Conference USA Football Weekend Roundup
WKU Punches their ticket to Conference USA title game with 60-6 win over Marshall.
WKU 60, Marshall 6
No more mystery here --- Western Kentucky will represent the East division in the Conference USA championship on December 3rd.
WKU QB Mike White threw for 233 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions. For the fifth time this season, White threw three touchdowns and no INTs. The Hilltoppers ran a balanced offensive attack, with RB Anthony Wales rushing for 110 yards and accounting for three total scores.
Marshall amassed 230 yards of offense, versus 462 for the Hilltoppers. The Thundering Herd finished with a 3-9 record, their worst under head coach Doc Holliday. For the first time in four seasons, Marshall will miss a bowl game.
Middle Tennessee 77, Florida Atlantic 56
Middle Tennessee and Florida Atlantic combined for over 1,300 yards of total offense, and 19 touchdowns.
The Blue Raiders broke school records for points scored in a game, total yards in a game, and rushing yards in a game.
MTSU WRs Richie James and Dennis Andrews, and MTSU RB I’Tavius Mathers, combined for ten touchdowns on the game.
James broke his own MTSU single-season record for receiving yards, a mark he set as a freshman in 2015. He finished with 120 receiving yards, 327 total yards, and five touchdowns.
Mathers’ 214 rushing yards gave him MTSU's single season rushing title (1,532). The record was previously held by Vance Hall, who rushed for 1,439 in 1984. Mathers ran for 100+ yards for the eighth time in his last ten games.
FAU RB Devin Singletary rushed for 235 yards and scored three touchdowns on the game.
The Blue Raiders defeated the Owls for the ninth straight time. (Find full recap here.)
No. 24 Stanford 41, Rice 17
In their regular season finale, the Rice Owls struggled to contain Stanford RB Christian McCaffrey, who rushed for 204 yards and a pair of touchdowns. McCaffrey set a career high 16 total touchdowns on the season. Stanford QB Keller Chryst threw for 154 yards and two touchdowns.
The Cardinal finished with 534 yards on the game, giving them three straight outings of least 500 yards of total offense.
Rice totaled 291 yards of offense on the game. RB Samuel Stewart rushed for 77 yards on 13 carries, and QB Jackson Tyner threw for 68 yards with no touchdowns.
The Owls finish with a 3-9 record on the season, and will miss a bowl game for the second straight season under head coach David Bailiff.
Old Dominion 42, FIU 28
Old Dominion capped a five game win streak with a 42-28 win over FIU on Saturday night.
The Monarchs' win over FIU tied them atop the East with Western Kentucky. But an ODU loss to WKU on October 22, gave the Hilltoppers the edge they needed to advance to the conference title game.
Nonetheless, ODU had to plenty celebrate over the weekend. RB Ray Lawry became Old Dominion’s all-time leader in touchdowns (38). Lawry finished the game with 194 yards and three touchdowns. David Washington threw for 141 yards and two touchdowns.
Florida International will miss a postseason bowl appearance for the fifth year in a row. Earlier this month, Butch Davis was named as FIU’s next head coach. Watch our exclusive interview with Butch Davis here.
UTEP 52, North Texas 24
North Texas’ chance at bowl eligibility was run over by UTEP RB Aaron Jones, who set career highs in rushing yards (301) and touchdowns (4) in a single game. Jones rushed for the second highest single game total in UTEP history. UTEP QB Ryan Metz passed for 171 yards and two touchdowns.
North Texas finished with 304 yards of offense on the game. NT QB Alec Morris threw for 197 yards and two touchdowns.
The Miners defeated the Mean Green for the third time straight time. The Mean Green finished with a 5-7 record --- the most wins since a 9-4 record in the 2013 season.
UTSA 33, Charlotte 14
UTSA more than doubled Charlotte’s offensive output to pick up their sixth win of the season, and became bowl eligible for the first time in program history. The Road Runners gained 520 total yards, versus 237 for the 49ers.
UTSA QB Dalton Sturm found WR Kerry Thomas Jr. on a 73-yard touchdown pass on the third play from scrimmage. The connection was the fourth longest passing play in program history.
Charlotte answered on the ensuing drive with a 76-yard touchdown pass from QB Hassan Klugh to WR Austin Duke to even the game at 7-7. UTSA took a 17-7 lead into halftime.
Thomas Jr.’s 145-yard performance broke UTSA’s single game record for receiving yards. It was only the ninth 100-yard performance in the school’s history. UTSA QBs Dalton Sturm and Jared Johnson combined for 414 yards passing and three passing touchdowns.
The 49ers finished with just eight rushing yards on the game.