DALLAS – Marshall (7-1, 4-1 in C-USA), which spent most of the season ranked in the top 25, has clinched both the East Division Championship and the right to host the 2020 Ryan Conference USA Football Championship Game on Friday, December 18. UAB (5-3, 3-1 in C-USA) punched its ticket as West Division Champion for the third straight season with its 21-16 victory at Rice on Saturday, becoming the first school to reach the title game three years in a row. The 2020 Ryan C-USA Championship Game will be televised live on CBS Sports Network, beginning at 7 p.m. EST/6 p.m. CST.
Both schools will be playing in the C-USA Championship Game for the third time, with each owning one title. Marshall won in 2014 and UAB took the crown in 2018. This will be the 11th all-time meeting between the schools (Marshall leads 8-2) and the first since 2014.
Marshall captured the East Division title with wins in four of its final five conference games, allowing an average of 14.8 points in league play. Head coach Doc Holliday will be looking to lead the Thundering Herd to their second Conference USA Championship and a bowl game for the fourth straight season and sixth time in seven years. Marshall is led offensively by redshirt freshman QB Grant Wells and junior RB Brenden Knox. Wells has thrown a league-high 16 touchdown passes, while completing 63.4 percent of his passes for 1,839 yards, while Knox averages 102.5 yards per game with nine rushing touchdowns. The Thundering Herd leads the FBS in scoring defense (11.4 points per game) and is second in total defense, allowing 253.9 yards per game. Senior LB Tavante Beckett is a two-time C-USA Defensive Player of the Week who leads the FBS in fumbles recovered with four and has 68 tackles on the season.
UAB will make a third straight trip to the Conference USA title game under fifth-year head coach Bill Clark. The Blazers have only lost one conference game in each of the past three years, posting an 18-3 regular season mark in C-USA play over that time. UAB enters the championship game ranked 12th nationally in passing defense, only allowing 177.6 passing yards per game. The Blazers have held seven of eight opponents under 200 yards passing and rank third in C-USA in total defense. Senior RB Spencer Brown has five 100-yard rushing outings this season and averages 105.7 yards per game. UAB’s record holder in total touchdowns with 42, he has increased his school-record career total to 3,862 rushing yards, second among all active rushers in the FBS (behind Clemson’s Travis Etienne),
Since C-USA began holding a conference championship in 2005, the host school is 11-4 all-time. This is the seventh consecutive season that the East Division champion has hosted the game.
For more information, Please visit the football championship page on www.ConferenceUSA.com.
