The 2011 Conference USA football season was an NCAA football season that was played from September 1, 2011, through January 2012. Conference USA consists of 12 football members separated into two divisions: East Carolina, Marshall, Memphis, Southern Miss, UAB, and UCF make up the East Division, while Houston, Rice, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, and UTEP comprise the West Division.
The 2011 football season marked the 17th season of the conference's existence and 16th of football competition; although C-USA was established in 1995, it did not begin football competition until 1996.
Preseason Coaching changes Bill Blankenship replaced Todd Graham at Tulsa.Bill Blankenship named Tulsa coach – ESPN
Preseason polls No Conference USA teams were ranked though Houston, Southern Miss and UCF each received votes in the Coaches Poll, and Houston, Southern Miss, Tulsa and UCF received votes in the AP poll.
Coaches
Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school C-USA recordEast Carolina Ruffin McNeill 1 7–7 6–7 5–3Houston Kevin Sumlin 3 23–16 23–16 16–8Marshall Doc Holliday 1 5–7 5–7 4–4Memphis Larry Porter 1 1–11 1–11 0–8Rice David Bailiff 4 40–45 19–30 15–17Southern Miss Larry Fedora 3 22–17 22–17 14–10SMU June Jones 3 92–64 16–23 12–12Tulane Bob Toledo 4 91–103 13–35 7–25Tulsa Bill Blankenship – 0–0 0–0 0–0UAB Neil Callaway 4 15–33 15–33 11–21UCF George O'Leary 7 97–77 45–44 33–23UTEP Mike Price 7 169–167 40–45 20–28 Statistics are through the conclusion of the 2010 NCAA Season.
Tulane head coach Bob Toledo resigned on October 18 after starting the season 2–5 and was replaced for the rest of the season by interim head coach Mark Hutson.
Regular season Index to colors and formattingConference USA member wonConference USA member lostConference USA teams in boldRankings from Coaches' Poll
Week One Date Time (EDT) Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance September 1 8:00 p.m. #20 Mississippi State Memphis Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, Tennessee FSN L 14–59 33,990 September 3 3:30 p.m. Southeastern Louisiana Tulane Louisiana Superdome • New Orleans – W 47–33 15,912 September 3 3:30 p.m. UCLA Houston Robertson Stadium • Houston FSN W 38–34 31,114 September 3 7:00 p.m. Charleston Southern UCF Bright House Networks Stadium • Orlando, Florida BHSN W 62–0 39,752 September 3 7:00 p.m. Rice #24 Texas Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium • Austin, Texas Longhorn Network L 9–34 101,624 September 3 7:00 p.m. #12 South Carolina East Carolina Bank of America Stadium • Charlotte, North Carolina FSN L 37–56 58,272 September 3 8:00 p.m. Tulsa #1 Oklahoma Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, Oklahoma FX L 14–47 85,260 September 3 9:05 p.m. Stony Brook UTEP Sun Bowl Stadium • El Paso, Texas – W 31–24 OT 28,752 September 3 10:00 p.m. Louisiana Tech Southern Miss M. M. Roberts Stadium • Hattiesburg, Mississippi FSN W 19–17 22,356 September 4 3:30 p.m. Marshall West Virginia Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, West Virginia ESPN L 13–34 60,758 September 4 7:30 p.m. SMU #9 Texas A&M Kyle Field • College Station, Texas FSN L 14–46 86,951
Week Two Date Time (EDT) Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance September 10 3:30 p.m. Purdue Rice Rice Stadium • Houston CBS Sports Network W 24–22 25,317 September 10 3:30 p.m. Southern Miss Marshall Joan C. Edwards Stadium • Huntington, West Virginia CSS MRSH 26–20 24,247 September 10 3:30 p.m. Tulsa Tulane Louisiana Superdome • New Orleans CST TLSA 31–3 19,752 September 10 3:30 p.m. #11 Virginia Tech East Carolina Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, North Carolina FSN L 10–17 49,404 September 10 7:00 p.m. Houston North Texas Apogee Stadium • Denton, Texas ESPN3 W 48–23 28,075 September 10 7:00 p.m. Memphis Arkansas State ASU Stadium • Jonesboro, Arkansas – L 3–47 29,872 September 10 7:00 p.m. UAB #18 Florida Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida FSN L 0–39 87,473 September 10 7:00 p.m. UTEP SMU Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, Texas FSN SMU 28–17 26,691 September 10 8:00 p.m. Boston College UCF Bright House Networks Stadium • Orlando, Florida CBS Sports Network W 30–3 45,671
Week Three Date Time (EDT) Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance September 17 4:00 p.m. Tulane UAB Legion Field • Birmingham, Alabama TULN 49–10 17,658 September 17 6:00 p.m. UCF FIU FIU Stadium • Miami ESPN3 L 10–17 20,205 September 17 7:00 p.m. Houston Louisiana Tech Joe Aillet Stadium • Ruston, Louisiana ESPN3 W 35–34 24,628 September 17 7:00 p.m. Marshall Ohio Peden Stadium • Athens, Ohio ESPN3 L 7–44 24,244 September 17 7:00 p.m. Austin Peay Memphis Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, Tennessee W 27–6 18,808 September 17 7:00 p.m. Southeastern Louisiana Southern Miss M. M. Roberts Stadium • Hattiesburg, Mississippi W 52–6 27,433 September 17 8:00 p.m. Northwestern State SMU Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, Texas W 40–7 20,083 September 17 8:00 p.m. UTEP New Mexico State Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, New Mexico ESPN3 W 16–10 19,751 September 17 10:00 p.m. #7 Oklahoma State Tulsa H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, Oklahoma FSN L 33–59 24,563
Week Four Date Time (EDT) Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance September 23 8:00 p.m. UCF BYU LaVell Edwards Stadium • Provo, Utah ESPN L 17–24 59,874 September 24 12:00 p.m. SMU Memphis Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, Tennessee FSN SMU 42–0 16,748 September 24 3:30 p.m. Tulane Duke Wallace Wade Stadium • Durham, North Carolina ESPN3 L 27–48 20,138 September 24 3:30 p.m. UAB East Carolina Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, North Carolina ECU 28–23 50,023 September 24 3:30 p.m. Southern Miss Virginia Scott Stadium • Charlottesville, Virginia W 30–24 43,220 September 24 3:30 p.m. #11 Virginia Tech Marshall Joan C. Edwards Stadium • Huntington, West Virginia CBS Sports Network L 10–30 34,424 September 24 7:00 p.m. UTEP #17 South Florida Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, Florida ESPN3 L 24–52 39,628 September 24 7:00 p.m. Rice #19 Baylor Floyd Casey Stadium • Waco, Texas FSN L 31–56 40,088 September 24 8:00 p.m. Tulsa #4 Boise State Bronco Stadium • Boise, Idaho CBS Sports Network L 21–41 34,019 September 24 8:00 p.m. Georgia State Houston Robertson Stadium • Houston, Texas CSS W 56–0 32,005
Week Five Date Time (EDT) Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance September 29 8:00 p.m. Houston UTEP Sun Bowl Stadium • El Paso, Texas CBS Sports Network HOU 49–42 24,111 October 1 12:00 p.m. Tulane Army Michie Stadium • West Point, New York CBS Sports Network L 6–45 31,235 October 1 3:30 p.m. SMU #20 TCU Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, Texas CBS Sports Network W 40–33 35,632 October 1 3:30 p.m. Marshall Louisville Papa John's Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, Kentucky CBS Sports Network W 17–13 53,267 October 1 7:00 p.m. Memphis Middle Tennessee Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, Tennessee ESPN3 L 31–38 20,098 October 1 7:00 p.m. North Texas Tulsa H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, Oklahoma W 41–24 21,240 October 1 7:00 p.m. UAB Troy Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, Alabama SportSouth L 23–24 18,044 October 1 8:00 p.m. North Carolina East Carolina Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, North Carolina CBS Sports Network L 20–35 50,610
Week Six Date Time (EDT) Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance October 8 12:00 p.m. Mississippi State UAB Legion Field • Birmingham, Alabama FS South L 3–21 28,351 October 8 12:30 p.m. Memphis Rice Rice Stadium • Houston CSS RICE 28–6 14,179 October 8 3:30 p.m. Southern Miss Navy Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, Maryland CBS Sports Network W 63–35 33,462 October 8 7:00 p.m. East Carolina Houston Robertson Stadium • Houston, Texas CBS Sports Network HOU 56–3 30,126 October 8 7:00 p.m. Marshall UCF Bright House Networks Stadium • Orlando, Florida BHSN UCF 16–6 24,750 October 8 8:00 p.m. Syracuse Tulane Superdome • New Orleans L 34–37 23,188
Week Seven Date Time (EDT) Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance October 15 3:00 p.m. Rice Marshall Joan C. Edwards Stadium • Huntington, West Virginia MRSH 24–20 27,509 October 15 3:30 p.m. UCF SMU Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, Texas FSN SMU 38–17 22,932 October 15 3:30 p.m. UTEP Tulane Louisiana Superdome • New Orleans FCS Central UTEP 44–7 16,690 October 15 7:00 p.m. East Carolina Memphis Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, Tennessee ECU 35–17 17,975 October 15 8:00 p.m. UAB Tulsa H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, Oklahoma CBS Sports Network TLSA 37–20 21,494
Week Eight Date Time (EDT) Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance October 20 8:00 p.m. UCF UAB Legion Field • Birmingham, Alabama CSS UAB 26–24 8,872 October 22 3:30 p.m. East Carolina Navy Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, Maryland CBS Sports Network W 38–35 34,612 October 22 3:30 p.m. Memphis Tulane Louisiana Superdome • New Orleans MEM 33–17 25,158 October 22 4:30 p.m. Marshall #20 Houston Robertson Stadium • Houston CSS HOU 63–28 32,107 October 22 7:00 p.m. Tulsa Rice Rice Stadium • Houston FSN TLSA 38–20 17,314 October 22 8:00 p.m. SMU Southern Miss M. M. Roberts Stadium • Hattiesburg, Mississippi CBS Sports Network USM 27–3 32,685 October 22 8:00 p.m. Colorado State UTEP Sun Bowl Stadium • El Paso, Texas Time Warner El Paso W 31–17 31,797
Week Nine Date Time (EDT) Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance October 27 8:00 p.m. Rice #18 Houston Robertson Stadium • Houston, Texas FSN HOU 73–34 32,112 October 29 12:00 p.m. UAB Marshall Joan C. Edwards Stadium • Huntington, West Virginia CSS MRSH 59–14 20,735 October 29 3:30 p.m. Tulane East Carolina Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, North Carolina ECU 34–13 49,410 October 29 3:30 p.m. SMU Tulsa Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, Oklahoma FSN TLSA 38–7 21,261 October 29 4:00 p.m. Memphis UCF Bright House Networks Stadium • Orlando, Florida BHSN UCF 41–0 37,683 October 29 8:00 p.m. #25 Southern Miss UTEP Sun Bowl Stadium • El Paso, Texas CBS Sports Network USM 31–13 24,906
Week Ten Date Time (EDT) Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance November 3 8:00 p.m. Tulsa UCF Bright House Networks Stadium • Orlando, Florida CBS Sports Network TLSA 24–17 36,712 November 5 3:00 p.m. Tulane SMU Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, Texas SMU 45–24 20,106 November 5 3:30 p.m. UTEP Rice Rice Stadium • Houston FSN RICE 41–37 14,372 November 5 4:00 p.m. #24 Southern Miss East Carolina Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, North Carolina CSS USM 48–28 50,345 November 5 8:00 p.m. #14 Houston UAB Legion Field • Birmingham, Alabama CBS Sports Network HOU 56–13 13,909
Week Eleven Date Time (EDT) Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance November 10 8:00 p.m. #11 Houston Tulane Mercedes-Benz Superdome • New Orleans CBS Sports Network HOU 73–17 17,657 November 12 12:00 p.m. Rice Northwestern Ryan Field • Evanston, Illinois BTN L 6–28 26,886 November 12 12:00 p.m. Marshall Tulsa Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, Oklahoma FSN TLSA 59–17 17,672 November 12 3:30 p.m. Navy SMU Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, Texas FSN L 17–24 21,080 November 12 4:15 p.m. UAB Memphis Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium • Memphis, Tennessee UAB 41–35 17,848 November 12 8:00 p.m. UCF #23 Southern Miss M. M. Roberts Stadium • Hattiesburg, Mississippi CBS Sports Network USM 30–29 32,925 November 12 8:00 p.m. East Carolina UTEP Sun Bowl Stadium • El Paso, Texas Time Warner El Paso UTEP 22–17 25,571
Week Twelve