AAC Power Rankings: Week 4
Here are my Week 4 AAC Power Rankings:
1. East Carolina (Last Week: 2) – Won 70-41 vs. North Carolina, 3-1 (0-0)
No doubt who the best looking team in the conference is after the Pirates’ dominating performance against UNC. It’s one thing to hang 70 on an FCS team, but it’s completely another to do it against a team from a power conference who was ranked #25 in the coaches’ poll last week. Shane Carden threw for 400+ yards and another 4 TDs – they don’t call him “The Captain” for nothing. ECU racked up 789 yards of offense, but did give up 40 points and 439 yards, too. It may be shootout city when the Pirates come to PBS in November. After going 3-1 in a pretty tough non-conference schedule and cracking the polls at #23, it’s safe to say that ECU is the favorite to win the AAC and be the Group of Five’s representative in a New Years’ Six bowl game.
2. Cincinnati (LW: 1) – Won 31-24 vs. Miami (OH), 2-0 (0-0)
To say that I’m disappointed in the Bearcats’ performance against Miami U. on Saturday night would be an understatement. I said last week that I expected a blowout, and would be worried in the event of anything less. Well, consider me officially worried for this weekend’s game against #22 Ohio State. Gunner Kiel had a bit of a letdown after his impressive debut, and made some bad throws and bad decisions. The MU defense dropped a few balls that could have been additional picks. Some of the same defensive mistakes we saw against Toledo resurfaced against Miami, especially blown coverages. Still, a win is a win, and UC retained the Victory Bell for a 9th-straight year, so it could have been worse. When the pressure was on, the defense delivered several big stops, including intercepting Andrew Hendrix in the red zone, and then forcing holding on first-and-goal from the 1-yard-line with Miami threatening to tie late in the game. The offense came up equally big in crunch time, getting the first downs needed to sustain a clock-killing final drive that ate away the final 5:40 of the fourth quarter. I’ll take it.
3. UCF (LW: 3) – Won 41-7 vs. Bethune-Cookman, 1-2 (0-0)
Bethune-Cookman gave the Knights short field after short field on Saturday, and UCF took full advantage, making quick work of the FCS Wildcats. This win won’t turn any heads, but at least it gets UCF in the win column before starting conference play.
4. Temple (LW: 4) – Won 59-0 vs, Delaware State, 2-1 (0-0)
Just like UCF, Temple racked up the points against an FCS opponent. Not really a head turner at all. I still have them at number four, simply because they are the only team in the conference other than ECU who has beaten someone from the Power Five leagues.
5. Memphis (LW: 5) – Won 36-17 vs, Middle Tenn. State, 2-1, (0-0)
If you want to know how far the Memphis football program has come, you might point to their close loss on the road at #11 UCLA a few weeks back, but the best indicator is this: last year, Memphis lost to Middle Tennessee State. This year, they are playing much better, and they will be battle tested entering AAC play, as they face another highly ranked opponent this weekend in #10 Ole Miss. They cannot be overlooked when they come to Cincinnati in two weeks.
6. Houston (LW: 6) – Won 47-14 vs. UNLV, 2-2, (0-0)
This team continues to improve after a slow start. John O’Korn wasn’t all that impressive, but the Cougars’ run game dominated against a UNLV defense that was much less physical that the BYU team that manhandled Houston last week. The Cougars, who racked up 399 rushing yards, may be the sleeping giant that is awakening in The American this year. It’s tempting to move them up above Temple and Memphis now, but that bad loss to UT-San Antonio is still on my mind. I”l keep them at #6, and we’ll see what they’re made of in a week-and-a-half when they host UCF for a Thursday night ESPN game.
7. Tulsa (LW: 7) – Week 4 Bye, 1-2 (1-0)
Off this past week, and will look to get back on track against Texas State on Saturday.
8. USF (LW: 8) – Won 17-14 vs. UConn, 2-2 (1-0)
You had to wonder if perhaps the pirate ships at Raymond James Stadium would float away at some point during the Bulls’ home win over UConn on Friday night. It rained – a lot. And the Bulls overpowered a hapless UConn team, but somehow only won 17-14. It was a dominating performance on the stat sheet, but not on the scoreboard. If this were the cool helmet power rankings, USF would challenge for first place, but eighth will have to do.
9. Tulane (LW: 9) – Lost 47-13 at Duke, 1-3 (0-1)
Tulane turned the ball over five times in a blowout loss to Duke. Starting QB Tanner Lee was only 14/35 for 160 yards, no TDs, and 3 picks, and has now tossed 9 INTs through four games. Tulane isn’t going to win many games if Lee continues to play like that.
10. UConn (LW: 10) – Lost 17-14 at USF, 1-3 (0-1)
One way to solve the problem of the two quarterback system is to only attempt three passes during the first three quarters. Yes, three. At the end of the third quarter, UConn had 3 first downs (one via penalty), 58 total yards, and was 1-for-3 passing for 8 yards. Their only score until the final two minutes was a pick-six that was juggled and basically handed over to the defense by a USF reciever. Yes, it was raining hard, but USF still managed a half-decent passing game despite the weather. Conversely, the Huskies’ offense was a joke. They were running dive plays on 3rd-and-8 while trailing in the fourth quarter. Trailing by 10 with under 5:00 remaining, UConn finally started throwing the ball, and finished 6-of-9 for 88 passing yards. They even somehow scored a touchdown.
11. SMU (LW: 11) – Lost 58-6 vs. #6 Texas A&M, 0-3 (0-0)
Things are so bad at SMU that June Jones resigned during the Mustangs’ bye week last week, rather than suffer through this week’s massacre against #6 Texas A&M. That pretty much sums it up. Circle Dec. 6 on your calandars – SMU @ UConn. They should make up a fictitious championship trophy to give that game some kind of excitement. It worked for the Flint Tropics.