By Quincy Burns
Five of the 14 American Athletic Conference teams held their Week 1 opponents to three points or fewer. Memphis and Tulane both registered shutouts, while East Carolina, UAB and South Florida held their respective opponents to a field goal.
Conversely, five American Athletic Conference teams scored at least 48 points in their openers. Tulsa had 62 points, Tulane and North Texas scored 52, while Navy scored 49 and South Florida scored 48.
American Athletic Conference teams combined to score three touchdowns on punt returns, two TDs on interception returns and one touchdown on a kickoff return in Week 1.
North Texas has 77 newcomers on its roster, the most of any FBS team. The Mean Green had 11 first-time starters in its win against South Alabama.
UTSA’s 28-16 victory against Kennesaw State was the Roadrunners’ 50th all-time win at the Alamodome. The Roadrunners improved to 50-30 at their home facility.
UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor improved to 40-14 with the Roadrunners with Saturday’s win. UTSA is 24-3 at home under Traylor.
Army’s win against Lehigh gave the Black Knights a five-game winning streak, which stands tied for the third-longest active streak in FBS.
Army committed only one accepted penalty for five yards in the win against Lehigh.
Memphis QB Seth Henigan moved into third place on The American’s career passing chard with his 306-yard effort against North Alabama. Henigan finished the game with 11,702 career yards, trailing only East Carolina’s Holton Ahlers (13,927) and Houston’s Clayton Tune (11,996) on the career list.
Tulane’s Rayshawn Pleasant’s 100-yard interception return for a touchdown against Southeastern Louisiana was just the second end-to-end pick-six in American Athletic Conference history and the first since Josh Hawkins of East Carolina against Tulsa Oct. 17, 2015.
Navy has won 69 straight home games when leading after three quarters after the Midshipmen’s 49-21 victory against Bucknell. Navy’s last loss when leading after 45 minutes was in 1999.
Memphis has won its last 11 home-openers.
South Florida has won its last three games by an average margin of 41.3 points.
Tulsa head coach Kevin Wilson improved to 7-1 all-time in season-openers (2-0 at Tulsa).
East Carolina is 1-0 for the first time since 2016. Navy won its first season-opener since 2019.
Navy saw two quarterbacks combine for three touchdown passes in its win against Bucknell. It was the first time since Nov. 21, 2017, against Temple that Navy had three touchdown passes in a game.
Army will play its first conference game since 2004 when the Black Knights visit Florida Atlantic Saturday.
Notable Week 1 Performances
Chandler Morris, QB, North Texas
32 of 41, 415 yards, 3 TDs, 2 rush TDs in 52-38 win at South Alabama
Damon Ward Jr., WR, North Texas
12 rec., 230 yards, 2 TDs in 52-38 win at South Alabama
Owen McCown, QB, UTSA
28 of 38, 340 yards, 3 TDS, 1 rush TD in 28-16 win against Kennesaw State
Eli Heidenreich, RB, Navy
4 rec., 74 yards, 2 TDs; 113 all-purpose yards in 49-21 win against Bucknell
Kirk Francis, QB, Tulsa
23 of 30, 299 yards, 4 TDs in 62-28 win against Northwestern State
Rayshawn Pleasant, CB, Tulane
100-yard interception return TD in 62-0 win against Southeastern Louisiana
Kam Shanks, WR, UAB
3 punt returns, 98 yards, 1 TD (57), 171 all-purpose yards in 41-3 win against Alcorn State
Seth Henigan, QB, Memphis
22 of 30, 308 yards, 2 TDs in 40-0 win against North Alabama
Jake Garcia, QB, East Carolina
23 of 36, 308 yards, 4 TDs in 42-3 win against Norfolk State
Week 1 Results
Thursday, August 29
UAB 41, Alcorn State 3
Tulane 52, Southeastern Louisiana 0
Tulsa 62, Northwestern State 28
Friday, August 30
Army 42, Lehigh 7
Michigan State 16, Florida Atlantic 10
Oklahoma 51, Temple 3
Saturday, August 31
Navy 49, Bucknell 21
UTSA 28, Kennesaw State 16 (
North Texas 52, South Alabama 38
East Carolina 42, Norfolk State 3
Memphis 40, North Alabama 0
Sam Houston 34, Rice 14
South Florida 48, Bethune-Cookman 3
James Madison 30, Charlotte 7
Week 2 Schedule (all times Eastern)
Saturday, September 7
Army at Florida Atlantic * (Noon, CBSSN)
Troy at Memphis (Noon, ESPNU)
Kansas State at Tulane (Noon, ESPN)
Charlotte at North Carolina (3:30 p.m., ACC Network)
Temple at Navy * (3:30 p.m., CBSSN)
UTSA at Texas State (4 p.m., ESPNU)
East Carolina at Old Dominion (6 p.m., ESPN+)
UAB at Louisiana-Monroe (7 p.m., ESPN+)
Texas Southern at Rice (7 p.m., ESPN+)
South Florida at Alabama (7 p.m., ESPN)
Tulsa at Arkansas State (7 p.m., ESPN+)
Stephen F. Austin at North Texas (7:30 p.m., ESPN+)
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