Four league games, three matchups against American Athletic Conference schools and one contest at a nationally-ranked Big Ten power make up this Saturday’s schedule in Conference USA.

2019 Week Five Previews.(pdf)
 
Florida Atlantic visits Charlotte to begin the day’s conference slate (2:30 pm CT on NFL Network).  The visiting team has won all four meetings in this East Division series.
 
A pair of West Division contests kick off at 6 pm CT.  Louisiana Tech visits Rice (ESPN3) and UTEP plays at Southern Miss (ESPN+).  The Bulldogs will be looking for a fourth straight victory this year and a sixth consecutive win over the Owls, who are playing in Houston for the fourth straight week.  The Golden Eagles have taken the last four matchups against the Miners as both teams open C-USA play.
 
UAB will make a visit to WKU for the first time since 2014, seeing to improve to 4-0 (6 pm CT on ESPN+).  The Hilltoppers are coming off a bye week and will be turning to a new quarterback in this one.
 
Two of the matchups against the American will be available via CBS Sports Network on Facebook.  Cincinnati will play at Marshall in the first matchup (4 pm CT), with Houston visiting North Texas in the nightcap (7 pm CT).
 
After a valiant effort at No. 21 Virginia, Old Dominion returns home to take on East Carolina in Norfolk for the first time.  Middle Tennessee comes off a bye week with a trip to No. 14 Iowa, its first meeting with the Hawkeyes.
 
 
WEEK FIVE C-USA FOOTBALL PREVIEWS
 
MIDDLE TENNESSEE (1-2, 0-0 in C-USA) at IOWA (3-0, 1-0 in Big Ten)
Saturday, September 28
11 a.m. CT
Iowa City, Iowa (Kinnick Stadium)
Television: ESPN2
Announcers: Kevin Brown (PxP), Andre Ware (AN)
All-Time Series:  First Meeting
 
FAST FACTS
**The game matches two of the most tenured head coaches in the FBS.  Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz is in his 21st season at Iowa, the longest run of any current head coach, while Middle Tennessee’s Rick Stockstill is in his 14th season with the Blue Raiders, making him the sixth-longest tenured.
**Through three games, sophomore QB Asher O’Hara has completed 70.7% of his passes (63-89) for 785 yards and eight TDs against just two interceptions.  He's also the team leader with 202 rushing yards and another touchdown.  O’Hara leads C-USA by averaging 329.0 yards of total offense.
**Senior WR Ty Lee has caught a pass in 43 consecutive games, is third all-time in receiving yards at Middle Tennessee (2,672) and second in touchdown receptions (22), one away from the record of 23, held by current San Francisco 49ers WR Richie James.
**Junior S Reed Blankenship has a team-high 29 tackles, two interceptions, a forced fumble and a blocked kick in the first three Blue Raiders outings.
**The Iowa offense, led by senior QB Nate Stanley, who has six TD passes and has not thrown an interception in his last 111 attempts, has scored in all 12 quarters this season and averages 405 total yards per game.
 
MORE
Middle Tennessee Football: http://www.goblueraiders.com/index.aspx?path=football
Iowa Football: https://hawkeyesports.com/index.aspx?path=football
 
 
FLORIDA ATLANTIC (2-2, 0-0 in C-USA) at CHARLOTTE (2-2, 0-0 in C-USA)
Saturday, September 28
3:30 p.m. ET
Charlotte, North Carolina (Richardson Stadium)
Television: NFL Network
Announcers: Dan Hellie (PxP), Max Starks (AN) Molly Sullivan (SL)
All-Time Series: Series Tied 2-2
Last Meeting: Charlotte 27, at Florida Atlantic 24 (Nov. 24, 2018)
 
FAST FACTS
**The visiting team has won all four meetings in the series.  Last year, K Jonathan Cruz kicked a school-record 56-yard field goal with 25 seconds left to give Charlotte a 27-24 win that allowed the school to set a program record for wins (five) since moving to the FBS level in 2015.
**Florida Atlantic sophomore QB Chris Robison has led the Owls to back-to-back victories by completing 65% of his passes for 745 yards and nine touchdowns with no interceptions.  Last Saturday in a 42-7 win over Wagner, Robison tied Rusty Smith’s school record for touchdown passes in a game with five.  He leads C-USA and is tied for 13th nationally with 10 TD passes on the season.
**Graduate transfer WR Deangelo Antoine caught a school-record four TD passes in the Wagner contest to earn C-USA Offensive Player of the week honors.  Antoine became just the eighth player in Conference USA history to catch at least four TD passes in a game and the first since 2016.  He finished with 11 receptions for 173 yards on the night.
**The Owls senior TE duo of Harrison Bryant and John Raine have combined for 34 receptions for 379 yards and three touchdowns through four games.  Bryant has a team-leading 249 receiving yards on 15 catches, while Raine’s 19 receptions are one more than he had combined in his first three seasons at FAU.  Raine has scored all three of the touchdowns.
**Senior LB Rashad Smith added to his turnover total against Wagner by intercepting his first pass of the season. Smith who also had 10 tackles in the game, now has forced four turnovers on the season.  Smith leads the Owls with 36 tackles and three fumble recoveries, and is now tied for the team lead in interceptions with one.
**Junior LB Akeilis Leroy is tied for the C-USA lead with 7.5 tackles for loss on the season.  He places second with 3.5 sacks and has registered 27 total tackles.
**Charlotte senior DE Alex Highsmith has been the productive leader of the 49ers defense.  Highsmith recorded his fifth sack of the season at No. 1 Clemson last Saturday, tying the 49ers single-season school record (5.0, Larry Ogunjobi, 2016) in just the fourth game of the year. That figure ranks sixth nationally, while his 6.5 tackles for loss rank 24th in the FBS.
**As a team, Charlotte leads the league in sacks (14; 3.50 per game), is second in pass defense (150 receiving yards per game) and third in C-USA in total defense (351.2 yards per game) and third-down defense (15-46; .326). 
**On the other side of the ball, Charlotte leads Conference USA in scoring offense (38.0 ppg), rushing offense (260.8 yards per game) and time of possession (34:33), is third in total offense (445.8 yards per game) and fourth in pass efficiency (149.9).
**Senior RB Benny LeMay has proven to be one of C-USA's most explosive offensive weapons.  He has rushed for over 100 yards in three games and his 81 yards at Clemson are the most the Tigers have allowed to an opposing player, this season.  His 432 rushing yards on the season lead C-USA, as does his five total touchdowns (four rushing).
**Sophomore QB Chris Reynolds has thrown seven touchdowns, while rushing for three more.
 
MORE
Florida Atlantic Football: http://www.fausports.com/sports/m-footbl/fau-m-footbl-body.html
Charlotte Football: http://www.charlotte49ers.com/index.aspx?path=football
 
 
CINCINNATI (2-1, 0-0 in American) at MARSHALL (2-1, 0-0 in C-USA)
Saturday, September 28
5 p.m. ET
Huntington, West Virginia (Joan C. Edwards Stadium)
Television: CBS Sports Network on Facebook
Announcers: Ben Holden (PxP), Ross Tucker (AN), Tina Cervasio (SL)
All-Time Series: Cincinnati leads 8-4-1
Last Meeting: Marshall 30, at Cincinnati 21 (Sept. 30, 2017)
 
FAST FACTS
**Sophomore TE Xavier Gaines recorded 105 all-purpose yards (career-high 52 rushing yards and season-high 53 receiving yards) and two touchdowns in Marshall’s 33-31 win over Ohio on Sept. 14.  He opened the game’s scoring with a 26-yard touchdown run in the first quarter (while lined up at quarterback) and capped it with a 43-yard receiving score in the fourth quarter.  Gaines became the first Herd player to have a rushing TD and a receiving TD in the same game since Hyleck Foster did so against Middle Tennessee in 2016.
**Sophomore RB Brenden Knox eclipsed 100 rushing yards for the fourth time in his career in the Herd’s last outing, gaining 133 yards on 16 attempts.  Knox also scored a rushing touchdown for the fifth consecutive game. 
**Junior LB Tavante Beckett is averaging a C-USA-best 10.3 tackles per game after posting back-to-back games with double-digit stops.
**Marshall was penalized only twice for a total of 20 yards in the win over Ohio.  The two penalties are the fewest the Herd has incurred in a game since drawing only two flags against Miami (Ohio) in 2014.
**Marshall has won 11 consecutive games when winning the turnover battle.
**Cincinnati junior RB Michael Warren II led all the rushers with 113 yards and three scores on 12 carries in the Bearcats win over Miami (Ohio) on Sept. 14.  He has eight career games with multiple touchdowns,
 
MORE
Cincinnati Football: https://gobearcats.com/index.aspx?path=football
Marshall Football: http://www.herdzone.com/sports/m-footbl/mars-m-footbl-body.html
 
 
EAST CAROLINA (2-2, 0-1 in American) at OLD DOMINION (1-1, 0-0 in C-USA)
Saturday, September 28
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: East Carolina leads 2-0
Last Meeting: at East Carolina 37, Old Dominion 35 (Sept. 29, 2018)
 
FAST FACTS
**Sophomore DE Keion White was named C-USA Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts last Saturday at No. 21 Virginia, recording six tackles, a career-high 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack.  White was playing in just his third career defensive game, as he played tight end last season.  He has 16 tackles, six tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks so far this season.
**At No. 21 Virginia, the Monarch defense allowed the fewest total yards vs a top-25 ranked team in week 4 with 244.  Wisconsin was next closest, allowing 299 vs. Michigan.  Additionally, ODU’s defense allowed a first down only once on 11 Virginia third down plays.
**Old Dominion is showing much improvement on the defensive side of the ball, allowing 2.74 yards per rush attempt (first in C-USA and 18th in nation), compared to 5.2 yards in 2018 (which was 117th).  In total defense, the Monarchs are 31st in 2019 (305 yards per game), compared to 118th (471.4) last season.  In yards allowed per play, Monarchs have improved from 107th (6.24) to 50th (5.11).
**Junior QB Stone Smartt rushed for his fourth touchdown of the season last week, giving ODU a 10-0 first quarter lead at Virginia.  He also threw his first career touchdown pass, a 47-yarder to sophomore RB Matt Geiger, his first career touchdown reception.
**East Carolina is now 2-2 on the season following a 19-7 win over William & Mary last week.  That marked the first time since 2009 that the Pirates won a game when scoring less than 20 points.
 
MORE
East Carolina Football: https://ecupirates.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
 
 
LOUISIANA TECH (3-1, 1-0 in C-USA) at RICE (0-4, 0-0 in C-USA)
Saturday, September 28
6 p.m. CT
Houston, Texas (Rice Stadium)
Broadcast: ESPN3
Announcers: ND Kalu (PxP), David Saltzman (AN)
All-Time Series: Louisiana Tech leads 8-4
Last Meeting: at Louisiana Tech 28, Rice 13 (Nov. 10, 2018)
 
FAST FACTS
**Louisiana Tech has won five straight in the series, which is the longest current winning streak among all series between Conference USA teams.
**LA Tech head Skip Holtz will be seeking win No. 50 with the Bulldogs.  He is 49-34 (.590) in his seventh year in Ruston, which includes five consecutive bowl victories.
**In LA Tech’s 43-31 win over FIU last Friday night, the Bulldog offense rolled up 565 total yards (its most since 2016) and a season-high 43 points (most vs. a C-USA opponent since 2016).
**Against FIU, junior RB Justin Henderson rushed 15 times for 141 yards and three touchdowns, becoming the first C-USA RB with a three-touchdown game this season.  Henderson’s career-high in yardage and TDs helped Henderson also became the first LA Tech RB with a three-touchdown rushing performance since Boston Scott (2016).  In the win, Henderson averaged 9.4 yards per rush attempt.
**Senior K Bailey Hale was named C-USA Special Teams Player of the Week following his outstanding performance vs. FIU.  He connected on all five of his field goal tries (5-for-5 from 25 (twice), 29, 41 and 45) and all four of his extra-point attempts.  Hale’s 19 points were the most scored by a C-USA kicker since September 2014 and tied for the third-most ever by a C-USA kicker.  His 5-for-5 outing tied the LA Tech program record (which Hale also matched last season at North Texas). 
**Junior LB Blaze Alldredge keyed a Rice defense effort that held the nation’s top scoring offense (59.5 points per game entering the contest) to just 21 points and none in the second half—the first time Baylor has been blanked in the second half in its last 20 games.  He matched his season high with eight tackles, including a pair for loss, to increase his season total to 7.5 TFL’s.  His first quarter TFL forced a fumble on a Baylor fourth down at the Rice 34 to stop a Bear drive and set up the Owls first scoring drive of the night.
**Junior WR Brad Rozner caught a career-high seven passes for 100 yards last week vs. Baylor.  It was his second 100-yard game in three weeks.  Rozner ranks sixth in C-USA in receiving yards with 15 catches for 250 yards.
**Head coach Mike Bloomgren has said he plans to use two quarterbacks again this week.  Redshirt freshman Wiley Green will start the first two drives, graduate transfer Tom Stewart will come in for the third series and they will split time the remainder of the game.
**Including Louisiana Tech, Rice’s first five opponents have a combined record of 16-3 (.842) this season, with all three of those losses to teams ranked in the top 10 at the time of the game.
 
MORE
Louisiana Tech Football: http://www.latechsports.com/sports/m-footbl/latc-m-footbl-body.html
Rice Football: https://riceowls.com/index.aspx?path=football
 
 
UTEP (1-2, 0-0 in C-USA) at SOUTHERN MISS (2-2, 0-0 in C-USA)
Saturday, September 28
6 p.m. CT
Hattiesburg, Mississippi (M.M. Roberts Stadium)
Broadcast: ESPN+
Announcers: Jason Baker (PxP), Marchant Kenney (AN)
All-Time Series: Southern Miss leads 7-3
Last Meeting: Southern Miss 39, at UTEP 7 (Nov. 24, 2018)
 
FAST FACTS
**Southern Miss has won this matchup in each of the last four years.
**Senior RB Treyvon Hughes accounted for both first-half touchdowns for UTEP last week, giving him four scores in two home games this season.  He rushed five times for 41 yards on the Miners’ first TD drive, and four times for 14 yards on their second TD drive.  Hughes is the first Miner to score multiple touchdowns in the first two home games of a season since current Green Bay Packers RB Aaron Jones in 2014 (versus Texas Tech and New Mexico State).
**Senior QB Kai Locksley has now scored seven rushing touchdowns in only 11 games for the Miners.
**The Miners are averaging 43.7 rushing attempts this season after running the ball 47 times last week.  UTEP is averaging 159.7 yards per game on the ground with six rushing TDs in three outings.
**USC transfer DB Ykili Ross picked off a pass for the second straight game against Nevada last Saturday night, making him the first UTEP player to achieve the feat since Dashone Smith at UTSA and versus Old Dominion in 2016.
**Senior DB DQ Thomas collected a career-high 10 tackles (eight solo) against No. 2 Alabama last week, including three for loss for eight yards.  He also collected his second interception of the year for the Golden Eagles.  Thomas leads the team with 34 total stops, including a team-best 7.0 TFLs and two sacks, to go along with a pair of interceptions.
**Junior QB Jack Abraham threw a touchdown pass for his sixth-straight game, hitting senior WR De’Michael Harris on a four-yard strike right before halftime at Alabama.  Abraham averages a C-USA-best 291.0 yards per game passing and has completed 69.8% of his passes.
**Southern Miss has the top two C-USA leaders in receiving yards.  Senior WR Jordan Mitchell is first with 18 receptions for 322 yards, while sophomore WR Jaylond Adams places second with 23 catches for 274 yards. 
**The Golden Eagles are 16-7 in C-USA opening games and 9-5 in games played in Hattiesburg.
 
MORE
UTEP Football: http://www.utepathletics.com/index.aspx?path=football
Southern Miss Football: http://www.southernmiss.com/sports/m-footbl/smis-m-footbl-body.html
 
 
UAB (3-0, 0-0 in C-USA) at WKU (1-2, 1-0 in C-USA)
Saturday, September 28
6 p.m. CT
Bowling Green, Kentucky (Houchens Stadium)
Television: ESPN+
Announcers: Nate Gatter (PxP), Brandon Doughty (AN)
All-Time Series: Series Tied 3-3
Last Meeting: UAB 42, at WKU 39 (Oct. 4, 2014)
 
FAST FACTS
**Defending Conference USA Champion UAB is off to its first 3-0 start as an FBS member following a 35-3 victory over South Alabama last Saturday, the Blazers 14th straight win at Legion Field.
**In his past two games, sophomore QB Tyler Johnston III has thrown for 632 yards and seven touchdowns.  He is now 7-1 as a starter and has thrown for over 300 yards in four of eight career starts. Johnston III currently ranks fourth nationally in yards per pass attempt (10.66).
**Junior RB Spencer Brown picked up 80 rushing yards and his first two touchdowns of the season vs. South Alabama, and in the process moved into sole possession of second place on UAB’s career rushing touchdown list with 28.
**Senior WR Kendall Parham is leading the nation with an average of 28.00 yards per reception.  Parham has scored a touchdown in three straight games to start the season (23 yards, 49 yards and 67 yards). He is coming off a career-high 107 yards against South Alabama and for the season has eight catches for 224 yards and three touchdowns
**The Blazers defense yielded just 190 yards of total offense to USA, while adding five sacks and eight tackles for loss. That unit ranks in the top 10 nationally in sacks, tackles for loss and third down defense.
**WKU head coach Tyson Helton spent the 2007-12 seasons at UAB, the first five as the quarterbacks coach, and then 2012 coaching the running backs and serving as the recruiting coordinator.
**With starting QB Steven Duncan out for the season, it will be between Arkansas transfer Ty Storey, redshirt sophomore Davis Shanley and redshirt freshman Kevaris Thomas to compete for the job.  Storey started nine games for the Razorbacks in 2018, completing 143-of-250 attempts for 1,560 yards passing, with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions.  Shanley saw substantial playing time in five games in 2018 for the Hilltoppers, completing 96-of-141 attempts for 942 yards, with three touchdowns and two interceptions.
**Junior WR Jahcour Pearson came into the season with 20 receptions in 21 career games and has now recorded a team-high 16 catches through the first three games.
**Junior DE DeAngelo Malone recorded 10 tackles in the Hilltoppers last game vs. Louisville, giving him a team-high 27 stops on the season.  He led C-USA through the first three weeks with 6.0 tackles for loss.
 
MORE
UAB Football: http://uabsports.com/index.aspx?path=football
WKU Football: http://wkusports.com/index.aspx?path=football
 
 
HOUSTON (1-3, 0-1 in American) at NORTH TEXAS (2-2, 1-0 in C-USA)
Saturday, September 28
7 p.m. CT
Denton, Texas (Apogee Stadium)
Television: CBS Sports Network on Facebook
Announcers: Dave Ryan (PxP), Corey Chavous (AN), John Schriffen (SL)
All-Time Series: Series Tied 7-7
Last Meeting: at Houston 44, North Texas 21 (Oct. 6, 2012)
 
FAST FACTS
**The last meeting in Denton came on Sept. 10, 2011 and was the inaugural game in Apogee Stadium.
**North Texas has now won 14 of its last 15 games at Apogee Stadium dating back to 2016 and is 16-4 under head coach Seth Littrell at home.
**From 2002 to 2015, North Texas scored 40 points 16 times.  Since Littrell's arrival in 2016, the Mean Green are now 16-0 when scoring 40 points or more.
**Redshirt sophomore RB Tre Siggers registered 143 yards rushing and a career-high two touchdowns on 14 carries in the conference-opening win over UTSA.  Siggers has appeared in three games as a running back for the Mean Green after being converted from safety during spring ball 2019 and has recorded at least 85 rushing yards in each of his three games and is averaging 7.9 yards per carry.  His 131.7 yards per game leads C-USA and ranks seventh nationally.
**Mean Green sophomore LB KD Davis registered a team-high nine tackles, recovered a fumble, added a pair of tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries against UTSA.  Davis leads C-USA in total tackles with 41.
**The three points allowed by the Mean Green vs. UTSA was the lowest point total by an FBS team against North Texas since it shut out Troy in 2003.  The Mean Green defense has now gone seven quarters without allowing a touchdown, after holding Cal out of the end zone after the first quarter the previous week.
**Houston will be starting a new quarterback against the Mean Green.  Four days after breaking Tim Tebow’s FBS Record for consecutive games with a passing TD and a rushing TD, redshirt senior D'Eriq King (6 passing TDs, 6 rushing TDs through four games) announced that he is redshirting the rest of the season.
 
MORE
Houston Football: https://uhcougars.com/index.aspx?path=football
North Texas Football: http://www.meangreensports.com/sports/m-footbl/ntex-m-footbl-body.html