscored the Blue Raiders 45-14 with Bean in the game.  The 350 yards accounted for 46% of North Texas’ total of 768 yards, a new program record, and also the second-highest offensive output in college football this season.
**North Texas senior WR Jaelon Darden continues to lead the FBS in receiving touchdowns (10), despite not playing since Oct. 17 due to multiple game postponements. His average of 137.9 receiving yards places him fifth, with 46 catches going for 640 yards. Darden is the only C-USA player with two 200+-yard receiving games. Darden’s 202 career catches put him into second place on the program’s all-time receptions list.
**UNT had three 100-yard rushers against Middle Tennessee in redshirt sophomore QB Jason Bean (169), senior RB Deandre Torrey (143) and redshirt junior RB Tre Siggers (101).  Bean’s 169 yards were the fifth-most by a QB in C-USA history.
**In the 52-35 win at Middle Tennessee, on Oct. 17 North Texas finished the game with a program-record 768 total yards, producing 407 yards in the first half alone. It was the second time this season the Mean Green have set this mark (721 in the season-opening win over Houston Baptist). The Mean Green rushed for 462 yards and threw for 306, marking the second time ever they have rushed and passed for 300 yards in a game, matching the effort from the Houston Baptist win on Sept. 5. The 768 yards were the third-highest total in C-USA history and moved North Texas to second in the FBS in total offense with an average of 593.2 yards per game.

 
 
UTSA (5-4, 3-2 in C-USA) at SOUTHERN MISS (2-6, 1-3 in C-USA)
Saturday, November 21
2 p.m. CT
Hattiesburg, Mississippi (M.M. Roberts Stadium)
Television: ESPN+
Announcers: Jason Baker (PxP), Dustin Almond (AN)
All-Time Series: UTSA leads 4-2
Last Meeting: Southern Miss 36, at UTSA 17 (Nov. 16, 2019)
 
FAST FACTS
**De’Michael Harris ran for a career-high 121 yards and two touchdowns and Quez Watkins had 137 receiving yards and a score Southern Miss topped UTSA, 36-17, last November at the Alamodome.  Lowell Narcisse threw a pair of touchdowns for the Roadrunners.
**UTSA sophomore S Rashad Wisdom was named C-USA Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in the win over UTEP at the Alamodome.  He led a stout UTSA defense with nine tackles and a pair of forced fumbles to help the Roadrunners hold the Miners to 246 yards of offense, including only 71 as part of a second-half shutout. Wisdom became the 14th FBS player this season to cause two fumbles in a game, including one in the third quarter that was recovered by Antonio Parks and led to a touchdown drive that put UTSA up 38-21.  He has posted 72 tackles through nine games this season to rank third in C-USA and 12th nationally.
**The Roadrunners rank second in Conference USA and 23rd in the country with 7.9 tackles for loss per game.  Their 71 tackles for loss this season have cost opponents 261 combined yards, including 115 on 20 sacks.  This year’s unit has its sights set on the school’s single-season record for tackles for loss of 96 established last season. 
**Junior QB Frank Harris passed for a career-high 312 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 43 yards and two more scores to help lead UTSA to a record-setting offensive performance in a 52-21 win over UTEP. Harris completed 22-of-26 passes – 84.6% – as part of his career day through the air, which ranks sixth on the school’s single-game passing yardage list. He threw touchdown passes to three different receivers as the Roadrunners racked up a program-record 600 yards of offense. Harris reached pay dirt twice on the ground, including a 35-yard dash just before halftime that gave UTSA the lead for good. The dual-threat signal caller is tied for the team lead with seven rushing TDs this fall, good for third in the league and 21st nationally.
**Sophomore WR Zakhari Franklin turned in the third 100-yard receiving game of his sophomore season with 118 yards and a TD on six catches in the UTEP win.  He has now topped 100 yards in four career games, a school record.  Franklin now has 943 receiving yards in his last 12 games, including a tea-best 508 this season.  His five TD receptions this fall are tied for second in program history and his career 62.4 yards-per-game average currently ranks as the best in UTSA annals.  Franklin is just one yard shy of reaching 1,000 receiving yards for his career. 
**Junior RB Brenden Brady registered his first career 100-yard game with 124 rushing yards on a career-best 26 carries vs. UTEP to become the third different Roadrunner to top the century mark on the ground this season.  Senior RB B.J. Daniels added 81 yards and a touchdown on 8 attempts (10.1 avg) as the Roadrunners ran up 288 rushing yards and averaged 6.0 yards per carry.
**The Golden Eagles defense has been stingy the last couple of weeks, allowing a total of just 23 points in two games.  The unit surrendered an average of 189.5 yards in those two outings.
**The 10 points allowed in last Saturday’s 10-6 loss at WKU is the fewest surrendered in a defeat for Southern Miss since a 10-6 home setback against East Carolina in the final game of the 1983 season.
**The Golden Eagles have posted at least one sack in all eight games this season, after junior DB Camron Harrell posted one in the second quarter at WKU.  Southern Miss finished with three sacks in the game.
**Redshirt junior LB Zach Portlock tallied a career-high eight tackles at WKU, getting most of his tackles following Santrell Latham’s leaving the game with an injury.  He tallied the first two tackles for loss (-12 yards) and first sack (-8 yards) of his career.  Four of his tackles were solo and he helped the Golden Eagle defense hold the Hilltoppers scoreless in the second half.
**Redshirt senior RB Kevin Perkins registered his team-leading sixth rushing score – coming from six yards – to give the Golden Eagles their only touchdown in the fourth quarter at WKU.  The touchdown culminated a 12-play, 90-yard drive, marking the second 90-yard scoring drive of the season for Southern Miss. Perkins finished with a team-high, as well as a season-high 71 yards rushing on just eight carries.
**Golden Eagles RB Frank Gore Jr., has taken over the C-USA league lead in rushing among freshman with 527 yards through eight games.  That figure ranks third among all FBS freshmen.  Incidentally, Gore, Jr. is 141 yards ahead of his future Hall of Fame father, who has 386 yards rushing in nine games for the New York Jets this season.
**Southern Miss is enjoying its best penalty -free season since the start of 2016.  The Golden Eagle are committing fewer than four penalties per game and 30.0 yards per contest in 2020, a figure that places them third-lowest among all FBS teams.
 
 
MIDDLE TENNESSEE (2-6, 2-4 in C-USA) at TROY (4-3, 2-2 in Sun Belt)
Saturday, November 21
2:30 p.m. CT
Troy, Alabama (Veterans Memorial Stadium)
Television: ESPN3
Announcers: Will Kollmeyer (PxP), Ben Stanfield (AN)
All-Time Series: Middle Tennessee leads 12-8
Last Meeting: Troy 47, at Middle Tennessee 14 (Sept. 19, 2020)
 
FAST FACTS
**This game is a rare same season rematch from when the teams met in Murfreesboro in September.  Troy won the first game of the home-and-home, taking home the Battle for the Palladium Trophy.
**Middle Tennessee redshirt junior QB Asher O’Hara, who became the second QB in program history to rush for 1,000 yards last season, currently ranks fourth nationally in rushing yards among QBs with 515.  He leads in C-USA in total offense, averaging 283.1 yards per game, with 12 passing touchdowns and seven rushing scores. Through eight games, O’Hara has accounted for 78.2% (2,265) of the team’s total yards (2,897).  He has 1,750 yards passing and 515 yards on the ground.  In 2019, O’Hara accounted for 75% of the Blue Raiders total yards.
**Senior WR Jarrin Pierce has at least four catches in each game and leads C-USA with 55 receptions on the season.  He is second in the conference and ranks 18th nationally in receptions/game with 6.9, totaling 541 receiving yards with three touchdowns.
** In his last two games, senior WR CJ Windham owns 13 catches for 183 yards and a TD.  Windham enters the Troy game with 29 receptions on the season which is already four better than his previous career best of 25 set in 2017.
**Redshirt junior LB Cody Smith is having a career year for the Blue Raiders despite playing in a reserve role.  Smith has a career-best 31 tackles, while leading the team in tackles for loss (8.0) and sacks (3.0).  Both are also personal bests.  Smith, who had a career-high 3.0 TFLs at Rice, has 5.0 TFLs in his last three games combined.
**The Blue Raiders rank 22nd nationally and second in C-USA in turnovers gained with 12.  MT has forced at least one turnover in seven straight games.
 

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