Yellow_Evan

Every year in the AAC, we usually have one or two great games to look forward too during the regular season. In 2016, it was UCF versus Marshall. In 2017, it was USF versus UCF and the following year, highlights included a Houston versus Navy showdown that helped propel the Cougars into the playoffs. In 2019, we had 2 SMU and Temple showdowns - one was the conference title game which turned out not to be close and another was a regular season classic. Which sort of brings me to my next point. SMU, ever since Andre Webb started for the Mustangs for the first time in 2018, has been quite clutch. In his first ever start, Webb captured AAC POTW honors in a 33-31 shootout won on a clutch late game FG against the then-ranked Michigan State Spartans. After an up and down freshman year for SMU - and Webb- finished 8-5, but in somewhat of a down AAC in 2019, had a few clutch wins down the stretch, including an ugly win against TCU, and then as mentioned above, narrowly beat Temple thanks to clutch kicking heroics again. After going 12-2 last season, SMU has been on to somewhat of a rough start this season. In addition to only a two score win against Cincinnati, the Stangs have won three close games this year, two against arguably sub-par teams from the state of Ohio, with key field goal kicking in the 4th coming through. One reasonable conclusion can be that SMU is "lucky". Another could be SMU comes out flat each game and lets teams hang around. Another could be that SMU isn't that good, at least not as high as their ranking. Whichever theory you prescribe too, neither are exactly encouraging, as they all point to their bubble popping against UCF. Obviously, the SMU offense starts with Andre Webb behind center, but their passing game doesn't end just there. Dean Brukhart is their star wideout, with Sebastian Hatcher and Adrian Blount having their moments this season from time to time. Their offensive line isn't amazing, but all in all, it's on par with most of the top AAC teams and enough for Terrell Holland to prove he's a decent running back on paper. Defensively, SMU's defensive line is decent led by two star defensive tackles Arthur Ireland and Kahau Aveau - the latter a freshman blue chip croot and defensive end also starts Jaden Westbrook, who has gotten consideration for AAC DPOTW in the past. Linebacker-wise, SMU is uneventful. The SMU secondary is something else, however. CB Adam Young established himself as an elite AAC corner last season as a freshman, and he has help to by a trio of NFL prospects - most notably FS Sergio Munoz. Now I've spent most of this piece talking about SMU, and to be fair, they are the more intriguing team here. but maybe I think a brief mention of UCF is warranted. UCF doesn't have the passing game of SMU. Dwayne Bennett, a redshirt sophomore, has had his ups and downs. Justin Pierre is an underrated receiver, but the problem is that is all Bennett really has throwing to him. The UCF offenwive line is a little better than SMU's counterpart. The Knight's most famous piece by far is RB DeNorris Jackson - who for 4 years has plowed and terrorized front sevens left, right, and center. On the defensive side of the ball, UCF has stars too. Unlike past UCF teams, which were thin at the defensive line, the Knights D Line this year is quite talented, led by transfer DT Chase Beaver-Hildebrand and DE Devin Blakely each having at least one DPOTW in their careers with the Knights. Remember that Blakely name as he was a blue chip croot raided from Oregon a couple crooting cycles. Their linebackers crops is decent; no one outstanding but better than the Mustang's linebackers. The UCF secondary, much like SMU is their strength of their defense, which is why they match up with UCF well. Senior standout CB Kevin McQueen has been a longtime starter and top CB prospect out of this class. Reserve corners Aaden Rollins and Alex Bridges aren't too shabby either. The UCF safety tandem is led by FS James Munnerlyn, a 5 star redshirt freshman FS, but aided by NFL prospect SS Charlie Munson. UCF is still somewhat untested this year. Their out of conference schedule hasn't been too impressive but unlike past UCF teams, they've handled bad teams easily, plus they have a good win against a solid Iowa team. On paper, the teams are about even, but I feel momentum is own UCF's side as they have been playing better so far this year. Prediction: UCF 35, SMU 20, Final.

1.UCF (2) No game last week but has a yuge game against SMU this week. 2.SMU (1) Barely beat a down Ohio State team. While clearly far from bad, not sure if they are as good as their ranking. They looked the same at times last year, but the fact they continue to need to be come in the clutch makes me think they will lose - possibly badly- in their showdown this week. 3.USF Beat Umass Tulane and gave up too many points. 4.Temple No game last week. 5.ECU Good bounce back win against Uconn. 6.Houston Uneventful win against Navy. 7.Uconn Why did Miller only run it 19 times? Something like 30 seems reasonable given that Stewart is usually a decent QB. 8.Cincinnati Why did they move up? 9.Tulane Scored 24 points against a supposedly ranked team. 10.Memphis Lost to the team below it, oddly enough. 11.Tulsa Won, yet they didn't move up. 12.Navy Another boring loss, but should be much improved next season.

Offensive POTW: TE Shannon Frank, USF, 9 for 104 yards, 1 TD In a week where it was difficult to find a clear frontrunner, Frank has a week-high 104 receiving yards Honorable mentions: QB Liam Carver, ECU, 23 of 42 for 250 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT QB Daniel Lentz, USF, 25 of 38 for 300 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT WR Dean Burkhart, SMU, 6 for 82 yards, 0 TD QB Andre Webb, SMU, 24 of 39 for 256 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT Defensive POTW: DE Isiah Townsend, ECU, 1.5 Sacks, 4 Tackles Townsend had a week-high 1.5 sacksMcQueen returned a pick six for a score Honorable mentions: CB Devin Lloyd, ECU, 1 INT, 4 Tackles CB Malachi Roberson, TUL, 1 INT, 2 Tackles Special Teams POTW: K Logan Decker, TUL, 3/3 (27, 24, 43) Decker hit three FG's in a tight game

The Roman empire is expanding.

USF defense lackluster but Lentz lights up in 25 rout of Tulane

Sage making me look good.

1.UCF (2) Blowout win against a bottom tier ACC AAC team that is in rebuild mode. 2.SMU (2) Looked a little better in their last outing. 3.USF Beat Umass. Big deal. 4.Temple Lack of run game biting them in the behind with a loss to Florida will be the reason why they don't win the AAC East this year. 5.Uconn Beat Cincy badly a couple weeks back, but otherwise, nothing new with this team. 6.ECU Seems to have hit a rough slide lately. My bad for greatly overrating them pre-season. 7.Houston Lost to Tulane 2 years in a row. 8.Tulane Moved up after upset win against Houston, but that doesn't make me love this team all of a sudden. 9.Memphis Given they lost by 34 to UCF, they may be a lttile high. Still not the worst AAC team like they were last year. 10.Cincinnati Will be shit for like 2 more years. Not an impressive start for a team that I thought had some potential, and I wouldn't be surprised if don't reach a bowl till 2022 or 2023 pending Juco. 11. Tulsa Lost badly to Temple and made Jordan North looks like Jeremy Henry then again North is easily on Henry's level at this point. 12.Navy Another boring loss, but should be much improved next season.

Offensive POTW: QB Daniel Lentz, USF, 27 of 30 for 450 yards, 6 TD, 0 INT Lentz gets first ever POTW after a historic game against a historically bad team Honorable mentions: WR WR Sila Aveau, USF, 10 for 183 yards, 2 TD RB Johnny Taylor, USF, 21 carries for 166 yards, 3 TD QB Jordan North, TEM, 23 of 29 for 327 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT, 5 for 36 yards rushing, 1 TD Defensive POTW: FS Mahamadou McQueen, ECU, 1 INT, 3 Tackles, 1 TD McQueen returned a pick six for a score Honorable mentions: CB Devin Lloyd, ECU, 1 INT, 4 Tackles DE Justice Bowden, TEM, 1.5 Sacks, 5 Tackles Special Teams POTW: K Dylan Stone, TEM, 3/3 (45, 36, 43) Stone hit three FG's, two over 40 yards

Lentz lights up the statesheet, USF pulls off historic shutout against UMass

Daniel Lentz, USF, 27 of 30 for 450 yards, 6 TD, 0 INT HOLY SHIT I mean it's against UMass but still

Offensive POTW: RB Marshawn Miller, UCONN, 24 for 183 yards, 3 TD Marshawn Miller had his usual monster game. Honorable mentions: WR Dean Burkhart, SMU, 7 for 100 yards, 1 TD QB Dwayne Bennett, UCF, 19 of 27 for 238 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT , 5 for 60 rushing Defensive POTW: DE Elvis Marrero, TUL, 1 INT, 0.5 Sacks, 3 Tackles Austin Copeland, USF, 1 INT, 4 Tackles A rare INT for a DE, plus a sack, but his team came up just short against IU Honorable mentions: CB Adam Young, SMU, 1 INT, 3 Tackles DE Devin Blakely, UCF, 2 Sacks, 6 Tackles Special Teams POTW: K Yakov Steen, HOU, 2/2 (28, 28) Steen hit two FG's, with one clutch in the 4th.

wow FIU

1.UCF (2) Blowout win against a bottom tier ACC team that is in rebuild mode. 2.SMU (2) What? They beat lowly Ohio- which to be fair won the MAC last year- by a mere one point. Aside from their eairly win against TCU, SMU hasn't exactly preformed well this season. 3.USF(2) Huge win against Tennessee, who I suspected was ranked too high at the early part of the season. This was the one chance pre-conference play to prove their for real, and they did. 4.Temple Lack of run game biting them in the behind with a loss to Florida. 5.Houston No game last week. 6.Uconn Blew out UMass yet moved down. 7.Memphis No game either, but at this point seems like the lesser of many AAC evils so far as they only have one loss. 8.ECU No game last week. 9.Cincinnati What's up with all the teams on bye? 10.Tulsa Another team on bye or at least I can't find their game while doing Ctrl+F. 11. Tulane Narrow lost to a CUSA team. Held Javier Hrady form a sack, and Preston Tolliver is getting worn out from so many carries. But I expect a win or two out of them this season. 12.Navy Kinda close loss to a decent MAC team. Issiah Best still sucks, but they didn't get shutout or anything. A little surprised they didn't move up this week.

Offensive POTW: RB Marshawn Miller, UCONN, 23 for 168 yards, 3 TD Marshawn Miller has his usual monster game. Honorable mentions: QB Makai Stewart, UCONN, 18 of 24 for 222 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT RB DeNorris Jackson, UCF, 26 for 163 yards, 3 TD QB Dwayne Bennett, UCF, 16 of 21 for 279 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT Defensive POTW: CB Austin Copeland, USF, 1 INT, 4 Tackles Austin Copeland had one of many pick sixs in the AAC this week but Tennessee was the best of all AAC opponents so gets DPOTW. Honorable mentions: None Special Teams POTW: K Joel Cordero, SMU, 2/2 (42, 38) Corrdero hit two clutch FG's.

Probably my biggest win since 2017 on this site. gg Sage. Also RIP gravy to losing to your GM.