The American's West Division is grading out as one of the top divisions in college football this season, with a resurgent SMU squad leading the way
by Dick Weiss for TheAmerican.org
The American is suddenly back in the national spotlight as the race for a spot in the New Year’s Six bowls heats up after another unexpected turn this past weekend.
Undefeated SMU (7-0) defeated a good Temple team, 42-21, in Dallas when quarterback Shane Buechele threw for a career-high 457 yards and six touchdown passes, while Cincinnati (6-1), which already has a win over defending champion UCF in the East Division, overcame an injury to star running back Michael Warren II to get by Tulsa, 24-13, at home to maintain control of that division.
The wins raised both teams’ profile in the top 25, while Memphis climbed back into the coaches’ poll at No. 25 after its own impressive win, a 47-17 victory against Tulane.
The American has sent a representative to a New Year’s Six bowl in four of the last six years —UCF in the 2013, 2107 and 2018 seasons and Houston in 2015 -- and won three of those games, prompting commissioner Mike Aresco to enthusiastically launch a campaign for his ever-improving conference to receive an automatic bid to a CFP-affiliated game as a member of the Power 6.
If this trend continues, Aresco would have more ammunition to take to the selection committee, especially if the College Football Playoff does the right thing and expands its playoff to eight teams.
UCF came into this season as the preseason favorite in The American, but this has been a fun, fluid league this year with Cincinnati continuing its rise, Memphis (6-1) and Navy’s (5-1) living up to expectations in the West and division rival SMU’s emerging as one of college football’s best stories.
The Mustangs, who played their most complete game to date, are off to their best start since 1982 when they finished 11-0-1. The seven-game winning streak matches their combined total of wins for the last two years. Buechele, who spent three years at the University of Texas before transferring back to the Dallas area, is having a Player of the Year-caliber season as the chief beneficiary of Sonny Dykes’ dynamic Air Raid offense.
Buechele, who completed 30 of 53 passes hit wide receiver Reggie Robinson Jr. with touchdown passes of 75, 60 and 33 yards. He also threw touchdown passes to James Poche, Kylen Granson and Xavier Jones. Buechele’s previous yardage high was 375 as a Longhorn in 2017. He became the first SMU quarterback since Mike Romo in 1990 to throw six touchdowns in a game. Robinson finished with a career high 250 yards on eight catches.
“We thought coming into the game we had some favorable matchups with some of our skill guys, and we had to execute,’’ Dykes said. “Shane obviously made some great, deep throws and Reggie made some big plays.’’
Buechele is having the kind of season so many envisioned after he started all 12 games as a true freshman in the Big 12 three years ago. He then split starts with freshman Sam Ehlinger the following season and played in only two games last season, preserving that year of eligibility, even though he didn’t get to go through spring drills with SMU while finishing his degree at Texas.
Dykes, the son of former Texas Tech head coach Spike Dykes, is developing a reputation as one of the most resourceful recruiters in the country. He has quickly rebuilt this program by bringing in 15 transfers from other Power 6 teams. Buechele, who grew up in Arlington, is one of 10 transfers from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. “I chose SMU for a fifth year because I wanted be closer to home and play with a lot of guys I heard of or knew.”
SMU made the most of a week off after the Mustangs needed to rally from a 30-9 deficit in the fourth to defeat Tulsa in overtime. Dykes called it the best practice week of his two years on the job. The time off allowed Roberson to recover from an injury that sidelined him during the Tulsa game. "When I came back and was ready to practice, I had some great practices," Roberson said.
Finishing undefeated will not be easy for the Mustangs in The American’s wild, wild West Division. They have difficult divisional road games remaining against Memphis and Navy - which are both particularly strong at home - plus a game against Tulane, which itself remains in the hunt for a division title.
But it’s hard to argue with perfection these days. Sonny Dykes has the Hilltop rocking again