Rice football was one Conference USA Football team unable to best a top-tier foe, with Marshall downing Ohio serving as the conference’s signature win.
| Team | Week 3 | Result | Week 4 |
| Charlotte | vs UMass | W, 52-17 | at No. 1 Clemson |
| FAU | at Ball St | W, 41-31 | vs Wagner |
| FIU | vs New Hampshire | W. 30-17 | at Louisiana Tech |
| LaTech | at Bowling Green | W, 35-7 | vs FIU |
| Marshall | vs Ohio | W, 33-31 | — OFF — |
| MTSU | vs Duke | L, 41-18 | — OFF — |
| North Texas | at Cal | L, 23-17 | vs UTSA |
| ODU | — OFF — | — OFF — | at No. 25 Virginia |
| Rice | vs No. 12 Texas | L, 48-13 | vs Baylor |
| Southern Miss | at Troy | W, 47-42 | at No. 2 Alabama |
| UAB | — OFF — | — OFF — | vs South Alabama |
| UTEP | — OFF — | — OFF — | vs Nevada |
| UTSA | vs Army | L, 31-13 | at North Texas |
| WKU | vs Louisville | L, 38-21 | — OFF — |
Notable Week 3 results
No Texas-sized upset in Houston
Rice was able to hang tight with their first two non-conference opponents but fell behind early and couldn’t muster a comeback until it was too late. The Owls were overcome by the athleticism of a Top 15 Texas team and return to Rice Stadium next week for a game against another impressive Big 12 offense, Baylor.
Big bounce back for big green
Marshall lost their mojo on the blue turf of Boise State last week but didn’t have much time to feel sorry for themselves with Ohio on their way to town. The offense kicked back into gear and the Thundering Herd hung on for one of Conference USA’s most impressive nonconference victories to date.
Hello Mr. Watkins
Quez Watkins made his season debut on Saturday night against Troy and had quite the coming out party. Watkins scored twice in the second half, with the second coming from 64-yards out and punting Southern Miss up two scores in the final minutes. He finished with seven catches for 209 yards (29.9 yards per reception) and the pair of receiving scores.
Week 4 storylines
So close to conference play
Week 5 marks the beginning of the first big weekend of Conference USA conference games which means we’re officially in the “tune up” portion of non-conference play. That would be the case, except for the three teams with off weeks and two members who visit No. 1 Clemson and No. 2 Alabama, respectively.
Early conference test
While the bulk of the conference will wait for next weekend, Louisiana Tech and FIU serve as the sneak peak for what is to come in conference play. Both teams have failed to pass their nonconference assessments with flying colors, meaning they’ll have to put together a nice audition this coming weekend to prove to themselves they’re still contenders in the conference race.
Old upset brewing?
Virginia is better than Virginia Tech was last season when the Monarchs upended the Hokies in one of the most thrilling upsets of last season. Old Dominion will be on the road for this contest with fewer weapons than they had at their disposal a season ago. But weird things happen, especially in college football and Old Dominion has been at the center of such an upset in recent history.