Conference USA Week Four Review

Another week is in the books for the 2015 college football season with Conference USA going 5-8 with two conference games taking place. Let's take a look at the good, bad, and ugly of week four CUSA football action.

Week Four Scoreboard:

• Nebraska 36, Southern Miss 28
• Louisiana Tech 27, Florida International 17
• Baylor 70, Rice 17
• Appalachian State 49, Old Dominion 0
• Iowa 62, North Texas 16
• Marshall 36, Kent State 29 (2OT)
• Western Kentucky 56, Miami 14
• Illinois 27, MTSU 25
• Florida Atlantic 17, Charlotte 7
• Colorado State 33, UTSA 31
• UTEP 27, Incarnate Word 17

Who/What Looked Good:

• Nick Mullens: The Southern Miss quarterback threw for 447 yards in their near upset versus Nebraska. Mullens has been a pleasant surprise this season with 1,366 yards passing, a 63.8% completion percentage, and 10 touchdown passes. He has thrown for 275+ in every game this season.
• Brandon Doughty: The Western Kentucky quarterback hit the 440 yard mark for the third straight game with a conference-high 457 versus Miami OH. Doughty is second in the nation in passing with 1,591 yards on the year, to go with a 74.2% completion percentage and 11 touchdown passes.
• Kenneth Dixon: The Louisiana Tech running back broke the 100+ yard barrier for the third time with 169 versus Florida International. Dixon is eighth national with 524 yards rushing on 86 carries for a 7.2 yards per carry average.
• Ed’Marques Batties: The senior wide receiver for MTSU had his third 100+ yards game of the season versus Illinois. His 13 catches for 175 yards was a career-high. Batties is only 15 reception and 28 yards away from equaling his 2014 season totals. He has already caught four more touchdown passes than last season.

Who/What Looked Bad:

• Old Dominion: The Monarchs have struggled mightily in the last two weeks, with Appalachian State dominating this week four matchup. Old Dominion gave up 501 yards of total offense and 24 first downs, while only totaling 175 yards, eight first downs and four turnovers. Things are looking rough for the Monarchs.
• North Texas: No one expected the Mean Green to beat Iowa, but wow did they get clobbered. Giving up 62 points, including two defensive touchdowns, was embarrassing for a program trying to get back to respectability. With the offense of Southern Miss next on the schedule, things could get ugly once again in week five.
• The FAU-Charlotte Game: 12 turnovers. Yes, I said 12 turnovers. The Owls committed five and the 49ers committed seven in this ugly, ugly game. Of the 24 total points scored in the game, 14 were from pick sixes. Even when FAU scored on offense, it was the result of turnovers. A field goal scoring drive actually went four plays for -8 yards.

CUSA Power Rankings:

1. Western Kentucky
2. Louisiana Tech
3. Marshall
4. MTSU
5. Southern Miss
6. Rice
7. Florida International
8. Florida Atlantic
9. Old Dominion
10. UTSA
11. UTEP
12. North Texas
13. Charlotte

Week Five Schedule:

• Temple at Charlotte
• Florida International at Massachusetts
• Old Dominion at Marshall
• Western Kentucky at Rice
• North Texas at Southern Miss
• Vanderbilt at MTSU
• Louisiana at Louisiana Tech
• UTSA at UTEP

Bye Weeks:

• Florida Atlantic