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Given UCF's upset of #8 Louisville this week, the competitive spirit of the Big East appears to be alive and well in the American Athletic Conference. In the 22 seasons of Big East football, the team which won the conference was only undefeated in conference play 10 times. Since the first big shift to makeup of the Big East in 2005, only two teams won the conference with an unbeaten conference record. Only Houston, South Florida and UCF remain unbeaten in AAC play this season.
UCF 38, #8 Louisville 35: In a week of major upsets in college football, Louisville was not spared as UCF rallied down 28-7 in the second half to win 38-35. UCF quarterback Blake Bortles threw the game-winning touchdown pass with 23 seconds left to play. Teddy Bridgewater had another great game for the Cardinals with 341 yards passing and two touchdowns. The Knights have just one loss on the season, a three-point defeat to South Carolina, and control their own destiny in the American. Kevin McGuire writes that despite the loss, the future still looks bright for the Cardinals.
Cincinnati 41, UConn 16: Brendon Kay led the Bearcats in a rout of the Huskies with 300 yards passing and 4 touchdowns. UConn didn't get their first touchdown until the second half and Tim Boyle threw three interceptions in the defeat as the Huskies' offensive struggles continued. Cincinnati has now won four of their last five games and are recovering from their shock defeat to USF. UConn is still winless on the season and facing a tough challenge at UCF next week.
Temple 33, Army 14: Temple scored their first victory of the season with a dominant performance against Army. The Black Knights didn't get on the scoreboard until late in the third quarter while trailing 33-0. The Owls scored three touchdowns on their first five drives of the game and never looked back. Temple's still winless in conference play and travels to SMU next week.
SMU 34, Memphis 29: The Memphis Tigers have only one win on the season and seem to be a year away after another close loss. SMU was in complete control of this game up 31-3 in the third quarter and then survived a furious rally that saw Memphis run out of time in their comeback bid. The Mustangs are now 1-1 in AAC play but will need to clean up the turnovers with games against Cincinnati, Houston and UCF remaining.
BYU 47, Houston 46: Houston couldn't hang onto a victory against BYU in a back and forth affair which saw 93 points and six interceptions combined. BYU quarterback Taysom Hill was a one-man wrecking crew with 417 yards passing, 128 yards rushing and four touchdowns. Houston was left with enough time to try to answer BYU's score with 1:08 remaining. However, Houston quarterback John O'Korn threw his third interception of the game on the ensuing drive. Houston is still in great shape at 2-0 in AAC play.
Player of the Week: Blake Bortles, QB, UCF. Bortles was 21-of-32 passing for 250 yards, two touchdowns and one interception against Louisville in the Knights' upset.
