Power Ranking AAC Football After Week 4

Another game, another loss for the SMU, and while they have a new coach and started another quarterback, it seems that the issues are still there in Dallas. They cant generate enough of a consistent offense to give the defense a rest so it can stop someone on that side of the ball and Texas A&M took advantage early and often last week.

Tulsa had a bye last week and hopefully the time off will allow head coach Bill Blakenship to get things back in order. After opening the season with a conference victory over Tulane, Tulsa has dropped two straight and neither game was close. This week they face a tough Texas St. team that is coming off a tough close loss to Big Ten opponent Illinois, so the Bobcats could be looking for the upset.

The Green Waves took one on the chin against the Duke Blue Devils 47-13 and it wasn't that close. The defense gave up over 400 yards and the offense didn't help either allowing two interceptions to be returned for touchdowns. The bright spot for Tulane was the 124-yard output from sophomore Lazedrick Thompson. It doesn't get any easier this week as they head to New Jersey to take on Rutgers.

The Huskies opened AAC conference play with a tough road loss to the USF Bulls. It was a tough game for UConn as it was a steady rain throughout the game and they weren't really able to make a substantial push to make the game competitive until late in the fourth quarter. They host Temple this week and hope for better start to this game from quarterback Chandler Whitmer and the rest of the Huskies' offense.

Despite the bad weather, the Bulls were able to grind out a tough win against conference opponent UConn. Once again freshman Marlon Mack led the way with over 100 yards rushing and they got a more steady performance from quarterback Mike White. This week they head to Madison, Wisc. to face Big 10 opponent Wisconsin. The Badgers have had issues at quarterback as well, so if the Bulls' defense can generate turnovers, it could be interesting.

Despite a victory in Week 4, the Owls dropped a spot, but it was more about the quality of opponent than anything else. The team that took their spot, Houston, defeated UNLV handily while the Owlss defeated FCS HBCU Delaware State. Also lost in the blowout was quarterback P.J. Walker's pedestrian 127 yards and two interceptions. They open up conference play this week against UConn, so hopefully he, as well as the team, get things together.

The Cougars seem to finally be getting things together offensively as six guys combined for 399 yards rushing in the 47-14 victory over UNLV in Week 3. There still needs to be major improvement from the quarterback position as sophomore John O'Korn only completed 44 percent of his passes. They have a week off in order to prepare for their AAC opener against the UCF Knights; hopefully they straighten out O'Korn's issues by then.

After sleep-walking through the first quarter and trailing Bethune Cookman 7-3, the Knights woke up and scored the next 38 points which lead to an easy victory. Looking at the stat sheet, there is nothing that the Knights did exceptionally well, but they got the job done. They now have two weeks to prepare for the opening of conference play when they take on the Houston Cougars in Houston on a primetime Thursday night game.

The Tigers are coming off a nice victory over in-state opponent Middle Tennessee State. The Memphis defense was the catalyst in this win over the competitive Blue Raiders squad, but things get a lot tougher this week when they head to Oxford, Miss. to face the No. 10 ranked Ole Miss Rebels. If Memphis could replicate the tough defense it played versus MTSU, they could put the Rebels on upset watch.

The Bearcats head into Week 5 after defeating Miami (Ohio) in a game that was closer than many expected. Fans will not have to worry about the team not being prepared for this week's game as they face in-state opponent Ohio State. This is one of the few times in the matchup with the Big 10 powerhouse that the Bearcats feel that they could pull the upset off. It will take a near-perfect performance across the board but Cincinnati is capable of it.

Another game with an ACC opponent and another victory for the Pirates as they blew out UNC 70-41 -- the highest output allowed in Tarheel football history. Shane Carden continued to make an argument as a Heisman dark horse as he passed for 438 yards and four touchdowns. He and the rest of the ECU team have this week off, but face a struggling SMU program next week ... I feel sorry for the scoreboard operator at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.