The American finished 5-2 in Week 4. After enduring losses to FCS competition, the AAC scored a win over an SEC team and nearly beat a ranked Big Ten squad this past week. The only bad loss for the league this week was an expected one by SMU to Texas A&M. Teddy Bridgewater and Louisville dominated another lesser opponent. A potential challenger to Louisville, UCF, was off this week, but Rutgers showed some resilience in their comeback win.
#7 Louisville 72, FIU 0: Even though Louisville won the previous meeting, the Cardinals still seemed to be avenging their 2011 loss to FIU with this beatdown. FIU managed just two first downs, three yards rushing and 30 total yards for the entire game. Louisville remains the class of the field in the American.
Houston 31, Rice 26: Houston was in control of this game until the final few minutes. Rice's final touchdown came off of a blocked field goal. The Owls also recovered the ensuing onside kick and drove to the Cougars' 36-yard line before turning the ball over on downs. At the end of the day, Houston is still 3-0 after avoiding a complete meltdown.
Rutgers 28, Arkansas 24: Rutgers did a great job of fighting back in this game despite turning the ball over three times. Down 10-0, the Scarlet Knights drove 68 yards for a touchdown just before halftime. Arkansas used a couple of quick scores in the third quarter to go up 24-7 before Rutgers scored the final 21 points of the game. Rutgers is now 3-1 on the season and has seemingly recovered from their heartbreaking loss to Fresno State to open the season.
Cincinnati 14, Miami (Ohio) 0: The Bearcats held the Redhawks under 100 yards of total offense in the game but also struggled to score. Cincinnati didn't find the scoreboard until the final five minutes and only added their insurance score with a little over two minutes to play. Despite the 3-1 record, Cincinnati is a team that will badly miss Munchie Legaux this season.
Memphis 31, Arkansas State 7: Memphis got a win after looking listless in their first two games. The Tigers put up 500+ yards of offense led by big days from Marquis Warford and Brandon Hayes on the ground. The Red Wolves scored in the first quarter but never really threatened Memphis on the day. We'll get to see how improved Memphis really is when they take on UCF in two weeks.
#10 Texas A&M 42, SMU 13: This game was over as soon as Johnny Manziel got off the bus. Manziel had three touchdowns and 346 total yards against the Mustangs. SMU piled up 434 total yards trying to play catch-up but couldn't score their first touchdown until the fourth quarter. Things don't get much easier next week when the ponies travel to play TCU.
#15 Michigan 24, Connecticut 21: UConn had no business being in the game before it started and were aided by three Devin Gardner turnovers to build a 21-7 lead. Then, the Huskies collapsed over the final quarter and a half at The Rent to fall to 0-3 on the season. UConn finished 1-for-11 on third down in the game so it was something of a miracle they were able to hold onto the lead as long as they did.
Top Player: Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville. Sure, the competition was not tough, but Bridgewater only missed five of his 22 passes and had four touchdown passes and no interceptions in three quarters of work. Honorable Mention this week goes to Memphis running backs Marquis Warford (11 rush, 173 yards, TD) and Brandon Hayes (18 rush, 114 yards, TD) for their efforts in the Tigers' first win of the season.
