Beasts In The East
Twenty-one of the 130 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision teams are unbeaten through four weeks of the college football season, including three teams from the American Athletic Conference's East Division. Cincinnati and USF are both 4-0, while UCF is 3-0 in 2018. The only other division in FBS football with three unbeaten teams is the ACC's Atlantic Division, which has Clemson and Syracuse at 4-0 and North Carolina State at 3-0.
The Best Offense ...
Since the start of the 2015 season, Temple's football program has enjoyed its most prosperous era in program history - a stretch that includes two 10-win seasons, an American Athletic Conference title. and three straight bowl appearances. Defense has been the Owls' calling card in that span, and the 2018 squad has maintained that high level of performance. Temple scored two defensive touchdowns and forced five turnovers in its 31-17 win against Tulsa, giving the Owls at least one non-offensive touchdown in all four games this season. To further illustrate the importance that Temple puts on defense, running back Ryquell Armstead, who had 108 yards on 24 carries against Tulsa, also took four snaps at linebacker and delivered a key sack on third down against the Golden Hurricane.
Six From The American Are Campbell Trophy Semifinalists
Six American Athletic Conference players were among the 179 student-athletes who have been named as semifinalists for the 2018 William V. Campbell Trophy as college football's top scholar-athlete. The award, which will be presented Dec. 4 at the 61st annual National Football Foundation Awards Dinner in New York City, is given based on outstanding football ability, academic achievement and strong leadership and citizenship. The American's semifinalists are Houston defensive end Zach Vaughan, Memphis center Drew Kyser, Navy offensive tackle Andrew Wood, USF safety Jaymon Thomas, SMU long snapper Garrett Stotts and Temple quarterback Frank Nutile
UCF's Record-Setting Win Draws Big Prime Time Audience
American Athletic Conference teams continue to bring in big audiences in prime time television windows. The most recent example was UCF's 56-36 win against Florida Atlantic last Friday on ESPN, which earned an average of 1.295 million viewers. The game, which saw UCF set an American Athletic Conference record with its 16th straight win, was one of the two most-watched games on a busy Friday night in college football, and was The American's 67th contest with more than one million viewers since the start of the 2015 season.
SMU's Wyatt Is All CLASS
SMU cornerback Jordan Wyatt has been chosen as one of 30 candidates in college football for the 2018 Senior CLASS Award, which goes to the top performer in areas of community, classroom, character and competition. Wyatt, who also has been named to watch lists for the AFCA Good Works team and the Weurffel Trophy (for community service), holds the American Athletic Conference record with four career touchdowns on interception returns. He earned his undergraduate degree from SMU in December of 2017 and is pursuing a graduate degree this fall.
Two Conference Games On Week 5 Ledger
Two American Athletic Conference games are on the schedule for Week 5 as Memphis visits Tulane in a Friday prime time matchup on ESPN2 and Cincinnati is at UConn Saturday on CBS Sports Network. Saturday's lineup also includes a doubleheader on ESPNU against other Power 6 conference opponents - Temple visits Boston College at noon ET, while UCF hosts Pitt at 3:30.