Houston - Navy - East Carolina - USF - Memphis - UCF - SMU - Tulsa
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OKLAHOMA vs. HOUSTON
Saturday, Sept. 3 • Noon • ABC
NRG Stadium (72,220/UBU Sports)
Houston, Texas
Television
ABC -
WATCH LIVE -
LIVE STATS
Dave Pasch, Greg McElroy and Tom Luginbill
Houston Radio
KPRC-AM 950 (flagship)
THE GAME • ADVOCARE TEXAS KICKOFF
Saturday’s matchup will be the third meeting between Houston and Oklahoma as the Cougars look for their first win in the series … The Sooners took a 40-14 win in the 1981 Sun Bowl and were 63-13 winners in Norman in 2004 … This year’s game is one of four matchups between top-25 teams in Week 1.
3/3 OKLAHOMA
0-0, 0-0 Big 12
Head Coach
Bob Stoops (Iowa ’83)
179-46, 18th season
NOTES
Oklahoma enters the 2016 season as a consensus College Football Playoff contender after the Sooners finished the 2015 season at 11-2 overall and 8-1 in the Big 12 … The lone regular-season loss in 2015 came to Texas (24-17), while the Sooners fell to Clemson 37-17 in the Orange Bowl national semifinal … Oklahoma has won at least 10 games in 13 of Bob Stoops’ 17 years as head coach … The Sooners are 96-8 at home under Stoops (.923), but have gone 3-5 in neutral-site games in the last four years … Oklahoma has 12 starters returning from last season, including QB Baker Mayfield, a Walter Camp and Sporting News first-team All-America selection who threw for 3,700 yards and 36 touchdowns with seven interceptions … RB Samaje Perine rushed for 1,349 yards and 16 touchdowns.
15/13 HOUSTON
0-0, 0-0 American
Head Coach
Tom Herman (Cal Lutheran ’97)
13-1, second season
NOTES
Houston enters the 2015 season ranked No. 15 in the Associated Press poll and No. 13 in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll … The Cougars finished the 2015 season ranked No. 8 nationally after winning the American Athletic Conference title and the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in a 13-1 season … Houston is one of three programs (joining Alabama and Florida State) with two 13-win seasons in the last five years … QB Greg Ward Jr. is the nation’s top returning rusher among quarterbacks … Ward rushed for 1,108 yards and 21 touchdowns and threw 17 TD passes last season … Houston returns five of its top six receivers from 2015 … RB Duke Catalon, a transfer from Texas, is expected to take over in the backfield … LB Steven Taylor led The American with 10 sacks last season … The Cougars led the nation in turnovers gained in 2015 (35).
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FORDHAM at NAVY
Saturday, Sept. 3 • Noon • CBS Sports Network
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (34,000/FieldTurf)
Annapolis, Md.
Television
CBS Sports Network -
LIVE STATS
John Sadak, Randy Cross and Sheehan Burch
Navy Radio
WBAL-AM 1090 (flagship)
THE GAME
Saturday’s game will be the second meeting between Navy and Fordham … The only previous matchup was a 21-0 Navy victory Nov. 7, 1914, in Annapolis, Md. … Fordham competes in the Patriot League in football, while Navy is a member of the Patriot League in all sports except football.
FORDHAM
0-0, 0-0 Patriot League
Head Coach
Andrew Breiner (Lock Haven ’06)
0-0, first season
NOTES
Fordham enjoyed a 9-3 season in 2015 as the Rams advanced to the first round of the NCAA FCS Championship, falling 50-20 to Chattanooga … The Rams scored a 37-35 win at Army to open the season … The only regular-season losses were a 14-7 setback to Villanova and a 31-29 loss to Colgate … Fordham is ranked No. 20 in the preseason FCS coaches’ poll … Andrew Breiner, who had been the Rams’ offensive coordinator for the last four years, makes his head coaching debut against Navy after Joe Moorhead became Penn State’s offensive coordinator … Fordham has 10 offensive starters returning, including QB Kevin Anderson, who threw for 3,183 yards and 32 touchdowns in 2015 … RB Chase Edmonds rushed for 1,648 yards and 20 TDs and was the 2015 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year.
rv/rv NAVY
0-0, 0-0 American
Head Coach
Ken Niumatalolo (Hawaii ’89)
68-37, eighth season
NOTES
Navy’s first season as a member of the American Athletic Conference — or any conference, for that matter — was an overwhelming success as the Midshipmen went 11-2 overall, tied for The American’s West Division title and ended the season with a 44-28 win against Pittsburgh in the Military Bowl … Navy’s only losses last season were to teams that were a combined 23-4 (Notre Dame and Houston) … The Midshipmen return only eight starers from last season … The only returning starter on offense is WR Jamir Tillman, who had 29 receptions for 597 yards and five touchdowns … QB Tago Smith, who served as the primary backup to NCAA record-holder Keenan Reynolds for the past three years, moves into the starting role as a senior … Smith rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown in limited action last season.
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WESTERN CAROLINA at EAST CAROLINA
Saturday, Sept. 3 • 6 p.m. • ESPN3
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium (50,000/Grass)
Greenville, N.C.
Television
ESPN3 -
WATCH LIVE -
LIVE STATS
Matt Stewart and Watson Brown
East Carolina Radio
WNCT-FM 107.9 (flagship)
THE GAME
Saturday’s game will be the 31st meeting between East Carolina and Western Carolina, institutions which are both part of the University of North Carolina system and are separated by about 380 miles … The Pirates hold a 17-13 series lead, though the schools have not met since a 42-6 East Carolina win Sept. 5, 1981.
WESTERN CAROLINA
0-0, 0-0 Southern
Head Coach
Mark Speir (Clemson ’90)
17-29, fifth season
NOTES
Western Carolina went 7-4 in 2015 against a schedule that included two games against FBS opponents … The Catamounts dropped a 55-10 decision at Tennessee and had a 41-17 setback at Texas A&M … Western Carolina finished in third place in the Southern Conference with a 5-2 league record … The Catamounts went 5-0 at home, but were 2-4 away from Cullowhee … Western Carolina has 14 starters back from last year, but will have to replace its’ career leader in total offense with the departure of QB Troy Mitchell … The Catamounts return their top four tackle leaders from 2015, including LB Daniel Riddle, who led the Southern Conference with 129 stops … Western Carolina’s 2016 schedule includes a Sept. 17 game against East Tennessee State that will be played at Bristol Motor Speedway.
EAST CAROLINA
0-0, 0-0 American
Head Coach
Scottie Montgomery (Duke ’00)
0-0, first season
NOTES
East Carolina’s Scottie Montgomery makes his head coaching debut with Saturday’s against Western Carolina … Montgomery had been the offensive coordinator at Duke before making the move to Greenville … Montgomery inherits a team that went 5-7 last season after dropping four of its last five games, including a 19-16 setback to Cincinnati in the season finale that kept the Pirates from bowl eligibility for the first time since 2011 … The top returning player is WR Zay Jones, a fourth-year starter who enters the 2016 season in third place on East Carolina’s career receptions (241) and receiving yards (2,553) charts … Jones ranked fourth nationally in receptions in 2015 (8.2 rpg) … QB Phillip Nelson started 16 games at Minnesota from 2012-13 and is expected to take over as the Pirates’ starter.
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TOWSON at USF
Saturday, Sept. 3 • 7 p.m. • ASN/ESPN3
Raymond James Stadium (65,857/Grass)
Tampa, Fla.
Television
American Sports Network/ESPN3 -
WATCH LIVE
Mike Gleason and Michael Young
USF Radio
WWBA-AM 820 (flagship)
THE GAME
Saturday’s game will be the first meeting between Towson and USF … The Bulls have gone 18-1 in their previous home-openers, with the lone loss coming to McNeese State in 2013 … USF is 4-4 all-time against teams currently in the Colonial Athletic Association, most recently a 40-7 win against Stony Brook in the 2010 season-opener.
TOWSON
0-0, 0-0 CAA
Head Coach
Rob Ambrose (Towson ’09)
43-41, eighth season
NOTES
Towson went 7-4 last season and narrowly missed a spot in the NCAA Division I FCS Championship … The Tigers have played at least one FBS opponent each year since 2008, including last season, when Towson dropped its season opener to East Carolina … The Tigers won five of their last six games to close the season … Towson enters the 2016 season ranked No. 24 in the STATS FCS preseason media poll and is one of six Colonial Athletic Association schools ranked in the poll … Towson was picked sixth in the CAA preseason poll this season … The top player is is RB Darius Victor, who looks to become the second running back in school history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in three straight seasons … Victor was an All-CAA Second Team selection last year after he rushed for 1,021 yards and 15 touchdowns.
rv/rv USF
0-0, 0-0 American
Head Coach
Willie Taggart (Western Kentucky ’98)
16-20, fourth season
NOTES
USF was tabbed as the preseason favorite in the American Athletic Conference East Divsion after the Bulls went 8-5 overall and 6-2 in The American last season … USF won seven of its last eight regular-season games in 2015 and closed the year with a 45-35 setback to No. 25 Western Kentucky in the Miami Beach Bowl … The Bulls made their first appearance in a bowl game since the 2010 season … USF has 15 returning starters in 2016 … RB Marlon Mack is back for his junior year after he earned all-conference first team accolades in each of his first two seasons … Mack rushed for 1,381 yards and averaged 6.6 yards per carry in 2015 … QB Quinton Flowers threw 22 touchdown passes and had a team-high 12 rushing TDs last season … USF ranked 13th nationally in turnover margin and in tackles for loss last season.
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SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE at MEMPHIS
Saturday, Sept. 3 • 7 p.m. • ESPN3
Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium (58,862/FieldTurf)
Memphis, Tenn.
Television
ESPN3 -
WATCH LIVE
Trey Bender and Pete Najarian
Memphis Radio
WREC-AM 600 (flagship)
THE GAME
Saturday’s game will be the sixth meeting on the gridiron between Memphis and Southeast Missouri State … The five previous meetings were played between 1929 and 1934 … Memphis won two of the matchups, Southeast Missouri State won one, and there have been two ties … The Tigers are 1-0-1 against the Redhawks in Memphis.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE
0-0, 0-0 Ohio Valley
Head Coach
Tom Matukewicz (Fort Hays State ’97)
9-14, third season at Southeast Missouri State
10-14, third full season as collegiate head coach
NOTES
Southeast Missouri State returns 17 starters and 46 letterwinners from a team that went 4-7 overall and was 3-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference last season … The Redhawks lost three games to nationally ranked FCS opponents and a fourth to Missouri … The top returning player is RB Tremae McCullough, who was a first-team All-OVC selection last year after he rushed for 1,028 yards with five touchdowns on 170 carries … QB Dante Vandeven was the OVC Freshman of the Year after he threw 11 touchdown passes last season … The Redhawks return four of their five starting offensive linemen from a year ago … LB Roper Garrett was second in the conference in tackles (106) and had 10.0 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks … Southeast Missouri State has 25 seniors on its roster.
-/rv MEMPHIS
0-0, 0-0 American
Head Coach
Mike Norvell (Central Arkansas ’05)
0-0, first season
NOTES
First-year head coach Mike Norvell looks to build upon the best two-year stretch in Memphis’ football history, as the Tigers have gone 19-7 since the start of the 2014 season … Memphis was ranked as high as No. 13 nationally last year after the Tigers set an American Athletic Conference record with 15 straight wins … Norvell has named junior college transfer QB Riley Ferguson as the Opening Day starter … Ferguson, who initially enrolled at Tennessee, threw 35 touchdown passes at Coffeyville Community College last season … The top returning tackler is LB Shareef White, who made 63 stops with seven tackles for loss in 2015 … K Jake Elliott is a two-time winner of The American’s Special Teams Player of the Year award and was a finalist for the Lou Groza Award as the nation’s top kicker.
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SOUTH CAROLINA STATE at UCF
Saturday, Sept. 3 • 7 p.m. • ESPN3
Bright House Networks Stadium (44,206/Grass)
Orlando, Fla.
Television
ESPN3 -
WATCH LIVE -
LIVE STATS
Drew Fellios and Doug Graber
UCF Radio
WYGM-FM 96.9 (flagship)
THE GAME
Saturday’s game will be the second meeting between UCF and South Carolina State … The only previous matchup was the Knights’ 17-0 win against the Bulldogs Aug. 30, 2008, in Orlando … UCF RB Latavious Murray rushed for two touchdowns in that game, while the Knight defense limited the Bulldogs to 126 yards of offense.
SOUTH CAROLINA STATE
0-0, 0-0 MEAC
Head Coach
Oliver “Buddy” Pough (South Carolina State ’75)
112-51, 15th season
NOTES
South Carolina State finished the 2015 season with a 7-4 overall record and a 6-2 mark in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference under coach Oliver “Buddy” Pough, who begins his 15th season with the Bulldogs … South Carolina State allowed an average of 15.2 points per game, ranking fourth among FCS schools … The Bulldogs led the nation in pass efficiency defense (89.98) and were sixth in total defense (280.0 ypg) … QB Caleb York is the top returning player on offense after he completed 142 of 256 passes (55.9 percent) for 1,723 yards and 11 touchdowns with six interceptions in 2015 … LB Darius Leonard registered 70 tackles with 5.0 sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss to go with two interceptions last year … The game against UCF is one of two against an FBS opponent for South Carolina State, which visits Clemson Sept. 17.
UCF
0-0, 0-0 American
Head Coach
Scott Frost (Nebraska ’97)
0-0, first season
NOTES
UCF coach Scott Frost makes his head coaching debut with Saturday’s game against South Carolina State … Frost, the 10th head coach in school history, came to Orlando after serving as an assistant at Oregon from 2009-15, including the last three seasons as the Ducks’ offensive coordinator … UCF is 23-14 all-time in season openers … The Knights look to erase the memory of last year’s 0-12 campaign and end a losing streak that stands at 13 games, dating to the 2014 season … The last win for the Knights was a 32-30 victory at East Carolina Dec. 4, 2014, when QB Justin Holman hit WR Breshad Perriman with a 51-yard Hail Mary as time expired, giving UCF a share of the American Athletic Conference title … Holman, who was injured for much of 2015, enters his third year as the Knights’ starting signal-caller.
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SMU at NORTH TEXAS
Saturday, Sept. 3 • 7 p.m. • ESPN3
Apogee Stadium (30,850/PowerBlade HP)
Denton, Texas
Television
American Sports Network -
WATCH LIVE -
LIVE STATS
Jeff McCarragher and N.D. Kalu
SMU Radio
KTCK-FM 96.7 (flagship)
THE GAME
Saturday’s game will be the 36th meeting between SMU and North Texas in a series that dates to 1922 … The Mustangs hold a 29-5-1 series lead after last year’s 31-13 win … Saturday’s game will be the only the fourth meeting at North Texas as SMU looks for its first road win in the series.
SMU
0-0, 0-0 American
Head Coach
Chad Morris (Texas A&M ’92)
2-10, second season
NOTES
SMU made great strides from a competitive standpoint in Chad Morris’ first year as head coach — a trend that Morris hopes will take the Mustangs back to a bowl game following a three-year absence … For reference, SMU scored 133 points in the entire 2014 season, but had 134 points through the first four games of 2015 … Many of the key players from the offensive revival are back, including QB Matt Davis, who led the Mustangs in both rushing (761 yards) and passing (2,259 yards) in 2015 … Davis threw 16 touchdown passes and tied for the team lead with 10 rushing touchdowns last year and ranked sixth in The American in total offense (251.7 ypg) … WR Courtland Sutton earned Freshman All-America honors after he had 49 receptions for 862 yards and nine touchdowns in 2015.
NORTH TEXAS
0-0, 0-0 C-USA
Head Coach
Seth Littrell (Oklahoma ’01)
0-0, first season
NOTES
North Texas named Seth Littrell as its 19th head coach after the Mean Green went 1-11 in 2015 … Littrell, who won a national championship as a student-athlete at Oklahoma in 2000, had been the offensive coordinator at North Carolina for the last two seasons and has been an assistant at Indiana, Arizona and Texas Tech … The lone win for North Texas last year came against Texas-San Antonio … The Mean Green is led offensively by RB Jeffrey Wilson, who had a team-high 830 rushing yards and one touchdown, while RB DaMarcus Smith finished with 427 yards and two TDs … S Kishawn McClain leads the defense after he finished 2015 with a team-high 110 tackles and a Conference USA-leading 77 solo stops … North Texas ranked third nationally with 14 fumble recoveries last season, trailing only Navy and Virginia Tech (15).
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SAN JOSE STATE at TULSA
Saturday, Sept.3 • 7 p.m. • CBS Sports Network
H.A. Chapman Stadium (30,000/FieldTurf)
Tulsa, Okla.
Television
CBS Sports Network
Carter Blackburn, Aaron Taylor and Jenny Dell
Tulsa Radio
KXBL-FM 99.5 (flagship)
THE GAME
Saturday’s game will be the seventh meeting between San Jose State and Tulsa … The schools split a six-game series between 1999 and 2004 as Tulsa took the last two matchups … The last meeting saw Tulsa RB Uril Parrish rush for 229 yards and two touchdowns as the Golden Hurricane took a 34-24 win at H.A. Chapman Stadium.
SAN JOSE STATE
0-0, 0-0 Mountain West
Head Coach
Ron Caragher (UCLA ’90)
15-22, fourth season at San Jose State
59-44, 10th season as collegiate head coach
NOTES
San Jose State went 6-7 overall and was 4-4 in the Mountain West last season as the Spartans topped Georgia State in the first AutoNation Cure Bowl … The Spartans tied for second in the West Division of the Mountain West … QB Kenny Potter earned honorable mention All-Mountain West honors last year after he completed 182 of 270 passes (67.4 percent) for 1,984 yards and 15 touchdowns with seven interceptions … Potter also rushed for 415 yards and seven TDs … LB Christian Tago registered a team-high 125 tackles with 9.0 tackles for loss on his way to second-team All-Mountain West accolades in 2015 … P Michael Carrizosa was an All-America selection and a finalist for the Ray Guy Award as the nation’s top punter.
TULSA
0-0, 0-0 American
Head Coach
Philip Montgomery (Tarleton State ’95)
6-7, second season
NOTES
Tulsa made great strides in the first year of Philip Montgomery’s tenure with the Golden Hurricane, improving by four wins from the previous season … Tulsa gained bowl eligibility after a two-year hiatus, falling to Virginia Tech 55-52 in the Camping World Independence Bowl … Tulsa had one of the most prolific offenses in college football in 2015 as the Golden Hurricane ranked 11th nationally in passing and 13th in total offense … QB Dane Evans finished the 2015 season as the American Athletic Conference leader in passing (333.2 ypg) and total offense (332.5 ypg) … Evans completed 62.9 percent of his passes for 4,332 yards and 25 touchdowns … WR Keevan Lucas, who missed the last nine games of 2015 with a knee injury, had 101 catches for 1,219 yards and 11 TDs in 2014 and was well on his way to a similar season before his injury.