A massive growth spurt has taken place on the front end of East
Carolina’s football defense.
An ECU front seven with lots of potential a year or so ago is suddenly
overflowing with talent and performance, and the Pirates’ win over Southern
Miss last week was a great illustration of it.
Players like linebacker Montese Overton, who plucked a fumble off the
turf and returned it 16 yards for a touchdown, have enjoyed huge confidence
boosts with big plays.
As a collective unit, the ECU defense showed it can carry out the plan
when third-year coordinator Brian Mitchell changes focus and turns up the heat
on an opposing passer. The result against Southern Miss was 12 tackles for loss
and five sacks.
Houston:
HOUSTON - University of Houston football head coach Tony Levine met
with the local media on Tuesday to discuss where the team stands heading into
its bye week and the upcoming game against cross-town rival Rice.
HOUSTON HEAD COACH Tony Levine
Opening Statement
"This week comes at a great time and an appropriate time for a
couple of reasons. One, it gives a natural break from our three non-conference
games leading into our first conference game a week and a half from now. It is
fitting and needed where we are right now.
The second thing is we need a bunch of guys to come back and get
healthy. Mike O'Shea, our head athletic trainer, thinks we are going to get
most if not all of our guys back who have been banged up.
What we're saying to everybody in the program is that it's really a
nine game season now. Our main goal is still out there in front of us, and that
is to win the conference championship. We had a great team meeting yesterday
and I liked the attitude of everybody that was in here. We're all in this
together.
Marshall:
HUNTINGTON - It wasn't just Marshall quarterback Rakeem Cato's arm that
put him atop the stat sheet after last Saturday's loss to Ohio. His legs did
the same.
Cato, who threw for a Marshall-record 44 completions and career-high
432 yards against the Bobcats, also led the Thundering Herd in rushing with 32
yards on six carries. But he never imagined he'd end a game as the team's top
runner.
"No," he said. "I'm not a running quarterback. That's
not part of my game. Things happen, so I had to take advantage of it."
His 32 yards against the Bobcats matched his total for all of 2011,
accomplished on 57 carries. He has 12 carries in three games this season. Yet,
just because Cato rarely takes off from the pocket, that doesn't mean Marshall
Coach Doc Holliday wants him to completely avoid it.
Memphis:
The Memphis football team is now 0-3 for the first time since
2008. MTSU won in convincing fashion
48-30 on Saturday at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium thanks to countless fumbles
(Memphis lost three of them) and a poor second half performance by the Tigers.
While a 0-3 record is not what any Tigers fan wanted to see at the start of the
season, the last time Memphis was in a bowl was also in 2008 after starting
with 3 straight losses.. The Tigers won
six of their final nine games that year to make it to a bowl. Maybe this year’s team can accomplish what
the 2008 team did, but probably not. In
fact, the Tigers may not win a game all year.
It would be the first time since 1936 that Memphis went winless in a
season.
Rice:
Not that a win over Kansas will send a wave of fear throughout college
football, but that's the biggest victory a Conference USA team has recorded so
far.
The victors? The Rice Owls, stealing a 25-24 victory in Lawrence on
Chris Boswell's 45-yard field goal with time expiring.
It was Boswell's fourth field goal, with the others coming from 47, 29
and 29 yards. The final boot also capped the Owls' rally from down 24-13 and
ended an 11-loss streak on the road.
Southern Methodist:
SMU’s view of its impending move to the Big East has not changed with
Notre Dame’s decision to leave for the ACC.
“SMU is very excited to be part of the new Big East,” Mustangs athletic
director Rick Hart said. “The move to the Big East is a great one for SMU. We are
confident that it will only strengthen its position as one of the top
conferences in the nation.”
Notre Dame’s departure means the Fighting Irish will not be coming to
the Hilltop to compete in sports other than football. The Big East will
eventually have 14 football-playing members and at least 17 in basketball.
Southern Miss:
HATTIESBURG — Quarterbacks Anthony Alford and Chris Campbell have split
starts in Southern Miss' first two football games.
Who will start the third may not be known until the Golden Eagles take
the field for Saturday's 6 p.m. game at Western Kentucky.
USM coach Ellis Johnson said the decision will be made this week.
"What we're going to have to do is work through practice, and see
who is practicing the best to see who is going to get the start," Johnson
said Monday.
Tulane:
Safety Devon Walker remains in St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa after he
was injured during the Tulane-Tulsa football game on Sept. 8. He continues to
recover from last week's injury.
He's alert and actively participating in respiratory and other
therapies that are part of his recovery. His physicians are planning to move
Walker to another facility within the next 24-48 hours where he will continue
to rehabilitate from his injury.
Tulsa:
TULSA, Okla. - Ja'Terian Douglas rushed for 163 yards and two
touchdowns to lead Tulsa to a 66-16 victory over Nicholls State Saturday
evening in front of a crowd of 19,139 fans at H.A. Chapman Stadium.
The Golden Hurricane (2-1) totaled 566 yards of offense, including 333
yards on the ground. Zack Langer also found the end zone twice after rushing
for 67 yards on 15 carries. Cody Green completed 10-of-15 passes for 130 yards
and a pair of touchdowns. Backup Kalen Henderson completed six passes for 55
yards and ran three times for 27 yards after entering the game in relief of
Green in the second quarter.
Seven different TU receivers caught a pass in the game, led by Jordan
James' four catches for 51 yards and Keyarris Garrett's four catches for 50
yards. Garrett and Willie Carter were the recipients of Green's two touchdown
passes.
UAB:
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- UAB offensive line coach John Peterson won't
need directions to Ohio Stadium on Saturday morning.
"It's familiar territory that's for sure," Peterson said.
Peterson, a Middletown, Ohio native, was a four-year letterman
offensive lineman at Ohio State, finishing in 1990. He was also a graduate
assistant at the school in 1993 and 1994 and spent the past eight seasons as an
assistant coach at his alma mater.
UCF:
ORLANDO – UCF announced it filed an appeal with the NCAA Monday
protesting a one-year football postseason ban that would have blocked the
Knights from playing for a championship this season.
The NCAA determined UCF lacked institutional control after school
leaders admitted Ken Caldwell and Brandon Bender helped steer recruits to the
university, providing 11 football and men's basketball prospects $16,005.74
worth of benefits starting in March 2009.
UTEP:
Long before the 2012 football season started coming together for UTEP,
the Miners were confident tailback Nathan Jeffery would be an anchor for the
team.
The issue -- and it was a fear -- was what they would do behind him, if
he got hurt. Replacing three departed seniors on the top line of the depth
chart wasn't the worry. The next few lines were and stood as the biggest
question mark for an otherwise veteran offense.
Three quarters into the first game, fear and worry became reality when
Jeffery strained his groin.
Jeffery
will be back this week to take on Wisconsin, but in the two weeks he was gone,
true freshman Autrey Golden and sophomore Josh Bell sorted out those issues
behind him.
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