The American had teams involved in six games this past week. Just one of those teams, Houston, got a victory. Despite four teams having a bye (three of which are among the league's best), it was a disastrous week for The American. Three league teams (UConn, South Florida and Temple) remain winless after suffering defeats on Saturday. What did we learn? It's really bad for this league when their best are resting.
Houston 59, UTSA 28: The only win of the weekend for the American was by the Cougars in a dominant performance against the Roadrunners. Houston quarterback John O'Korn was surgical in the win and the Cougar defense picked off UTSA's talented signal caller Eric Soza three times and forced two other turnovers in the game. Houston is one of two undefeated teams left (Louisville) in the American.
#12 South Carolina 28, UCF 25: UCF led South Carolina 10-0 at halftime and knocked the Gamecocks' starting quarterback Connor Shaw out of the game. South Carolina scored 28 unanswered points after halftime before a late rally by the Knights came up short. UCF only managed 69 rush yards in the game in what could have been a huge victory for the program and the conference. UCF fell to 3-1 on the season but should continue to prove to be a tough team to beat at home in 2013.
#15 Miami 49, USF 21: This contest was not as close as the score indicates as the Hurricanes tore this game wide open by halftime and held a 35-7 lead. Miami led 49-7 going into the fourth quarter and was never in danger. The winless Bulls are now 0-3 at home this season. The bright spot of the game for USF was the four turnovers forced by the Bulls' defense.
Idaho 26, Temple 24: One of these teams had to get a win both entering the game 0-3. Idaho led the whole way after getting on the board early in the first quarter with a touchdown. A fourth quarter rally could not be completed by the winless Owls. What's next for Temple? Hosting #7 Louisville, ouch.
Buffalo 41, UConn 12: Just when you thought UConn hit rock bottom, the Huskies get curb stomped by Buffalo. UConn scored all 12 points in the first half and completed just 41.4 percent of their 29 passes while turning the ball over four times in the game. This game will be put in the file for ranking the most embarrassing non-conference losses by American teams in 2013. UPDATE: The loss also cost UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni his job, Desmond Conner of the Harford Courant reports.
TCU 48, SMU 12: The Ponies held a 10-7 lead at halftime on the road against TCU. It all went downhill after that point. After taking a 17-10 lead through three quarters, the flood gates really opened and the Horned Frogs put up 31 fourth quarter points to make this game a laugher. SMU quarterback Garrett Gilbert threw a touchdown pass for the opening points of the game following a TCU turnover, but later spotted TCU 17 points off interceptions.
Player of the Week: John O'Korn, Houston, QB: torched the Roadrunners for 312 yards passing and 4 TDs on 24-of-36 passing. O'Korn also picked up 31 yards on four carries in the 59-28 win.
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