UConn Opponent's Review: Week 6

Tulane (1-4): Had a bye to prepare for their primetime game against UConn on Saturday.

East Carolina (4-1): In the Pirates' first American Athletic Conference game and first game as a ranked team since 2008, the Pirates defeated Southern Methodist 45-24, after leading 28-7 at halftime. Shane Carden continued his fantastic season, finishing 31 for 41 with 410 yards and four touchdowns, while adding another 47 yards on the ground. In the process, Carden also broke David Gerrard's school record of 9,029 career passing yards. Justin Hardy had eight receptions for 120 yards and three touchdowns - all in the first half. Isaiah Jones grabbed nine passes for 130 yards and a touchdown. On the day, the Pirates finished with 30 first downs, were 60-percent on third down plays and averaged 5.2 yards per carry.

Central Florida (2-2): UCF started their AAC title-defense by defeating Houston 17-12. UCF still has never lost a game in the American Conference, improving to 9-0 and also 5-1 all-time against Houston. UCF was outgained 331 to 228 and had half as many first downs (20 to 10) as Houston; however, they won the turnover battle 3 to 1. Justin Holman was a 6 for 18 for 101 yards - throwing 52 of those yards on a touchdown pass - threw for two touchdowns and ran for 32 yards. Jaryl Mamea had three sacks for the Knights. Brandon Alexander had nine tackles, an interception and forced a game-saving fumble as Houston's quarterback Greg Ward Jr. dove into the endzone with 24 seconds left in the game.

Army (2-3): The Black Knights continued their domination on the ground, racking of 425 - 236 in the first half - of their 473 total yards on rushes to defeat Ball State 33-24. Ball State were 30-8 against the spread when underdogs on the road over the past 10 seasons, but failed to cover the 2.5-point spread in this game. Army had the ball for nearly 38 minutes in this game, but still allowed the Cardinals to gain 330 total yards. Army is now 2-0 at home.

Cincinnati (2-2): The Bearcats actually started the game where they left off the previous game - scoring 17 seconds into the game on an 80-yard pass. But their defense still cannot stop anyone. They allowed 24 points to Memphis in the first quarter on their way to a 41-14 loss. The Bearcats suffered their worst home loss since a 38-0 defeat to West Virginia on November 9, 2005. Star quarterback Gunner Kiel, who threw for 14 touchdowns in the first three games, injured his ribs on the final play of the first half. Although the X-rays were negative, Kiel did not return. He finished the day 11 for 27 with 216 yards, a touchdown and one interception before leaving with an injury. Kiel's replacement, Munchie Legaux, was terrible going for 13 for 39 yards. This was the first game without tailback Tion Green who was averaging 4.2 yards per carry on 28 rushes this season. The injuries for Cincinnati are becoming somewhat of an epidemic.

Memphis (3-2): The Tigers extended its best start in 10 years by slicing Cincinnati's porous defense to the tune of 610 yards. Memphis also had the ball for 40 minutes and 55 seconds of game time. Paxton Lynch continues to play very well, completing 72% of his passes for 311 yards and two touchdowns. Lynch added 45 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. The Tigers' turnaround season is showcased by a well-rounded offense as Sam Craft carried the ball 38 times for 170 yards and a score. After allowing an 80-yard touchdown pass on the opening play, the Tigers held the Bearcats without a score until 10:49 left in the third quarter.

Southern Methodist (0-5): SMU was able to double their point total for the entire year, though sadly scoring only 24 points unlocked this achievement. Also, they allowed 45 points. This game seemed to be a huge step in the right direction as SMU trailed by only 11 - as 41-point underdogs - heading into the fourth quarter (35-24). SMU was a measly 4 for 17 on third down conversions, but was able to rack up 25 first downs and go an astounding 5 for 6 on fourth downs. The most yards that the Mustangs were all able to gain all year was 276 in a game at North Texas. Garrett Krstich surpassed that number himself against ECU with 339 yards passing, even though it took 67 passes to reach that mark. Darius Joseph had 100 of those yards on 13 receptions and caught both of Krstich's touchdown passes.