Week 7 of the American Conference is in the books, and is there a more unpredictable league in the country when it comes to predicting the two conference championship participants?
Memphis, Florida Atlantic, and East Carolina all stumbled, leaving UTSA and North Texas as the only teams still perfect in the conference standings. Parity continues to define the league, and even Charlotte contributed to that by upsetting Temple on the road to snap a 15-game losing streak.
In a week defined by upsets and
unexpected results, here is the Week 7 American scoreboard:
- UAB 30, East Carolina 17 (OT)
- Tulane 31, Memphis 17
- Army 56, Florida Atlantic 24
- Charlotte 38, Temple 31
- Tulsa 38, Rice 17
- South Florida 29, Kent State 2
- UTSA 38, Navy 34
And here are four takeaways from the week that was in the American:
UTSA is the only American team that can make the CFP
There is only one team in the American Conference with just one loss, and that’s 6-1 UTSA. In all likelihood, the Roadrunners are the only team in the league that can still qualify for the College Football Playoff.
Tulane made it last year with two losses, so what’s stopping this year’s two-loss teams like Memphis, North Texas, and Army from making it? Inconvenient non-conference losses.
The CFP changed its rules this year. No longer are the five highest-ranked conference champions guaranteed a bid. Now, the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, and SEC champions receive automatic berths, and the fifth automatic bid goes to the highest-ranked team (not necessarily a champion) from the aggregate of the American, CUSA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12, and Sun Belt.
Memphis and North Texas both lost to Pac-12 teams, falling by 18 to Boise State and 14 to Texas State, respectively. Meanwhile, Army lost to a Sun Belt contender in Louisiana Tech by two. Thanks to successful non-conference showings, the teams best suited for that shared automatic bid are Boise State and Oregon State from the Pac-12 and James Madison from the Sun Belt.
However, UTSA is the only American team that built a non-conference résumé worthy of consideration with wins over two Pac-12 schools — Texas State and Colorado State — and its only loss came at Texas. Combine that with the Roadrunners’ 3-0 start to American play, and UTSA is the only team in the American in position to compete for the 12-team playoff, barring complete meltdowns from the likes of Boise State, Oregon State, and James Madison.
Both service academy QBs are must-watch
Bryson Daily and Blake Horvath were icons at Army and Navy, respectively. But both service academies found more than worthy successors to these all-time great option quarterbacks.
Cale Hellums is on track to claim the American Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors. Last season, Hellums started only 10 of Army’s 13 games yet still led all FBS quarterbacks in rushing with 1,223 yards and 18 touchdowns. In his second year as a starter, Hellums has taken even greater command of the offense. On Oct. 10 against Tulane, he produced 223 rushing yards and two touchdowns in a hard-fought victory. Then on Oct. 17 against Florida Atlantic, Hellums broke free for 195 yards and a program-record five rushing touchdowns. His 120 rushing yards per game rank fifth in the FBS and first among quarterbacks, and his 13 rushing touchdowns only trail West Virginia’s Michael Hawkins Jr. by one.
Navy named Braxton Woodson its starter for 2026, but Woodson went down with a sprained ankle in Week 2. Backup Jackson Gutierrez was thrust into that Week 2 matchup at Florida Atlantic while Navy trailed 38-7. He immediately captained a 23-0 run, and that’s when the Midshipmen knew they had something special. In Week 6, Gutierrez posted 232 rushing yards — the most since former Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels accumulated 234 on Florida in 2023 — while leading a double-digit comeback to upend Tulsa. Then last week at UTSA, Gutierrez guided Navy to a 34-point outing, complete with 139 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Gutierrez is 13th nationally in rushing yards per game and second behind Hellums among quarterbacks.
Army and Navy are both clicking offensively right now, thanks in large part to the star quarterbacks leading their option attacks.
ECU’s defense can beat anybody, but…
Outside of its Week 1 showing at Alabama, East Carolina’s defense has been stellar this year. Despite losing nine primary starters from 2025 and coordinator Josh Aldridge to South Florida, there hasn’t been much drop-off on that side of the ball.
ECU has been particularly stout against the run. It ranks 23rd nationally in opponent rushing average, giving up just 3.18 yards per carry. The Pirates get behind the line of scrimmage better than anyone else in college football. Last year, they were fourth with 7.8 tackles for loss per game. This year, they’ve risen to first with 10.2 tackles for loss per game, with five different players having at least four TFLs, headlined by Kieran Davis’ eight.
The aerial defense has been effective also, allowing completions on just 54.7 percent of attempts. The Pirates have surrendered three passing touchdowns through six games while recording five interceptions. ECU is also one of 25 teams with multiple defensive touchdowns, as Ayden Duncanson has two pick-sixes to his name, including the game-winner to beat Old Dominion.
The problem is that ECU’s offense, specificially its passing attack, has made the Pirates significantly more vulnerable this year, and that’s why they’re 3-3 instead of 5-1. ECU’s defense went 59 minutes without allowing a touchdown last week at UAB, yet it lost in overtime. The offense managed just 126 passing yards on 27 attempts and tossed a pick-six on its final play of the extra period.
ECU has made adjustments to try to spark the unit, moving from Mitch Griffis to Emory Williams at quarterback. Still, the Pirates have only had a 150-yard passer in one of five FBS games this year — Griffis’ 230-yard performance in Week 2 vs. Appalachian State. ECU’s first-year offensive coordinator Jordan Davis led the nation’s No. 2 passing attack last year at North Texas, but that success has yet to translate to Greenville. The defense is championship-caliber, but the passing game has been the difference which has distanced ECU from the contenders’ circle thus far.
Memphis is still a contender
Memphis suffered its first hiccup in American Conference play Friday night at Tulane, and it was one of the ugliest, sloppiest games imaginable. The Tigers committed six turnovers at Yulman Stadium, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg of the team’s miscues. Memphis also missed a field goal and failed two fourth down attempts within 11 yards of the end zone.
Yet, the Tigers were still within striking distance in the waning moments. Tulane faced a 3rd-and-11 with under two minutes remaining while ahead 23-17, where a Memphis stop could have forced a punt and kept the door ajar for a victory. The Green Wave wound up gaining 10 yards on that play and subsequently converted their 4th-and-1 with a 48-yard touchdown, sealing a 31-17 upset.
But the fact that Memphis remained in this game despite the constant enactment of Murphy’s Law shows the Tigers can still contend for the conference title. It was an outlier performance from Memphis, which entered Friday with the sixth-longest streak in the FBS of 35 games committing two turnovers or fewer. Additionally, it was only the third time in the last 60 games the Tigers failed to notch 20 points — and the first time of the Charles Huff era. Still, they amassed 488 yards and outgained Tulane both through the air and on the ground.
The defeat shrinks Memphis’ margin for error and may have eliminated it from the CFP race, but the Tigers still have the talent to contend for their first American title since 2019. If Friday’s turnover-laden showing proves to be an outlier, Memphis remains as dangerous as anyone in the conference.
