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UTSA at Middle Tennessee

This week’s action kicks off when UTSA travels to Middle Tennessee.  The Blue Raiders, who are averaging 40.6 points per game, seek win number seven as they host the Roadrunners for the first time.  Junior QB Dalton Sturm leads a UTSA offense that has distributed 130 completions to a total of 14 pass-catchers this season.  Leading the way is the junior brother tandem of WR’s Josh Stewart and Kerry Thomas Jr., who both have 19 receptions. 

A total of eight Roadrunners have caught a TD pass this fall.  Middle Tennessee sophomore QB Brent Stockstill broke the school’s record for touchdown passes last week and now has 56 in just 21 games.  He is tied for the C-USA lead and is sixth nationally with 26 TD passes in eight games this season.  Stockstill places sixth among all FBS signal-callers in passing yards per game at 336.1, topping the 300-yard passing mark five times.

Charlotte at Southern Miss

Charlotte returns from its bye week looking to build on its road win at Marshall with a trip to Southern Miss. A Golden Eagles victory will make them bowl-eligible for the second straight season and the 20thtime in the past 23 seasons.  49ers senior RB Kalif Phillips has recorded five straight contests with 100 yards or more from scrimmage (14th in his career), after rushing for 123 yards in Charlotte’s last game, a win at Marshall.  

Phillips owns 14 of the 49ers’ 20 100-yard rushing games all-time and in the five games since he returned from injury, he has put up 525 rushing yards (105.0 per game).  Golden Eagles’ junior RB Ito Smith has rushed for over 100 yards in five games this season and currently ranks No. 13 in the nation with 915 rushing yards.  He has now scored at least one touchdown in each of his last 13 games after picking up a pair of rushing scores last week against Marshall.

Florida Atlantic at Rice

A battle of the fiesty night birds takes place in the afternoon when the Owls of Florida Atlantic make the trek to Houston to play the Rice Owls.  Rice has won both previous meetings between the teams and FAU will be the only non-Texas team to play at Rice Stadium this season.  Following his Freshman All-American season, Florida Atlantic sophomore LB Azeez Al-Shaair has continued his production this fall, ranking ninth in C-USA in total tackles with 67 and seventh in tackles for loss with 7.5.  

He has four double-digit tackle games and has registered a TFL in five outings.  Junior LB Emmanuel Ellerbee leads Rice with 78 tackles, thanks in part to a streak of four consecutive double-digit tackle games earlier this season.  Ellerbee, who ranks fourth in C-USA with an average of 9.8 per game, has at least seven stops in each outing. 

FIU at WKU 

Bowl-eligible for the sixth straight season, WKU carries a three-game winning streak into its home game against FIU, a team the Hilltoppers have beaten each of the last three meetings.  WKU has topped the 50-point mark in four of its last five games and is averaging a league-best 50.6 points in conference games (41.6 overall).  

The Hilltoppers are 14-2 all-time under head coach Jeff Brohm at home, averaging 50.9 points per game with an average margin of victory of 25.3 points under Brohm. Since 2013, WKU is 11-1 in the month of November and 7-1 under Brohm.  Only Florida State (13) and Ohio State (12) have won more games in November over that same time span.  FIU junior QB Alex McGough has thrown 11 touchdown passes over the last four games.  Over that span he has completed 63 percent of his passes for 1,144 yards (286.0 yards per game).

Louisiana Tech at North Texas

After a 5-0 October in which it averaged 48.8 points per game, Louisiana Tech is bowl-eligible for the third straight year.  The Bulldogs make the short trip to Denton to face a North Texas team that has already won three more games than it did last season.  In the Bulldogs’ five October wins, they threw 28 touchdown passes and rushed for 13 more scores.  

LA Tech generated an average of 556.8 yards per game over the month, with 376.0 coming through the air.  Big plays sparked the offensive outputs, as the Bulldogs produced seven plays from scrimmage of 70 yards or longer in the month.  Junior S Kishawn McClain is enjoying another banner season for the Mean Green.  For the second straight season he leads the team in tackles with 63, notching double-digit stops in four of his last five outings.  McClain has tackles for loss in three straight games and has also three interceptions on the season. 

Marshall at Old Dominion

Marshall is back on the road to play at Old Dominion with the Monarchs seeking a sixth win that would make them unconditionally bowl-eligible for the first time since moving up to the FBS level.  Thundering Herd junior DB Rodney Allen is second in the league with nine pass breakups on the season.  He had four PBU’s at Southern Miss last week, while finishing with a game-high eight tackles.  

Allen has 48 tackles on the season and is tied for the conference lead with three forced fumbles.  Old Dominion junior RB Ray Lawry led the league in rushing last season, but hamstring and ankle injuries have hampered him in 2016.  He missed one game and parts of others, limiting him to 414 yards in his first six appearances.  In last week’s win at UTEP, Lawry appeared to be in his old form, carrying 17 times for a season-high 131 yards and two TDs.  He rushed 12 times for 110 yards in the second half alone, including both scoring plays, while posting the 14th 100-yard rushing game of Lawry’s career.

UTEP host Houston Baptist

UTEP will close its non-conference schedule with a home game against Houston Baptist.  Miners junior RB Aaron Jones continues his running prowess, ranking second in the league in rushing at 117.5 yards per game.  He has run for nine touchdowns on the year, caught a pair of scores at UTSA two weeks ago and last week vs. Old Dominion he threw his first career TD pass.