There was just four games on the American Athletic Conference slate last weekend, but there were statement games for some of the league’s main competitors. Cincinnati got back on track with a solid all-round victory over beleaguered SMU, while Houston won an important victory with a fine win over Temple. Tulane lost to UCF, but its defense has been flashing some serious muscle down the stretch. USF overcame a 20-point halftime deficit to take down Tulsa, and look to be turning a corner under head coach Willie Taggert.
Game of the Week: South Florida @ Tulsa
In a matchup between two teams that had fallen on hard times lately, all bets were off. USF had shown some spirit on defense, but the offense was close to being a one-trick pony with running Marlon Mack leading the charge. The Golden Hurricane’s offense was in better shape, but the defense struggled against all comers.
In was something of a surprise when Tulsa’s defense made the opening statement of the night. Bulls quarterback Mike White, who has struggled all season, telegraphed his second pass of the night, and Hurricane cornerback Austin McDaniel jumped on the pass and returned it 46 yards for the opening score.
Tulsa returned the favor a couple of drives later when running back James Flanders coughed up the ball in his own territory, with the Bulls recovering. Mack then burst through a gaping hole, tiptoeing down the sideline for the last few yards of a 34-yard run. The Hurricane responded immediately with Dane Evans’ 40-yard pass to Keevan Lucas setting up Carl Salazar’s 31-yard field goal.
The Bulls were forced to punt on their next drive, and Tulsa wasted little time in increasing their lead, as Evans hit receiver Bishop Louie for a 39-yard gain, then threw a key block as Louie scampered into the endzone from 18 yards on a reverse.
South Florida responded with a nice drive, moving smoothly into Hurricane territory, but Kennard Swanson lost the ball at the Tulsa 30, and Kerwin Thomas pounced on the loose ball. Evans and Lucas struck again, first for 41 yards, then for eight to finish the drive off.
The teams traded punts again, then Tulsa put together a last minute drive for another field goal. Evans threw his third 40-yard pass of the half, hitting Derek Patterson, but the Bulls defense held with a nice goal line stand, forcing the kick. It may have been a key moment in the game, even with Tulsa leading 27-7, as another TD could have broken the Bulls.
USF opened the second half in style, with Mack thundering in from 54 yards to get the Bulls back in the game. The Hurricane struck back straight away, driving to the USF 6-yard line, but a facemask penalty forced them back, and Salazar was called upon again, this time from 32 yards out. A big kick return gave the Bulls great field position, just short of midfield, and White showed some surprising touch in hitting Andre Davis for gains of 26 and 15 yards, the latter for a touchdown.
Both teams punted again, then the Hurricane squandered a nice 30-yard run by Louie when Salazar’s 47-yard field goal attempt was blocked. South Florida struck straight back, with White hitting five of his six passes, and throwing the last 15 yards to Davis for the score. The worm was turning, and Tulsa’s once dominant position was being quickly eaten away.
Tulsa had another promising drive stall at midfield, but a punt pinned the Bulls at their 15. No problem. White hit his man of moment in stride, and Davis took it 85 yards to the endzone. The Hurricane went nowhere on their next drive, and the Bulls drove down the field, finishing with a 27-yard Marvin Kloss field goal
The Hurricane went nowhere on their last ditch drive, and USF ran out the remaining 1:35. Both teams showed some signs of life – Tulsa on defense in the first half, and the Bulls on offense in the second – but can they build on this as the season draws to a close?
Offensive Player of the Week: Andre Davis, South Florida
There was more prolific receivers last weekend. Heck, there were more prolific receivers in this game. But, when the Bulls needed a big play through the air on Saturday, Davis came through again and again. After catching just one pass for five yards in the first half, he came up with five receptions in the second half, racking up 149 yards and three TDs.
With USF down 27-14 in the third quarter, Davis caught a 26-yard pass to get the Bulls in scoring range, then finished the drive off from 15 yards out. At the start of the fourth quarter, Davis caught another 15-yard pass to bring the Bulls with 2 points. After USF forced the Hurricane to punt on the next drive, pinning the Bulls at their own 15, Davis caught White’s pass in stride and outran the Tulsa secondary for an 85-yard TD reception.
http://player.espn.com/player.js?pcode=1kNG061cgaoolOncv54OAO1ceO-I&width=576&height=324&externalId=espn:11721545Defensive Player of the Week: Tyler Gilbert, Tulane
The Green Wave may have lost the game, but Gilbert played out of his skin to make sure Tulane didn’t get overrun by the UCF offense. Gilbert came up with 1.5 sacks, another tackle in the backfield, forced a fumble that Tulane recovered, and made another tackle on UCF quarterback Justin Holman on third down. Tulane’s defense has been carrying the team recently, and it’s thanks to performances like Gilbert’s that Tulane isn’t getting washed away in its first season in the AAC.
Tyler Gilbert is using UCF left tackle as turnstile. After easy sack on first series, gets QB again, then #Tulane gets TO on punt.
— Guerry Smith (@Guersmith) October 18, 2014
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Special Teams Player of the Week: Peter Picerelli, Tulane
Gilbert gets the kudos for leading the defensive effort, but Picerelli deserve some of the credit for forcing the Knights to start drives from deep in their own territory. Picerelli punted four times, averaging 47.3 yards per punt. He dropped two punts inside the 20, including a 61-yard effort that was downed at the 17. He did have a touchback, and had to recover a snap that went way over his head, but he had another fine game.
Team of the Week: Cincinnati
The Bearcats have had a rough time recently, giving up 146 points in three losses after a 2-0 start. They received the right tonic in the SMU Mustangs, who have been a disaster lately. Cincinnati had a dominant performance in all facets of the game, running the ball effectively and allowing just three points on defense. With the meat of their AAC schedule still ahead of them, including East Carolina, the Bearcats still control their own AAC destiny. They need to build on this performance though, to make that a reality.
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