American Athletic Conference play is about to kick off for the Memphis Tigers football team. The American Athletic Conference is better than in its previous two seasons. This is a breakdown of the Tigers’ conference opponents this season.
Houston – The University of Houston finished 7-5 in 2014. Cougars coach Tony Levine’s squad was the only conference team to beat Memphis last season. They went on to beat the University of Pittsburgh in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, and earned their first bowl win since 2011.
Quarterback Greg Ward Jr. leads the Cougars attack. He can throw the ball well, but he really makes an impact on the ground. The dual threat quarterback has 35 carries for 199 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. In the air, Ward is very efficient. He has completed 73 percent of his passes with 511 yards, four touchdowns and an interception.
Navy – This is Navy’s first season in the American Athletic Conference. They are coming off an up and down 7-5 season. It was punctuated with a three-game winning streak that included a win against Army. They went on to win the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl over San Diego State.
Coach Ken Niumatalolo’s squad has won their first two games of the season using the triple option. Quarterback Keenan Reynolds has only attempted 13 passes on the year. Running back Chris Swain has seen most of the offensive load in the first two games. His 40 carries and 252 yards on the ground lead the team. Reynolds has 35 carries, 163 yards and a team-leading six touchdowns. The Midshipmen already opened up conference play with a win over East Carolina Sept. 19.
SMU – Southern Methodist University is coming off their worst seasons since 2008. They went 1-11 after June Jones resigned two games into the season. SMU went on to hire Chad Morris. He was the offensive coordinator for Clemson University for four seasons.
The higher seems to have paid off as SMU has started off 1-2. The subpar record isn’t indicative of their play, though. They challenged no. 4 ranked Baylor. Morris’ squad was able to hang within seven of SMU, but eventually lost 56-21. Their second game they beat North Texas 31-13. Then they were able to challenge no. 3 TCU for four quarters. They lost 56-37, but it’s the second time in three weeks they hung with a top five team.
USF – The University of South Florida struggled and ended last season with a 4-8 record. They started this season off with a 51-3 win against Florida A&M, but have struggled since then. The Bulls were run over by Dalvin Cook and Florida State. Then they challenged a struggling Maryland team, but eventually lost 35-17.
Tulane – The Tulsa Green Wave started the season out slowly, losing to Duke 37-7 then Georgia Tech 65-10. They rebounded with a win over Maine —an FCS opponent—38-7. Lazederick Thompson and Donrell Hilliard make up the Green Wave rushing attack. Thompson has 32 carries, 132 yards and a touchdown. Hilliard has 22 carries, 155 yards and a team leading two touchdowns.
Tulsa – The University of Tulsa has started out the season well. They won their first two games against FAU and New Mexico. Then surprised everyone when they hung with Oklahoma in week three. They only lost 52-38, but they had ample opportunity to win the game.
The Golden Hurricanes have a dangerous passing attack. Quarterback Dane Evans has 1172 yards and eight touchdowns in three games this season. He has three receivers over 200 yards. Keyarris Garrett has 454 yards and a touchdown. Keevan Lucas has 342 yards and five touchdowns. They put points on the board behind their high-powered offense.
Temple – Matt Rhule’s Temple squad barely missed out on a playing a bowl game. A three game skid near the end of conference play put them at 6-6 on the year. Now, they’ve started off the year 3-0 with wins over Penn State and Cincinnati.
Justin Fuente’s squad doesn’t play East Carolina, UCF or UCONN this season due to divisional rules.
