Three takeaways from Week 2 of American Conference action
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
Week 2 was guaranteed to be an action-packed one in the American Conference.
Zero teams were pitted against FCS competition and conference play commenced, providing a slate of intriguing matchups.
Three teams — Temple, Rice, and Charlotte — battled top-16 opponents, but all bowed out without even reaching double-digits on the scoreboard. Two underdog Florida teams took down favored service academies — South Florida defeated Army in a thrilling comeback, while Florida Atlantic survived an almost-epic Navy comeback. And North Texas, Memphis, and UTSA all battled potential contenders from Mountain West and Pac-12 country to mixed results.
The full Week 2 American scoreboard:
- Penn State 27, Temple 9
- South Florida 28, Army 24
- Appalachian State 27, East Carolina 24
- Notre Dame 52, Rice 0
- UTSA 31, Texas State 26
- UAB 26, ULM 20
- North Texas 44, UNLV 6
- Boise State 38, Memphis 20
- Tulsa 23, Sam Houston 17
- Tulane 28, South Alabama 24
- Florida Atlantic 38, Navy 30
- Ole Miss 41, Charlotte 9
Here are three takeaways from Week 2 in the conference:
Reloaded North Texas is ready to contend
Approximately 220 miles north of Denton, a statement was made in the college football world. An Oklahoma State comprised of former North Texas head coach Eric Morris and a bulk of contributors from the 2025 Mean Green upset No. 6 Oregon.
That game showed how much production North Texas lost from 2025 to 2026, but with Neal Brown at the helm and 70 newcomers, the Mean Green proved they remain contenders, despite experiencing some of the most significant turnover of any FBS program this offseason. North Texas hosted preseason Mountain West favorite UNLV and absolutely destroyed the Rebels, 44-6.
The Mean Green defense, led by first-year coordinator Matt Powledge, denied UNLV of a touchdown for the 60-minute affair — a program-first since 2019. Meanwhile, the offense led by Big 12 transfers Tayven Jackson and Jahiem White showed balance and moved efficiently, just like the 2025 North Texas offense. Also, the offense didn’t move poorly against the defending national champions in Week 1. While the 52-16 loss to Indiana doesn’t look great on a résumé, it was 24-13 in the third quarter, and the Mean Green managed more than 35 yards on each of their first seven drives. Also, Curt Cignetti era Indiana produces these same scores against ranked programs. Ask Oregon and Alabama about it.
The American is wide open. Both service academies already have conference losses. Tulane and East Carolina are struggling mightily in non-conference play. On the conference schedule, North Texas only faces three American teams that won at least six games last year. The Mean Green have a viable route to a second-straight conference championship, and that’s become clear after the first two weeks.
Tulsa needs more offense to take next step
Tulsa’s stock significantly rose Saturday before the Golden Hurricane even took the field in Huntsville. The Golden Hurricane stunned Oklahoma State by two touchdowns in Week 1, and the game was never really doubt. Tulsa won in wire-to-wire fashion and the defense regularly recorded stops — both from takeaways and from sound tackling and coverage. When Drew Mestemaker and Oklahoma State’s offense gashed Oregon with 554 yards, that only made Tulsa’s defense look better.
Tulsa is 2-0 for the first time since 2015, but the Golden Hurricane need to take another step to be a true contender. That involves offensive consistency. Tulsa only has 47 combined points in its two wins, and offensive struggles were prevalent in both. Against Oklahoma State, the Golden Hurricane started 0-of-10 on third down and couldn’t even convert one until approximately three minutes remained. The issues persisted with a 4-of-17 showing on third down against Sam Houston, and Tulsa’s offense completed 16-of-33 passes for only 126 yards (3.8 per attempt) against the Bearkats.
In fact, one of Tulsa’s three touchdowns in the 23-17 escape at Sam Houston wasn’t even courtesy of the offense. Instead, it was a direct snap to defensive end Tristan Lawyer on a 4th and 9 fake punt which sparked the team. The Golden Hurricane have generated the occasional explosive play on offense, but they need more consistent movement to enter the American contender circle. And finding that offense might become more challenging after an injury to quarterback Baylor Hayes, who sprained his knee against Sam Houston. Head coach Tre Lamb expects Hayes to return Week 4 at Arkansas. For Week 3 against FCS opponent East Texas A&M, former Kennesaw State starter Dexter Williams II will look to get the offense in a groove.
Tulane, ECU leave more questions than answers
Perhaps the American had the widest variety of conference champion picks heading into the season. Two popular contenders, Tulane and East Carolina, were fresh off respective 11-3 and 9-4 seasons. Even though both programs lost a wealth of talent to the transfer portal, they also brought in transfer classes expected to keep them in contention.
Neither the Green Wave nor Pirates looked like American contenders in the first two weeks of the season. But fortunately for them, there’s still time to progress.
Tulane is 1-1 with a 17-3 loss to Duke and a 28-24 win over South Alabama. Almost everything went wrong offensively against the Blue Devils. The Green Wave rotated between two quarterbacks but never found the end zone. They were limited to 258 yards, committed 15 penalties, and even the defense struggled in the low-scoring bout by surrendering 227 rushing yards to Nate Sheppard.
Tulane expected significant progress for its Week 2 home opener against South Alabama team coming off a 4-8 season. However, the sloppy play continued early, and South Alabama established a 10-0 first quarter lead. Tulane ultimately came back through the spectacular play of Jaylin Lucas, who rushed for 214 yards on a 19.5 average. But this time, the pass defense (which ranked 126th last season) struggled mightily against a team not renowned for airing it out and allowed 10-of-16 third downs to be converted. South Alabama managed an efficient 296 passing yards and two touchdowns and held a late 24-21 lead, before Kadin Semonza delivered the game-winning touchdown strike to Destyn Hill with 74 seconds remaining. A win is a win, but it wasn’t satisfying for a team that qualified for four-straight American title games and a CFP last December. Then again, Tulane only beat South Alabama by two last September before making its CFP run, but improvement is mandatory.
East Carolina was 14-5 through 19 games under head coach Blake Harrell. The Pirates are now 0-2 as one of two remaining winless American teams, along with Charlotte. Nobody expected ECU to upset Alabama on the road in Week 1, but the Pirates were largely uncompetitive against the Crimson Tide. Their defense regularly allowed Keelon Russell to take off as a runner and extend plays while leaving the pocket, and the result was a 48-10 annihilation, where there weren’t many positive takeaways.
In Week 2, ECU expected to win. The Pirates have been tormented by Appalachian State since the Mountaineers joined the FBS, but this was their chance to shift the narrative in the series. ECU had nine wins last year. App State had its worst FBS season ever. Yet, the Mountaineers stormed into Greenville and left with a 27-24 victory in a game that had a double-digit margin with under 30 seconds remaining. The Pirates’ offense — which lost every starter but receiver Brock Spalding, who has yet to make his 2026 debut — has hampered by two turnovers and a 2-of-13 result on third down. The defense showed some of its positive tendencies from last year, such as racking up 10 tackles for loss on App State, but the coverage struggled in the Week 2 defeat. And ECU doesn’t have a get-right game against an FCS opponent next. Instead, it takes the road to face Old Dominion in an absolute must-win game for morale.
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos