Today is the first holiday before the actual “Holidays,” where we all gorge down enough food to feed an entire offensive line, watch a bunch of football games that don’t involve our team, and give thanks for all of life’s blessings.
Not everybody is living the glamorous life, but if you’re breathing, you have something to be thankful for. Not every team in the American Athletic Conference is gunning for the conference title. Some of us, like SMU, fell out of the race in Week 1. But each AAC team, including the Mustangs, have something to give thanks for.
You have to dig deep, and I mean really deep, to find something worth being thankful for when you’re 0-10 or 2-9, but it’s not impossible.
Here’s what every AAC team should give thanks for — before they chow down on turkey or fight with Aunt Sue.
Cincinnati: Improving defense
To understand why the Bearcats should be thankful for an improving defense when the unit is ranked 78th nationally in total yards allowed, let me reel off a couple stats:
- First five games (2-3) — allowed an average of 573.6 yards per game
- Last five games (5-0) — allowed an average of 329 yards per game
Does it make sense now?
Cincinnati’s defense drastically improved following a three-game losing streak, albeit versus weaker competition. Improvement isn’t only visible in the yards-allowed stat column, but also in the hard to measure bend-but-don’t-break section.
In a crucial 54-56 win over ECU that likely knocked the Pirates out of AAC title contention, the Bearcat defense forced two crucial fumbles that led to touchdowns — one as time expired to end a Pirate comeback.
East Carolina’s offense blasted the Cincy D for 579 yards in an expected shoot-out, but the defense did hold the Pirates to 68 less yards than the average yardage it allowed during the team’s three-game skid (647 yards).
The Bearcats wouldn’t be staring at a potential AAC co-championship without the defense improving just enough to stop the Pirates when it had to.
East Carolina: Carden-to-Hardy tandem
The song title, “You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone,” from the movie Pitch Perfect, sums up how ECU fans will feel after seniors Shane Carden and Justin Hardy adorn the purple and gold for the last time.
The dynamic duo have combined for 4,807 yards of total offense in ’14, with Carden throwing 21 touchdown passes and Hardy catching seven of them. Carden will go down as the most prolific quarterback in Pirates history; Hardy is already the NCAA record holder for career receptions (358), a feat he accomplished last Saturday against Tulane.
Carden and Hardy, we’re all gonna miss you when you’re gone.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P85gjBuqbcI]Houston: Defensive coordinator David Gibbs
David Gibbs is the official defensive whisperer in the AAC after slowly turning around a Cougar defense that surrendered 415.8 yards per game in 2013 (80th in the FBS).
Houston was even worse in 2012 under ex-defensive coordinator Jamie Bryant, allowing 483 yards per outing. This season, the 6-4 Coogs have the 16th-best defensive unit in the country. Gibbs hopes to coach a Top-10 unit in 2015.
Memphis: Avoiding ECU and UCF on the schedule
No. 3 Florida State is lucky its playing the 49th-toughest schedule, according to the Sagarin Ratings, giving the cardiac Seminoles a virtual fool-proof shot at finishing undefeated and nabbing a playoff spot over more challenged one-loss teams.
In the AAC, Memphis was dealt the dream schedule by avoiding title contenders ECU and UCF; it also had the league’s easiest second-half slate. Excluding a Week 1 game with FCS Austin Peay, the Tigers first five FBS opponents currently hold a 36-17 combined record. Memphis’ last six 2014 opponents are a combined 16-47.
Houston (4-2 in the AAC), who lost 28-24 to the Tigers, had to play at Memphis, UCF at home, and ends the regular season at Cincinnati. The Coogs had to battle three conference heavyweights, while the Tigers faced two — Cincy and Houston. Considering Houston is one game behind Memphis in the conference standings, having one less AAC contender on its schedule is making the difference for the Tigers.
South Florida: Running back Marlon Mack
Almost every position on Bulls’ depth chart is unsettled. Running back is not one of them.
Freshman RB Marlon Mack is currently the AAC’s sole 1,000-yard rusher, leads all AAC running backs with nine touchdowns, and has, remarkably, accounted for 78 percent of USF’s total rushing yards (1,290).
Mack has been the one consistency in a season of overall inconsistency for the Bulls.
SMU: 2014 is almost over
You’re 0-10, you scored only 12 points in the first four games, you have the country’s worst scoring offense (9.7 points) and scoring defense (44.1), and you have an interim head coach.
Thank God this season is coming to a close.
The Mustangs need 2014 to end as soon as possible say they can start rebuilding a complete dumpster fire of a program. A team located in one of the country’s top recruiting hotbeds, Dallas, shouldn’t have 0-for seasons. Praise the Lord for new beginnings.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYtgMGzYECc?list=UU_vKL25z2ipN8Jhgu7pmqWw]Temple: Opportunistic defense
The Owls recovered 10 fumbles all of last season. They’ve almost doubled that number in 2014.
Temple’s defense set the stage for its opportunistic play in ’14 in the season opener at Vanderbilt, where the Owls defense recovered four fumbles, picked the ball off three times, and scored 27 of its 37 points off Vanderbilt miscues.
The Temple D has 18 fumble recoveries and 10 interceptions with two games remaining. Defensive lineman Praise Martin-Oguike leads the Owls and the AAC in fumbles forced with five.
Temple’s Pac-Man-like defense is keeping the Owls’ bowl hopes alive.
Tulane: Cupboard full of young talent
Read my story from Tuesday that highlights some things Tulane country should be thankful for in 2014.
One of the “blessings” I mention the Green Wave should be thankful for is the slew of young players that fill the roster. Sixty seven of Tulane’s 108 players are freshmen and sophomores.
Hopefully the lump-taking the young ‘Wave sustained this year will turn Tulane into a better and more experienced team in 2015.
Tulsa: Receiver Keevan Lucas
Guess who leads the American in total receptions, receiving yards, and touchdown catches? Nope, not Hardy. Tulsa’s Keevan Lucas.
Lucas is the force (Star Wars pun) that keeps the underrated, but not spectacular, Tulsa offense moving at full speed. The sophomore pass-catcher won AAC Offensive Player of the Week for hauling in 13 passes for 233 yards and three TDs in a Week 1 double-overtime dropping of Tulane.
Lucas had at least 100 yards receiving in five games this season. He gets an opportunity at No. 6 on Saturday when the ‘Hurricane face ECU and the AAC’s 10th-ranked pass defense.
Tulsa should just be thankful Lucas hasn’t exhausted his eligibility.
UCF: Best “American” defense
No. 1 in pass defense. No. 2 in rush defense. No. 2 in scoring defense. No. 1 in total defense.
Sounds like a Nick Saban defense to me.
Actually, those are UCF’s AAC defensive rankings. The Knights are without hesitation the best defensive unit in the conference, and their only three spots away from owning the country’s No.1 ranked total defense.
With an offense ranked near the middle of the pack in the American, its okay to assume the Knights wouldn’t be tied for the conference lead with two games remaining if the defense wasn’t as stout.
“Defense wins championships” has never seemed more true for UCF.
UConn: Improved recruiting
It’s hard to find much to be thankful for when your 2-8. I thought about mentioning the Huskies shocking upset win over UCF, but 2-8 or 1-9, the season is still forgettable.
Instead of giving thanks for current Husky players, UConn should be thankful for the crop of recruits head coach Bob Diaco and his staff are piecing together.
247Sports.com currently ranks UConn’s 2015 class as the fifth best in the AAC; a major improvement from the 2014 group that finished last. Seven of the 16 commitments are listed as three-star recruits, and six of them hail from the New England area, demonstrating that Diaco has the necessary ability to mine talent from UConn’s backyard.
Really, the Huskies have one other thing to be thankful this holiday: they get to play SMU (sorry, but I couldn’t resist).
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