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It’s the final edition of the weekly check-in on how UConn football’s opponents have played in the week that was in college football. The Huskies took a close defeat on Senior Day Saturday by a 31-24 scoreline to the East Carolina Pirates. The Temple Owls await next week on the road.
Temple (7-4) - Nov. 30
Temple went to Cincinnati on a cold and dreary night and almost handed the Bearcats their second loss on the season, but the Owls could not complete the upset, taking a 15-13 defeat. Temple only allowed 210 yards of offense, but still entered the fourth quarter trailing 13-0. The visitors found the end zone twice in the final 15 minutes, but the first PAT was blocked by Cincinnati and returned for two points, which made the difference.
Temple gained just 310 yards, 228 of which were through the air by Anthony Russo. He was 24-43 passing and threw for a touchdown and an interception. Re’Mahn Davis scored the other Owl touchdown on the ground as part of a 71-yard performance. The Temple defense surrendered just 62 yards through the air.
What’s going on in the American Athletic Conference?
Memphis easily handled USF in the penultimate matchup of its season, which means that the Tigers will win the West division with a win over Cincinnati on Saturday.
East Division Standings
| Team | Record | Remaining Games |
|---|---|---|
| Team | Record | Remaining Games |
| Cincinnati | 7-0 | @Memphis |
| UCF | 5-2 | USF |
| Temple | 4-3 | UConn |
| USF | 2-5 | @UCF |
| ECU | 1-6 | Tulsa |
| UConn | 0-7 | @Temple |
Cincinnati and Temple was the only matchup that carried weight in the division race. The Bearcats won in a nail-biter in which the difference ended up being a blocked PAT that the Cincinnati defense returned for two points. With the victory, the Bearcats are now East Division champions.
West Division Standings
| Team | Record | Remaining Games |
|---|---|---|
| Team | Record | Remaining Games |
| Memphis | 6-1 | Cincinnati |
| Navy | 6-1 | @Houston |
| SMU | 5-2 | Tulane |
| Tulane | 3-4 | @SMU |
| Houston | 2-5 | Navy |
| Tulsa | 1-6 | @ECU |
Memphis earned a convincing 49-10 victory over USF and moved to 6-1 in conference play, with just a date against Cincinnati left to go. If the Tigers defend the Liberty Bowl, then the two schools will have a rematch in one week at the same location.
If the Bearcats win, it gets interesting. By virtue of Navy’s win over SMU on Saturday, the Midshipmen would win the West if they beat Houston and Cincinnati tops Memphis. In that scenario, Cincinnati would host the game.
If both Navy and Memphis suffer defeat and SMU wins, then Memphis would win the three-way tie between the three schools.