Keeping up with C-USA: Marshall’s Wells contributes five scores, ranked Roadrunners stomp Owls

Jake Moore, Sports Editor

Conference USA is splintering at the seams. Six schools have officially been welcomed as future members of the American Athletic Conference and the remaining C-USA programs are floating around in limbo.

Despite this, there is still C-USA football to be played. Week seven featured a handful of lopsided victories and the conference’s west division has become quite crowded at the top with UAB, UTSA and UTEP all winning to keep perfect 3-0 conference records.

University of Alabama-Birmingham Blazers vs Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles

UAB (5-2, 3-0 C-USA) rolled into Hattiesburg, Mississippi and clobbered the Golden Eagles (1-6, 0-3 C-USA) 34-0. Blazers quarterback Dylan Hopkins turned in a multi-faceted performance, going 8-for-13 for 147 yards and a touchdown and using his legs to tack on another score.

The Blazers relied heavily on the run game to clinch the shutout. Running back DeWayne McBride took 17 attempts for 137 yards and a score. Golden Eagles star Frank Gore Jr. was successfully contained, taking 13 attempts for just 40 yards. 

The Blazers put up 387 total yards to the Eagles’ lowly mark of 107. UAB edged out the Eagles in first downs 19-9.

The Blazers will welcome the Rice Owls to town on Oct. 23 for UAB’s homecoming game. The Golden Eagles will hop on the road after a bye week to face MTSU on Oct. 30.

No. 24 University of Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners vs Rice Owls

The ranked Roadrunners (7-0, 3-0 C-USA) picked apart the hapless Owls (2-4, 1-1 C-USA) by a score of 45-0. UTSA star quarterback Frank Harris turned in three scores, two by air and one by foot, and went 12-of-19 for 125 yards.

UTSA running back Sincere McCormick turned 13 attempts into 117 yards of offense, including a breakaway run for a gain of 81. The UTSA defense intercepted two Rice passes and UTSA out-gained the Owls by a whopping 301 yards.

The Roadrunners will head to Ruston, Louisiana on Oct. 23 to face the LA Tech Bulldogs and try for their eighth win of the season. Rice travels to Birmingham, Alabama to try and spoil the Blazers’ homecoming on Oct. 23.

University of Texas-El Paso Miners vs Louisiana Tech Bulldogs

The Miners (6-1, 3-0 C-USA), perhaps the surprise success of the conference, took down LA Tech (2-4, 1-1 C-USA) by a score of 19-3. UTEP quarterback Gavin Hardison didn’t need to throw a score to lead his team to the win, completing 19 of his 29 attempts for 283 yards and an interception.

Miners running back Deion Hankins provided the bulk of UTEP’s offense, scoring twice on 15 attempts. LA Tech quarterback Austin Kendall had a rough day at the office, tossing up a trio of interceptions to the hungry UTEP secondary without recording a touchdown.

UTEP will take a week off before flying down to Boca Raton, Florida to take on FAU. The Bulldogs are staring down a tough matchup with the No. 24 UTSA Roadrunners at home on Oct. 23.

Marshall Thundering Herd vs North Texas Mean Green

Marshall (4-3, 2-1 C-USA) handed the Mean Green (1-5, 0-3 C-USA) its fifth loss in a row by a score of 49-21. The Herd offense was near unstoppable, scoring the first six times it had the football.

Marshall signal caller Grant Wells went 24-of-32 for 323 yards with two scores and a pick, connecting with eight different receivers in the process, and ran three scores in by himself to cap off a jaw-dropping performance.

North Texas running back DeAndre Torrey provided most of the Mean Green’s spark, scoring twice on 20 attempts and racking up 179 yards on the ground.

UNT will welcome the independent Liberty Flames to town on Oct. 23 and attempt to break its five-game winless streak. Marshall will take a week off before hosting the FIU Golden Panthers in Huntington, West Virginia on Oct. 30.

Sports Editor Jake Moore can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Charles_JMoore.