American Athletic Conference Roundup: Week 2

Week 2 certainly wasn’t the crowning glory of the American Athletic Conference’s season, with only Houston and Connecticut on the right side of the scoreboard. Granted Memphis and East Carolina knocked heads with UCLA and South Carolina respectively, while a couple of others came close to victory.

Then there was SMU and Tulsa, who were flattened by in-state opponents North Texas and Oklahoma. The Mustangs loss led to the resignation of head coach June Jones, leaving the team in an even more precarious position.

Game of the Week: Memphis Tigers at UCLA Bruins

Yeah, so Memphis lost, but it put a huge scare into a team many considered to be a national title contender. The Tigers, who had won a mere 12 games over the last five years, showed some muscle last week in trouncing Austin Peay 63-0, but we rarely take notice when an FCS team gets thrashed.

Memphis, you have our attention.

A strong performance from quarterback Paxton Lynch, who threw for 305 yards and ran and passed for scores, and a solid running game led by Dorland Dorceus (86 yards, TD), kept the Tigers in the game. In the fourth, when UCLA’s defense started to exert its will, it was the Memphis unit that came to the fore, as Fritz Etienne picked off a Bruin pass and returned it for a touchdown. But the Tigers had no answer (apart from the pick-six) to UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley, who passed for 396 yards and three scores, while the Tigers couldn’t get their offense going in the fourth quarter. The Tigers really shot themselves in the foot with some big penalties early on, but if they can maintain this level of play, they could make some noise in the AAC this season.

Offensive Player of the Week: Justin Hardy, East Carolina Pirates

With Texas A&M shredding the South Carolina secondary the week before, the Pirates were confident they had a good chance against the Gamecocks. In order to do so though, ECU needed its best players firing on all cylinders. With that in mind, quarterback Shane Carden sought out his favorite receiver Justin Hardy early and often, connecting on 11 passes for 133 yards. Eight of Hardy’s receptions went for first downs, and he caught two of greater than 20 yards, with a long of 23. While the Pirates have a jolly crew of receivers, it’s hard to believe they would have had as much success without Carden’s first mate pitching in.

Defensive Player of the Week: Tank Jakes, Memphis Tigers

As mentioned earlier, Memphis was just meant to roll over and die against the mighty Bruins, as UCLA’s offense and defense had its wicked way with them. In a glaring oversight, the top brass forgot to send Jakes the memo. The senior linebacker didn’t look at all out of his depth, making plays all over the field for the Tigers. Jakes had 12 tackles, an impressive 11 of which were solo. He had four tackles for loss, including two sacks, forced a fumble and broke up a pass. Jakes first sack killed a UCLA drive, giving Memphis the opportunity to get back in the game after falling behind 35-21.

Special Teams Player of the Week: Alex Starzyk, Temple Owls

When your opponent has an offense that borders on impossible to stop, making them go on long drives increases the chances of mistakes. It worked to some degree, with Navy losing three fumbles. A big part of that tactic was the punting of Starzyk, who pinned the Midshipmen deep on all five of his punts. He averaged 51.8 yards per attempt, dropping a couple inside the 20, with just one touchback. Navy returned just two of his punts, for a total of four yards. His first punt of the day pinned the Middies at the 7-yard-line, and almost directly set up the opening TD. The Owls may not have won the game, but Starzyk can hold his head high after his effort.

Team of the Week: Houston Cougars

A week after getting embarrassed in a turnover-fueled loss to Texas-San Antonio, in the home opener in the Cougars’ brand new stadium, Houston looked more like last season’s incarnation in a 47-0 blowout of Grambling.

Sure, it was Grambling, but the defense put the clamps on the Tigers offense, allowing just 238 total yards and intercepting three passes. The offense took care of its side of the bargain too. Quarterback John O’Korn, who had a horrendous outing last week, was far sharper in Week 2, completing 14-of-24 passes and throwing for 200 yards and a TD, before taking the fourth quarter off. Kenneth Farrow ran for 133 yards and a score on 13 carries, while Deontay Greenberry caught five passes for 110 yards.

Kicker Kyle Bullard made all nine of his kicks, hitting all five PATs and four field goals. It was Grambling, but this will build confidence going into a big trip to Provo to face BYU tonight.