American Athletic Conference Roundup: Week 3

Week 3 wasn’t the best week in the short history of The American, with only Cincinnati, East Carolina and Tulane coming up with the goods. While the Pirates scored some big booty in taking down Virginia Tech, the other league members who played hardly showered themselves in glory with some very disappointing losses. Unsurprisingly, this weeks awards reflect the lack of success to a degree, and have a somewhat nautical flavor.

 Game of the Week: East Carolina Pirates @ Virginia Tech Hokies

The antagonists appeared to be heading in different directions—Virginia Tech was coming off a huge win over Ohio State, while the Pirates ran out of steam after playing South Carolina close for much of the game. They nearly did it again. Shane Carden and ECU came out firing in the first quarter, stunning the Hokies en route to a 21-0 first quarter lead, with Carden throwing three touchdown passes.

The VT defense came to life in the second quarter, making a big fourth down stop, while ECU also missed a field goal and Carden fumbled at the Hokies’ 1-yard line to keep them in the game. Michael Brewer finally got Virginia Tech moving late in the second quarter, leading a 73-yard TD drive with receiver Isaiah Slye overcoming penalty worthy coverage to haul in the pass. Carden nearly got the Pirates in the endzone again with a 43-yard pass that put them on the VT 7-yard line, but they ran out of time.

The Hokie defense dominated most of the second half, and Brewer led them back into the game with two more scoring passes, tying the game at 21 with just 1:20 left on the clock. Carden suddenly got his first quarter form back, throwing passes of 31 and 28 yards, while a couple of “12 men on the field” penalties put ECU on the 1-yard line. Carden finished off the drive with his legs, retaking the lead with just 16 seconds remaining—too little time for the Hokies to mount a comeback.

Carden was the star of the show, throwing for 427 yards and four total TDs, while the Pirates served notice that they will be a force to be reckoned with in the conference this season.

Offensive Player of the Week: Gunner Kiel, Cincinnati Bearcats

Carden may have come up with the goods when it mattered, but in his first ever start, Kiel came up with the goods again and again against a decent Toledo team. Despite not having played a down since his senior year in high school nearly three years ago, college football’s rolling stone came out hot against the Rockets and never let up.

Kiel threw his first touchdown pass just 46 seconds into his first game—a 17-yarder to Mekale McKay for those who are interested—and staked Cincy to a 34-0 lead. Toledo fought back hard, taking advantage of a somewhat ill-advised attempt to get Munchie Legaux some playing time, and even pulling to within 41-34, but Kiel led the Bearcats to 17 unanswered points to establish the final score of 48-34.

The redshirt sophomore completed 25-of-37 passes for 418 yards and six TDs, and added 24 yards on 4 carries. Not bad for a first-time starter on a team playing its first game of the season.

Defensive Player of the Week: Josh Hawkins, East Carolina Pirates

Carden may have earned most of the plaudits for the Pirates win, but the defense deserves a lot of credit for their effort. The pass rush got immense pressure on Brewer, giving him few opportunities to survey the field, and Hawkins certainly benefited from from Brewer’s hasty passes. The cornerback intercepted passes on consecutive passes, giving the Pirates excellent field position.

Of course, a Carden fumble and a missed field goal squandered the opportunities, but they also ended a VT scoring drives. Hawkins also pitched in with 8 tackles, 1 for loss, and broke up another pass.

Special Teams Player of the Week: Mattias Ciabatti, South Florida Bulls

The Bulls may have fallen flat on their faces against North Carolina State, getting pounded 49-17, but their punter certainly did his damnedest to keep the Wolfpack from any easy scores. Punting seven times, Ciabatti averaged 48.9 yards per punt, dropping one inside the 20, and hitting a 57 long. Ciabatti’s seeming inability to pin NC State inside the 20 was more of an indictment against his offense, as they struggled to get anything going for most of the game. The Wolfpack “returned” four of Ciabatti efforts, for minus one yard, and fumbled two of those attempts. NC State recovered one, while the other set up a field goal by Marvin Kloss.

Now, if only Ciabatti could play defense.

Team of the Week: East Carolina Pirates

With slim pickings for this spot, the obvious pick is ECU. A week after losing to one of the SEC’s finest in South Carolina, one of the American’s new boys did a number on the ACC by taking down Virginia Tech, hot off its win over Ohio State. With the AAC looking to rebuild its image after being deemed outside of the Power 5 with the end of the BCS, the conference will need more wins like this to build up national respect.