Click here to read the 2014 Popeyes Bahamas Bowl Weekly Release – Week 5 (PDF)
POPEYES BAHAMAS BOWL WEEK 5 NOTEBOOK
THIS WEEKEND: The Week 5 schedule begins Friday night when 3-1 Old Dominion hosts its first Conference USA home game as Middle Tennessee visits in an early key East Division game. Saturday, three conference games highlight the C-USA schedule as FIU visits UAB in an East Division battle, UTSA heads to Florida Atlantic and defending champ Rice goes to Southern Miss for a West Division game. In non-conference action, Louisiana Tech goes to AP No. 5 Auburn. In the MAC, the Saturday slate is led by two East Division showdowns (Bowling Green at UMass and Miami at Buffalo) and a West Division game (Central Michigan at Toledo). In non-conference play, the MAC plays three games against ACC competition (Western Michigan at Virginia Tech, Akron at Pitt and Kent State at Virginia).
C-USA SWEEPS MAC: Conference USA finished 5-0 against their Popeyes Bahamas Bowl partners in the 2014 regular season as C-USA’s lone unbeaten Marshall (4-0) defeated Akron 48-17. In that game, Herd senior QB Rakeem Cato threw a TD pass for the 36th consecutive game, the longest current streak in FBS and two games shy of tying the NCAA mark of 38 by Russell Wilson (N.C. State/Wisconsin) from 2009-11.
PROVE IT ALL NIGHT: Toledo overcame a 2:41 weather delay late Saturday night and early Sunday morning to defeat Ball State 34-23 in the MAC opener for both teams. The game was suspended at 7:20 pm, and play resumed at 10:01 pm. The game ended at 12:42 am, 5:40 after kickoff. Toldeo sophomore QB Logan Woodside completed 13-of-22 passes for 152 yards and one TD and rushed for a pair of scores in the victory.
FBS NATIONAL LEADERS: WKU senior QB Brandon Doughty is first in passing yards per game (486.3) and total offense per game (480.7) and second in completions per game (39.0). UTEP sophomore RB Aaron Jones is second in both rushing yards per game (183.0) and scoring per game (14.0). North Texas sophomore WR Darvin Kidsy and Middle Tennessee redshirt junior WR Ed’Marques Batties are tied for second in punt return TDs (1). Western Michigan freshman RB Jarvion Franklin is tied for first in rushing TDs (9) and first in points per game (18.0). Ball State senior K Scott Secor is second in field goals per game (2.5). Eastern Michigan sophomore LB Nathan Adams, Bowling Green redshirt junior WR Herve Coby and redshirt junior WR Ryan Burbrink are second in punt return TDs (1). Kent State sophomore S Nate Holley is second in solo tackles per game (9.3).
#PASSPORTTOKICKOFF
#PassportToKickoff is not only our hashtag, but a reminder that all U.S. citizens must have a valid passport to travel to the Bahamas & the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl. For passport info:
passports.state.gov.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
CONFERENCE USA
Friday, September 26
* Middle Tenn. at Old Dominion (FS1)
Saturday, September 27
UTEP at Kansas State (FSN)
* FIU at UAB (ASN)
WKU at Navy (CBSSN)
Louisiana Tech at Auburn (SECN)
* UTSA at Florida Atlantic
* Rice at Southern Miss (FCS)
MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE
Saturday, September 27
Western Michigan at Va. Tech (ACCN)
Akron at Pittsburgh (ESPN3)
Eastern Illinois at Ohio (ESPN3)
* Bowling Green at UMass (ESPN3)
Kent State at Virginia (ESPN3)
* Miami at Buffalo (ESPN3)
* Central Michigan at Toledo (ESPN3)
(TV/digital network in parenthesis)
* – conference games
WEEK 4 RESULTS
CONFERENCE USA
Saturday, September 20
* Middle Tennessee 50, WKU 47
Florida Atlantic 50, Tulsa 21
Marshall 44, Ohio 14
Old Dominion 17, Eastern Michigan 3
UAB 41, Alabama A&M 14
UTEP 42, New Mexico St. 24
Pittsburgh 42, FIU 25
Alabama 52, Southern Miss 12
Oklahoma State 43, UTSA 13
Texas A&M 38, Rice 10
MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE
Saturday, September 20
Wisconsin 68, Bowling Green 17
Michigan State 73, Eastern Michigan 14
Marshall 48, Akron 17
Kansas 24, Central Michigan 10
Buffalo 36, Norfolk State 7
Penn State 48, UMass 7
* Toledo 34, Ball State 23
Ohio 36, Idaho 24
Cincinnati 31, Miami 24
Western Michigan 45, Murray State 14
Arkansas 52, Northern Illinois 14
* – conference games
WEEK 4 INDIVIDUAL HONORS
QB Taylor Heinicke, Old Dominion: The senior completed 27-of-43 passes for 430 yards and five TDs and rushed for a TD in a 45-42 win at Rice for C-USA Offensive Player of the Week honors.
DL Dasman McCullum, Southern Miss: The senior had a career-best 10 tackles (two for loss), a forced fumble/recovery and a blocked PAT in a 21-20 win over Applachian State for C-USA Defensive Player of the Week honors.
PR Darvin Kidsy, North Texas: The sophomore returned three punts for a 44.0-yard average, including a 75-yarder for a TD in a 77-3 victory over Nicholls State for C-USA Special Teams Player of the Week recognition.
WR David Frazier, Miami: The senior had five catches and set career highs with 162 receiving yards and two TDs in a loss at Cincinnati for MAC East Division Offensive Player of the Week honors.
LB Quentin Poling, Ohio: The redshirt freshman had 14 tackles and three interceptions for 77 yards in a 36-24 victory over Idaho for MAC East Division Defensive Player of the Week honors.
P Joe Davidson, Bowling Green: The redshirt freshman punted a career-high 11 times, averaging 45.1 yards, in a loss at Wisconsin for MAC East Division Special Teams Player of the Week recognition.
RB Jarvion Franklin, Western Michigan: The freshman rushed for 168 yards on 30 carries and three TDs in a 45-14 win over Murray State for MAC West Division Offensive Player of the Week honors.
LB Justin Cherocci, Central Michigan: The senior had a career-best 18 tackles (12 solo) in a loss at Kansas for MAC West Division Defensive Player of the Week honors.
KR/PR Corey Jones, Toledo: The sophomore had 164 all-purpose yards, including 76 on kickoffs and 66 on punts, in a 34-23 win over Ball State for MAC West Division Special Teams Player of the Week.
POPEYES BAHAMAS BOWL MEDIA PREDICTIONS
Organization (Media Member) – Date: C-USA vs. MAC Matchup
ESPN.com (Brett McMurphy) – Sept. 22: North Texas vs. Western Michigan
ESPN.com (Mark Schlabach) – Sept. 22: Marshall vs. Toledo
USA Today (Erick Smith) – Sept. 24: Middle Tennessee vs. Ohio
CollegeFootballNews.com (Pete Fiutak) – Sept. 23: UTEP vs. Northern Illinois
NFL.com (Mike Huguenin) – Sept. 23: Old Dominion vs. Toledo
Phil Steele Magazine – Sept. 22: Louisiana Tech vs. Toledo
The Sporting News (Bill Bender) – Sept. 22: UTEP vs. Akron
Brant Parsons (Orlando Sentinel) – Sept. 21: Marshall vs. Bowling Green
CBSSports.com (Jerry Palm) – Sept. 21: UTSA vs. Central Michigan
SB Nation (Jason Kirk) – Sept. 21: Marshall vs. Toledo
SI.com (Zac Ellis) – Aug. 27: Middle Tennessee vs. Toledo
FOXSports.com (Stuart Mandel) – Aug. 26: Florida Atlantic vs. Northern Illinois
NationalFootballPost.com (Dave Miller) – Aug. 25: Marshall vs. Toledo
POPEYES BAHAMAS BOWL PARTICIPANT SELECTION
The highest-ranked team by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee from either the American Athletic, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West or Sun Belt will play annually in one of the College Football Playoff bowls.
Conference USA’s champion will select which bowl it would like to attend, and the remainder of the selections will follow after that, with no particular set order of bowls. C-USA has 2014 tie-ins with the Popeyes Bahamas, Boca Raton, Gildan New Mexico, Hawai’i and Heart of Dallas bowls, with a secondary tie-in with the Duck Commander Independence Bowl (if either ACC or SEC does not have enough eligible teams).
The Mid-American Conference will provide a bowl-eligible team for the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl. The MAC has 2014 tie-ins with Popeyes Bahamas, Boca Raton, Famous Idaho Potato, GoDaddy and Raycom Media Camellia bowls, with a secondary tie-in with the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl (if Navy is not bowl-eligible or the Mountain West does not have enough eligible teams).
The participants for the 2014 Popeyes Bahamas Bowl will be announced Sunday, December 7.
