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AAC Update: Close calls for East’s best teams

Andres Chio/The Cougar

 

Week seven of the 2018 college football season is in the books, and while there were some surprises, the American Athletic Conference went as expected for the most part.

Houston defeated East Carolina 42-20 Saturday night to improve to a 2-0 record in conference and 5-1 overall.

The Navy Midshipmen fell to 1-2 in conference after losing to the Temple Owls 24-17 Saturday, leaving them at No. 4 in the division. Navy is now 2-4 on the season overall.

Memphis sits at No. 5 in the West after it lost to No. 10 UCF. The Tigers were up 30-17 at halftime, but the Knights managed to score touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters to win 31-30.

Rounding out the West is Tulsa, which has yet to find a conference win. The Hurricanes led the Bulls 24-10 to start the fourth quarter, but USF mounted a comeback and knocked home a 22-yard field goal as the clock expired to record its sixth win.

In the East division, there is quite a bit of competition. Four teamshave yet to lose in conference play, while the other two have yet to win.

The Knights and the Owls top the East with 3-0 records in conference games. However, UCF lead its division as the team has yet to lose, while Temple is 4-3 overall. Tied for second are the other two ranked teams in the AAC, Cincinnati and USF. Both teams have 2-0 records in conference and 6-0 records overall. Cincinnati jumped five spots to No. 20 in the week eight rankings, while USF moved up two to No. 21.

While Memphis has under-performed this season, junior running back Darrell Henderson is having quite a season. He is No. 2 in the country for rushing touchdowns, has the most overall touchdowns and is No. 5 in ESPN’s Heisman Watch.

Henderson is not the only AAC player with a chance of taking home the award, as both UH junior defensive tackle Ed Oliver and UCF junior quarterback McKenzie Milton are on the list.

Milton has thrown 16 touchdown passes this season, which is tied for No. 11 in the country. However, Houston junior quarterback D’Eriq King tops the conference in passing touchdowns with 20, which makes him No. 6.

A battle of the undefeated in conference will take place Saturday as Cincinnati will take on Temple at 11 a.m. and Houston will travel to Navy for a 2:30 p.m. game.

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