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2019 CUSA Power Rankings Week 6

It was a light week in the league. There were only five games involving CUSA teams and one of them was a non-conference game. League play is underway and we will see the power rankings do something like a merge with the standings. It is something like the kinetic power ranking you know?

Superlatives:

Highest Scoring Team of the Week: FIU, 44 against UMASS
Lowest Scoring Team of the Week: ODU, 3 against WKU

Best Scoring Defense of the Week: FIU, 0 allowed vs UMASS
Worst Scoring Defense of the Week: Rice, 35 allowed vs UAB

Most Total Yards: 578 Marshall vs MTSU
Lowest Total Yards: 163 ODU vs WKU

Least Yards Allowed: 115, FIU to UMASS
Most Yards Allowed: 578 MTSU, to Marshall

Most Rush Yards: Sincere McCormick, UTSA, 22 carries for 189 1 TD
Most Pass Yards: 365, Isaiah Green on 24/40 1 TD 3 INT
Most Receiving Yards: 115 Austin Trammel, on 5 grabs

CR’s OPOTW: MTSU’s Asher O’Hara who had 361 total yards and 2 scores

CR’s DPOTW: MTSU Jovante Moffatt, 2 interceptions

CR’s STPOTW: Maurice Alexander, FIU, 140 PR yards 1 score (90 yarder!)

Now let’s rank the squads by power:

1. Louisiana Tech 4-1, 2-0

The Bulldogs had a bye week, resting up for UMASS.

LW: 1st, Next up: UMASS

2. USM 3-2, 1-0

The Golden Eagles are poised to take a nice hold of this division. North Texas — a struggling North Texas comes to Hattiesburg. Winning this game will do two things: put USM at 2-0 with Tech for division lead, and get a head-to-head (and thus a tiebreaker) against one of the division’s contenders. It’s all looking golden right now.

LW: 2nd. Next up: NT

3. WKU 3-2, 3-0

Not much has changed except for the fact that the Hilltoppers have a big lead in the conference standings. Beating ODU was not overly impressive but it was a comfortable win. Beating UAB the week prior was mighty impressive. Marshall doesn’t have the offense and the WKU defense is looking fairly formidable. Right now they are allowing 10ppg in the division. NT is first but has only one league game under their belt.

LW: 3rd. Next up: Army

4. UAB 4-1, 1-1

Even the AP got bored

UAB had their first big loss and had a tough Rice to follow that one up. Add in 2.5 hours of lightning delays and that is some sports-adversity there. Tyler Johnston III is throwing interceptions all over the place — 4 vs WKU and 2 vs Rice — and that is very concerning. Spencer Brown was dinged up and even when he was playing he was not looking like a workhorse back. Garrett Marino and the defense are trustworthy, however.

LW: 4th. Next up: @UTSA

5. FAU 3-2, 1-0

Bye week for FAU saw them rest and figure out the kicking game. FAU performed well against upstart Charlotte and is averaging just under 33 ppl on the season. The defense is solid enough to make up for any mistakes in this league so the road looks smooth from here on. With WKU playing well and having wins under their belt, there is not room for error, however.

LW: 5th. Next up: MTSU

6. Charlotte 2-3, 0-1

The 49ers rested up after getting trounced by FAU in that big matchup. They get to reset a little for two big road matchups coming up against FIU and WKU, before hosting NT. Charlotte can still score — in the loss they still put up 27 — but we need to see if they can keep out of their own way.

LW: 5th. Next up: @FIU

7. North Texas 2-3, 1-0

It is gut-check time. Optimists can shake off the Houston loss as some bad luck or some tough competition. The fact is that NT has gone down big early in all three losses. There are not Ws given out for playing well in 3/4th of a game. The west division was always going to come down to one of these four — Tech, UNT, USM, and UAB — and this is a battle between two of those four.

LW: 8th. Next up: @ USM

8. MTSU 2-3, 1-0

Ultimately, the most realistic goal is winning a division. This team was going to struggle a bit given the losses on offense — ahem, kid Stockstill — and the competition was tough to start the year. Middle is always tough, and they really kicked Marshall’s herd. The defense can play well enough, and there is enough gritty Asher O’Hara plays in the offense to pull some wins out, but I cannot make them clear favorites the rest of the way or anything.

LW: 10th. Next up: @FAU

9. Marshall 2-3, 0-1

Hey! Some passing yards. Oh wow. Lots of interceptions. The offense was going to be behind the defense, but it is now a drag on the entire operation. The division is very winnable even though WKU has a nice start, but the Herd have to pull it together if they want to compete seriously.

LW: 6th. Next up: ODU

10. ODU 1-4, 0-1

The Monarchs have a better feel-good record than their actual mark. They looked bad and ineffective against WKU but the Tops have a sneaky good defense. ODU are not especially good this season but then again no one is. This is year three of bad offense from Wilder, right?

LW: 9th. Next up: @ Marshall

11. UTSA 2-3, 1-1

In a basement battle, UTSA came out on top. It was an ugly game, an ugly broadcast, and an ugly final score. UTSA is all-in on the running QB with the occasional pass thrown in. That is how they will stay competitive. Sincere McCormick is balling out and now that teams have to at least consider that the QB will be something like a threat (with his legs, Narcisse had 115) he can get loose for more than garbage time yards.

LW: 13th. Next up: UAB

12. Rice 0-6, 0-2

The Owls had another good effort in a loss. There were some tough circumstances but the score was 21-20 at halftime before things went weird. That is not an excuse. This can go either way: Rice can use all these near-misses to power through or give up. The money is on the former, but the latter is a real possibility.

LW: 11th. Next up: Bye, then @UTSA

13. FIU 2-3, 0-2

A cathartic win over UMASS only does so much for confidence. FIU still woke up down an effective 3 games in the division (2 in the L column, and the tiebreak vs WKU). Charlotte is going to be a test. James Morgan seems back to his 2018 self, and FIU will need it against a CLT team that can score.

LW: 14th. Next up: Charlotte

14. UTEP 1-4, 0-2

Bad loss. Whereas there are praises being sung for winless Rice, there are criticisms and buyout whispers around the UTEP program. This was always going to be a long rebuild, but the hope was that a guy like Kai Locksley could be the kind of jump-start that a program like this needed. Instead, the Miners struggle to move the ball. Right now Miner fans look forward to watching the Packers and Aaron Jones.

LW: 13th. Next up: Bye, then @ FIU

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