Week 12 was an eventful one for Conference USA, with all 12 teams suiting up for action. There were five conference matchups, two non-conference clashes, and the bowl eligibility and conference championship pictures became much more clear for the entire league. Here is the Week 12 scoreboard:
- Missouri State 38, UTEP 24
- WKU 42, Middle Tennessee 26
- Tennessee 42, New Mexico State 9
- FIU 34, Liberty 27 (OT)
- Sam Houston 26, Delaware 23
- Jacksonville State 35, Kennesaw State 26
- Washington State 28, Louisiana Tech 3
Now let’s look at some statistical notes from Week 12 in the CUSA:
FIU’s best of the 2020s
FIU has 5 wins for the first time since 2019
FIU hired head coach Willie Simmons last December, hoping to rebuild the program under the former
Duke running backs coach. Year one of the Simmons era isn’t even cemented yet, and it’s already FIU’s best season in quite some time. The Panthers, who temporarily rebranded to the Sunblazers on Saturday evening, improved to 5-5, outlasting Liberty in overtime on Mister Clark’s game-sealing interception. After three losses earlier this decade to the Flames, it marked FIU’s first time ever victorious in the series.
Sitting at 5-5 with two games remaining, FIU already has its highest win total since 2019. Simmons can further improve upon the program’s best season of the current decade with upcoming matchups against Jacksonville State and Sam Houston. The Panthers haven’t reached a bowl game since 2019 or recorded a winning season since 2018, and both accomplishments remain on the table in mid-November.
Cam Cook’s automatic 100
Cam Cook has rushed for 100 yards in 5-straight games
Cam Cook can’t be stopped. The star Jacksonville State running back recorded 132 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries in a 35-26 victory over Kennesaw State, catapulting the Gamecocks into the sole first-place positioning in the CUSA standings. Cook now rides a 5-game streak of recording 100+ yards and at least one touchdown, and it’s not a coincidence Jacksonville State also rides a 5-game win streak.
Cook has four 130+ yard performances on the season and averages 131 per game, serving as the perfect tailback to fuel Jax State’s zone read based system. However, Cook was unseated from the top of the FBS rushing leaderboard Saturday for the first time in weeks. Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy totaled 300 rushing yards and three touchdowns in the Tigers’ 49-27 win over Mississippi State. With two games left in the regular season for both backs, Hardy has 1,346 yards and Cook sits at 1,313 — with no other rusher above 1,136. It will be an interesting race to the finish as Jax State seeks its second-straight season with a top-5 FBS rusher.
100 Miles of One-Sided Hate
WKU has won a series-best 7-straight games over Middle Tennessee
One of CUSA’s greatest rivalries pits together the WKU Hilltoppers and Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders. In a matchup between a 7-2 WKU and a 1-8 Middle Tennessee, the Hilltoppers entered as considerable favorites, but still, there’s always the rivalry element that could keep such games close. Middle Tennessee showed life on the road, having a shot to take the lead in the late third quarter of a 28-23 ballgame, and cutting the deficit to 28-26 in the fourth. However, WKU handled the final frame in 14-3 fashion, winning its seventh-straight matchup in the series known as 100 Miles of Hate.
WKU’s 7-game win streak over the Blue Raiders is the longest by either team in the all-time series, which WKU leads 39-35-1. The Blue Raiders had a historic edge over the Hilltoppers for a while, but the rivalry has become increasingly more one-sided. WKU is 10-1 against Middle Tennessee since 2015 and a perfect 7-0 under head coach Tyson Helton. After Saturday’s result, WKU controls its own destiny for the CUSA Championship Game while Middle Tennessee remains winless in conference play.
Liberty in unfamiliar territory
Liberty has six losses for the first time since its FBS debut year, 2018
The Liberty Flames are one of the more impressive FCS-to-FBS transition stories. Liberty debuted at the highest level in 2018, immediately posting a 6-6 record as an independent. From there, the Flames grew higher. They went 8-5 in 2019, then 10-1 in 2020 with a season-ending rank of No. 17 in the AP Poll. After a pair of 8-5 campaigns in 2021 and 2022, Liberty reached its pinnacle, starting 13-0 in 2023 to attain a CUSA championship and a spot in the Fiesta Bowl. After the loss to Oregon, the Flames finished No. 25 for their second AP season-ending ranking, and then in 2024, they concocted an 8-4 record.
Liberty did not seen a single losing season in its first seven seasons as an FBS program, but the Flames are in danger of losing that streak. On Saturday in Miami, Liberty dropped a 34-27 overtime contest to FIU to fall to 4-6 on the season. In order to qualify for a seventh-straight bowl game, Jamey Chadwell’s team needs to upend both Louisiana Tech and Kennesaw State to finish its November slate. Losing either, or losing a potential bowl game, would result in the first sub-.500 season since the Flames arrived in the FBS.
Never doubt 0-8 Sam Houston
Sam Houston teams that start 0-8 are 5-1 in November
One of the more dangerous hyper-specific teams in college football is a Sam Houston Bearkats squad that starts 0-8. Sam Houston started 0-8 in its FBS transition year in 2023, but when November arrived, it looked like a whole different ball club. The Bearkats won three of their final four matchups in 2023, only dropping a one-score heartbreaker to a quality WKU team.
Once again, Sam Houston started 0-8, yet the Bearkats are hitting their November stride. They invaded Oregon State as three-score underdogs, pulling off an upset due to a lopsided special teams advantage despite being out-gained 474-157. Then on Saturday, Sam Houston concocted its second-straight upset, defeating Delaware at Shell Energy Stadium in downtown Houston. The Bearkats led 26-10 and staved off a late Delaware rally, blocking the Fightin’ Blue Hens’ game-tying field goal attempt in the final seconds. Sam Houston looks to continue its November momentum in upcoming matchups vs. Middle Tennessee and FIU in what’s been somewhat of a déjà vu season from 2023.
