Tag: AAC Football

East Carolina parts way with head coach Mike Houston

ECU becomes the first school to jump on the coaching carousel in 2024.

The East Carolina Pirates have fired head coach Mike Houston following the 48-28 loss to Army. ECU becomes the first team in 2024 to jump on the coaching carousel.

Houston finishes his tenure with ECU with a record of 27-38 and 15-28 in American Athletic Conference play. He never saw anywhere near the same success as he did with James Madison. In five plus seasons the Pirates had two winning season where the team was 15-10 in 2021 and 2022. Outside of those two years, ECU was a combined 12-28 including 5-14 over the last 19 games.

The Pirates will begin their search for the next head football coach at East Carolina University. Defensive coordinator Blake Harrell has been named the interim head coach for the rest of the season, ECU announced in a press release on the move.

“After a comprehensive evaluation of our football program, I informed Mike Houston this morning that we are making a change in leadership,” said AD Jon Gilbert. “This was a very difficult decision. Mike has led our program the last five plus seasons with tremendous class and has positively impacted so many student-athletes. After earning back-to-back bowl invitations, we looked poised for continued success. Unfortunately, we have not seen the results we all want, and a change is needed to move the program forward. We have high expectations and those are not changing.

“We are confident we will identify the right leader for our football program. I believe ECU is a premier job with a passionate fan base, unprecedented support from our Pirate Club donors, and great facilities that continue to improve. Right now, we are focusing on our student-athletes as they compete for a postseason opportunity in the final five regular season games. My hope is Pirate Nation will rally around our student-athletes like they have always done.”

ECU still has an opportunity to make a run at a bowl game with five games left on the schedule. The Pirates will face the Temple Owls on Saturday, much like ECU they are looking to keep any fading hopes of a postseason bowl alive.

UTSA dominates Marshall for Frisco Bowl title

Marshall and UTSA both featured the sons of longtime NFL quarterbacks on Tuesday, but the Roadrunners marched over the Thundering Herd for a big victory.

The UTSA Roadrunners dominated the Marshall Thundering Herd on Tuesday for a 35-17 victory in the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl after pulling away with three touchdowns in the second quarter.

Marshall jumped out to an early lead with the first two touchdowns of the game, including a 64-yard run from junior running back Rasheen Ali. The Thundering Herd tailback finished with 92 yards on just nine carries for the afternoon.

The Marshall momentum was short-lived, however. The Roadrunners scored three touchdowns in the final 12 minutes of the first half, including a pair of short-yardage rumbles from running back Robert Henry. The junior found the end zone from three yards out early in the quarter before a 1-yard plunge in the final minute of the half gave UTSA the lead.

The Roadrunners never gave the lead back in the second half. In fact, UTSA kept the Marshall offense scoreless for the final 35 minutes of the game. UTSA quarterback Owen McCown, the son of longtime NFL journeyman Josh McCown, led the Roadrunners passing attack efficiently. He threw for 251 yards on 31 attempts, throwing two touchdowns and interceptions apiece.

McCown won the duel of the NFL sons, as Marshall quarterback Cole Pennington also has a famous father. The son of NFL quarterback Chad Pennington wasn’t as sharp as his opponent, completing just 15 of 33 passes for 258 yards.

At the end of the day, sophomore UTSA running back Rocko Griffin waltzed into the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter to give his team a three-score lead, and the comeback was sealed. UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor got the sponsor’s titular coffee dumped down his back in jubilation a few minutes early, and the Roadrunners could celebrate the final win of a 9-4 season.

Here are the best images from Tuesday’s game.

Rhett Lashlee, SMU exit the AAC with the conference title

SMU leaves the AAC as champions.

For the first time and the last time, the SMU Mustangs won the American Athletic Conference title with a 26-14 victory over the Tulane Green Wave. They join the ACC in time for the 2024 season.

It began on a wild note where SMU fumbled the ball on the first play of the drive. Tulane would recover the ball on the Mustangs’ one-yard line. Michael Pratt would punch it in on the very next play to give the Green Wave the 7-0 lead with 14:50 to go in the first quarter.

SMU would go into halftime with a 14-7 lead. The Ponies scored on a six-yard rush by Jaylan Knighton to tie the game. It was followed up with a Kevin Jennings pass to Key’Shawn Smith for the go-ahead touchdown. Jennings was filling in for the injured Preston Stone in this game, completing 19 of 33 passes with one touchdown and two interceptions.

Midway through the third quarter, Pratt would hit the big play to Yulkeith Brown. The 42-yard touchdown tied up the game with 8:06 to go in the third. The Green Wave wouldn’t be able to find the scoreboard again in this game. They would go three-and-out on the next three drives before ending the following drive with an interception at the Tulane 37-yard line. On their final possession, the Green Wave would turn it over on downs after a 14-play 67-yard drive to end the game.

SMU relied on special teams, especially in the second half after Tulane tied it up at 14. They finished three straight drives with a field goal from Collin Rogers. He missed his first attempt in the first quarter but nailed all four of his remaining attempts.

Selection Sunday will determine whether or not SMU is heading to a New Years Six Bowl, or will the Liberty Flames get that spot?

Check out these images from the game:

Rice quarterback J.T. Daniels medically retiring from football

The former five-star quarterback prospect suffered multiple concussions and will start a coaching career after doctors advised he retire.

Rice quarterback JT Daniels has medically retired from football and will now pursue a career in coaching, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on Friday.

Daniels suffered multiple concussions in his collegiate career, including one in a game against SMU earlier this season. Doctors advised he end his playing career in light of the head injuries.

“I always knew one day I’d coach,” Daniels said in Thamel’s report. “I didn’t think it would come this soon. But one day, I knew that’s what I was going to be doing.”

Daniels, a former five-star prospect coming out of high school, started his playing career with USC in 2018. He transferred to Georgia after two seasons, but he only spent two years in Athens after Stetson Bennett won the starting job. He played for West Virginia in 2022 before transferring to Rice this past season. Daniels ended his six-year collegiate career with 9,390 passing yards, 66 touchdowns, and 32 interceptions.

UTSA quarterback Frank Harris has career night in win over USF

What a night for the senior quarterback.

While rumors float around about the future of head coach Jeff Traylor, the UTSA Roadrunners are closing in on an AAC title game berth.

On Friday night in San Antonio, UTSA hosted South Florida with the Roadrunners’ undefeated conference record on the line. Could they keep it rolling this week? Quarterback Frank Harris made sure that it did. His record performance kept them perfect and helped set up a major game next week with Tulane.

Harris set a UTSA school record with 523 total yards of offense. He threw for 411 yards on 46 passes. The southpaw also ran for 112 yards on 10 carries which breaks down to a blistering 11.2 yards per attempt. Six of the seven touchdowns scored on Friday night belong to Harris with three passing and three rushing.

Following the game Coach Traylor praised the play of his quarterback, who finished his final home game in spectacular fashion. “You couldn’t have written a better script to send Frank Harris off after all he’s done here the last four years. You seriously couldn’t have.”

The head coach was also asked about the Texas A&M head coaching rumors following the UTSA 49-21 win over South Florida. He did his best to deflect the question and put the focus back on his quarterback and the 18 seniors playing in their final home game.

“It couldn’t have been any better for me and God gets all the credit for that,” Harris stated on Friday night. “I really don’t know what to say other than giving Him all the glory.”

We shall see what the future holds for the all-time leading passer in UTSA history, but he still has potentially three games left in his career. Next week the Roadrunners head to the Big Easy to face off with Tulane Green Wave. Should Tulane defeat Florida Atlantic, both teams will be undefeated in AAC play. They meet on Black Friday at 2:30 p.m. CT.

The other undefeated team in the AAC is SMU. The Mustangs will face off with the Memphis Tigers on Saturday. A win could throw a huge wrench in the title game picture. As of now, we have Memphis, SMU, Tulane, and UTSA battling it out for two spots.

Army set to join AAC as a football only member in 2024

Army joins Navy as football-only members of the AAC starting in 2024.

The American Athletic Conference (AAC) has found a replacement for the departing SMU Mustangs starting in 2024. The Army Black Knights will be joining the conference as football-only members beginning next season.

This will end a 19-year run as an Independent. The Black Knights were last part of a conference with Conference USA from 1998 to 2004. Army already holds a victory over a future conference foe this season. They defeated UTSA on Sept. 15, 37-29.

Army Rice
Charlotte South Florida
East Carolina Temple
Florida Atlantic Tulane
Memphis Tulsa
Navy UAb
North Texas UTSA

Army is currently 2-5 with four straight losses to Syracuse, Boston College, Troy, and LSU.

According to the report from The Athletic, the annual Army-Navy game will remain a nonconference matchup played after the AAC title game. Since Navy is part of the AAC, if they were the top two teams in the conference, they would play in back-to-back weeks per ESPN’s Heather Dinich.

College Football Rankings, Season Predictions: American Athletic Conference Spring Version 2022

American Athletic Conference spring football rankings and predictions with best and worst case scenarios for every team

AAC college football rankings and predictions with the realistic best and worst case records and quick analysis – the 2022 spring version.

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As we get into the specifics and all the research coming out of spring football, here’s a first-look spring version of the rankings and thoughts about every American Athletic Conference team.

Cincinnati, UCF, Houston. All three are good enough to be considered the top team in the league coming into 2022, but there’s improvement among several other teams who’ll put up a fight.

The rankings are based on how good the teams should be and not the final projected records. Keeping in mind that this all could/might/will change when we make the final calls in August …

– 2022 College Football Schedules By Teams: All 131 Schools

Report: AAC attempting to take all eight remaining Big 12 members

According to Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports, the AAC is attempting to take all eight remaining members of the Big 12. Earlier reports stated just three to five, but a full merge of the conferences is wanted.

Texas and Oklahoma seem to have their next conference destination figured out. According to Ross Dellinger of Sports Illustrated, both schools are expected to be extended invitations to the SEC and then accept. The deal is all but finished.

As for the other eight schools… They seem to be out of luck at the moment. Reports of the Big Ten calling Iowa State and Kansas turned out to be false, while West Virginia and the ACC seem to be flirting with each other.

If everything works out how the Red River schools hope, the Big 12 will be at eight members come the 2022 football season.

Unless the American Athletic Conference makes a run at them. According to Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports, the AAC is attempting to take all eight remaining members of the Big 12. Earlier reports stated just three to five, but a full merge of the conferences is wanted.

As things stand, there are 11 football and basketball members in the AAC, with Navy and Wichita State switching out. SMU is as west as the conference goes, the Temple being all the way up in Philadelphia. Location does not scare the conference.

The question then becomes whether or not the AAC would become a powerhouse football conference. Oklahoma State and TCU would ideally fit in as the big boys, with UCF still on the rise with Gus Malzhan. Cincinnati and Memphis have made New Year’s Six bowl games recently as well.

From a basketball standpoint, it becomes one of the best in the country.

Sadly, football money rules all. Comparing it to the SEC, Big Ten, and even Pac-12, and the AAC would still be behind the remaining four power conferences.

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Boca Raton Bowl: UCF vs. #16 BYU live stream, TV channel, start time, odds, prediction

The UCF Knights will meet the BYU Cougars on Tuesday night in the Boca Raton Bowl from FAU Stadium in Boca Raton.

The UCF Knights will meet the BYU Cougars on Tuesday night in the Boca Raton Bowl from FAU Stadium in Boca Raton.

UCF comes into this bowl game with a 6-3 record after knocking off South Florida in their last game of the season and will face the 10-1 BYU Cougars, who have only lost one game this season against Coastal Carolina.

This should be a fun game to watch with two high scoring offenses, here is everything you need to stream the Boca Raton bowl this evening.

 UCF vs. #16 BYU

  • When: Tuesday, December 22
  • Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: ESPN
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free) 

Prediction: These two teams can score a ton of points and I’ll stick with the over in this one, which happens to be 78.5. If you have to pick a side, go with the BYU Cougars in this one.

Bet: Over 78.5

NCAA Football Odds and Betting Lines

NCAA Football odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Odds updated Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. ET.

UCF vs. BYU -6.5

O/U: 78.5

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AAC Championship: #23 Tulsa vs. #7 Cincinnati live stream, TV channel, start time, odds, prediction

The Cincinnati Bearcats will host the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in the AAC Championship from Nippert Stadium on Saturday.

The Cincinnati Bearcats will host the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in the AAC Championship from Nippert Stadium on Saturday.

Cincinnati has been rolling this season, coming into this game with an 8-0 record and the opportunity to be included in the CFP. Meanwhile, Tulsa is no slouch either, having won their last six games and have a very good defense that will keep the Bearcats on their toes in the title game.

Can Tulsa upset Cincinnati? Tune in and find out, here’s everything you need to know to stream the SEC Championship game this afternoon.

#23 Tulsa vs. #7 Cincinnati

  • When: Saturday, December 19
  • Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: ABC
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free) 

Prediction: I’m taking Tulsa in this one as I expect a close one here. Tulsa’s defense is very good and they happen to play better in the 2nd half than the first. If Tulsa’s defense can hold them in the first, the Tulsa offense will come out on fire.

Bet: Tulsa +14. Tulsa 2H

NCAA Football Odds and Betting Lines

NCAA Football odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Odds updated Saturday at 5:00 p.m. ET.

Tulsa vs. Cincinnati -14

O/U: 44.5

Want some action on College Football? Place your legal sports bets on this game or others in CO, IN, NJ, and WV at BetMGM. 

We recommend interesting sports viewing/streaming and betting opportunities. If you sign up for a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee.  Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

Additional college football coverage from USA TODAY Sports Media Group:

Alabama football / Auburn football / Florida football / Georgia football / LSU football / Michigan football / Michigan State football / Notre Dame football / Ohio State football / Oklahoma football / Tennessee football / Texas football / USC football / Wisconsin football