The 2014 American Athletic Conference football season was the 24th NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision football season of the American Athletic Conference (The American). The season was the second since the breakup of the former Big East Conference, which lasted in its original form from its creation in 1979 until 2013.
The 2014 season was the first with the new College Football Playoff in place. From 1998 to 2013, FBS postseason football was governed by the Bowl Championship Series. With the move to the new format, The American is no longer an Automatic Qualifying conference (AQ), and is considered a member of the "Group of Five" (G5) with Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, Mountain West Conference, and the Sun Belt Conference. Whereas under the previous system the champion of The American was guaranteed an automatic berth to a BCS bowl game, now only the highest-ranked member of the "Group of Five" is guaranteed to receive a bid to one of the six major bowls.About the College Football Playoff. ESPN.
The American consisted of 11 members: Cincinnati, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, SMU, South Florida, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa, UCF, and UConn. The regular season and conference play began on August 28, when Temple visited Vanderbilt, and Tulane visited Tulsa.
Previous season The UCF Knights were the 2013 American Champions, finishing 8–0 in conference and 12–1 overall. The Knights earned the conference's final BCS automatic bid before college football moved to a playoff system. UCF upset No. 6 Baylor 52–42 in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl, and finished the year ranked in the Top–10.
In other bowl games, Cincinnati lost to North Carolina 39–17 in the Belk Bowl. In their final years as members of The American, Louisville defeated Miami 36–9 in the Russell Athletic Bowl, and Rutgers lost to Notre Dame 29–16 in the Pinstripe Bowl.
Preseason
Coaching changes Bob Diaco was hired to replace Paul Pasqualoni (and interim coach T. J. Weist) at Connecticut. George O'Leary signed a contract extension with UCF. September 8 – SMU Head Coach June Jones resigned Citing personal issues, Defensive Coordinator Tom Mason was interim head coach at SMU December 1 – Tulsa fired Head Coach Bill Blankenship
Preseason Poll The 2013 American Athletic Conference Preseason Poll was announced at the 2014 American Athletic Conference Media Day in Newport, Rhode Island on July 29, 2014.
Cincinnati (17) UCF (7) Houston (6) East Carolina SMU USF Memphis Temple UConn Tulane Tulsa
(first place votes)
Head coaches Tommy Tuberville, Cincinnati Bob Diaco, Connecticut Ruffin McNeill, East Carolina Tony Levine, Houston Justin Fuente, Memphis June Jones, SMU Willie Taggart, South Florida Matt Rhule, Temple Curtis Johnson, Tulane Bill Blankenship, Tulsa George O'Leary, UCF
Rankings Increase in ranking Decrease in ranking Not ranked previous week Selected for College Football Playoff Number of first place votes Tied with team above or below also with this symbol
Pre Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Wk 16 Final Cincinnati AP RV RV RV RV RV RV RV C RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV CFP Not released Connecticut AP C CFP Not released East Carolina AP RV 23 22 19 18 18 21 C RV 24 21 19 16 17 19 RV RV CFP Not released 23 Houston AP C CFP Not released Memphis AP RV 25C RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 25CFP Not released SMU AP C CFP Not released South Florida AP C CFP Not released Temple AP C RV RV CFP Not released Tulane AP C CFP Not released Tulsa AP C CFP Not released UCF AP RV RV RV RV C RV RV CFP Not released
Schedule Index to colors and formattingAmerican member wonAmerican member lostAmerican teams in bold Schedule source:
Week 1
Bye Week: Cincinnati
Week 2
Bye Week: Cincinnati, UCF
Week 3
Bye Week: Memphis, SMU, Temple
Week 4
Bye Week: Tulsa
Week 5
Bye Week: East Carolina, Houston, UCF
Week 6
Bye Week: Connecticut, South Florida, Temple, Tulane
Week 7
Bye Week: SMU
Week 8
Bye Week: Connecticut, East Carolina, Memphis
Week 9
Bye Week: Houston, Tulane, Tulsa
Week 10
Bye Week: SMU
Week 11
Bye Week: Cincinnati, East Carolina, South Florida, UCF
Week 12
Bye Week: Houston, Connecticut
Week 13
Bye Week: Temple
Week 14
Bye Week: Tulane
Week 15
Bye Week: Memphis, South Florida, Tulsa
Bowl games
Bowl eligibility
Bowl eligible Memphis (9–3) Cincinnati (9–3) UCF (9–3) East Carolina (8–4) Houston (7–5) Temple (6–6)
Bowl ineligible South Florida (3–8) Tulsa (2–10) Tulane (3–9) SMU (1–11) Connecticut (2–10)
Records against other conferences
American vs. power conferences Legend American win American loss
Date Visitor Home Winning team OpponentConference August 28 Temple Vanderbilt Temple SEC August 30 Penn State UCF Penn State Big Ten August 31 SMU Baylor Baylor Big 12 September 6 Maryland South Florida Maryland Big Ten September 6 Memphis UCLA UCLA Pac 12 September 6 East Carolina South Carolina South Carolina SEC September 6 Georgia Tech Tulane Georgia Tech ACC September 6 Oklahoma Tulsa Oklahoma Big 12 September 13 UCF Missouri Missouri SEC September 13 East Carolina Virginia Tech East Carolina ACC September 13 North Carolina State South Florida North Carolina State ACC September 20 Texas A&M SMU Texas A&M SEC September 20 North Carolina East Carolina East Carolina ACC September 20 Tulane Duke Duke ACC September 27 Tulane Rutgers Rutgers Big Ten September 27 Memphis Ole Miss Ole Miss SEC September 27 TCU SMU TCU Big 12 September 27 South Florida Wisconsin Wisconsin Big Ten September 27 Cincinnati Ohio State Ohio State Big Ten October 11 Cincinnati Miami (FL) Miami (FL) ACC November 15 Temple Penn State Penn State Big Ten
American vs. FBS conferences ConferenceRecordACC2–4Big 120–3Big Ten0–6C-USA1–3Independents1–4MAC2–0Mountain West1–2Pac-120–1SEC1–4Sun Belt0–1Total8–28
Players of the week Week Offensive Defensive Special teams Player Team Position Player Team Position Player Team Position Week 1 Kevin Lucas Tulsa WR Tavon Young Temple CB Marvin Kloss South Florida PK Week 2 Paxton Lynch Memphis QB Nigel Harris South Florida LB Deshon Foxx Connecticut PR Week 3 Gunner Kiel Cincinnati QB Josh Hawkins East Carolina LB Sam Geraci Cincinnati P Week 4 Shane Carden East Carolina QB Tank Jakes Memphis LB Mattias Ciabatti South Florida P Week 5 Chris Moore Cincinnati WR Praise Martin-Oguike Temple DE Austin Jones Temple PK Week 6 Shane Carden East Carolina QB Tank Jakes Memphis LB Kyle Bullard Houston PK Week 7 Justin Holman UCF QB Terrance Plummer UCF LB J.J. Worton UCF PR Week 8 André Davis South Florida WR Steven Taylor Houston LB Andrew Gantz Cincinnati PK Week 9 Shane Carden East Carolina QB Jacoby Glenn UCF CB Andrew Gantz Cincinnati PK Week 10 Brandon Hayes Memphis RB Praise Martin-Oguike Temple DE Jake Elliott Memphis PK Week 11 Dane Evans Tulsa QB Parry Nickerson Tulane CB Jake Elliott Memphis PK Week 12 Gunner Kiel Cincinnati QB Jacoby Glenn UCF CB Andrew Gantz Cincinnati PK Week 13 Kenneth Farrow Houston RB Jeff Luc Cincinnati LB Michael Easton UCF KR Week 14 Paxton Lynch Memphis QB Nick Temple Cincinnati LB Jake Elliott Memphis PK Week 15 Breshad Perriman UCF WR Tyler Matakevich Temple LB Shawn Moffitt UCF PK
Position key CenterCCornerbackCBDefensive backDBDefensive endDEDefensive linemanDLDefensive tackleDTGuardGKickoff returnerKROffensive tackleOTOffensive linemanOLLinebackerLBLong snapperLSPunterPPlacekickerPKPunt returnerPRQuarterbackQBRunning backRBSafetySTight endTEWide receiverWR
Awards and honors
Conference awards The following individuals received postseason honors as voted by the American Athletic Conference football coaches at the end of the season 2014 American Athletic Conference Individual Awards Award Recipient(s)Offensive Player of the YearShane Carden, East CarolinaDefensive Player of the Year Jacoby Glenn, UCF Tank Jakes, MemphisSpecial Teams Player of the Year Jake Elliott, MemphisRookie of the Year Marlon Mack, USFCoach of the YearJustin Fuente, Memphis 2014 All-American Athletic Conference Football Teams First Team Second Team Offense Defense Offense DefenseWR – Breshad Perriman, UCF WR – Justin Hardy, East Carolina OT – Eric Lefeld^, Cincinnati OT – Al Bond, Memphis OG – Parker Ehinger, Cincinnati OG – Rowdy Harper, Houston C – Taylor Hudson, East Carolina TE – Alan Cross, Memphis QB – Shane Carden, East Carolina RB – William Stanback, UCF RB – Marlon Mack, USF K – Jake Elliott, Memphis RS – Deion Sanders Jr., SMU DL – Terrell Hartsfield, Cincinnati DL – Terry Williams, East Carolina DL – Joey Mbu, Houston DL – Martin Ifedi, Memphis LB – Terrance Plummer, UCF LB – Jeff Luc, Cincinnati LB – Tank Jakes, Memphis LB – Tyler Matakevich, Temple CB – Jacoby Glenn, UCF CB – Bobby McCain, Memphis S – Clayton Geathers, UCF S – Adrian McDonald, Houston P – Mattias Ciabatti, USF WR – Deontay Greenberry, Houston WR – Keevan Lucas, Tulsa OT – Torrian Wilson, UCF OT – Ike Harris, East Carolina OG – J.T. Boyd, East Carolina C – Kyle Friend, Temple TE – Bryce Williams, East Carolina QB – Paxton Lynch, Memphis RB – Kenneth Farrow, Houston RB – Brandon Hayes, Memphis K – Andrew Gantz, Cincinnati RS – Keiwone Malone, Memphis DL – Jaryl Mamea, UCF DL – Thomas Niles, UCF DL – Matt Ioaniddis, Temple DL – Praise Martin-Oguike, Temple DL – Derrick Alexander, Tulsa LB – Zeek Bigger, East Carolina LB – Brandon Williams, East Carolina LB – Efrem Oliphant, Houston CB – William Jackson, Houston CB – Lorenzo Doss, Tulane CB – Brandon Alexander, UCF S – Sam Scofield, Tulane P – Spencer Smith, Memphis ^ - denotes unanimous selection Additional players added to the All-AAC teams due to ties in the voting
Home game attendance . TeamStadiumCapacityGm 1Gm 2Gm 3Gm 4Gm 5Gm 6Gm 7TotalAverage % of Capacity Cincinnati Paul Brown Stadium 65,535 31,912 41,926 25,456 30,024 19,113 24,606173,03728,83944.01% Connecticut Rentschler Field 40,000 35,130 23,543 30,098 27,755 28,751 24,012169,30928,21870.55% East Carolina Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium 50,000 42,75851,082 45,029 40,152 48,433 41,259268,71344,78689.57% Houston TDECU Stadium 40,00040,775 30,081 23,408 26,685 21,471 32,205 23,572198,17728,31170.78% Memphis Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium 61,008 27,361 46,378 32,784 26,846 34,635 35,102203,10633,85157.08% SMU Gerald J. Ford Stadium 32,00034,820 23,093 16,849 19,498 19,463 15,446129,16921,52867.28% South Florida Raymond James Stadium 65,890 31,642 28,915 27,269 28,273 31,567 29,782 36,963214,86130,69446.61% Temple Lincoln Financial Field 68,532 28,408 19,202 25,340 22,130 23,882 21,255140,21723,37034.10% Tulane Yulman Stadium 30,00030,000 26,358 23,076 21,414 28,61420,612129,46225,89286.31% Tulsa Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium 30,000 19,032 29,357 21,353 18,744 14,269 15,126117,88119,64765.49% UCF Bright House Networks Stadium 45,323 44,510 41,547 35,015 39,554 35,323 30,920226,86937,81283.43% Cincinnati will be playing all its 2014 Paul Brown Stadium due to ongoing renovations to Nippert Stadium, capacity: 65,535. Games highlighted in green were sell-outs.
References