I mean that in the sense that we’ve got the same teams at the top and bottom, more or less, except that SMU and Tulsa appear to have traded places. Lots of offense this week though, which is always fun to watch.

Memphis 70, UConn 31 (Friday Night)

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So UConn put the same record on this week that they played at last week’s dance, and it skipped a beat a lot earlier this time around. Last week they played SMU tough for three quarters and then got outscored 21-0 in the last 14 minutes to wind up with a lopsided loss. When this week opened with a 64-yard touchdown run from Arkeel Newsome and the Huskies tied the score at 21-21 halfway through the second quarter, we looked to be in for more of the same.

Unfortunately, UConn’s next three drives featured five plays and two turnovers, and by the time they kicked a field goal with a minute left in the half it was 35-24 Memphis. The best drive the Huskies put together in the third quarter saw them complete an 11-yard pass on fourth and 13 from the Memphis 28, while the Tigers scored two touchdowns in three plays during the last two minutes of the quarter.

Memphis, having washed that UCF taste out of their mouth, will head home to face Navy, while UConn will finally face an offense they have a chance at stopping – but a defense they have little shot of scoring against – in Temple.

Temple 34, ECU 10

Football Highlights Temple 34, ECU 10 Logan Marchi throws for a career-high 321 with 2 TDs as @Temple_FB gets the East Division road win pic.twitter.com/VjhpPh2EOb — American Football (@American_FB) October 7, 2017

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ECU actually started this game playing decent defense, as Temple’s first three drives ended with a missed long field goal, a red zone interception and a red zone drive that stalled out at the Pirate 12-yard line. Unfortunately, ECU in that same time frame managed one red zone trip, one field goal and one missed field goal. The rest of the half Logan Marchi found his groove while ECU continued to sputter, and by halftime, the Owls had charged out to a 24-3 lead.

It says a lot about your day that the highlight was opening the second half with a 75-yard touchdown drive that cut your deficit to two touchdowns. The Owls probably could have won by more if not for the aforementioned FG miss and red-zone interception, plus they reached the red zone at game’s end but killed clock instead, so 34-10 isn’t even an accurate representation of Temple’s dominance.

I have little concern for Temple’s ability to stop an even less consistent UConn offense next week, while ECU will hit the road so they can get pummeled by UCF for four quarters.

Houston 35, SMU 22

Football Highlights – Houston 35, SMU 22 Balanced effort leads @UHCougarFB to a 2-0 start in American Athletic Conference play pic.twitter.com/ib9TZ69fxX — American Football (@American_FB) October 8, 2017

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Southern Methodist just couldn’t finish what they started all game long. The Mustangs had six offensive drives in the first half and four of them reached the red zone, but the offense could only muster 12 points on two field goals and a touchdown (with a missed extra point). So with another 38 yards of offense, SMU could have held a 27-21 lead instead of trailing 21-12. The second half was more of the same, as their three red zone drives ended in a touchdown and two interceptions. It feels weird to say, but this game feels like it was closer than 35-22 given all the opportunities the Mustangs had but also not that close considering how frequently they squandered them.

Houston continues to be “good enough” with Kyle Postma under center, and Duke Catalon lit this game on fire with 177 rushing yards and two scores on only 22 carries. Their red zone defense carried the day, and they’ll be just fine against Tulsa next week, but we’ll see if they can keep pace with Memphis after that. SMU will rebound just fine the next couple weeks agaist Cincinnati and then Tulsa, setting up a very interesting game against UCF.

Navy 48, Air Force 45

Football Highlights – Navy 48, Air Force 45 Here’s how @NavyFB stayed undefeated in front of a record crowd in Annapolis.#AmericanFB pic.twitter.com/GQTR3Dpz75 — American Football (@American_FB) October 7, 2017

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Navy started this game with an impressive defensive showing, as the 59-yard touchdown pass that Arion Worthman threw to Marcus Bennett was the only time in the first 26 minutes of the game that Air Force crossed midfield. As a result, Zach Abey’s first rushing touchdown put Navy ahead 21-7 with 3:45 left in the half. Air Force got into the red zone and fumbled on the next drive, then Aby and Malcolm Perry combined to turn that turnover into a fumble. Navy got the ball again to start the second half, and a field goal meant they were back to a three-touchdown lead.

And then the magic ran out. Air Force produced five touchdowns and 367 yards in their next five drives, while Navy produced two field goals, two punts and another long Abey touchdown run in their five possessions. Fortunately for the largest crowd in Annapolis history, the Midshipmen had one last drive in them, and another methodical option attack produced Abey’s lone touchdown pass of the game, a 16-yarder to Tyler Carmona with 15 seconds to play to seal the win.

Navy and Memphis should play an interesting game next week that will either keep the middies in the division lead or give it over to the Tigers.

Tulane 62, Tulsa 28

Football Highlights – Tulane 62, Tulsa 28 The @GreenWaveFB was sharp from the start today as Tulane gets its first conference win pic.twitter.com/fJs1UvvDyG — American Football (@American_FB) October 7, 2017

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Tulane was practically… Navy-esque in this one. In the first quarter, Jonathan Banks only attempted six passes, but he completed five of them, including a 62-yard touchdown bomb to Terrence Encalade. Their other 16 plays featured 16 runs for 146 yards, and only two of those plays went for zero or negative yards. At the end of the first quarter Tulane was uo 21-7 with a first and goal to come, and it seemed the rout was on.

The second quarter opened with a Tulane touchdown run, a Tulsa fumble, and a three-play, 23-yard touchdown drive by Tulane. You blinked and it was 35-7 Angry Wave. I think you get the idea here – Dontrelle Hilliard didn’t play the last 25 minutes of this game and still finished with 19 carries for 175 yards and four touchdowns. Yes, Tulsa eventually had 412 yards and 28 points, but that was almost entirely garbage-time production in a game they trailed 48-7 at the half.

It looks like Tulsa’s offense and defense have both regressed with all the talent that graduated last season, and things aren’t going to get better soon because they’ll be a heavy underdog in every remaining game except UConn two weeks from now. Tulane, meanwhile, seems to have found their groove and is a good bet to keep rolling next week against FIU before a stiff test against USF.

UCF 51, Cincinnati 23 (abbreviated due to weather)

Football Highlights – UCF 51, Cincinnati 23 There were 25 ‘chunk plays’ (15+ yds pass; 10+ yds rush) in the @UCF_Football win pic.twitter.com/0mzsrEWon3 — American Football (@American_FB) October 8, 2017

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I’m not sure there’s really anything you need to say about this game aside from the fact that they didn’t play the fourth quarter and the final score was still 51-23. In eight offensive drives, the Knights scored seven touchdowns and a field goal, and five of those seven touchdown drives took less than two minutes.

The Knights now have four wins and still have ECU, UConn and Austin Peay on the schedule, so a bowl game is damn near a lock at this point, but the way they are playing the goal is much higher than that now. We’ve got an outside shot at the War on I-4 being a battle of top 15 teams this year. Meanwhile Cinci continues to Cinci, as whatever offensive momentum they find gets repeatedly torpedoed by a defense that has given up 130 points the last three weeks. They’ll now trudge into a road trip against South Florida that is liable to look a lot like this game.