American Conference Football was back in action this weekend. Here’s the latest from the teams on the gridiron in Week 3.
| Team | Record | This Week | Result | Up Next |
| Charlotte | 1-2 | vs Georgia St | L, 41-25 | at Florida |
| ECU | 0-3 | at App St | L, 43-28 | vs Gardner Webb |
| FAU | 1-2 | at Clemson | L, 48-14 | at Illinois |
| Memphis | 3-0 | vs Navy | W, 28-24 | at Missouri |
| Navy | 1-2 | at Memphis | L, 28-24 | — |
| North Texas | 1-2 | at LA Tech | W, 40-37 | — |
| Rice | 2-1 | vs Texas So | W, 59-7 | at USF |
| SMU | 2-1 | vs PVAMU | W, 69-0 | at TCU |
| Temple | 2-2 | vs Norfolk St | W, 41-9 | vs Miami |
| Tulane | 2-1 | at So. Miss | W, 21-3 | vs Nicholls |
| Tulsa | 1-2 | vs Oklahoma | L, 66-17 | at N. Illinois |
| UAB | 1-2 | vs Louisiana | L, 41-21 | at Georgia |
| USF | 1-2 | vs Alabama | L, 17-3 | vs Rice |
| UTSA | 1-2 | vs Army | L, 37-29 | at Tennessee |
Notable Results (Standings)
3-0 in a thriller
Memphis is the lone unbeaten in the AAC through three weeks, but it very nearly wasn’t the case. The Tigers were pushed to the wire by a frisky Navy squad that was turned away one yard short of a first down in the redzone in the closing seconds. The Tigers were one of the few AAC teams to avoid any Power 5 opponents in the early going. That changes next week with a potentially tough trip to Missouri.
Yet to score (a win)
Only one winless team remains in the AAC through three weeks: East Carolina. The Pirates weren’t particularly competitive against either Sun Belt opponent they faced in Week 2 (Marshall) or Week 3. A date with Gardner-Webb next weekend should get that zero off the win column. If not, it might be time to be more concerned.
Biff-tastrophy
Charlotte head coach Biff Poggi did not mince words in his postgame comments, making promises (threats?) to make changes to his staff and much more. The fiery first year head coach has never been afraid to speak his mind and things are certainly not off to the right foot for the 49ers who fell on Saturday to Georgia State.
Biff Poggi:
"This all falls squarely on me. I'm the head coach. I'm the guy that hired these guys. I'm the guys that set the vision. I'm the guy that brought the players in. I’m going to change my approach going forward. They’re going to be on a much tighter leash."
— Hunter Bailey (@Hunter_Bailey45) September 17, 2023
Looking ahead – Key storylines
Here comes conference play
The second AAC conference game takes place this coming weekend, with Navy and Memphis the only conference game so far and it should be an interesting one. 2-1 Rice travels to 1-2 USF which just put a heavy scare into the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tampa. The winner joins Memphis atop the standings, which would be a huge boost to either program.
Power 5 hunting
Rice owns the only AAC win over a Power 5 team so far this season, but several other programs will have the opportunity to join the Owls this coming weekend, unfortunately, several might have to do so without their star quarterbacks. Frank Harris (UTSA) and Casey Thompson (FAU) are both in doubt for Week 4.
Taking stock of Tulsa
The Golden Hurricane have a blowout win over an FCS school and two Power 5 losses. Seeing them in action in Week 4 against Northern Illinois, another Group of 5 team, (if we’re even still using that moniker anymore) should be a much better litmus test when it comes to evaluating just how good this team might be under head coach Kevin Wilson.
