C-USA, Group of Five, Predictions

2019 College Football Season Conference Predictions C-USA

2019 College Football Season Conference Predictions C-USA

Conference USA or C-USA as it is normally referred to looks like being rather competitive this year with it being possible to make a case for four teams in each division being Conference champions. Sadly this almost certainly means that none of them is likely to get the at large bid to a New Years Bowl.

This is how we see the divisions panning out:

Conference -USA East

The Herd look capable of winning the Conference in 2019.
Editorial credit: Aspen Photo / Shutterstock.com

1st Marshall Thundering Herd

The Thundering Herd may have the best offensive line in the conference in 2019 returning four starters including Levi Brown at center. They also have QB in Isaiah Green returning at quarterback and two decent Running backs in Tyler King and Brenden Knox who both averaged over 6 yards per carry in 2018. They did lose their most consistent WR in Tyre Brady who is now in the NFL, but Grad transfer Tavin Richardson will find life a little easier here than in the SEC. The Non-Conference games are tough, but not unwinnable and they get Louisiana Tech & Florida International at home. Overall it will be close but they are our tip to take the East.

Predicted Record 8-4

2nd Florida Atlantic Owls (FAU)

Head Coach Lane Kiffin starts his third season in charge of FA hoping to make up for the disappointment of last seasons 5-7 record. In his first season, he led FAU to the Conference Title and a Bowl, however an ambitious 2018 non-conference slate which included Oklahoma & UCF led to heavy defeats and three narrow conference losses at Mid Tennessee, North Texas as shockingly at home to Charlotte by a total of 7 points meant they missed out on a Bowl game.

The offense lost a few pieces to the NFL but they still have Chris Robinson at QB, and Harrison Bryant is one of the best Tight Ends in the Conference. The defense was not great last year but a few starters are back and they should be better this time around.  The schedule once again starts tough with games against Ohio State and UCF so anything better than an 0-2 start should really get the pulse racing, however, it then gets a whole lot easier and all of their main conference games – Middle Tennessee, Marshall, FIU, Southern Miss – are at home. The games against Marshall & FIU will probably decide the division.

Predicted Record 8-4

3rd Florida International Panthers (FIU)

The Panthers led the conference in points per game in 2018 and with James Morgan returning for his senior year at QB they should pile up the points again. He will be pleased that three of his O-Line are returning including senior Dallas Connell and 302lb center Shane McGough. They also have a stable of Running Backs with a triple threat of Anthony Jones, D’Vonte Price & Napoleon Maxwell, who they will probably rotate. The defense was good last ear too and a number of starters are coming back. Overall they may have the best overall roster in the conference. So why are they not our tip for the title? – Because their schedule is brutal. The Non-Conference games include a trip to Tulane which is no gimme and also includes a neutral ground game against ACC Miami going 1-1 in those will be good and 0-2 a distinct possibility. Then to cap things off their four toughest conference games – Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, Florida Atlantic and Marshall are all road games. November sees them playing the latter two with Miami sandwiched in between and this may just take its toll. Still, a Bowl game looks assured.

Predicted Record 7-5

Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders

Mid Tennessee had a great 2018 reaching the conference final which they lost to UAB and the New Orleans Bowl where they were well beaten by a very good Appalachian State. Their only Divisional loss was at FIU and the other three losses were all against SEC teams. However last years QB Brent Stockstill is gone and his replacement is not sorted yet, plus a number of other starters are gone. The good news for whoever gets the job is that WR Ty Lee will be back. The schedule is brutal over the first eight games and includes trips to Michigan, Iowa, FAU & North Texas. Chuck in home games against Duke, Marshall & FIU and 1-7 is not beyond the realms of possibility. They should win out from there and we think they will pick up a win from the others so bowl eligibility looks a possibility.

Predicted Record 6-6

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (WKU)

WKU had a poor 2018 but did seem to get better as the season wore on and finished the season with a couple of wins. They have a new head coach Tyson Helton and ten starters returning so improvement is possible. The QB situation is not certain and they used three guys last year two of whom are back, plus they have Arkansas transfer Ty Storey. If one of these clicks then the offense will be good. Looking at their schedule we can’t see too many wins but they should improve on last year but might not make a bowl game.

Predicted Record 5-7

Charlotte 49ers

Another team with a new head coach, this time it’s Will Healy who did a good job with FCS Austin Peay making them a running force. The good news is that QB Chris Reynolds should be back having recovered from an ankle injury, the bad news – not many other starters are returning. They went 5-7 last year but three of those wins were by a field goal and The schedule looks a lot tougher this year and we can see them easily losing seven or more.

Predicted Record 4-8

Old Dominion Monarchs

The Monarchs were not a bad team on offense last year averaging 400+ yards a game, however, that was with Blake LaRussa at QB and he had Travis Fulgham and Jonathan Duhart at wide receiver. Both receivers are at the Detroit Lions now so there are some big shoes to fill. add to that a pretty anaemic running game and question marks against the O-Line and things don’t look so good.  Defensively they were the C-USA’s worst defense giving up on average 471 yards and 36 points per game. So you have a team with holes on offense and a poor defense. That usually adds up to a losing season and with a tough non-conference line up including Virginia Tech, who will be out to avenge last seasons shock defeat we can see them taking a step back.

Predicted Record 3-9

Conference – USA West

The Mean Green could be the most exciting team to watch in C-USA in 2019 Editorial credit: Mark Fann / Shutterstock.com

North Texas Mean Green

North Texas look to have the best offence in C-USA with most of their starters coming back including potential conference player of the year  QB Mason Fine who averaged over 300 yards per game last year. EA big chunk of his receiving corp is also back led by Rico Bussey Jr. who had over 1000 yards and 12 TDs last year. Ok, Jaylon Guyton had departed for Dallas but Jaelon Darden can step up and despite getting less opportunity given the pass-first offence RB DeAndre Torrey still racked up 977 yards on the ground. The O-Line has also strengthened with the addition of Virginia Tech transfer D’Andre Plantin so its short odds they will lead the conference on offence again in 2019.

The Defense has lost both its starting Corners and a couple of really good Line Backers but still has a few pieces including safety Khairi Muhammad who looks like a potential NFL player. Overall the defence doesn’t need to be great for them to win a lot of games, however, with a tough schedule, it may need to stand up at times. Speaking of schedule it looks a lot harder this time around with road games at SMU, Cal, Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech. They also have Houston at home on the non-conference slate. Having both  Middle Tennessee and UAB at home is a big advantage though and it could all boil down to the head to head, with that final game vs the Blazers being one to watch.

Predicted Record 9-3

UAB Blazers

The University of Alabama Birmingham to give it its full title has been one of the fairytale stories of College Football. After being closed down in 2014 right after getting Bowl eligible for only the second time in their history, the Blazers came back for the 2017 season under Head Coach Bill Clark and won 8 games. Then last year they went 9-3, won the Conference title and picked up their first-ever Bowl win in the Boca Raton Bowl; some achievement!

So can Bill do the hat trick and become a legend at UAB? Well they have a lot of new faces this year (20 Freshmen) and 17 of last years starters are gone, however, they must have foreseen this and rotated some of the backups in and out of games so some of the last year’s backups have played quite a few snaps. Last years starting QB AJ Erdely is gone but that’s not such an issue as back up Tyler Johnston III played a few games towards the end of the year and lit it up throwing for 306 yards at Texas A&M and torching NIU in the Boca Raton Bowl where he threw 4 TDs. Running Back Spencer Brown also returns and he will be looking to go well over a 1000 yards again this year. Overall the Offence should be just as good and possibly better. Not the same story on Defense though with 10 contributing players gone including their main pressure guys in Jamell Garcia-Williams, Tre Crawford and Quindarius Thagard. Still, there was a bit of depth last year with 16 players registering at least one sack so they should still be formidable.

The other positive for the Blazers is that their first seven games are all against lesser teams, and a case could be made for them going 7-0. It gets mich harder thereafter with road trips to Tennessee., Southern Miss & North Texas, however, the team will have gelled by then.  Overall a third consecutive Bowl game looks likely but 10 regular-season wins is a stretch.

Predicted Record 9-3

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs

Louisiana Tech made the most of a pretty soft schedule ion 2018 to finish with seven wins and then took the Hawaii Bowl to round off a good season.  Their losses included SEC ranked sides LSU & Mississippi Stare and overall they beat the weaker teams and lost to the good ones and the schedule if anything loos slightly easier this year outside of that opener at Texas. They get three of their toughest conference rivals at home and they could easily be 7-1 before that horrible November slate hits, which starts with North Texas and then gives them road games at  Marshall & UAB in consecutive weeks.

Squad wise they should be strong defensively again and ok on offense, hence we see them in another Bowl game at least and they could push for the division.

Predicted record 7-5

Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles

The Golden Eagles have a pretty torrid start to the season (well apart from their opener against Alcorn State) and they will be without star wideout Quez Watkins who is suspended for the first two games. This shouldn’t be an issue though as they would probably be 1-1 with him anyway given game two is at Mississippis State. They round out their first four games with trips to Troy & Alabama, so a 1-3 start is highly likely.

Roster wise they are bringing a host of starters back including all five starters are back on an offensive line. Not sure if this is a blessing or a curse though given they gave up 33 sacks last year! The running game was not great last year but Trivenskey Mosley showed flashes and QB Jack Abraham is stable if unexciting, preferring short dunk passes which keep the chains moving. Which brings us to the reason they could succeed in 2019 the defense. Six starters are back and they were the nation’s third-best last year allowing an average of just 278 yards and 19.8 points per game.  So with a solid offense who keep hold of the ball and a stingy defense they should be in with a shout in most games, which brings us back to that schedule again. The non- conference line up is brutal and the divisional matchups are not great with road games at Louisiana Tech and FAU to finish the season. They should get to a Bowl game this year.

Predicted Record 7-5

Texas San Antonio Roadrunners (UTSA)

UTSA were not good in 2018 and there is little reason to expect much of an uptick this time around. Offensively they were plumb last averaging just 247 yards per game, scoring a mere 14 points per outing. There are a load of young starters coming back on offense, and the experience of last year won’t have done them any harm, however, it might take until the 2020 season for them to get it together. The defense was bad last year also allowing 436 total yards and 31 points per game, but they have Cassius Grady coming back who looks like a decent corner. He had 4 picks last year.

They open against FCS Incarnate Wood – which should give them at least one win and they should be good enough to beat Rice and UTEP, so three wins are possible matching last years record. They might be quite good in 2020 though if everyone continues to improve.

Predicted Record 3-9

UTEP Miners

UTEP finished 1-11 last season, but despite still being terrible, they were not as bad as they were in 2017 and they at least started to score some points. They had a lot of inexperienced players on the O-Line last year, but with the offense returning eight of its starters they could improve and they will have Kai Locksley back after his indiscretions. If he can grow up both on and off the field and the O-Line has learned from last years beatings then the Miners could take another faltering step forward this year. The Defense has five starters returning and although the line was bad some of the secondary looked ok. Again don’t expect miracles but if they can get some production out of their linebackers then they might keep the score down a bit. Schedule wise they face Houston Baptist who went 1-11 in FCS play last year so they should open with a win, but thereafter it looks like a battle with Rice to avoid the wooden spoon.

Predicted Record 2-10 

Rice Owls

Rice managed two wins last year one in their opener against FCS opposition and in their final game against Old Dominion. The eleven losses in between saw them giving up 40+ points in seven of them and they only gave up less than 30 points twice. One bright spot was the emergence of QB Wiley Green who player reasonably well when he got his chance. Can he win games for them this year – probably not, but if he can avoid turning it over and running back Juma Otoviano can continue where he left off in 2018 then they might make things difficult for a few teams.

With no FCS team on the schedule and a non-conference schedule of Army, Wake Forest, Texas & Baylor a dreaded zero in the wins column looks on the cards.

Predicted Record 0-12

 

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