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September 18th, 2014 | BAHAMAS BOWL

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Popeyes Bahamas Bowl Weekly Release – 2014 Week 4 (September 20)

Click here to read the 2014 Popeyes Bahamas Bowl Weekly Release – Week 4 (PDF)

POPEYES BAHAMAS BOWL WEEK 4 NOTEBOOK

THIS WEEKEND: The Week 4 schedule features a pair of league games as Old Dominion travels to defending C-USA champ Rice and Ball State heads to Toledo for a MAC West Division showdown. In C-USA non-conference action, FIU hosts new ACC member Louisville, and Middle Tennessee is at in-state rival Memphis. Two MAC schools play ranked opponents as Eastern Michigan travels to AP No. 11 Michigan State, and Bowling Green is at AP No. 19 Wisconsin.

C-USA/MAC LAST DANCE: Conference USA, with a 4-0 mark against MAC opponents, face off with their Popeyes Bahamas Bowl partners for the final time in the 2014 regular season Saturday as C-USA’s lone unbeaten Marshall (3-0) travels to Akron. This past week, Marshall beat Ohio 44-14 and Old Dominion defeated Eastern Michigan 17-3. The victory was ODU’s first over an FBS school.

ANOTHER BIG (TEN) DAY FOR MAC: A MAC team beat a Big Ten opponent for the second straight week as Bowling Green defeated Indiana 45-42 on a QB James Knapke 2-yard TD pass to Roger Lewis with nine seconds left. The win was Bowling Green’s first home victory vs. a Big Ten opponent. The MAC has three victories over Big Ten schools for the first time since 2012.

STREAKING: Marshall senior QB Rakeem Cato has thrown a TD pass in 35 consecutive games, which is the longest current streak in FBS. The NCAA record is 38, held by Russell Wilson (N.C. State/Wisconsin) from 2009-11.

FIRST PASSPORT STAMPS: Florida Atlantic and Western Michigan both got the first victories of the season. The Owls beat Tulsa 50-12 for Charlie Partridge’s first head-coaching victory, and the Broncos beat Idaho 45-33.

FBS NATIONAL LEADERS: UTEP sophomore RB Aaron Jones is first with 549 rush yards and is second in rushing TDs with 7. WKU senior QB Brandon Doughty is tied for first in passing TDs with 12, first in total offense per game at 480.7 and is second in pass yards with 1,459. UMass junior DB Trey Dudley-Giles is second in kickoff return average at 35.4. Western Michigan freshman RB Jarvion Franklin is first in points per game at 18.0 and second in rush yards per game at 187.0. UMass junior LB Jovan Santos-Knox is first in tackles per game at 14.0.

#PASSPORTTOKICKOFF
#PassportToKickoff is not only our hashtag, but a reminder that all U.S. citizens need a passport to travel to the Bahamas & the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl. For passport info, go to: passports.state.gov.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE:

CONFERENCE USA

Saturday, September 20
* Old Dominion at Rice (FSN)
Marshall at Akron (ESPN3)
Louisville at FIU (FS1)
Nicholls State at North Texas (ASN)
Florida Atlantic at Wyoming (MWN)
Northwestern State at Louisiana Tech
Appalachian St. at Southern Miss (ASN)
Middle Tennessee at Memphis (ESPN3)

MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE

Saturday, September 20
Bowling Green at Wisconsin (ESPN2)
Eastern Michigan at Michigan St. (BTN)
Marshall at Akron (ESPN3)
Central Michigan at Kansas (FSN)
Norfolk State at Buffalo (ESPN3)
UMass at Penn State (BTN)
* Ball State at Toledo (ESPN3)
Idaho at Ohio (ESPN3)
Miami at Cincinnati (CBSSN)
Murray St. at Western Michigan (ESPN3)
Northern Illinois at Arkansas (ESPNU)

(TV/digital network in parenthesis)
* – conference games

WEEK 3 RESULTS

CONFERENCE USA

Thursday, September 11
* Louisiana Tech 42, North Texas 21

Saturday, September 13
* 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

Friday, September 12
Cincinnati 58, Toledo 34
Baylor 63, Buffalo 21

Saturday, September 13
Bowling Green 45, Indiana 42
Ohio State 66, Kent State 0
Marshall 44, Ohio 14
Syracuse 40, Central Michigan 3
Vanderbilt 34, UMass 31
Indiana State 27, Ball State 20
Michigan 34, Miami 10
Western Michigan 45, Idaho 33
Old Dominion 17, Eastern Michigan 3
Northern Illinois 48, UNLV 34

* – conference games

WEEK 3 INDIVIDUAL HONORS
QB Brandon Doughty, WKU: The senior set a C-USA and school record with 593 passing yards and tossed four TD passes in a conference loss at Middle Tennessee for C-USA Offensive Player of the Week honors.

DB D.J. Simon, Old Dominion: The junior had a career-high 11 tackles, including one for loss, in a 17-3 victory over Eastern Michigan for C-USA Defensive Player of the Week honors.

K Cody Clark, Middle Tennessee: The sophomore set career highs with three field goals in a 50-47 three-OT victory over WKU for C-USA Special Teams Player of the Week recognition.

QB James Knapke, Bowling Green: The sophomore completed 46-of-73 passes for a career-high 395 yards and three TDs in a 45-42 victory over Indiana for MAC East Division Offensive Player of the Week honors.

DB Quinten Rollins, Miami: The senior had a career-high six tackles and an interception in a loss at Michigan for MAC East Division Defensive Player of the Week honors.

K Tyler Tate, Bowling Green: The junior set a career high with four field goals in a 45-42 win over Indiana for MAC East Division Special Teams Player of the Week recognition.

QB Logan Woodside, Toledo: The sophomore completed 27-of-40 passes for 322 yards in a loss at Cincinnai for MAC West Division Co-Offensive Player of the Week honors.

QB Drew Hare, Northern Illinois: The sophomore threw for 285 yards and three TDs in a 48-34 victory over UNLV for MAC West Division Co-Offensive Player of the Week honors.

DL Cleveland Smith, Western Michigan: The junior had a career-high three sacks in a 45-33 victory at Idaho for MAC West Division Defensive Player of the Week honors.

K/P Tyler Wedel, Northern Illinois: The senior made a pair of second-half field goals and six total PATs in a 48-34 victory at UNLV for MAC West Division Special Teams Player of the Week.

POPEYES BAHAMAS BOWL MEDIA PREDICTIONS
Media Member/Organization Predicting C-USA vs. MAC Matchup
ESPN.com (Brett McMurphy) – Sept. 15: North Texas vs. Central Michigan
ESPN.com (Mark Schlabach) – Sept. 15: Marshall vs. Toledo
USA Today – Sept. 17: Middle Tennessee vs. Bowling Green
NFL.com (Mike Huguenin) – Sept. 16: Western Kentucky vs. Toledo
Phil Steele Magazine – Sept. 15: Louisiana Tech vs. Toledo
The Sporting News (Bill Bender) – Sept. 15: WKU vs. Akron
Brant Parsons (Orlando Sentinel) – Sept. 14: Marshall vs. Bowling Green
CBSSports.com (Jerry Palm) – Sept. 14: UTSA vs. Central Michigan
SB Nation (Jason Kirk) – Sept. 14: Marshall vs. Toledo
CollegeFootballNews.com – Sept. 14: Middle Tennessee vs. Northern Illinois
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.

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