Three things we learned from Conference USA in Week Four

The UAB Blazers won’t be an easy win for anyone in C-USA

The Blazers are back in Conference USA play and they’ve hardly missed a beat. While UNT did finish off the Blazers with a last second field goal after an impressive late-game drive, the Blazers were poised to force overtime in Denton before Jeffery Wilson took the game into his own hands with a 33 yard rush to get the Mean Green into field goal position.

A.J. Erdely didn’t enjoy a great passing game against UNT’s stingy secondary as he completed just 47% of his passes. Erdely however found receivers in the end zone on four occasions and threw just one interception. Andre Wilson and Collin Lisa both had completions of over 50 yards as they combined for 155 yards on nine completions.

The Blazers gave up way too much on the ground (211 rushing yards for Wilson) and depth is clearly still a glaring issue but UAB is a tough, gritty team that will upset someone in this conference this fall.

Louisiana Tech is close to putting it all together

With Carlos Henderson, Trent Taylor, and Ryan Higgins all graduated, the Bulldogs have been a little bit iffy through the early going of the season as they adjust to life without some of their top playmakers. LA Tech came close to earning a P5 win on the road yesterday despite going through a tough transition on offense.

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The Bulldogs held a 13-0 lead entering the fourth quarter but they were unable to hold off a furious comeback rally from the Gamecocks as South Carolina took a 17-16 lead on a 31 yard field goal with just four seconds left on the clock. The close loss is certainly nothing to be embarrassed of and it should give the Bulldogs ample confidence moving forward.

Sophomore quarterback J’Mar Smith finally looks like the guy we were all expecting to see under center this season while receiver Teddy Veal continues to emerge as the Bulldogs’ top threat in the passing game. If LA Tech can get a little bit tougher on their third down defense then they’ll be in great shape to win C-USA West yet again.

Time to say goodbye to Brad Lambert

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We usually reserve this slot to talk down on UTEP and the hot seat Sean Kugler is sitting on in El Paso. The Miners suffered enough already, having lost 41-14 to arch rival New Mexico State on Saturday. Instead, let’s have a heart-to-heart discussion with our friends in Charlotte.

Look, we all think Brad Lambert is a good guy. He’s done a decent job building a foundation for Charlotte’s program, despite the team’s 0-4 record. We commend him for the tough job he’s taken on but after a 28-0 loss to a pathetically bad Georgia State program there’s just no more defending the guy. There’s no more “just one more year” left to claim. Lambert is in over his head, is losing on the recruiting trail, and is being outcoached on the gridiron.

After consecutive losses to North Carolina A&T and Georgia State, it’s clear that Charlotte desperately needs to cut their losses and move in a new direction. Charlotte is showing no progression on the field and momentum has stalled for the program as a whole. It’s time for some fresh energy and a new coach that can come into the program and shake things up. As the rest of C-USA has quickly upgraded their coaching talent, Charlotte stays lagging behind with a coach who holds a 16-34 all-time record. Let’s move on, folks.