At the end of week seven, only two teams in the American Athletic Conference remain undefeated: UH and Louisville. They are two of only 17 teams in all of college football that remain undefeated, with UH standing as the only unranked team among them. The Cougars will face Louisville in Kentucky on Nov. 16.
Injuries are on the minds of Louisville and Rutgers as they set to face off on Thursday. Louisville could have to face their former Big East opponent without their starting receiver DeVante Parker, who injured his shoulder in the first quarter in the Cardinals’ win over Temple on Saturday. Parker leads the Cardinals with six touchdowns and 21 receptions for 375 yards. With Louisville’s passing game taking a hit, Rutgers may suffer a blow to their rushing game after losing their running back Paul James, who is ranked second in the nation with 573 rushing yards, to a lower leg injury during Rutgers’ win over Arkansas last month.
Conference scores: Cincinnati fell to South Florida 26-20, Louisville crushed Temple 30-7, SMU was just shy of a victory, losing 55-52 to Rutgers in triple-overtime and Memphis nearly upset Central Florida, ultimately losing 24-17 after a fumble in the final minutes.
Offensive Player of the Week: Senior SMU quarterback Garrett Gilbert threw for 484 yards and completed five touchdowns, setting school records in attempts, completions, passing yards, total offense and touchdowns in a single game.
Defensive Player of the Week: UCF junior linebacker Terrance Plummer had two interceptions in the end zone, cementing the Knights’ 24-17 victory over Memphis. Plummer finished the game with a total of five tackles, one tackle for loss, two pass break-ups and his first career sack. Plummer has previously received conference honors this season.
Special Teams Player of the Week: USF junior kicker Marvin Kloss scored all of the Bulls’ offensive points in their 26-20 win over Cincinnati. Kloss completed all four field goal attempts and earned two extra points. His second-quarter 52-yard field goal put the Bulls with a comfortable 13-0 lead over the Bearcats and was the third-longest field goal in school history.
Compiled by Kathleen Murrill
