AAC Football

The American Athletic Conference announced Wednesday that Saturday's scheduled football game between Cincinnati and Temple has been canceled because of positive COVID-19 tests and contact tracing within both programs.

Although both Cincinnati and Temple have an open date on Dec. 5, the game will not be scheduled since not enough players would be eligible to play under the AAC's return-to-play protocols. As a result, the game will be ruled a no-contest.

Had the game happened, Cincinnati would have looked to improve its 8-0 record against 1-6 Temple.

In the first set of College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday, Cincinnati came in at No. 7 behind only Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson, Ohio State, Texas A&M and Florida.

The Bearcats are the top team outside the Power Five conferences in the rankings, seven spots ahead of undefeated BYU despite the fact that the Cougars have one more victory than the Bearcats at 9-0.

Of Cincy's eight wins, two of them came against teams that were ranked at the time. They beat then-No. 22 Army 24-10 and then-No. 16 SMU 42-13.

The Bearcats are in the hunt to become the first non-Power Five team in history to be part of the CFP thanks largely to the play of dual-threat junior quarterback Desmond Ridder.

Ridder has thrown for 1,821 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions, while also rushing for 526 yards and 11 scores.

Cincinnati's game against Temple almost certainly would have been another win for the Bearcats given the Owls' struggles this season, but it would have done little to impress the CFP committee.

The Bearcats will still have opportunities to pad their resume, though, including their next game on Dec. 12 when they face No. 25 Tulsa, who is 5-0 in AAC play and 5-1 overall.

Cincinnati was supposed to play Tulsa earlier in the season, but the game was postponed until Dec. 12 because of positive COVID-19 cases within the Cincinnati program.

With a win over Tulsa and a win the following week in the ACC Championship Game, which could be a rematch against Tulsa, the Bearcats would finish 10-0.

Cincinnati would likely need some help in the form of Clemson, Texas A&M and Florida all suffering a second loss, but a top-four finish in the CFP rankings is not out of the question.

Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell apologized for a fake punt while leading 42-10 during the fourth quarter of Friday night's victory over East Carolina, which he said wasn't called by the sideline.

"We would not want to do it in that situation," Fickell told reporters.

Pirates head coach Mike Houston was asked about his conversation with Fickell after the game, which television cameras showed lasted for nearly a minute.

"I will leave what was said between us," Houston said.

The unexpected 29-yard run by senior linebacker Joel Dublanko was the highlight of a nine-play, 75-yard scoring driving by the Bearcats.

Cincinnati capped its scoring with a 75-yard touchdown run by Cameron Young on its final drive.

The blowout moved the seventh-ranked Bearcats to 7-0, and there's an argument they need to run up the score during the final month of the regular season in order to impress the College Football Playoff selection committee since they don't have any ranked opponents left to play.

Their best wins so far are 24-10 over No. 22 Army in September and 42-13 over No. 16 SMU in October.

That said, there's a difference between trying to score some style points amid a crowded CFP race and running a fake punt while up by 32 points. It sounds like Fickell was just as surprised as everyone else.

East Carolina dropped to 1-6 with its four straight loss.

Both AAC teams are back in action next Saturday. The Bearcats finish the regular season with three straight road games, starting with a visit to the Bounce House to face UCF. The Pirates head to Lincoln Financial Field for a clash with Temple.

Defensive back Antwan Collier, defensive linemen Kenny Turnier and Randy Charlton and linebacker Eric Mitchell have been dismissed from the UCF football program, per Jason Beede of Knights247. 

UCF head coach Josh Heupel announced that multiple players had been dismissed from the Knights but did not mention any names in a statement, per Beede: "As of today, there are some young men who are no longer part of our football program. Our team discipline is handled internally, so I am not going to mention specific names. We will ensure these individuals have ongoing access to academic and health services as we continue to support them in those areas."

The dismissals reportedly stem from Collier's arrest on the UCF campus early in the morning of Oct. 29 and subsequent charges for carrying a concealed firearm and driving with a suspended/revoked license, per Orange County Clerk of Court public records (h/t Beede). He was originally pulled over for "driving carelessly," per the arrest affidavit.

He was booked into the Orange County jail just before 5 a.m. ET last Thursday.

According to the police report, defensive backs Aaron Robinson and Brandon Moore were in the car with Collier, and Mitchell was as well. A second car with other football players (including linebacker Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste) was also on the scene.

Beede relayed information from the police report:

"'After Collier got arrested, his friends and other occupants of the other vehicle got upset and began yelling profanity towards Ofc. Wilk,' the police report states. According to the police report, the following profanities were just part of what was yelled at the officers: 'Dumb as hell,' 'Eat a f--king donut,' 'He plays football for ya'll, f--k,' 'This is dumb ass s--t.' KnightNews.com obtained UCFPD officers' body-worn camera footage from the events during the traffic stop and Collier's arrest. The footage can be seen here."

The quartet did not travel for the team's 44-21 win at Houston last Saturday. 

Charlton and Turnier both provided comments on Wednesday following their reported dismissals:

The losses are significant for the Knights, who have started their season 4-2.

Collier had a team-high four pass breakups along with 22 tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Charlton had 18 tackles, two sacks and two pass breakups.

Turnier posted a team-high four sacks in addition to 12 tackles and a forced fumble. Mitchell was second on the team with 40 tackles.

UCF has three more regular-season games at home against Temple and No. 6 Cincinnati before visiting South Florida.

Saturday's game between No. 8 Cincinnati and Tulsa has been postponed because of positive COVID-19 tests on the Bearcats.

The American Athletic Conference has rescheduled the game for Dec. 5 at H.A. Chapman Stadium in Tulsa.

Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham issued a statement on the postponement:

"We are disappointed we will be unable to play Tulsa Saturday. We knew this season was going to require a lot of patience and flexibility and disruptions were likely to happen. The health and safety of student-athletes, coaches and staff is always our primary focus and we appreciated the outstanding work and continued [dedication] of our medical staff throughout the pandemic."

The Bearcats are ranked No. 8 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. They have started this season with three consecutive wins, most recently defeating South Florida 28-7 on Oct. 3.

This marks the second time Tulsa has had a game postponed because of COVID-19. Arkansas State had to reschedule a Sept. 26 matchup with the Golden Hurricane because of multiple positive tests on its team.

Tulsa (1-1) earned a big win Oct. 3 with a 34-26 upset of 11th-ranked Central Florida.

SMU upset No. 25 Memphis on Saturday with a dramatic 30-27 victory, but students were not able to enjoy it from the confines of the student section.

According to Sam Blum of the Dallas Morning News, police cleared the entire student section in the first half of Saturday's game after they did not follow COVID-19 protocols.

SMU guidelines require all students to be wearing masks while social distancing on the hill beyond the end zone, which allows a maximum of 1,000 students. However, Blum reported the crowd "had become very large" and the "vast majority" of students were not wearing masks.

This week's game was the fourth of the season for SMU, with last week's win against Stephen F. Austin representing the first home game at Gerald J. Ford Stadium.

Director of athletics Rick Hart sent a letter indicating that security would be "significantly increased" for Saturday's game against Memphis after some spectators failed to follow protocols last week:

"Whether you attended in person or watched online, you could see that the majority of fans in the stadium behaved responsibly and were socially-distanced and masked. That said, we will be working to adjust the behavior of a small subsection of fans who did not follow our pledge to protect, which was sent to all ticketholders."

Texas has had more cases of COVID-19 in the last seven days than any other state in the United States, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SMU squandered a 24-3 first-half lead Saturday as Memphis eventually evened the game at 27-27 heading into the fourth quarter. The Mustangs eventually pulled out the win on a Chris Naggar field goal with nine seconds left in the game.

The 4-0 squad has a week off before facing Tulane on the road on Oct. 16. SMU won't return home until the homecoming game against Cincinnati on Oct. 24.

When you coach at a service academy, you can't necessarily vent your frustration toward the powers that be within a traditional university structure.

Navy head football coach Ken Niumatalolo criticized the decision to carry on with the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy series despite the fact Air Force has only two games scheduled this season. Niumatalolo directed his ire toward "guys at the Pentagon," per ESPN:

"Where else in the country would you play for something of value and everybody's schedules are not the same? This is the No. 1 thing we fight for every year—the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy. We're playing a full schedule. You got Air Force playing just two games? I don't think those people care. [...]

"This is above us. This is guys at the Pentagon making decisions. I have no idea where they're getting their data from. They didn't get it from me, so they're not getting any football data. Like I said, nobody asked me."

Niumatalolo has since apologized for his remarks, per the Capital Gazette's Bill Wagner: "I should not have said some of the stuff I said and I'm sorry I did. The Pentagon has nothing to do with this and it was wrong of me to suggest that was the case. ... I sometimes get myself in trouble by speaking my mind. This was an instance when I should have kept my thoughts to myself."

Army is an independent in football, while Navy and its American Athletic Conference colleagues are carrying on with a 2020 fall football season. As a result, the Black Knights and Midshipmen will be playing 12 and 11 games, respectively.

Air Force, on the other hand, saw the vast majority of its schedule scrapped when the Mountain West Conference postponed its fall season.

Naval Academy athletic director Chet Gladchuk told Wagner the superintendents from the Air Force, Army and Navy agreed to move forward with staging the three games for the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy.

"The question mark has always been Air Force and whether or not they would field a team," Gladchuk said. "There was some question within their leadership as to whether or not it was appropriate to conduct out-of-season practice to that degree to play two games."

Air Force plays Navy on Oct. 3 at home in Colorado Springs, Colorado, before facing off with Army on Nov. 7 in West Point, New York.

The Falcons' unique schedule could work to their benefit or detriment. On one hand, head coach Troy Calhoun has extra time to draw up a game plan. On the other hand, his team could face a difficult adjustment to actual game situations.

Should Air Force go on to lift the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy for the first time since 2016, this might not be the last Niumatalolo has to say on the matter.

The Memphis Tigers and Houston Cougars have postponed their football game next Saturday, September 18, after reported COVID-19 issues with the Tigers. 

Bruce Feldman of The Athletic notes Baylor is working to host Houston in Waco, Texas, next week in place of the Memphis game. 

Memphis made clear Friday it's game against Houston was in jeopardy following a COVID-19 outbreak that caused the Tigers to pause all football activities. 

Evan Barnes and Mark Giannotto of the Memphis Commercial Appeal report at least 20 people within the program have tested positive and have entered isolation for 10 days. Another 20 people are in quarantine because of contact tracing. 

"These positive tests, along with contact tracing efforts, dictate that a significant number of individuals enter quarantine in accordance with CDC guidelines," a Memphis statement read Friday. "Due to these circumstances, the football team has paused all practice and group activities and will unfortunately not be able to participate in [Friday's] Unity Walk hosted by the University of Memphis. There are no serious cases at this time, but all student-athletes and staff affected are being closely monitored."

The outbreak of cases has been linked to a party bus enjoyed by Tigers players after last week's win over Arkansas State, but players have been critical about the reasoning. 

"Nobody Had A Party Nor Was On A Party Bus!!" Memphis defensive tackle O'Bryan Goodson wrote in a since-deleted tweet. "Arkansas St needs to be the ones Tested We've been doing what we’re supposed to do, all this came after we played them."

The Memphis Tigers' game against the Houston Cougars on Sept. 18 is reportedly in danger of being postponed or canceled because of a COVID-19 outbreak within the Memphis football program.

According to Evan Barnes and Mark Giannotto of the Commercial Appeal, an anonymous source said at least 20 people within the Tigers program have tested positive for the coronavirus, while at least 20 more people are in quarantine because of contact tracing.

The source noted that most of those who have tested positive for COVID-19 or are in quarantine are defensive players.

Memphis began its season last Saturday with a 37-24 home win over Arkansas State. Quarterback Brady White led the way for the Tigers with 280 passing yards and four touchdowns.

Two sources told Barnes and Giannotto that the positive tests could be attributed to Memphis players' being on a party bus following that victory.

Memphis defensive lineman O'Bryan Goodson disputed the claim on Twitter:

The Memphis players who tested positive are reportedly in a 10-day isolation period. The Tigers don't have a game scheduled this week.

Houston and Memphis both play in the American Athletic Conference's West Division. The Cougars originally planned to face Rice on Sept. 3, but that game was postponed amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Houston's first game is now the Sept. 18 matchup against Memphis, but if that game is postponed or canceled, the Cougars would have to wait until Sept. 26 to open the season against North Texas.

While several conferences are proceeding with a 2020 fall football schedule, the Big Ten, Pac-12, Mid-American Conference and Mountain West Conference have all opted to postpone their seasons.

Former SMU kicker Luke Hogan has filed a lawsuit against the school seeking a partial refund of tuition from last spring semester, according to Brett McMurphy of Stadium.

The plaintiff argues he didn't receive what was initially promised when the school went to online classes due to the coronavirus pandemic:

According to NBC DFW, Hogan graduated in the spring 2020 semester, but 59 percent of classes at the school were moved online. The average tuition for the spring semester was $37,955.

McMurphy noted this could lead to a potential class-action suit involving other students affected.

SMU has also faced complaints from MBA students, who were paying more for the program that was moved online than other students who had initially signed up for online class.

"SMU offered credit adjustments for housing, dining and parking, but not for tuition or general fees for Professional MBAs or any student group," the university responded, via Kristi Nelson and Eva Parks of NBC DFW.

"The University is making adjustments to deal with a large budget gap created by COVID-19," the school added.

Hogan began his collegiate career at Houston before transferring to West Virginia and then SMU. He was the team's backup kicker in 2019, going 6-of-9 on extra-point attempts while making his lone field-goal attempt from 38 yards out.

He was named to the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll when at West Virginia in 2017.

College Football Hall of Famer Bill Yeoman has died at the age of 92.

Per Mark Berman of Fox 26 in Houston, Bill Yeoman Jr. confirmed his father's death on Wednesday. 

Before his coaching career began, Yeoman played college football at Texas A&M and Army from 1945-48.

Yeoman spent 25 years as head coach at the University of Houston from 1962-86. He is the school's all-time leader in games coached (276), wins (160), bowl game appearances (11) and bowl game wins (six). 

Among the highlights of Yeoman's historic career was adopting the veer offense, more commonly known as the triple-option. Houston used that style of play to win four Southwest Conference championships and finish in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll three different times in 1973, 1976 and 1979. 

Yeoman helped integrate college sports in Texas by becoming the state's first head football coach to give a Black player a scholarship when Warren McVea signed a letter of intent with the school in 1964. 

McVea issued a statement about Yeoman, via Berman:  

In 2001, Yeoman was elected into the College Football Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the University of Houston Hall of Honor three years earlier.