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 | 5-5 (3-4) | vs Tulsa | L, 26-25 | at UTSA |
| Charlotte | 1-10 (0-7) | at Georgia | L, 35-3 | at Tulane |
| ECU | 7-4 (5-2) | at UTSA | L, 58-24 | at FAU |
| FAU | 4-7 (3-4) | vs UConn | L, 48-45 | vs ECU |
| Memphis | 8-3 (4-3) | — OFF — | — | vs Navy (THR) |
| Navy | 8-2 (6-1) | — OFF — | — | at Memphis (THR) |
| North Texas | 10-1 (6-1) | at Rice | W, 56-24 | vs Temple (FRI) |
| Rice | 5-6 (2-5) | vs North Texas | L, 56-24 | at USF |
| Temple | 5-6 (3-4) | vs Tulane | L, 37-13 | at North Texas (FRI) |
| Tulane | 9-2 (6-1) | at Temple | W, 37-13 | vs Charlotte |
| Tulsa | 4-7 (1-6) | at Army | W, 26-25 | — OFF — |
| UAB | 3-8 (1-6) | vs USF | L, 48-18 | — OFF — |
| USF | 8-3 (5-2) | at UAB | W, 48-18 | vs Rice |
| UTSA | 6-5 (4-3) | vs ECU | W, 58-24 | vs Army |
Storylines // Standings // Preseason Poll
Roadrunners Rock Pirates at the Alamodome
East Carolina became the latest team to fall victim to whatever magic UTSA keeps bottled up inside the Alamodome. The Pirates were in contention to play for the American Conference championship entering the weekend and find themselves on the outside looking in. Owen McCown tossed five touchdown passes and Will Henderson rushed for 146 yards as the Roadrunners clinched bowl eligibility.
Mean Green Style Points
Wide receiver Wyatt Young set an American Conference single-game record with 295 receiving yards against Rice on the same night his teammate, running back Caleb Hawkins, cashed in three rushing touchdowns to tie for tops in the nation in touchdowns with 22. Either performance would have been enough to take down Rice.
Non-American Huskies
Don’t look now, but a nine-win UConn team has wrapped up the season 2-1 against American conference foes, taking down Florida Atlantic on Saturday after a win over UAB and loss to Rice earlier in the season. If nothing else, this program looks like it could compete in this conference, where they played as recently as the 2019 season.
Looking ahead – Key storylines
And Then There Were Three
Three one-loss teams remain in play for the American Conference Championship Game: Tulane, Navy and North Texas. Tulane can keep things simple and clinch a spot by defeating Charlotte next weekend and remaining the highest ranked team in the College Football Playoff rankings. North Texas has the head to head win over Navy. Things get strange if either the Mean Green or Green Wave lose, but they’re in the driver’s seat heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
Playing for Six
Florida Atlantic played its way out of bowl contention this past week, but three other teams remaining in the mix for their sixth win entering the final weekend of the regular season: Temple, Army and Rice. All face tough roads, with the possible exception of Army, which has been one of the few programs immune to the Alamodome curse since Jeff Traylor arrived at UTSA.
