Every bit of suspense as far as who would win Conference USA was taken care of on Thursday night. With SMU’s overtime win over East Carolina and Tulsa’s defeat of Southern Miss, SMU clinched honors as West champions and UCF clinched East champions by virtue of the two teams that could tie them both losing. Everything is now wrapped up asides from whether the Cougars can sneak their way into a bowl game.
Scores
SMU 45, East Carolina 38 (OT) — ECU rallied from down 14 at the end of the third quarter to catch up to SMU, but Kyle Padron and company were able to win the game in overtime on a one-yard run by Zach Line to clinch their spot in the Conference USA Championship game.
UCF 37, Memphis 17 — Memphis never really made a game of this after the first quarter as UCF rolled to an easy and comfortable victory that they didn’t really need. UCF only threw 17 times, but Jeff Godfrey completed 14 of those for 253 yards and two touchdowns.
Tulane 23, Marshall 38 — In a very sad game for passing, Marshall outlasted Tulane to get win number five. Tulane quarterback Ryan Griffin threw for 370 yards, but needed 65 attempts to get there and threw three interceptions.
Rice 28, UAB 23 — Jeremy Eddington ran for a touchdown in the final thirty seconds to lead Rice to a comeback win over UAB to end the season in the win column. Three separate Rice players finished with 50 or more yards rushing.
Southern Miss 50, Tulsa 56 — In a back-and-forth battle of two offensive juggernauts, Tulsa was able to stand up tall in the last two minutes on defense and hold off Southern Miss. GJ Kinne threw for 406 yards and 4 TD’s for the Golden Hurricane, and Austin Davis had 371 yards and 3 TD’s of his own for the Golden Eagles.
Houston 20, Texas Tech 35 -- Full recap here.
Conference USA Standings
WEST
SMU Mustangs 6-2 (7-5)
Tulsa Golden Hurricane 6-2 (9-3)
Houston Cougars 4-4 (5-7)
Rice Owls 4-5 (5-8)
UTEP Miners 3-5 (6-6)
Tulane Green Wave 2-6 (4-8)
EAST
Central Florida Knights 8-1 (10-3)
East Carolina Pirates 5-3 (6-6)
Southern Miss. Golden Eagles 5-3 (8-4)
Marshall Thundering Herd 4-4 (5-7)
UAB Blazers 3-6 (4-9)
Memphis Tigers 0-9 (1-12)