2014 Conference USA football season

Sports season

2014 Conference USA football season

League| NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
Sport| Football
Duration| August 29, 2014
through December 26, 2014
Number of teams| 13
TV partner(s)| Fox Sports, CBS Sports Network, ESPN, American Sports Network
2015 NFL Draft
Top draft pick| CB D'Joun Smith, FAU
Picked by| Indianapolis Colts, 65th overall
Regular season
Season MVP| QB Brandon Doughty, WKU
East champions| Marshall
West champions| Louisiana Tech
Championship Game
Champions| Marshall
Runners-up| Louisiana Tech
Finals MVP| K Justin Haig, Marshall
Football seasons

← 2013

2015 →

2014 Conference USA football standings

* v
* t
* e

| Conf. |  |  | Overall

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Team |  | W |  | L |  |  |  |  | W |  | L |
East Division
No. 23 Marshall x$  |  | 7  | - | 1  |  |  |  |  | 13  | - | 1  |
Middle Tennessee |  | 5  | - | 3  |  |  |  |  | 6  | - | 6  |
Western Kentucky |  | 4  | - | 4  |  |  |  |  | 8  | - | 5  |
UAB |  | 4  | - | 4  |  |  |  |  | 6  | - | 6  |
Old Dominion*  |  | 4  | - | 4  |  |  |  |  | 6  | - | 6  |
FIU |  | 3  | - | 5  |  |  |  |  | 4  | - | 8  |
Florida Atlantic |  | 2  | - | 6  |  |  |  |  | 3  | - | 9  |
West Division
Louisiana Tech x  |  | 7  | - | 1  |  |  |  |  | 9  | - | 5  |
Rice |  | 5  | - | 3  |  |  |  |  | 8  | - | 5  |
UTEP |  | 5  | - | 3  |  |  |  |  | 7  | - | 6  |
UTSA |  | 3  | - | 5  |  |  |  |  | 4  | - | 8  |
North Texas |  | 2  | - | 6  |  |  |  |  | 4  | - | 8  |
Southern Miss |  | 1  | - | 7  |  |  |  |  | 3  | - | 9  |
Championship: Marshall 26, Louisiana Tech 23

* $ - Conference champion
* x - Division champion/co-champions
* * Ineligible for postseason bowl due to transition from FCS

As of 22:24, 20 December 2014 (UTC)
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2014 Conference USA football season was a part of the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season and was played from August 2014 through January 2015. The 2014 football season marks the 20th season of the Conference USA's existence and 19th of football competition; although C-USA was established in 1995, it did not begin football competition until 1996.

## Previous season

[edit]

Main article: 2013 Conference USA football season

Rice won the conference championship for the first time, defeating Marshall 41–24.[1]

## 2014 season

[edit]

### Before the season

[edit]

Conference USA football added two new members in 2014 (Old Dominion (transitioning from FCS) and Western Kentucky (from the Sun Belt Conference)) and lost three from the previous season (East Carolina, Tulane, and Tulsa) to the American Athletic Conference.[2][3]

In preseason polls, Marshall was favored to win the East Division and the 2014 conference title followed by North Texas to win the West Division.[4] Marshall was also the only team in the conference to have received votes from the AP and Coaches' Poll Preseason Rankings before the season.[5]

### East Division

[edit]

In the first East Division game of the season, Middle Tennessee defeated Western Kentucky 50–47 in triple overtime, bringing the Blue Raiders to the top of the division and the Hilltoppers to the bottom. A week later after the Blue Raiders defeated the Hilltoppers, newcomers Old Dominion defeated the last year conference champions Rice, putting the Monarchs to first in the east division surpassing Middle Tennessee. In the following week, Old Dominion received its first conference loss against Middle Tennessee, bringing the undefeated Blue Raiders back on top on the East Division standings. After winning 3 conference games, Middle Tennessee then lost for the first time in conference play to the undefeated Marshall Thundering Herd, the projected winner of the conference. Marshall would go on to become East Division champions after defeating the defending conference champions, Rice, and after FIU defeated Middle Tennessee to put the Thundering Herd into the conference championship for the second time in back to back seasons.

### West Division

[edit]

In the first conference game of the season, the projected division winner, North Texas lost 21–42 to Louisiana Tech, bringing the Bulldogs to the top of the division and the Mean Green to the bottom. Louisiana Tech would go on to win the West Division 7–1, with wins over North Texas, Southern Miss, UTEP, UTSA, Southern Miss, Western Kentucky, UAB, and Rice and with a loss to Old Dominion.

### Championship Game

[edit]

At the conclusion of the 2014 regular season the tenth C-USA championship game was played at Marshall on December 6, 2014 where the East Division Champs, Marshall, defeated the West Division Champs, Louisiana Tech, 26-23 to claim the conference championship.

### After the season

[edit]

On December 2, 2014, UAB announced that the school will be cutting their football program after the 2014 season.[6]

## Bowl games

[edit]

### Bowl eligibility

[edit]

#### Bowl eligible

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* Louisiana Tech
* Marshall
* Middle Tennessee
* Rice
* UAB
* UTEP
* Western Kentucky

#### Bowl ineligible

[edit]

* Florida Atlantic
* Florida International
* North Texas
* Old Dominion
* Southern Miss
* UTSA

[7]

### Results

[edit]

Conference USA bowl games for the 2014 season are:

Bowl Game  | Date  | Site  | Television  | Time (EST)  | C-USA Team  | Opponent  | Score  | Attendance

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New Mexico Bowl | December 20  | University Stadium • Albuquerque, New Mexico | ESPN | 2:20 p.m.  | UTEP | Utah State | L 6–21  | 28,725
Boca Raton Bowl | December 23  | FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, Florida | ESPN | 6:00 p.m.  | Marshall | Northern Illinois | W 52–23  | 29,419
Bahamas Bowl | December 24  | Thomas Robinson Stadium • Nassau, Bahamas | ESPN | 12:00 p.m.  | Western Kentucky | Central Michigan | W 49–48  | 13,667
Hawaii Bowl | December 24  | Aloha Stadium • Honolulu, HI | ESPN | 8:00 p.m.  | Rice | Fresno State | W 30–6  | 25,365
Heart of Dallas Bowl | December 26  | Cotton Bowl • Dallas | ESPN | 1:00 p.m.  | Louisiana Tech | Illinois | W 35–18  | 31,297

All times Eastern Time Zone.

## Individual conference honors

[edit]

2014 Conference Player of the Year and Coach of the Year awards[8][9]

Award  | Player  | School

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Most Valuable Player  | Brandon Doughty | WKU
Offensive Player of the Year  | Rakeem Cato | Marshall
Defensive Player of the Year  | Neville Hewitt | Marshall
Special Teams Player of the Year  | J.J. Nelson  | UAB
Freshman of the Year  | Ray Lawry  | Old Dominion
Newcomer of the Year  | Cody Sokol  | Louisiana Tech
Coach of the Year  | Doc Holliday | Marshall

## All-Conference players

[edit]

Coaches All-Conference Selections[10]

| Position  | Player  | Class  | Team

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First Team Offense (Coaches)
QB  | Rakeem Cato  | SR  | Marshall
RB  | Devon Johnson  | SR  | Marshall
RB  | Jordan Howard | SO  | UAB
OL  | Chris Jasperse  | SR  | Marshall
OL  | Mitchell Bell  | SR  | Louisiana Tech
OL  | Clint Van Horn  | JR  | Marshall
OL  | Josh Mann  | SR  | Old Dominion
OL  | Cyril Lemon  | SR  | North Texas
TE  | Jonnu Smith | SO  | FIU
WR  | Tommy Shuler  | SR  | Marshall
WR  | Antonio Vaughan  | SR  | Old Dominion
WR  | Lucky Whitehead | SR  | Florida Atlantic
First Team Defense (Coaches)
DL  | Brian Nordstrom  | JR  | Rice
DL  | Rakeem Nunez-Roches  | SR  | Southern Miss
DL  | Diaheem Watkins  | SR  | UAB
DL  | James Rouse  | SR  | Marshall
LB  | Neville Hewitt  | SR  | Marshall
LB  | Derek Akunne  | SR  | North Texas
LB  | Andrae Kirk  | SR  | Florida Atlantic
DB  | Richard Leonard  | JR  | FIU
DB  | Kevin Byard  | JR  | Middle Tennessee
DB  | Xavier Woods  | SO  | Louisiana Tech
DB  | Darryl Roberts  | SR  | Marshall
First Team Special Teams (Coaches)
K  | Corey Acosta  | SR  | Southern Miss
P  | Tyler Williams  | JR  | Marshall
KR  | J.J. Nelson  | SR  | UAB
PR  | Richard Leonard  | JR  | FIU
LS  | Matt Cincotta  | JR  | Marshall
| Position  | Player  | Class  | Team

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Second Team Offense (Coaches)
QB  | Brandon Doughty  | SR  | WKU
RB  | Kenneth Dixon | JR  | Louisiana Tech
RB  | Aaron Jones | SO  | UTEP
RB  | Leon Allen  | JR  | WKU
OL  | Brian O'Leary  | SR  | UAB
OL  | Jerell Watkins  | SR  | UTEP
OL  | Isaiah Anderson  | SR  | Middle Tennessee
OL  | Cameron Clemmons  | SR  | WKU
OL  | Darius Johnson  | JR  | Middle Tennessee
OL  | Nico Carlson  | SR  | Rice
TE  | Kennard Backman  | SR  | UAB
WR  | Jared Dangerfield  | JR  | WKU
WR  | Trent Taylor | SO  | Louisiana Tech
WR  | Jordan Taylor  | SR  | Rice
Second Team Defense (Coaches)
DL  | Arnold Blackmon  | SR  | Marshall
DL  | Michael Wakefield  | JR  | FIU
DL  | Houston Bates | SR  | Louisiana Tech
DL  | Robert Singletary  | SR  | UTSA
LB  | Jake Ganus  | JR  | UAB
LB  | T.T. Barber  | JR  | Middle Tennessee
LB  | Jermaine Holmes  | SR  | Marshall
DB  | Triston Wade  | SR  | UTSA
DB  | D'Joun Smith  | SR  | Florida Atlantic
DB  | James Jones  | SR  | North Texas
DB  | Bryce Callahan  | SR  | Rice
DB  | Wonderful Terry  | JR  | WKU
Second Team Special Teams (Coaches)
K  | Sean Ianno  | SR  | UTSA
P  | Dalton Schomp  | SO  | Florida Atlantic
KR  | Autrey Golden  | JR  | UTEP
PR  | J.J. Nelson  | SR  | UAB
LS  | Jesse Medrano  | SR  | UTSA

## Attendance

[edit]

Team  | Stadium  | Capacity  | Game 1  | Game 2  | Game 3  | Game 4  | Game 5  | Game 6  | Game 7  | Game 8  | Total  | Average  | % of Capacity

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FIU  | FIU Stadium | 20,000  | 14,053  | 9,981  | 10,147  | 10,826  | 12,544  | 13,163  | 12,097  | 12,917  | 95,728  | 11,966  | 59.8%
Florida Atlantic  | FAU Stadium | 29,419  | 14,112  | 13,928  | 10,915  | 17,724  | 9,566  | -- | -- | -- | 66,245  | 13,249  | 45.0%
Louisiana Tech  | Joe Aillet Stadium | 27,717  | 26,004  | 18,157  | 18,071  | 20,011  | 18,029  | -- | -- | -- | 100,272  | 20,054  | 72.4%
Marshall  | Joan C. Edwards Stadium | 38,227  | 25,106  | 31,710  | 30,210  | 27,236  | 30,680  | 23,576  | 23,711  | -- | 192,229  | 27,461  | 71.8%
Middle Tennessee | Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium | 30,788  | 15,605  | 24,911  | 14,022  | 18,717  | 18,952  | 12,243  | -- | -- | 104,450  | 17,408  | 56.5%
North Texas  | Apogee Stadium | 30,850  | 22,398  | 16,998  | 21,323  | 19,127  | 20,957  | 14,824  | -- | -- | 115,627  | 19,271  | 62.5%
Old Dominion  | Foreman Field | 20,118  | 20,118  | 20,118  | 20,118  | 20,118  | 20,118  | 20,118  | -- | -- | 120,708  | 20,118  | 100.0%
Rice  | Rice Stadium | 47,000  | 17,558  | 17,465  | 18,430  | 19,464  | 18,164  | -- | -- | -- | 91,081  | 18,216  | 38.8%
Southern Miss  | M. M. Roberts Stadium | 36,000  | 26,448  | 21,836  | 24,756  | 23,343  | 22,949  | 17,103  | -- | -- | 136,435  | 22,739  | 63.2%
UAB  | Legion Field | 71,594  | 27,133  | 29,604  | 16,133  | 20,365  | 9,457  | 28,355  | -- | -- | 131,047  | 21,841  | 30.5%
UTEP  | Sun Bowl Stadium | 51,500  | 35,422  | 32,979  | 25,509  | 24,673  | 24,222  | 27,455  | -- | -- | 170,260  | 28,377  | 55.1%
UTSA  | Alamodome | 65,000  | 33,472  | 30,419  | 25,318  | 31,956  | 20,281  | 24,012  | -- | -- | 165,458  | 27,576  | 42.4%
WKU  | Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium | 22,113  | 17,215  | 14,923  | 17,886  | 18,472  | 16,819  | 12,518  | -- | -- | 97,833  | 16,306  | 73.7%
Total | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1,587,373  |  | -

## Membership

[edit]

Main article: 2010–13 Conference USA realignment

East Carolina, Tulane, and Tulsa left Conference USA, and joined the American Athletic Conference, the football-sponsoring offshoot of the original Big East, on July 1, 2014.[11]

Old Dominion, which had moved five of its sports from its former home of the Colonial Athletic Association to C-USA for the 2012–13 school year, moved the rest of its athletic program to C-USA. ODU has an established FCS program that played as an FCS independent in 2013, and will join C-USA football as a provisional FBS member in 2014, and become fully bowl-eligible in 2015. Also Western Kentucky will join the conference from the Sun Belt Conference on July 1, 2014.[2] Charlotte, which is a football team, that is initially provisional FBS member in 2014 and will bring football to C-USA in 2015. The 49ers joined from the Atlantic 10 Conference.

With Old Dominion and Western Kentucky makes the conference at 13 teams which will be both in the East Division, while Southern Miss moves from the East Division to the West. The East division consist of 7 members while the West division consists of 6 members.

East Division | West Division

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Florida Atlantic | Louisiana Tech
FIU | North Texas
Marshall | Rice
Middle Tennessee | Southern Miss
Old Dominion | UTEP
UAB | UTSA
Western Kentucky |

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Marshall Thundering Herd ve Rice Owls – Drivechart". ESPN. December 7, 2013. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
2. ^ a b Kevin Kelley (April 1, 2013). "Western Kentucky to join Conference USA in 2014". fbschedules.com. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
3. ^ "Conference USA adds 5 schools". ESPN. Associated Press. May 4, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
4. ^ "C-USA Football Preseason Poll Announced". Conference USA. July 16, 2014. Archived from the original on October 26, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
5. ^ "2014 Preseason Amway Coaches Poll Released; FSU No. 1". FB Schedules. July 31, 2014. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
6. ^ "UAB shuts down its football program", USA Today, December 2, 2014, retrieved December 2, 2014
7. ^ "NCAA FBS (Division I-A) Football Standings - 2014". Retrieved October 26, 2014.
8. ^ "Conference USA Announces Football Players of the Year - Conference USA Official Athletic Site". Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
9. ^ "Marshall's Doc Holliday Named C-USA Football Coach Of The Year - Conference USA Official Athletic Site". Archived from the original on December 10, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
10. ^ "C-USA Announces Football All-Conference Teams - Conference USA Official Athletic Site". Archived from the original on December 11, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
11. ^ Brett McMurphy (April 4, 2013). "Old Big East now American Athletic". ESPN. Retrieved February 2, 2014.

* v
* t
* e

Conference USA football

Current teams|

* FIU Panthers
* Jacksonville State Gamecocks
* Kennesaw State Owls
* Liberty Flames
* Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
* Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
* New Mexico State Aggies
* Sam Houston Bearkats
* UTEP Miners (leaving in 2026)
* Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

Future members|

* Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
* Missouri State Bears (both joining in 2025)

Championships & awards|

* Conference USA Football Championship Game
* All-time standings
* Conference USA football individual awards

Seasons|

* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

* v
* t
* e

2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season

Conference seasons|

* The American
* ACC
* Big 12
* Big Ten
* Conference USA
* MAC
* Mountain West
* Pac-12
* SEC
* Sun Belt

Inter-conference|

* Bowl games
* Rankings

All-Americans|

2014 College Football All-America Team
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Conf.]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[No.]: Number