The post-Thanksgiving Week 13 action in Conference USA action is comprised of a three-game Saturday slate. All three Saturday games are C-USA contests, beginning at 12 pm, with games also scheduled for 2 pm and 2:30 pm.
COVID-19 postponements have forced UTEP (3-4, 0-3 in C-USA) to become road warriors, as the Miners will play their fifth straight game away from El Paso when they visit Rice (1-2, 1-2 in C-USA) in Houston (12 pm CT on ESPN 3. The game will feature defensive standouts in Owls senior LB Blaze Alldredge (32 tackles, one sack in three games) and Miners sophomore DE Praise Amaewhule (league-high 7.0 sacks, 8 passes defended).
North Texas (3-3, 2-2 in C-USA) is set to square off with an in-state rival for the second straight week when it visits UTSA (6-4, 4-2 in C-USA) at the Alamodome (2 pm CT on Stadium). Mean Green senior WR Jaelon Darden leads the nation with 11 receiving touchdowns, tops C-USA with 50 catches and 739 yards – all in just six games. Roadrunners sophomore S Rashad Wisdom (team-high 79 tackles, three interceptions, two forced fumbles) will look to slow him down in San Antonio.
Florida Atlantic (5-1, 4-1 in C-USA) will be seeking its fifth straight victory when it meets Middle Tennessee (3-6, 2-4 in C-USA) for the 18th consecutive season (2:30 pm CT on CBS Sports Network). Led by senior LB Leighton McCarthy (8.0 sacks in six games), the Owls defense is downright stingy, allowing 293.8 yards of total offense and 11.2 points per game. That unit will be challenged by Blue Raiders junior QB Asher O’Hara, who leads C-USA in total offense at 284.3 yards per game with 12 passing touchdowns and seven rushing scores.
WKU (4-6, 3-3 in C-USA) was scheduled to close out Saturday’s action with a visit to Charlotte (2-3, 2-1 in C-USA) to face a 49ers team that hasn’t played since Halloween. That game has been postponed a couple of days and will now be played on Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 9:30 am CT (CBSSN). The Hilltoppers have won back-to-back games and graduate transfer QB Tyrrell Pigrome enters his final regular season game with 237 passes without an interception, the longest streak in the FBS. Charlotte junior QB Chris Reynolds has six TD passes and 0 INTs in the last four games he has played.
Louisiana Tech (4-3, 3-2 in C-USA) hasn’t played since Halloween due to three straight COVID-19-related postponements and that streak will extend to four after FIU (0-5, 0-3 in C-USA) had to cancel this Saturday’s game in Miami due to COVID-19 issues in its program.
UAB (4-3, 2-1 in C-USA) had its third consecutive game postponed/cancelled when Southern Miss (2-7, 1-4 in C-USA) was unable to come to Legion Field for this Friday’s contest. The Blazers also have not played a game since October 31.
WEEK THIRTEEN C-USA FOOTBALL PREVIEW
UTEP (3-4, 0-3 in C-USA) at RICE (1-2, 1-2 in C-USA)
Saturday, November 28
12 p.m. CT
Houston, Texas (Rice Stadium)
Television: ESPN3
Announcers: David Saltzman (PxP), Taylor McHargue (AN)
All-Time Series: Rice leads 15-8
Last Meeting: Rice 30, at UTEP 16 (Nov. 30, 2019)
FAST FACTS
**Rice closed out the 2019 season with its third straight win, 30-16 over UTEP in El Paso. Aston Walter ran for 149 yards and a touchdown, while JoVoni Johnson added 62 rushing yards and two scores for the Owls.
**This weekend, UTEP will play its fifth straight road game for the first time since the 1986 season. When the Miners kick off against Rice, it will mark 69 days since UTEP has hosted a game, which is the longest stretch in program history. The Miners were previously scheduled to host Southern Miss (10/17), North Texas (10/31), FIU (11/7) and UAB (11/20), but all four games were postponed or canceled due to COVID-19.
**UTEP WR Jacob Cowing is currently ranked third in Conference USA in receiving yards seven games into the 2020 season. Cowing leads the Miners with 36 receptions for 593 yards in seven outings. The Arizona native is averaging 15.1 yards per catch and 81.9 yards per game this season. As for WR Justin Garrett, he is currently ranked fourth in C-USA with 36 catches for 498 yards and 3 TDs. He is averaging 13.8 ypc and 71.1 yards per game.
**Miners redshirt freshman RB Deion Hankins is currently ranked 24th in the country and fourth in Conference USA with seven rushing TDs on the season. He leads the Miners with 99 carries for 493 yards and 7 TDs in six games played this season.
**Improvement on defense has been a big key for UTEP this season. The Miners are fifth in C-USA in total defense, allowing 365.6 yards per game. That figure is down from an average of 430.8 yards per game in 2019. UTEP is allowing 29.0 points per game this season, which is down from 35.6 last season.
**UTEP sophomore DE Praise Amaewhule enters the week tied for third in Conference USA in total sacks with 6.0 on the season, a figure that is tied for 13th nationally. He racked up 3.5 of his seven sacks in one game after a dominating performance against Louisiana Tech on Oct. 10.
**UTEP kickoff returners have been speeding past opponents through the first seven games with the Miners ranked 8th nationally and 2nd in C-USA with an average of 27.95 yards per return. The Miners have returned 11 kicks 20+ yards, including six returns that have gone for 30+ yards. Individually, senior Duron Lowe currently ranks fifth nationally with an average of 32.4 yards per return. Lowe also had a 100-yard return for a touchdown at Louisiana Tech earlier this season.
**Graduate transfer QB Mike Collins was 23-of-34 for 327 yards and two touchdowns at North Texas. Collins’ 23 completions tied a career-high and the 327 passing yards are the most since Tyler Stehling had 407 against Prairie View A&M on Oct. 22, 2016 and the most in a conference game since Driphus Jackson’s 359 at UTSA on Nov. 21, 2015. Collins leads C-USA with an average of 267.3 yards passing and is fourth in touchdown passes with 10, despite playing just three games.
**Rice senior WR Austin Trammell caught six passes for 116 yards and a touchdown at North Texas last week. It was Trammell’s second 100-yard game this year and the fourth of his career. He became the first Owls player with consecutive 100-yard games since Jorden Taylor in 2014. Trammell now has 13 receiving touchdowns in his career, tying him for eighth-place on Rice’s all-time list.
**Sophomore WR Jake Bailey set career-highs with four catches for 80 yards and a touchdown vs. Nort Texas. It is his second touchdown of the season. Bailey’s 35-yard reception in the first quarter was the longest of his career.
**Senior LB Blaze Alldredge recorded 11 tackles, his second double-digit tackle game this year and seventh in his career. He has 32 tackles through the first three games with one sack and two TFLs. Alldredge’s 10.7 tackles per game ties for the C-USA lead and ties for 22nd nationally.
**Redshirt freshman DE Josh Pearcy recorded a career-high seven tackles at UNT to give him 10 stops on the season. He has one sack and a team-high 2.5 tackles for loss.
NORTH TEXAS (3-3, 2-2 in C-USA) at UTSA (6-4, 4-2 in C-USA)
Saturday, November 28
2 p.m. CT
San Antonio, Texas (Alamodome)
Television: Stadium
Announcers: Chris Vosters (PxP), Max Starks (AN)
All-Time Series: North Texas leads 4-3
Last Meeting: at North Texas 45, UTSA 3 (Sept. 21, 2019)
FAST FACTS
**North Texas posted a 45-3 win over UTSA in Denton last season. The Mean Green rushed for 290 yards, with Tre Siggers totaling 143 yards on 14 carries to go with two rushing scores and Deandre Torrey adding 122 total yards and one rushing and one receiving TD.
**Senior DL Dion Novil was named C-USA Defensive Player of the Week after he wreaked havoc all afternoon in the Mean Green’s 27-17 win over Rice. He led North Texas with a season-high eight tackles (seven solo), a career-high 5.0 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and a sack on Senior Day. Novil’s 5.0 tackles for loss put him in 11th place all-time in program history with 28.0 in his career and marked the second-most in a single-game for the Mean Green in program history. The Mean Green defense held the Owls to just 49 yards rushing, 132 below their season average through the season’s first two games (181.0).
**Junior KD Davis is the team-leader in tackles with 40 to go along with 4.5 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks and two quarterback hurries in four appearances, all starts at mike linebacker.
**Senior RB DeAndre Torrey was one of six players named to the Paul Hornung Award Honor Roll for Week 12, following his performance in the 27-17 win over Rice. Torrey touched the ball 23 times four different ways and scored once in the Mean Green’s comeback win over the Owls at home. Torrey carried the ball 19 times for 102 yards and a touchdown, caught two passes and returned two kickoffs and two punts, and finished the game with 158 total yards. He accounted for six first downs, and his one-yard touchdown run mid-fourth quarter put the game out of reach. It marked Torrey’s sixth-career 100-yard rushing game, and second in as many games.
**North Texas senior WR Jaelon Darden continues to lead the FBS in receiving touchdowns (11), despite not playing more than a month due to a bye and three game postponements. His average of 123.2 receiving yards places him eighth, with 50 catches going for 739 yards. Darden is the only C-USA player with two 200+-yard receiving games. He is now second at UNT in career catches (206) and receiving touchdowns (30), one away from tying the TD record.
**Redshirt sophomore QB Jason Bean had a 66-yard touchdown run in the second quarter against Rice that was a new career-long rush. He finished the game with 94 yards rushing on five attempts and is now second on the team with 325 rushing yards and tied for the team lead with five rushing touchdowns.
**North Texas is ranked fifth in the FBS in total offense with an average of 559.5 yards per game. The Mean Green lead C-USA and rank seventh nationally in rushing, averaging 257.3 yards per game on the ground. UNT also tops C-USA in passing with a 302.2 yard average.
**It was a record-setting day for sophomore RB Sincere McCormick in UTSA’s 23-20 victory at Southern Miss last Saturday, as he broke the school’s single-season rushing yardage record after piling up 173 yards on the ground, helping him earn C-USA Offensive Player of the Week for the third time this season. McCormick carried 32 times and scored a pair of touchdowns, including a 69-yard TD dash on the opening drive of the third quarter that gave UTSA the lead and pushed him over the 1,000-yard mark this season and the 2,000-yard barrier for his career. Later in the third, McCormick matched the single-season rushing TDs mark of nine with his second score of the afternoon on a 1-yard plunge. The 173-yard output marked his fifth 100-yard game of the season and his eighth in only 21 career games, already matching Williams’ school record. McCormick paces C-USA and ranks second nationally with 1,094 rushing yards.
**UTSA sophomore WR Joshua Cephus had five catches in the road win over Southern Miss to give him a team-high 50 receptions this season, just eight shy of the school’s single-season record of 58. He stands second in receiving yards (488) and receiving TDs (3).
**Freshman LB Jamal Ligon registered nine tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a key strip-sack at Southern Miss. Early in the second quarter, Ligon chased down Southern Miss quarterback Tate Whatley near the goal line for a 12-yard sack, stripping loose the ball, which rolled into the end zone and out of bounds for a team safety. He has registered 68 tackles, 7.5 TFL, four sacks, three quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles, a pair of fumble recoveries and a PBU in his debut campaign.
**Junior ILB Trevor Harmanson was all over the field in Saturday’s win over Southern Miss. He registered 8 tackles, including a stop on a fake field goal try in the first half, and a pass deflection on the Golden Eagles’ final drive of the day. He leads all Roadrunners with nine tackles for loss and he ranks third on the team with 59 total tackles to go along with five quarterback hurries, one sack, one interception and a pass breakup.
**The UTSA defense held Southern Miss to 75 rushing yards and posted eight tackles for a combined loss of 40 yards in the 23-20 road win Saturday. The Roadrunners have now held three of their last four opponents to fewer than 80 yards on the ground.
**Sophomore P Lucas Dean averaged 47.7 yards on six punts at Southern Miss, pinning the Golden Eagles inside their 20-yard line on five of his six punts, including a pair inside the 10. Three of his kicks sailed 50-plus yards, including a 53-yarder to the 3 late in the first half and a 55-yard punt that was downed at the 16 in the fourth quarter with UTSA clinging to a three-point advantage. On the season, Dean is averaging 46.3 yards per punt, which leads C-USA and ranks eighth nationally. Of his 52 punts this fall, 20 have been of 50-or-more yards and 25 have pinned opponents inside their 20.
FLORIDA ATLANTIC (5-1, 4-1 in C-USA) at MIDDLE TENNESSEE (3-6, 2-4 in C-USA)
Saturday, November 28
2:30 p.m. CT
Murfreesboro, Tennessee (Floyd Stadium)
Television: CBS Sports Network
Announcers: John Sadak (PxP), Randy Cross (AN)
All-Time Series: Middle Tennessee 12, Florida Atlantic 5
Last Meeting; at Florida Atlantic 28, Middle Tennessee 13 (Oct. 12, 2019)
FAST FACTS
**Florida Atlantic won last year’s meeting in Boca Raton, 28-13, as Malcolm Davidson rushed for 149 yards and a touchdown while the Owls defense intercepted MT QB Asher O’Hara three times.
**Middle Tennessee has won eight straight games against Florida Atlantic in Murfreesboro.
**MT will be playing at home for the first time in 42 days (Oct. 17), which is the longest time period between home games in a season in school history.
**Florida Atlantic has won four straight games to move to 5-1 on the season and the Owls defense has played a large role in that success. FAU has allowed just six touchdowns in six games and rank second nationally in scoring defense, allowing 11.2 points per game. The unit is eighth in total defense, surrendering an average of 293.8 yards per game.
**With three sacks against UMass, the team is up to 22 sacks this year. The Owls are averaging 3.67 sacks per game, tops in C-USA and tied for eighth among all FBS teams.
**The Owls used a dominating defensive performance to defeat Massachusetts, 24-2, last Friday night. The FAU defense held the Minutemen to 147 total yards: 62 rushing (2.5 per carry) and 85 passing. UMass was 3-of-14 on 3rd down and 0-2 on 4th. UMass’ 14 drives were 10 punts, two that ended on a turnover-on-downs and the two interceptions.
Senior LB Leighton McCarthy is tied for second in the FBS with 8.0 sacks per game and is 17th in tackles for loss with 10.0. He has at least one sacks in five of six games, has added seven quarterback hurries and posted 26 total tackles.
**Last week, redshirt sophomore DE Jalen Joyner was added to the watch list for the Ted Hendricks Award, given to the nation’s top defensive end. He is tied for second in C-USA with 6.0 sacks, has 24 total tackles and one forced fumble.
**Redshirt freshman QB Javion Posey is 2-0 as the Owls starting quarterback after he threw for 203 yards on just 13 completions and rushed for 90 yards and a touchdown in a 24-2 win over Massachusetts last Friday night. His 70-yard touchdown run was the longest rush by a quarterback in FAU history. Posey has run for 332 yards and three touchdowns in nine quarters of action this season. **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 601. He leads in C-USA in total offense, averaging 284.6 yards per game, with 12 passing touchdowns and seven rushing scores. Through nine games, O’Hara has accounted for 77.8% (2,561) of the team’s total yards (3,293) with 1,960 yards passing and 601 yards on the ground. In 2019, O’Hara accounted for 75% of the Blue Raiders total yards.
**MT senior linebacker DQ Thomas forced his second fumble of the season and seventh of his career in the second quarter against Troy last week. The seven forced fumbles moved Thomas into a tie with Jeremy Kellem and Mike Caldwell for second on the school’s career list and two shy of the all-time program record. Thomas also added a first-half sack giving him 15.5 for his career to move past Anthony McCord for fifth place on the MT all-time list. Thomas made his team-leading 33rd straight start on Saturday and finished with six total tackles — four solo — two tackles for loss and a strip sack.
**Junior S Gregory Grate continued his outstanding season with another stellar day at Troy. He moved into a tie for this in the nation in interceptions with his fourth pick of the year in the third quarter. The INT came with Troy at the MT 21 and threatening to tie the game. Grate is tied for the FBS lead with three forced fumbles and he’s 18th nationally in tackles with 74.
**The Blue Raiders are tied for 18th nationally and second in C-USA in turnovers gained with 14. MT has forced at least one turnover in eight straight games. After starting the year -6 in turnover margin through five games, MT is +4 over its last four outings.
**Senior K Crews Holt continued to move up the career lists in two kicking categories against Troy. His second-quarter field goal was the 36th of his career, moving him into fifth on the school’s career list. Holt connected for one of the biggest field goals of his career when he booted a career-long 49 yard effort to give the Blue Raiders a 20-10 lead late in the fourth quarter. With two extra points, Holt cruised past Colby Smith for seventh on the all-time PAT list and now has 97 for his career.
https://conferenceusa.com/news/2020/11/24/football-week-thirteen-preview.aspx
