Week 7 was especially dangerous to the landscape of college football. The AP Poll’s Top 25 schools suffered losses all over the nation. Georgia, West Virginia, Washington, Auburn, Miami, Colorado, Penn State, and Wisconsin were among the onslaught. While some of these victims claimed by the “Sinister Week 7 of 2018” were knocked off by fellow Top 25 teams, there’s still enough downfall by volume to make this part of the schedule remarkable. Yet the three Top 25 teams in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) managed to escape this section of their schedules unscathed. The UCF Knights and USF Bulls both limped by with one-point victories in conference play while the Cincinnati Bearcats hid comfortably in the safety of a bye week.

In the West division, the Houston Cougars holds the lead at the top of the pack with a 5-1 record while remaining undefeated in conference play. There is only one other team in the division that currently has a winning record — Memphis. But after losing a 31-30 heartbreaker to the East Division’s UCF, their 4-3 record is severely handicapped by the fact that all of their losses are to AAC team’s. The Tigers find themselves in a hole so big, it’s unlikely they’ll pull off a rally to take back the West. With a clear advantage over the rest of the division, the Cougs are in the driver’s seat.

The East, on the other hand is still locked in a heated race at the top of the division. The Bearcats, Bulls, and Knights are still undefeated. Stuck in fourth place are the Temple Owls who are 4-3, but still have a dark horse’s chance as they are loss-free in conference action after a dominate showing to sink Navy’s chances of competing in the West. The Bulls, much like the Knights, staved off disaster with a one-point win over the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes, 25-24.

Next Week, there are five intra-conference matches to whet the pallet of the AAC fan. The no 20 Bearcats face the Owls on the road, Houston sets sail to Annapolis to take on Navy, SMU rides out to face Tulane, no 10 UCF heads to East Carolina and the Huskies of UConn race to Tampa to battle the no 21 Bulls. In Power 6 action, the Golden Hurricanes whisk in to face the Arkansas Razorbacks while Memphis battles Mizzou in a Tiger fight.

Here are the top performers for Week 7:

Offensive Player of the Week

For the eighth time in his career, McKenzie Milton of @UCF_Football is named the #AmericanFB Offensive Player of the Week. Milton cored the game-winning TD in the fourth quarter to lead the Knights’ come-from-behind win at Memphis https://t.co/5hJTwFOiid pic.twitter.com/BdlfgqCVkr — American Football (@American_FB) October 15, 2018

UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton may not have had the biggest numbers for the week, but he did score what would be the biggest touchdown for his night to sneak past the Memphis Tigers, 31-30. While flipping into the air inverted, Milton reached out to break the plane for the game’s final lead change.

Defensive Player of the Week

Ed Oliver of @UHCougarFB tied The American’s single-game record with 5.0 tackles for loss in the Cougars’ win at ECU. Oliver earns #AmericanFB Defensive Player of the Week honors for the fourth time in his career.https://t.co/5hJTwG5TGN pic.twitter.com/u4rZCSjJLc — American Football (@American_FB) October 15, 2018

After posting a single game conference record five tackles for a loss in a victory over East Carolina, Houston Cougar Defensive Tackle earns another honor.

Special Teams Player of the Week

Two #AmericanFB kickers provided the winning points in their teams’ one-point victories on the road Saturday. Congratulations to Matthew Wright of @UCF_Football and Coby Weiss of @USFFootball for taking this week’s honors.https://t.co/5hJTwG5TGN pic.twitter.com/OUiPMoP6ay — American Football (@American_FB) October 15, 2018

This week’s award is shared by two kickers. USF’s Coby Weiss and UCF’s Mattew Wright both booted in game winners to battle through threats for an upset.

Kyle Nash, known as The Student of the Game, covers UCF Football for SportsMediaPass.com and is a special contributor for Break the Fourth. He’s a also a writer for the DolphinsWire of USA Today and co-host of the DinnerTime and Default Assault podcasts.