From USF’s Statement Win to Army’s Stunning Loss: American Conference Week 1 Recap

The yin and yang of headlines after the first week of American Conference football games is simple: Army was bad, USF was good.

We’ve talked a lot over the last few days about USF’s 34-7 blowout win over Boise State, and we’ve covered most of the angles. It’s time to move on.

The Bulls head to the second stage of their three-game season-opening gauntlet on Saturday when they visit the Florida Gators at the Swamp.

Florida beat up on Long Island University 55-0 in its opening game – presumably, they scheduled that game because Our Mother of Helplessness was already booked.

However, oddsmakers must have been impressed with the Gators. FanDuel’s opening line has Florida favored by 18.5 points.

We’ll go deeper into the Bulls-Gators as the week goes on.

Until then, what happened to Army?

The defending American Conference champion was stunned by FCS Tarleton State 30-27 in double overtime. It was Army’s first loss against an FCS team since 2015, and the Black Knights can blame their kicking game for this one.

Dawson Jones missed a game-winning field goal attempt with 14 seconds remaining in regulation, and then missed a 35-yard attempt wide left in the second overtime period.

The visitors took it from there to pull off the upset with a successful field goal.

Oh, and Army paid Tarleton State $250,000 to schedule the game.

Former USF Vice President for Athletics Michael Kelly had to be a happy guy. In his first game as Navy’s Athletics Director, Kelly watched the Midshipmen roll 52-7 over VMI.

Navy rushed for 464 yards, including 180 by Braxton Woodson.

Tulane, which is among the top picks to win the American this season, opened with a 23-3 win over Northwestern of the Big Ten.

There was a little pregame controversy. Tulane wanted to wear white jerseys to honor victims on the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The Green Wave had worn white in their first game after the disaster.

However, Northwestern refused because it said the request came late, and besides, the Wildcats didn’t want to wear dark jerseys in the late August heat.

“When you disrespect the city of New Orleans, you’re going to run into it. … I’m not trying to be a jerk, but don’t disrespect the city of New Orleans,” Tulane coach Jon  Sumrall said afterward.

New coaches at Rice (Scott Abell) and Tulsa (Tre Lamb) had successful debuts.

Rice held off Louisiana 14-12 while Tulsa routed Abilene Christian 35-7.

However, Tim Albin had a rough debut with Charlotte as the 49ers fell to Appalachian State 34-11.

UTSA, which is expected to contend for the American championship, faded in the second half and fell 42-24 at 19th-ranked Texas A&M.

Memphis, as expected, routed Chattanooga 45-10, while North Texas flexed its offensive muscles in a 51-0 blowout of Lamar.