With five teams on their bye week, it’s a lighter schedule around Conference USA this week.  Five Saturday games, including four division matchups in league play comprise the week six C-USA docket.

2019 Week Six Previews.(pdf)
 
East Division foes Marshall and Middle Tennessee meet up in Murfreesboro in the conference opener for both schools (2:30 pm CT on CBS Sports Network on Facebook).  The teams have split six matchups as members of Conference USA, with the road team winning the past two years.
 
Old Dominion will play its first league game in the renovated S.B. Ballard Stadium when WKU comes to town (5 pm CT on ESPN+).  The Monarchs, who are playing their conference opener, won a wild game by three points last year in Bowling Green over the Hilltoppers, who are in first place in the East Division with a 2-0 record in league play.
 
UAB will put its 14-game home field winning streak on the line when it welcomes Rice to Birmingham (6 pm CT on ESPN+).  The Blazers have the top ranked total defense and scoring defense in C-USA, but those are two categories that the Owls are showing significant improvement in this fall despite playing the nation’s sixth-toughest schedule through five weeks.
 
In-state rivals UTSA and UTEP will battle in El Paso (7 pm CT on ESPN+).  The Roadrunners, coming off their bye week, have had success running the ball this season, ranking fourth in the league averaging 166.5 yards on the ground.  The Miners offense received a late spark last week from senior QB Kai Locksley, who came off the bench to throw for 109 yards and rush for 114 in the fourth quarter, including a 63-yard touchdown.
 
The lone non-conference game on the schedule is Massachusetts at FIU (6 pm CT).  This is the third straight season that the Minutemen are visiting Miami, as the Panthers looked to get back on track coming off a bye week.  FIU has scored 63 points against UMass in each of the last two years.
 
 
WEEK SIX C-USA FOOTBALL PREVIEWS
 
MARSHALL (2-2, 0-0 in C-USA) at MIDDLE TENNESSEE (1-3, 0-0 in C-USA)
Saturday, October 5
2:30 p.m. CT
Murfreesboro, Tennessee (Floyd Stadium)
Television: CBSSN on Facebook
Announcers: Dave Ryan (PxP), Corey Chavous (AN), John Schriffen (SL)
All-Time Series:  Marshall leads 5-3
Last Meeting: Middle Tennessee 34, Marshall 24 (Oct. 5, 2018)
 
FAST FACTS
**The teams have split six matchups as members of Conference USA, with the road team winning the past two years.
**Marshall has won seven of its last eight Conference USA openers, with the only loss coming in 2016 at North Texas. 
**Last Saturday’s game against Cincinnati was the 120th in Doc Holliday’s head coaching career at Marshall, making him the all-time leader in games coached in program history.  Cam Henderson coached 119 games from 1935-1949.  In his 10th season with the Thundering Herd, Holliday is 72-48 (.600), which includes a 6-0 record in bowl games.
**Sophomore RB Brenden Knox comes into the game ranked fourth in C-USA in rushing at 74.0 yards per game.  He has a team-high four rushing touchdowns, though he saw his five-game scoring streak snapped last week against Cincinnati.
**Junior S Nazeeh Johnson and senior LB Omari Cobb established new career highs for tackles with 13 and 11, respectively, vs. Cincinnati.  Johnson is the third Herd defender to register 13 tackles in a game this season (Beckett and Drayton each had 13 stops at Boise State).
**Middle Tennessee is 5-1 in conference openers since joining C-USA in 2013.
**Redshirt sophomore QB Asher O’Hara has led the Blue Raiders in rushing all four games this season, totaling 235 yards on 52 attempts.  Throwing the ball, O’Hara has completed 70.3% of his passes for 895 yards and eight touchdowns.  He has also not thrown an interception in his last 55 pass attempts.
**Senior WR Ty Lee, who has caught at least one pass in a nation-leading 44 consecutive games, is second in Middle Tennessee history with 22 career touchdown receptions.  His next TD will tie him for the record with current San Francisco 49ers receiver Richie James.  Lee comes into the Marshall game as the NCAA’s active leader in career receptions with 227.  The next closest player behind Lee is SMU’s James Proche with 224 career receptions.
**Junior S Reed Blankenship is off to a great start in 2019.  He leads the team and ranks ninth in C-USA with 8.3 total stops a game to go with a team-high two interceptions (ranks 14th nationally), a forced fumble and a blocked kick.  He currently has eight career interceptions.
**Senior LB Khalil Brooks has been a disruptive force during his career and his numbers back it up.  Brooks currently stands fourth all-time at MT in quarterback sacks with 15.0 while also ranking fourth in tackles for loss with 35.0.  Last week, he was named one of 30 FBS candidates for the 2019 Senior CLASS award.  To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I FBS senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
 
MORE
Marshall Football: http://www.herdzone.com/sports/m-footbl/mars-m-footbl-body.html
Middle Tennessee Football: http://www.goblueraiders.com/index.aspx?path=football
 
 
WKU (2-2, 2-0 in C-USA) at OLD DOMINION (1-3, 0-0 in C-USA)
Saturday, October 5
6 p.m. ET
Norfolk, Virginia (Kornblau Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium)
Television: ESPN+
Announcers: Ted Alexander (PxP), Andy Mashaw (AN), Doug Ripley (SL)
All-Time Series: WKU leads 4-1
Last Meeting: Old Dominion 37, at WKU 34 (Oct. 20, 2018)
 
FAST FACTS
**Last year’s meeting in Bowling Green featured ODU scoring 18 unanswered points in the final 5:40 and three untimed downs to end the game.  The unique series of events led to the game-winning, 26-yard field goal by Nick Rice in the Monarchs 37-34 win.
**Junior LB Kyle Bailey intercepted two passes and recorded 1.5 tackles for loss in WKU’s 20-13 victory vs. defending Conference USA champion UAB to earn C-USA Defensive Player of the Week honors.  He finished with seven total tackles, while also adding a QB hurry that caused a rushed pass attempt and led directly to WKU’s fourth interception of the game.  Bailey’s performance was the first multiple-interception game by a Hilltopper since Nick Holt on November 27, 2015 in a 49-28 victory vs. Marshall.  It is one of only three two-interception games this year among Conference USA defenders.
**Junior DE DeAngelo Malone recorded two sacks and three tackles for loss with 10 total tackles against UAB.  Malone bumped his season total to nine tackles for loss, which leads C-USA and stands third in FBS.  Malone is currently tied for 31st in FBS with 9.3 total tackles per game; the next-best defensive lineman is Kenny Willekes of Michigan State, who is tied for 155th in FBS with 6.8 tackles per game. Malone also leads the Hilltoppers with four sacks, which is tied for second in C- USA.
**Freshman K Cory Munson picked up his second C-USA Special Teams Player of the Week award this season on Monday.  He connected on field goals of 35 and 28 yards in the first half of WKU’s 20-13 victory vs. UAB and went and 2-for-2 in extra point tries for 8 points scored, the most of any C-USA kicker in Week 5.  In two conference games, Munson is 4-for-4 in field goal attempts and for the season he is 11-for-11 in extra point tries.
**Arkansas graduate transfer QB Ty Storey made his first WKU start last week and was 15-of-24 for 189 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 26 rushing yards.
**Old Dominion is proving very difficult to run the ball against this season.  The Monarchs are allowing just 2.8 yards per carry and 94.0 yards per game, both second only to UAB in each category among Conference USA teams and 19th nationally in both.  This is a dramatic improvement from last season when ODU finished last in the league against the run, surrendering an average of 216.4 yards per outing. 
**Junior QB Stone Smartt completed 20-of-30 passes for 203 yards and two interceptions, while rushing 22 times for 76 yards and a touchdown in ODU's 24-21 loss to East Carolina last week.  In his first four starts as a Monarch, Smartt has 689 passing yards and 163 rushing yards.  He has also rushed for a touchdown in four straight games to start the season.
**Junior LB Lawrence Garner recorded a game-high 10 tackles in ODU's 24-21 loss to East Carolina. He registered a half tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry.  Seven of his 10 tackles were solo.  Garner, who led C-USA in tackles last season, is currently fifth in the circuit with 35 stops this fall.
**Old Dominion blocked a field goal attempt for the second-straight game last Saturday vs. East Carolina, as junior DT Jeremy Meiser blocked a 45-yard kick.  The Monarchs are the only C-USA school with multiple blocked kicks this season.
 
MORE
WKU Football: http://wkusports.com/index.aspx?path=football
Old Dominion Football:  http://www.odusports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=31100&SPID=127313&SPSID=750425&DB_OEM_ID=31100
 
 
RICE (0-5, 0-1 in C-USA) at UAB (3-1, 0-1 in C-USA)
Saturday, October 5
6 p.m. CT
Birmingham, Alabama (Legion Field)
Broadcast: ESPN+
Announcers: Curt Bloom (PxP), Chad Pilcher (AN)
All-Time Series: UAB leads 4-3
Last Meeting: UAB 42, at Rice 0 (Oct. 13, 2018)
 
FAST FACTS
**Rice junior LB Blaze Alldredge recorded a career-high 13 tackles vs. Louisiana Tech on Saturday. That gives him 42 stops on the season, which ranks second in C-USA.  Alldredge is also second in the league in tackles for loss with 8.0.
**The Owls defense is showing improvement from last season despite playing the nation’s sixth-toughest schedule through the first five weeks (Rice’s opponents are a combined 14-3 in games other than playing the Owls).  The unit is allowing 6.6 less points and 41 yards less of total offense per game than it did last season.
**Senior RB Aston Walter set career-highs with 20 rushing attempts for 112 yards and two touchdowns last Saturday against Louisiana Tech. It was his first career 100-yard rushing game.  The touchdown runs of 16 and 2-yards gave him four rushing scores on the season and six total TDs this year.
**Senior WR Austin Trammell had five receptions for 53 yards last week vs. LA Tech to give him a team-high 23 catches on the season for 284 yards.  He also had two kick returns for 36 yards, moving him into the school’s all-time top ten in two categories.  Trammell now has 40 career kick returns, passing Andray Downs (2003-06) for 10th place on Rice's all-time list and he has 891 career kick return yards, passing Gene Fleming (1962-64) and Chuck Latourette (1964-66) for ninth place.
**Three of the Owls five games have been decided by one possession, including last week’s 23-20 overtime loss to Louisiana Tech.
**UAB is 14-0 at Legion Field since the beginning of the 2017 season.  Only six FBS schools have a longer active home winning streak than the Blazers.
**After becoming UAB’s career leading rusher last week at WKU (2,818 yards and counting), junior RB Spencer Brown can break another milestone against Rice.  Brown needs one more 100-yard rushing game to become UAB’s career leader in that category.  With 12 100-yard games, he and Joe Webb (2006-09) are currently tied at the top. Brown, who has 262 rushing yards through four games, will also be looking for his first 100-yard game of the season.
**Sophomore QB Tyler Johnston III has found his go-to receivers in junior Austin Watkins, Jr., senior Kendall Parham and junior Myron Mitchell.  These three have combined to haul in 737 of UAB’s 927 receiving yards (79.5 percent).  Watkins, Jr. leads the way with 15 catches and 289 yards, while Parham ranks fifth nationally in yards per reception at 27.2.  All seven of their combined touchdown receptions have been 20 yards or more.
**UAB leads Conference USA and ranks 15th nationally in scoring defense. The Blazers have not allowed more than 20 points in any of their four games this year. 
**The Blazers have tallied at least eight tackles for loss in three of their four games this season and rank 18th in that category with a total of 31.
 
MORE
Rice Football: https://riceowls.com/index.aspx?path=football
UAB Football: http://uabsports.com/index.aspx?path=football
 
 
MASSACHUSETTS (1-4) at FIU (1-3, 0-2 in C-USA)
Saturday, October 5
7 p.m. ET
Miami, Florida (Riccardo Silva Stadium)
Television: ESPN3
Announcers: A.J. Ricketts (PxP), Kenny Kelly (AN)
All-Time Series: Series Tied 2-2
Last Meeting: at FIU 63, UMass 24 (Sept. 15, 2018)
 
FAST FACTS
**In a bit of a scheduling oddity, this is the third straight season that the Minutemen are visiting Miami.  The Panthers have won the last two years, scoring 63 points in each victory.
**Graduate QB James Morgan finished the Louisiana Tech game on Sept. 20 with three touchdowns, two in the air and one on the ground, after he threw for 394 yards on 29-of-41 passing.  The 394 yards were the second-most in a game at FIU, just six yards shy of the record of 400 by Paul McCall vs. Florida Atlantic in 2008.
**Senior WR Austin Maloney registered a career-high 113 yards receiving at LA Tech.  He leads the Panthers with receiving 207 yards on the season.
**Junior LB Jamal Gates leads the team with 31 tackles after posting a career-high 12 stops against Louisiana Tech.  He is closing in on his 2018 season tackle total through four games
**This is the second of three games for UMass against C-USA schools this season.  The Minutemen lost at Charlotte, 52-17, on September 14th and will visit Louisiana Tech next week.
**QB Michael Curtis threw for two touchdowns and ran for another while CB Isaiah Rodgers returned an interception for a score as first-year head coach Walt Bell earned his first win at the helm of the UMass program in a 37-29 decision over Akron last Saturday.
 
MORE
Massachusetts Football: https://umassathletics.com/index.aspx?path=football
FIU Football: http://www.fiusports.com/index.aspx?path=football
 
 
UTSA (1-3, 0-1 in C-USA) at UTEP (1-3, 0-1 in C-USA)
Saturday, October 5
6 p.m. MT
El Paso, Texas (Sun Bowl)
Broadcast: ESPN+
Announcers: Andy Morgan (PxP), Trevor Vittatoe (AN)
All-Time Series: UTSA leads 4-2
Last Meeting: at UTSA 30, UTEP 21 (Sept. 29, 2018)
 
FAST FACTS
**UTSA has won all three previous meetings at the Sun Bowl.
**UTSA freshman tailback Sincere McCormick has enjoyed a successful start to his collegiate career.  The San Antonio product has rushed 45 times for 250 yards and three touchdowns through the first four games and is averaging 5.6 yards per carry (fifth in C-USA) and 62.5 yards per contest.
**The Roadrunners have emerged as one of the top defenses in the nation when it comes to passing yards allowed. UTSA leads Conference USA and ranks seventh among FBS teams — one spot ahead of Wisconsin and right behind Ohio State — in passing yards allowed per game.  Through four games, the Roadrunners have surrendered a total of 588 yards through the air, an average of 147 yards per contest.
**Senior Andrew Martel spent his first three seasons as a safety and special teams standout for the Roadrunners.  This year, he made the move to linebacker and has flourished in his new role, leading the team in total tackles with 28 and solo stops with 19.  After registering four tackles in each of the first two contests, he has posted 10 stops in each of the last two games.
**Senior KR Brett Winnegan is the program record-holder for kickoff returns (68) and kickoff return yardage (1,515) and he boasts a career return average of 22.3 yards.  This season, the preseason All-C-USA pick ranks third in the league and 25th in FBS with a 25.8-yard kickoff return average.
**UTEP is currently one of only eight FBS teams in the nation to put up perfect numbers in the red zone through the first five weeks of the college football season. The Miners enter Saturday’s home game versus UTSA a perfect 12-for-12 inside the 20-yard line. In four games, UTEP has six touchdowns (6 rushing) and six field goals a total of 59 points put on the board in the red zone thus far.
**Senior RB Treyvon Hughes currently leads the Miners in TDs with four rushing scores in four games, which ranks third in C-USA and 33rd nationally.  Hughes scored his first two TDs of the season in the 2019 season opener versus Houston Baptist, while he followed that performance with another pair of scores in UTEP’s last home game versus Nevada.
**UTEP tight end Jess Trussell, one of the many new additions for the Miners this season, has caught a pass in four consecutive games for the Miners, including a long reception of 37 yards against Nevada (9/21).  Last week against Southern Miss he had three catches for 33 yards.  A transfer from Purdue, Trussell had no catches in 22 games for the Boilermakers from 2016-18.
**UTEP is averaging 46.5 rushing attempts in home games this season.  The Miners ran the ball 46 times in the opener versus Houston Baptist (8/31) and 47 times versus Nevada (9/21). The last time UTEP had 46+ rushing attempts in consecutive home games was in 2014 against Texas Tech (53) and New Mexico State (58).
 
MORE
UTSA Football: http://www.goutsa.com/index.aspx?path=football
UTEP Football: http://www.utepathletics.com/index.aspx?path=football