It’s Wednesday and that means it’s time to start weekly our college football roundtables. Today we start our conversation on the American Athletic Conference. TSS Associate Editor Terry Johnson joins staff writer Kevin Causey and special rotating guest in our weekly roundtables discussing all things college football.
Previously, we’ve discussed the Sun Belt Conference, Conference USA, the MAC and the Mountain West Conference. Today we are joined by Scott of Bearcats Blog to talk about the AAC.
Question: Who are the players to watch this year in the American Athletic Conference?
Scott:
On Twitter @BearcatsBlog
My player to watch is Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch. While Lynch isn’t the biggest star in the league, he’s arguably the most important player this season. If the Tigers are going to repeat their success as league champions, a lot is going to be because of Lynch’s play. Last season featured boosts in accuracy, yards per completion, yards total and touchdowns. The interception rate dropped as well. Those are all signs of a big step forward.
While his arm is the obvious strength of his game, Lynch’s ground game is also very solid. He ran for over 300 yards. Most impressively, Lynch ran for a team high 13 touchdowns. He was Memphis’ best red zone rush option.
If you watched the Miami Beach Bowl, it was hard not to come away very impressed with Paxton Lynch. Memphis should be the west division favorites. The Tigers have an early season huge home game against Cincinnati that would put Memphis in the driver’s seat for hosting the conference championship game. A lot is riding on Paxton Lynch’s back.
Kevin Causey:
On Twitter @CFBZ
One of the things I’m most interested in seeing in the AAC this year is the SMU Mustangs. SMU finished 1-11 last year but now they have a new coach in Chad Morris. Morris will be installing his system, which makes them a very interesting team to watch. This, of course, means that whoever wins the starting QB job is someone I will be keeping a keen eye on. I expect that to be Matt Davis. Davis is a former Texas A&M signee and he has the talent to make this offense work. The question is how quickly can Morris get the team up and running and who will be the QB to do it?
The other guy I’m watching is Navy’s Keenan Reynolds. This is Navy’s first year in the conference and I’m not sure there is a defense in the league that’s ready for this Navy attack. How will the Navy offense fare in it’s first run through the AAC (check out our team preview of Navy for more info)? Will Reynolds run his way to league MVP?
Terry Johnson:
On Twitter @SectionTPJ
The player that I am keeping an eye on is Houston’s Greg Ward, Jr.
Make no mistake about it: the Cougars are a different team with Ward under center. This was evident against Central Florida last year, when he came off the bench and sparked a struggling UH offense to two second half scores. The following game, he took over as the starting QB, leading the Cougars to a victory over eventual league co-champion Memphis 28-24.
Ward’s a lot of fun to watch because he can do anything. He’s a very accurate passer, completing 67.3 of his throws with an average of 7.6 yards per completion. He’s also an efficient runner, eclipsing 80 yards rushing in four of his eight starts, including the last three games of the season.
In addition, his presence in the lineup would give Houston an added threat if/when they choose to use the Wildcat formation because of his skills as a receiver. Before assuming the role as the starting quarterback, Ward caught 15 balls for 139 yards with a long of 36 yards.
With this type of versatility, he’s easily the most exciting player to watch. I’m curious to see what he can do in Tom Herman’s offense this fall.
