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Conference USA Football 2020: Stop rate and three-and-out defense

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Conference USA football fielding an array of defenses in 2019. Which were the best at getting off the field by stop rate and three-and-out rate?

Recently published by The Athletic, stop rate is a useful tool for measuring college football defenses. Max Olson, who compiled the sat, defines stop rate as:

The percentage of a defense’s drives that end in punts, turnovers or a turnover on downs. Every defense in college football has the same goal on every drive: Get a stop and get off the field. It’s the most basic measurement of whether a defense is successful. And the successful ones win a lot of games.

So what does that mean for Conference USA football? The league as a whole had four teams ranked inside the top 25 in stop rate nationally, including conference champion FAU. The Owls also ranked No. 1 in C-USA in three-and-out rate. The distribution from that point onward gets wide, quickly. Here’s a breakdown of each squad.

Two outliers stand out. Rice football finished 3-9, but boasted the seventh-best stop rate in C-USA and the fifth-best three-and-out rate. Every other team to finish in the top half of the conference in both metrics went bowling this past season. Defensive coordinator Brian Smith has made a tremendous impact at South Main so far, and the Owls have room to grow. They return almost every member of their two-deep on defense in 2020.

The second outlier is Charlotte. The 49ers gave up a lot of points last season — 32.4 per game to be exact — but found a way to get to a bowl game in their first year under Will Healy. Replacing defensive end Alex Highsmith will be a challenge next year, as will backfilling the running back spot behind Benny Lemay. There are some questions, bu things are headed in the right direction.

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Conference USA Football: Takeaways from early 2020 schedule

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The 2020 Conference USA football schedule has been announced. Here are five thoughts from the early look at the upcoming season’s games.

1. Statement opportunity on opening night

Florida Atlantic’s first game under new head coach Willie Taggart has the potential to be national news. Minnesota will be coming off a Top 10 finish this year and will be looking to keep things rolling after their 11-win season. This game is scheduled for Thursday night, September 3, presumably on national television. C-USA needs to do better against Power 5 programs. This will be one of their best chances in 2020.

2. No more double byes

Having two off weekends last year was a scheduling quirk that was rather nice. It lengthened out the schedule (more football!) and gave teams an extra chance to rest up and get well. Most C-USA squads were able to avoid playing more than five or six consecutive games. 2020 marks the return to one off week, with some drawing rather inconvenient timing. Marshall and Southern Miss are off in Week 10, with only three games left on their schedules.

3. The first conference game comes early

Southern Miss hosts Louisiana Tech in Week 2 in the first C-USA game of the season. Both teams will have division title aspirations, making the game pretty important in spite of the early date. Old Dominion hosts FIU in Week 3 and Middle Tennessee in Week 4 before the bulk of the conference games get underway in Week 5.

4. UAB’s has a case for the most favorable schedule

The Blazers get New Mexico State, Alabama A&M, South Alabama and Miami (which was shutout by Louisiana Tech in their bowl game) in nonconference play. Their most challenging road trip will be Halloween night against Louisiana Tech with most of their toughest games coming at home. They’ll host WKU and Southern Miss. On paper, things set up pretty nicely for UAB.

5. Marshall has another tough road

In addition to a nonconference slate which includes East Carolina, Pitt and Boise State, the remainder of Marshall’s schedule is filled with quirks. After hosting Boise State (Sep. 26) and Rice (Oct. 3), they don’t play consecutive home games until Nov. 14 and Nov. 21. Their crossover opponents  (Louisiana Tech and Rice) are far from the easiest pair they could have drawn. As if that wasn’t all, they play Boise State, Rice, WKU, Louisiana Tech and Florida Atlantic in a five-game stretch. Oof.

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Conference USA Football 2019: Bowl Updates and Championship Recap

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FAU has won the 2019 Conference USA football championship. Now eight teams venture on to bowl season, with the first game approaching soon.

Team Opponent Bowl Time Date
Charlotte Buffalo Maker’s Wanted Bahamas Bowl Fri. Dec. 20 1:00 p.m.
FAU* SMU Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl Sat. Dec. 21 2:30 p.m.
FIU Arkansas St Camellia Bowl Sat. Dec. 21 4:30 p.m.
UAB Appalachian St R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Sat. Dec. 21 8:00 p.m.
Marshall UCF Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl Mon. Dec. 23 1:30 p.m.
LA Tech Miami Walk-on’s Independence Bowl Thr. Dec. 26 3:00 p.m.
WKU Western Michigan SERVPRO First Responder Bowl Mon. Dec. 30 11:30 a.m.
So. Miss Tulane Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Sat. Jan. 4 10:30 a.m.
*Won Conference USA Football Championship Game

Conference USA Championship Week 15 results – Standings

The Conference USA Football Championship was a total non-event. FAU jumped out in front of UAB quickly, turning a 14-3 first quarter lead into an overwhelming 35-6 halftime advantage. All the while the Ole Miss football Twitter account was tweeting out gifs in regards to the not-so-secret future of one Lane Kiffin. That ended up being more entertaining than the game itself.

Updates from elsewhere in C-USA

Time runs out for Frank Wilson and Bobby Wilder

Now former head coach Frank Wilson was fired from UTSA following the season. Shortly after, former Old Dominion head coach Bobby Wilder elected to resign from the program. At the time, those were the only Conference USA football head coaching jobs to open this offseason.

What’s next for some of C-USA’s best?

For the past few seasons, Bill Clark and Lane Kiffin have represented the best coaching Conference USA has to offer. Rumors of both coaches potentially being on the move surfaced during the lead up to the conference championship game. Kiffin made the leap to the SEC. Clark is staying put, for now, but the coaching carousel hasn’t stopped spinning just yet.

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Conference USA Football 2019: Week 14 C-USA Roundup

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Rice football capped off their year with a third straight win while the Conference USA Football Championship game was set, without a complex tiebreaker.

Team Week 14 Result Record
Charlotte at Old Dominion W, 38-22 7-5 (5-3)
FAU* vs Southern Miss W, 34-17 9-3 (7-1)
FIU at Marshall L, 30-27 (OT) 6-6 (3-5)
LA Tech vs UTSA W, 41-27 9-3 (6-2)
Marshall vs FIU W, 30-27 (OT) 8-4 (6-2)
MTSU at WKU L, 31-26 4-8 (3-5)
North Texas vs UAB L, 26-21 4-8 (3-5)
Old Dominion vs Charlotte L, 38-22 1-11 (0-8)
Rice at UTEP W, 30-16 3-9 (3-5)
Southern Miss at FAU L, 34-17 7-5 (5-3)
UAB* vs North Texas W, 26-21 9-3 (6-2)
UTEP vs Rice L, 30-16 1-11 (0-8)
UTSA at LA Tech L, 41-27 4-8 (3-5)
WKU vs MTSU W, 31-26 8-4 (6-2)
*Clinched Conference USA Football Championship Game berths

Notable Week 14 results – Standings

Make it three!

It took a while for Rice football to get the monkey off their backs, but once they did the results seemed worth the wait. The Owls closed out the season on a three-game winning streak, dispatching Middle Tennesee and North Texas before closing out the year with a road win over UTEP. Rice football looks to be headed in the right direction.

Conference USA avoids tiebreaker drama

After changing the tiebreaker rules in the middle of the week, Conference USA could have found themselves in a tough spot had they had to enforce the newly minted rules on less than six days notice. With Southern Miss losing to FAU on the road, there was no three-team tie to break, making all the drama of the late change for naught.

And then there were two

C-USA East champ FAU will host C-USA West champ UAB will meet in the championship game next weekend. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network with the opening kickoff set for 1:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. CT. FAU was picked to finish third in the East in the preseason with three first place votes. UAB was picked to finish fourth in the West in the preseason with two first place votes.

Week 15 storylines

Hot seat watch

UTEP and Old Dominion end the season as the only C-USA teams without a conference win, both went 1-11 with their singular victories over non-FBS teams. UTEP headman Dana Dimel might be in better shape as he’s in Year 2 of a challenging rebuild. Bobby Wilder at Old Dominion is one to watch. After leading the Monarchs to a program-best 10-win season in 2016, they’ve regressed in his next three subsequent season, with the 1-win mark the programs worst-ever finish, by three games.

UTSA’s Frank Wilson and Middle Tennessee’s Rick Stockstill are two others who have had their names come up in those discussions this season. There’s a good chance one, if not multiple C-USA programs have a new man at the helm for the 2020 season.

Will Skip Holtz give answers?

Louisiana Tech was undefeated in conference play and the clear front runner to win the West before the program suspended quarterback J’Mar Smith and lead receiver Adrian Hardy. The two games missed, both losses, proved to be impactful, knocking the Bulldogs out of first place. The fanbase is understandably upset. Will there be a satisfactory resolution to this? Or will fans have to live with a promising season derailed by “internal discipline”.

Bowl season is right around the corner

Conference USA won the Bowl Challenge Cup last year, winning four of their program’s six bowl games. The conference has eight bowl-eligible squads this season, with 6-6 FIU the only team who might have to sweat the selection process should the total of eligible teams exceed the total amount of slots. Regardless, it should be another busy bowl season for C-USA.

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Conference USA Football 2019: Week 13 C-USA Roundup

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Rice football won for their second time in two weeks. FIU pulled a massive upset of their own. That and more from a wild Week 13 for Conference USA Football.

Team Week 13 Result Week 14
Charlotte vs Marshall W, 24-13 at Old Dominion
FAU at UTSA W, 40-26 vs Southern Miss
FIU vs Miami W, 30-24 at Marshall
LA Tech at UAB L, 20-14 vs UTSA
Marshall at Charlotte L, 24-13 vs FIU
MTSU vs Old Dominion W, 38-17 at WKU
North Texas at Rice L, 20-14 vs UAB
Old Dominion at MTSU L, 38-17 vs Charlotte
Rice vs North Texas W, 20-14 at UTEP
Southern Miss vs WKU L, 28-10 at FAU
UAB vs LA Tech W, 20-14 vs North Texas
UTEP at New Mexico St L, 44-38 vs Rice
UTSA vs FAU L, 40-26 at LA Tech
WKU at Southern Miss W, 28-10 vs MTSU

Notable Week 13 results – Standings

Rice Wins Again

After going nine games without wins, Rice football has won twice in the last eight days. The Owls followed up their first road win of the Mike Bloomgren with his first victory over a C-USA West team, holding on to take down Mason Fine and the North Texas Mean Green on Senior Day at Rice Stadium.

Butch Jones gets revenge

There was a time when Butch Davis walked the other sidelines of the former Orange Bowl Stadium. The former Miami head coach led FIU against the Hurricanes this weekend and wasted no time making his mark. FIU jumped out to a 16-0 lead against their crosstown rivals, finishing off Miami for their first Power 5 win in program history.

FAU moves a step closer to clinching the East

FAU took care of business at the Alamodome, beating UTSA with relative ease. Then they got some help from fellow C-USA East squad, Charlotte. The 49ers upset Marshall, knocking them down a peg in the race for the division title. Marshall still holds the tiebreaker against FAU, but sits a game back in the loss column. If FAU wins next weekend they’ll host the C-USA Championship Game.

Potential C-USA Championship Scenarios

Week 14 storylines

Who wins the west?

As the East cleared up the West got messy. Saturday’s results left three teams tied atop the division standings. Louisiana Tech, UAB and Southern Miss all hold 5-2 records entering the final week of the regular season. LA Tech has a step up in the race right now but all three are alive, making the last games of the year particularly intriguing.

Will there be a surprise in the East?

Marshall is still alive and well, even after their Week 13 loss. Marshall hosts FIU in Week 14. If they can beat the Panthers and FAU falls at home to Southern Miss, the Thundering Herd will take the top spot in the East. After watching last weekend’s results, it’s probably fair to assume that just about anything could happen in the final weekend.

Donut watch

Neither UTEP or Old Dominion have managed a win in conference play. The Miners lone victory came over FCS Houston Baptist (by two points). The Monarchs claim a singular win, also over an FCS opponent. They beat Norfolk St (by three points). Both programs will be underdogs at home in Week 14. Will either find enough to pull an upset?

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