Conference USA East is getting interesting
November, 2, 2009
11/02/09
11:00
AM ET
Posted by ESPN.com’s Graham Watson
Conference USA East continues to be the only non-AQ division without a bowl-eligible team, but it does have a dogfight in the making.
Central Florida rallied from a 20-7 deficit against Marshall on Sunday and came away with a 21-20 win. Quarterback Brett Hodges found Rocky Ross wide open in the end zone with 23 seconds remaining for the game-winning score.
Up until the fourth quarter, Marshall had dominated the game and kept Hodges in check in the backfield. But Marshall quarterback Brian Anderson fumbled the ball on a quarterback sneak at his own 30-yard line with 2:12 remaining to set up UCF’s game-winning drive.
“That's one of the wackiest games I've seen in my career," Marshall coach Mark Snyder said. "I thought we dominated the whole game, we played our hearts out, but we had some mistakes at the end that cost us the game."
With the loss, Marshall has all but knocked itself out of contention for the Conference USA East title. The Thundering Herd also lost to East Carolina (5-3, 4-1), which leads the division by a game. The Pirates also have a win over UCF, but still have to play Southern Miss and UAB, the two teams tied with Marshall and UCF for second in the division.
The division title and a spot in the conference title game is East Carolina’s to lose. While Marshall, Southern Miss, UCF and UAB are beating each other up, the Pirates are looking down, happily out of the fray.
ECU steps out of conference this week to play Virginia Tech, which isn’t necessarily a good thing since the Pirates have not done well against BCS opponents this season, and Virginia Tech will be out to avenge last year’s loss.
UCF also steps out of conference this week to play No. 2 Texas. Both Marshall and Southern Miss have a bye this week.
East Carolina doesn’t have smooth sailing through the rest of the conference season, but it definitely controls its own destiny like it did a year ago. Last year, the Pirates faced a similarly tough schedule and won five of their final six to earn their first division championship.
Conference USA East continues to be the only non-AQ division without a bowl-eligible team, but it does have a dogfight in the making.
Central Florida rallied from a 20-7 deficit against Marshall on Sunday and came away with a 21-20 win. Quarterback Brett Hodges found Rocky Ross wide open in the end zone with 23 seconds remaining for the game-winning score.
Up until the fourth quarter, Marshall had dominated the game and kept Hodges in check in the backfield. But Marshall quarterback Brian Anderson fumbled the ball on a quarterback sneak at his own 30-yard line with 2:12 remaining to set up UCF’s game-winning drive.
“That's one of the wackiest games I've seen in my career," Marshall coach Mark Snyder said. "I thought we dominated the whole game, we played our hearts out, but we had some mistakes at the end that cost us the game."
With the loss, Marshall has all but knocked itself out of contention for the Conference USA East title. The Thundering Herd also lost to East Carolina (5-3, 4-1), which leads the division by a game. The Pirates also have a win over UCF, but still have to play Southern Miss and UAB, the two teams tied with Marshall and UCF for second in the division.
The division title and a spot in the conference title game is East Carolina’s to lose. While Marshall, Southern Miss, UCF and UAB are beating each other up, the Pirates are looking down, happily out of the fray.
ECU steps out of conference this week to play Virginia Tech, which isn’t necessarily a good thing since the Pirates have not done well against BCS opponents this season, and Virginia Tech will be out to avenge last year’s loss.
UCF also steps out of conference this week to play No. 2 Texas. Both Marshall and Southern Miss have a bye this week.
East Carolina doesn’t have smooth sailing through the rest of the conference season, but it definitely controls its own destiny like it did a year ago. Last year, the Pirates faced a similarly tough schedule and won five of their final six to earn their first division championship.
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