AAC Football Scoop: League Leaders, Football Honors and Week 7

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Week 7 is upon us in college football and the AAC gets in some more conference play. The league leaders in scoring offense, Memphis (4-1, 1-0) at 36.6 points per game, and defense, Tulane (4-1, 1-0) giving up just 17.4 a contest meet this Friday night in Memphis. Each team will also be trying to get to 2-0 in conference play. Tulane LB, Jesse Machado is second in the league with 8.4 tackles per game while his teammate Patrick Jenkins is second in the league in sacks. Memphis running back Blake Watson comes into this game tied for the lead in touchdowns with seven. He is also second in the league averaging 91 yards per game. Holes will be hard to find on Tulane’s top-ranked running defense. Memphis will have to keep the mistakes to a minimum against a Tulane team up for the task at hand.

The week actually begins Thursday in Greenville, N.C. when East Carolina (1-4, 0-1) plays host to SMU (3-2, 1-0). The Mustangs are the second-ranked offense and defense in the AAC scoring 33.8 points per game while allowing just 18.4 a game. They also want to start conference play at 2-0. The Pirates offense ranks near the bottom of all offensive categories. QB Alex Flinn has just 611 yards passing in five games with only one touchdown pass and five picks. The running game is also near the bottom of the league. It will be a tall ask for the Pirates to pull off the victory in this one. SMU just has the better and more skilled players.

The Owls of Florida Atlantic (2-3, 1-0) host the University of South Florida (3-3, 2-1). The Bulls are having a bounce-back type year. They have already won as many games this year as they have the last two years combined. The Owls will go to Larry McCammon to get the running game going. He leads the league in rushing yards per game at 91.8 and gets 5.8 yards a pop. His teammate, WR LaJohntay Wester, leads the league with 99.8 receiving yards per game. The Owls want to keep up atop the standings and need this one to go to 2-0 in conference play. For the Bulls, they want to keep winning and with a loss go to 2-2 in the conference. Gonna be pretty hard to come back from that.

UTSA (2-3, 1-0) and UAB (2-4, 1-1) go at it Saturday night in San Antonio. The Roadrunners are the other 1-0 league team wanting to get to 2-0. The Blazers will count on the second-ranked passer in the AAC Jacob Zeno (176-233 for 1795 yards. 12 TD and five picks). The offense just scored 56 points last week against USF. UTSA has a middle-of-the-pack offense but will try to take advantage of the weak running defense of UAB.

Weekly Honors from AAC Football:

Offensive Player of the Week
Jermaine Brown Jr. • Sr. • RB • UAB- 116 yards rushing with four touchdowns last week against USF.

Defensive Player of the Week
Luke Pirris • So. • DE/LB • Navy- Made first career start and had a career-high nine tackles with a sack, a forced fumble, and fumble recovery in the win over North Texas last week.

Special Teams Player of the Week
Logan Lupo • Jr. • K/P • Florida Atlantic- eight total points including two field goals. Provided the game-winning 27-yard field goal early in the fourth.