The final week of the regular season is upon us and there is much to be decided in Conference USA. Five teams enter the final weekend with a path to play in the 2020 Ryan C-USA Championship Game on December 18. Marshall and FAU remain in contention to win the East Division title, while UAB and UTSA are alive to take the West Division crown.

The games begin on Thursday night with FAU (5-2, 4-1 in C-USA) seeking its fifth straight C-USA victory when it visits Southern Miss (2-7, 1-4 in C-USA) in a matchup that was postponed back in October. The Owls defense ranks third in the FBS, allowing 12.4 points per game and just eight touchdowns in seven games. The Southern Miss D has been stingy lately, allowing an average of 15.3 points over the last three weeks.

For the first time in league history, a conference game has been moved to the campus of the originally scheduled visiting team. On Friday, North Texas (3-5, 2-4 in C-USA) will play UTEP (3-4, 0-3) in Denton instead of El Paso. Mean Green senior Jaelon Darden (66 catches, 1,017 yards and FBS-leading 15 receiving touchdowns) is one of the nation’s most productive receivers, but the Miners have a strong pair of pass catchers in sophomore Jacob Cowing and senior Justin Garrett, who each average 5.1 catches per game have combined for 1,071 yards in seven outings.

Also on Friday night, Charlotte (2-4, 2-2 in C-USA) will visit No. 15 Marshall (7-1, 4-1 in C-USA) in a key East Division matchup that was added back to the schedule last Saturday. The Thundering Herd can clinch the East Division and the right to host the C-USA Championship Game with a victory.

UAB (4-3, 2-1 in C-USA) hasn’t played since Halloween due to a bye and four straight COVID-19-related postponements, but will look to get back into action Saturday with a huge game at Rice (2-2, 2-2 in C-USA). A Blazers victory will put them in the C-USA Championship Game for the third consecutive season. The Owls are coming off a 20-0 shutout win at No. 15 Marshall, the program’s first win over a ranked opponent since 1982 and the first shutout of a ranked opponent on the road since 1960.

Louisiana Tech (5-3, 4-2 in C-USA) will close out its regular season with a non-conference game at TCU (5-4, 5-4 in Big 12) that was added on Dec. 2. The Bulldogs have really enjoyed playing in the Lone Star state in recent years. Last week’s win at North Texas raised Louisiana Tech’s record to 15-3 when playing in the state of Texas since 2014.


THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10

FAU at Southern Miss (CBSSN) 6:30 pm


FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11

UTEP vs. North Texas (ESPN3) 6 pm

Charlotte at Marshall (CBSSN) 6:30 pm

 
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12

UAB at Rice (ESPN3) 1 pm

Louisiana Tech at TCU (FS1) 7pm

Marshall game got cancelled. There goes our chances for the title game. Was GSU still a good loss now?

GSU has no bearing on this, Marshall owns the head-to-head with us.

FINAL:

FAU 31  Southern Miss 45

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FINAL:

UTEP 43  North Texas 45

The Miners scored 22 of their points in the 4th quarter.

FINAL:

UAB 21  Rice16

The Blazers finish out 3-1 in Conference play, while Rice goes 2-3.

FINAL:

La Tech 10  TCU 52

After catching eight passes for 173 yards and four touchdowns in a 45-43 win over UTEP, North Texas senior WR Jaelon Darden has been voted the C-USA Offensive Player of the Week.

This week’s Defensive Player of the Week honor went to UAB junior DE Jordan Smith who had a team-high seven tackles and 2.5 sacks, including two in the final four minutes of a 21-16 division-clinching win at Rice.

The Special Teams Player of the Week award was given to Southern Miss junior KR Camron Harrell, who returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and proved to be the winning points in a 45-31 victory over Florida Atlantic.

C-USA Football Players of the Week are voted on by a panel of the league’s media.