Week 2 PASS/FAIL Report: AAC

American Athletic Conference

 

PASS: Houston, U Conn, SMU, Memphis, Temple, Tulsa

We start this week with the Temple Owls…If you are saying that you figured Temple for 2-0 at this point of the season, you are LYING! The Owls are as much a national surprise as a conference shocker after taking Cincinnati down in dominant fashion on the road this week, 34-26. Nobody figured this would happen, and now Temple has an inside shot at the league title after beating an early favorite.

Houston joins Temple in the surprise column, as they drop Louisville to 0-2 for the first time since 1998. The Cougars have received solid play from Greg Ward at QB, and the Cougars are starting to look like a possible dark horse in the conference.

U Conn has been winning ugly, and is averaging just 21 points per game, but they are still standing at 2-0 early in the season. The schedule hasn’t exactly been murderer’s row, but the Huskies have to pleased with where their defense has gotten them to at this point.

SMU got a nice bounce back game this week in a win over North Texas. The Mustangs played solidly early against Baylor, and this week could have had a letdown, but handled UNT 31-13. SMU won’t be great this season, but we are seeing a solid improvement early under Chad Morris.

Memphis trailed 10-0 early at Kansas before getting it together and rolling for a 55-23 road win in Lawrence. The Tigers are now 2-0, and are scoring at will. Look for the Tigers to be in the title hunt in the AAC come December.

Tulsa is also off to a nice 2-0 start after pulling away and beating New Mexico on the road this week 40-21. Phillip Montgomery has these kids believing again, and the offense is lighting it up early on.

 

FAIL: USF, Tulane, East Carolina, Cincinnati, UCF

USF played Florida State tight in the first half, but when it all came to push and shove, the Bulls proved that they don’t have the athletes or the talent to get it done in that kind of environment. Stopping the run would have given them a better shot at keeping this one tighter.

Tulane has been blown out twice now by Duke and Georgia Tech, and the Green Wave is giving up 51 points per game while scoring just 8.5 per game. Curtis Johnson looks like a Dead Pooler this week.

East Carolina certainly had their chances to take out Florida this week, but fell short in their efforts. Through two weeks, the Pirates look like a team in serious decline, and they may be lucky to go bowling if they don’t figure it out quickly.

Cincinnati has been a conference favorite, but they were a mess against Temple, and trailed 31-12 at one point as Gunner Kiel threw four picks. Not only was that favorite thing a bit premature it seems, the Bearcats may not even be in the mix at the end of the season the AAC race.

UCF has fallen off the grid this season, and is averaging just 10.5 points per game on offense. This was not supposed to happen, and the offense is just out of gas before they have even left the station. George O’Leary has some serious work to do if he wants to turn this thing around.