American Conference Football was back in action this weekend. Here’s the latest from the teams on the gridiron this week.
| Team | Record | This Week | Result | Up Next |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 0-1 (0-0) | vs Tarleton St | L, 30-27 (OT) | at Kansas St |
| Charlotte | 0-1 (0-0) | vs App | L, 34-11 | vs N Carolina |
| ECU | 0-1 (0-0) | at NC St | L, 24-17 | vs Campbell |
| FAU | 0-1 (0-0) | at Maryland | L, 39-7 | vs FAMU |
| Memphis | 1-0 (0-0) | vs Chattanooga | W, 45-10 | at Georgia St |
| Navy | 1-0 (0-0) | vs VMI | W, 52-7 | vs UAB |
| North Texas | 1-0 (0-0) | vs Lamar | W, 51-0 | at W. Michigan |
| Rice | 1-0 (0-0) | at Louisiana | W, 14-12 | vs Houston |
| Temple | 1-0 (0-0) | at UMass | W, 42-10 | vs Howard |
| Tulane | 1-0 (0-0) | vs Northwestern | W, 23-3 | at S Alabama |
| Tulsa | 1-0 (0-0) | vs ACU | W, 35-7 | at NMSU |
| UAB | 1-0 (0-0) | vs Alabama St | W, 52-42 | at Navy |
| USF | 1-0 (0-0) | vs Boise St | W, 34-7 | at Florida |
| UTSA | 0-1 (0-0) | at Texas A&M | L, 42-24 | vs Texas St |
Storylines // Standings // Preseason Poll
G5 Standard Bearer Goes Down
Boise State has been the cream of the crop of programs outside the Power conferences for decades now and represented that cohort in the College Football Playoff last season. Beating the Broncos would have been impressive in its own right, but the South Florida Bulls did more than that, thrashing the defending MWC champs in a blowout victory on Thursday night in front of a national audience.
Troops Stumble Against the Texans
Army, the defending American Conference champs, who recently clinched that title on their home turf, suffered a crushing loss to FCS Tarleton State at West Point on Friday night. Newly installed quarterback Dewayne Coleman was effective, but a pair of missed field goals, including a crucial kick in overtime, dropped the Cadets to 0-1 on the season.
New-Look Owls Fly High
In the first game of the Scott Abell era, Rice football upset Louisiana on the road, spoiling the Ragin’ Cajuns’ first game at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium. The Owls won their first home opener since 2018 and their first road contest since the 2023 season. Not a bad start for the double-digit road dogs.
Looking ahead – Key storylines
Going for Two?
South Florida was a trendy college football playoff pick a year ago before quarterback Byrum Brown went down with an injury. This time around the Bulls already have a Top 25 win under their belt and take a trip to No. 15 Florida in Week 2. Can the Bulls pull of one more upset? If so they’d be firmly in the driver’s seat among the Group of 5 playoff hopefuls, clearly boasting the best resume possible to this point.
Bye Bye to the Bucket
No more scheduled contests remain between Houston and Rice football, the closest FBS institutions who have played nearly annually for the Bayou Bucket Trophy. The Owls upset the Cougars in 2023 to claim it before Houston took the Bucket back last season. Whoever wins on Saturday could have it in their trophy collection for some time.
High Stakes Early Season Tilts
In addition to the two power conference matchups above, the American should have at least a few additional opportunities to notch some signature wins. UTSA will want a bounce-back win after their season-opening loss to Texas A&M and some revenge from last season’s beatdown at the hands of the Texas State Bobcats.
Tulane will look to improve to 2-0 with a road trip to South Alabama and Army will look to rebound from this week’s disaster against a reeling Kansas State team, which barely snuck past FCS North Dakota in Week 1.
