The Week That Was: Week Five

Week Five was full of some head-scratching results, stand out individual performances and big conference wins. Here is the week that was!

Games of the week

1. Louisiana Tech at North Texas: The Mean Green were undefeated and had some national buzz heading into this divisional clash against the Bulldogs. Louisiana Tech was coming off a closer than expected game against top 10 team LSU. It set up for a heavyweight fight in the C-USA West and it lived up to the hype. This was a back and forth game where it was the special teams that ended up being the difference. With just over 30 seconds remaining in the game, Louisiana Tech blocks a field goal to take the victory on the road! A massive win for Skip Holtz and his program that will put them in the driver’s seat for the Conference USA title game!

2. Old Dominion at East Carolina: The Pirates have improved dramatically since their opening loss to North Carolina A&T and they hosted a Monarchs team fresh off the biggest upset of the college football season. This game looked to be all but over when Old Dominion lead late but East Carolina surged with scoring twice in the last five minutes of the game including the game winning field goal to ice it from Jake Verity. The last quarter of this game was almost enough entertainment by itself. The Pirates get another much needed win and will keep Scott Montgomery’s job in tact for now.

3. Northern Illinois at Eastern Michigan: Both the Eagles and Huskies were coming off of disappointing losses and were in need of a win in this important game towards the MAC standings. This game like the others mentioned were back and forth the entire way and while neither offense lit the world on fire both defenses slugged it out all the way to three overtimes. Tre Harbison just crossed the goal line and lifted his Huskies to 26-23 win late in the third overtime! The early season was tough for both of these teams but it seemed to prepare them for the tough conference slate ahead and the Huskies get a much needed win.

Top dogs of the week

1. Marcus Maryion- QB, Fresno State: Maryion helped lead his Bulldogs to huge victory of defending MAC champions Toledo. He was 24-31, 368 yards and four touchdowns through the air and also accounted for a rushing touchdown in the 49-27 victory.

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2. Darius Bradwell- RB, Tulane: The Green Wave picked up a huge and unexpected AAC win on Friday night over Memphis. In large part because of Bradwell who had a 143 yards and two touchdowns in the eventual blowout.

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3. Tyre Brady- WR, Marshall: The Thundering Herd struggled with an underwhelming Western Kentucky team but did get the win 20-17. You know who didn’t struggle though? Tyre Brady! He had 8 catches for 162 yards and two touchdowns.

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4. Adrian Killins Jr.- RB/WR, UCF: Tried to spread the credit around from Milton this week and it wasn’t hard. Killins had himself a day against Pitt. While he didn’t have a great day on the ground he had 3 catches for 140 yards and a touchdown.

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5. The entire Army defense: Too good for just an honorary mention the Black Knights defense held one of the most dynamic offenses in the country to 13 points!

Upsets of the week

(There were slim pickings this week but I went by point spread and wins we didn’t see coming)

1. Tulane over Memphis: Memphis looked to be one of the teams in contention to win their division but the Green Wave battled back hard after last week’s romping from Ohio State. The Tulane defense showed up all night and the previously mentioned Darius Bradwell showed out on the ground. This was a huge program building victory for Willie Fritz’s program to capture as 14.5 point home underdogs. Does the AAC have another serious threat? Oh and they wore a very controversial helmet...

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2. Middle Tennesse State over Florida Atlantic: Call it a hangover if you want but there’s no doubt this was a game most expected the Owls to win. At one point they had a 18 point lead and looked to be ready to step on the throat but they continued to let the Blue Raiders hang around in a game that came down to the wire. With five seconds left the Blue Raiders scored a touchdown and sealed the 25-24 win with a two-point conversion from a Brent Stockstill pass to Gatlin Casey. The honeymoon for the lane train appears to be over while MTSU picks up a huge conference win.

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3. Georgia Southern over Arkansas State: The Red Wolves looked to be a true Sun Belt contender early through the season but the Eagles had a surprise in store for them. Georgia Southern did a great job keeping Justice Hansen and the Arkansas State offense off the field. With the game tied and 28 seconds left the Eagles pulled out a reverse for a 47 yard touchdown to seal the win for Georgia Southern. For a program that had been at its lowest these last two years they find themselves back in the Sun Belt hunt with this win.

In the dog house

1. Brad Lambert- HC, Charlotte: I think we’re almost at the point where we can see the writing on the wall with this one. Lambert has had time to build the program into a contender and it just hasn’t come to fruition. Charlotte lost again on Saturday, 28-7 to UAB. This loss drops them to 2-3 and while there are still winnable games left on the schedule it won’t be enough to make a bowl.

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2. Bob Davie- HC, New Mexico: Like Lambert, I put Davie on my preseason hot seat and so far it’s really warming up. The Lobos are off to a rough start and they lack an offensive identity. Saturday another loss came, this time it was 52-43 loss to Liberty. This isn’t a good sign heading into a much tougher Mountain West slate. Is it time to cut ties with Davie?

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Tweets of the week

1. Make that 673. Oh and it’s *victory

2. EVERY DANG WEEK WITH THESE EAGLES!

3. WTF indeed Tigers.

Final Thoughts

1. UCF is trending towards top 5 territory: Is it possible the Knights look better than last year? Maybe they feel snubbed or maybe they carry a chip on their shoulder but either way they are on a roll. The nation’s longest win streak is no fluke either and while beating a bad Pitt team is nothing too special they absolutely beat down a power five opponent. As a matter of fact they’ve beat down every team they’ve played so far. The offense looks even more prolific and the defense is drastically improved. UCF emerges from the weekend the clear cut NY6 front runner with a chance to run the table yet again.

2. The Conference USA is a mess... but a lot of fun: With results like Middle Tennessee State beating Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech knocking off North Texas and Marshall struggling to put away Western Kentucky it appears no one knows who will win the C-USA. That’s okay by the way, this week to week spin the wheel and see who wins is one of the more entertaining storylines of the year. You can throw Southern Miss in the mix now, you can throw FIU in the mix now as their offense starts to take off. Who wins this league is up for grabs now more than it has been in a long time. Okay not for you UTEP, sorry Miners.

BONUS

Look at this beautiful catch! WOW!