2009 Conference USA football season

The 2009 Conference USA football season was the 15th season of the conference's existence.

2009 Conference USA football season
League	NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
Sport	Football
Duration	September 4, 2009 through January 2, 2010
Number of teams	12
TV partner(s)	ESPN, CBS College Sports, CSS, ISP Sports, Bright House Sports Network
2010 NFL Draft
Top draft pick	DT Torell Troup, UCF
Picked by	Buffalo Bills, 41st overall
Regular Season
Season MVP	QB Case Keenum, Houston
East champions	East Carolina
West champions	Houston & SMU (co-champions)
Championship Game
Champions	East Carolina
Runners-up	Houston
Finals MVP	WR Dwayne Harris, ECU

2009 Conference USA football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
East Carolina x$		7	–	1					9	–	5
UCF		6	–	2					8	–	5
Southern Miss		5	–	3					7	–	6
Marshall		4	–	4					7	–	6
UAB		4	–	4					5	–	7
Memphis		1	–	7					2	–	10
West Division
Houston xy		6	–	2					10	–	4
SMU x		6	–	2					8	–	5
Tulsa		3	–	5					5	–	7
UTEP		3	–	5					4	–	8
Rice		2	–	6					2	–	10
Tulane		1	–	7					3	–	9
Championship: East Carolina 38, Houston 32
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

East Carolina won the conference championship.

Rankings

See also: 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

C-USA vs. BCS matchups

Date	Visitor	Home	Winner
September 6	Memphis	Mississippi	Ole Miss, 45–14
September 12	East Carolina	West Virginia	West Virginia, 35–20
September 12	Houston	Oklahoma State	Houston, 45–35
September 12	Marshall	Virginia Tech	Virginia Tech, 52–10
September 12	Rice	Texas Tech	Texas Tech, 55–10
September 12	Kansas	UTEP	Kansas, 34–7
September 19	East Carolina	North Carolina	North Carolina, 31–17
September 19	SMU	Washington State	Washington State, 30–27 (OT)
September 19	Virginia	Southern Miss	Southern Miss, 37–34
September 19	Rice	Oklahoma State	Oklahoma State, 41–24
September 19	Tulsa	Oklahoma	Oklahoma, 45–0
September 26	Texas Tech	Houston	Houston, 29–28
September 26	Southern Miss	Kansas	Kansas, 35–28
September 26	Vanderbilt	Tulane	Vanderbilt, 36–17
September 26	UAB	Texas A&M	Texas A&M, 56–19
September 26	UTEP	Texas	Texas, 64–7
October 10	Houston	Mississippi State	Houston, 31-24
October 17	Marshall	West Virginia	West Virginia, 24–7
October 17	UAB	Mississippi	Ole Miss, 48–13
October 17	Miami	UCF	Miami, 7–27
October 31	Tulane	LSU	LSU, 42-0
November 7	Memphis	Tennessee	Tennessee, 56-28
November 7	UCF	Texas	Texas, 35-3

Regular season

Index to colors and formatting
Conference USA member won
Conference USA member lost
Conference USA teams in bold

Week one

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	11 a.m.	#1 (FCS) Appalachian State	East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, North Carolina	MASN/WITN-TV	W 29-24	43,279
September 5	3:30 p.m.	Southern Illinois	Marshall	Joan C. Edwards Stadium • Huntington, West Virginia		W 31-28	24,012
September 5	6 p.m.	Northwestern State	Houston	Robertson Stadium • Houston, Texas		W 55-7	22,043
September 5	6:30 p.m.	Samford	UCF	Bright House Networks Stadium • Orlando, Florida	BHSN	W 28-24	34,486
September 5	6 p.m.	Alcorn State	Southern Miss	M. M. Roberts Stadium • Hattiesburg, Mississippi		W 52-0	36,232
September 5	8 p.m.	Buffalo	UTEP	Sun Bowl Stadium • El Paso, Texas	CBS CS	L 23-17	35,213
September 5	7 p.m.	Stephen F. Austin	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • Dallas, Texas		W 31-23	34.749
September 6	12 p.m.	#8 Mississippi	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Stadium • Memphis, Tennessee	ESPN	L 45-14	45,207

Week two

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 12	12:30 p.m.	Marshall	#14 Virginia Tech	Lane Stadium • Blacksburg, Virginia	ESPN360	L 52-10	66,233
September 12	2:30 p.m.	East Carolina	West Virginia	Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, West Virginia	ESPN360	L 35-20	59,216
September 12	2:30 p.m.	Houston	#5 Oklahoma State	Boone Pickens Stadium • Stillwater, Oklahoma	FSN	W 45-35	50,875
September 12	2:30 p.m.	#9 BYU	Tulane	Louisiana Superdome • New Orleans, Louisiana	ESPN2	L 54-3	26,224
September 12	6 p.m.	Memphis	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, Tennessee	CSS	L 31-14	28,105
September 12	6 p.m.	Rice	Texas Tech	Jones AT&T Stadium • Lubbock, Texas		L 55-10	48,124
September 12	6:30 p.m.	#24 Kansas	UTEP	Sun Bowl Stadium • El Paso, Texas	CBS CS	L 34-7	31,885
September 12	7 p.m.	Tulsa	New Mexico	University Stadium • Albuquerque, New Mexico	The Mtn.	W 44-10	30,051

Week three

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 19	11 a.m.	East Carolina	#24 North Carolina	Kenan Memorial Stadium • Chapel Hill, North Carolina	ESPN2	L 31-17	58,000
September 19	2:30 p.m.	Virginia	Southern Miss	M. M. Roberts Stadium • Hattiesburg, Mississippi	CBS CS	W 37-34	31,170
September 19	2:30 p.m.	Tulsa	#12 Oklahoma	Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, Oklahoma	FSN	L 45-0	84,803
September 19	2:30 p.m.	UAB	Troy	Movie Gallery Stadium • Troy, Alabama	CSS/WABM	L 27-14	21,182
September 19	4 p.m.	SMU	Washington State	Martin Stadium • Pullman, Washington		L 30-27 OT	22,319
September 19	6 p.m.	Bowling Green	Marshall	Joan C. Edwards Stadium • Huntington, West Virginia	WSAZ-TV	W 17-10	23,029
September 19	6 p.m.	#16 Oklahoma State	Rice	Boone Pickens Stadium • Stillwater, Oklahoma		L 41-24	51,803
September 19	6:30 p.m.	Buffalo	UCF	Bright House Networks Stadium • Orlando, Florida	BHSN	W 23-17	33,689
September 19	7 p.m.	UTEP	New Mexico State	Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, New Mexico	ESPN360	W 38-12	20,439
September 19	7:30 p.m.	UT Martin	Memphis	Liberty Bowl Stadium • Memphis, Tennessee		W 41-14	21,428

Week four

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 26	11:30 a.m.	Southern Miss	#20 Kansas	Memorial Stadium • Lawrence, Kansas	FSN	L 35-28	50,025
September 26	2:30 p.m.	McNeese State	Tulane	Louisiana Superdome • New Orleans, Louisiana		W 42-32	29,028
September 26	2:30 p.m.	UTEP	#2 Texas	Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium • Austin, Texas		L 64-7	101,144
September 26	6 p.m.	Sam Houston State	Tulsa	Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, Oklahoma		W 56-3	26,048
September 26	6 p.m.	UAB	Texas A&M	Kyle Field • College Station, Texas		L 56-19	74,656
September 26	7 p.m.	Vanderbilt	Rice	Rice Stadium • Houston, Texas	CSS	L 36-17	19,753
September 26	8:15 p.m.	Texas Tech	#17 Houston	Robertson Stadium • Houston, Texas	ESPN2	W 29-28	32,114

Week five

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 3	11 a.m.	Tulane	Army	Michie Stadium • West Point, New York	CBS CS	W 17-16	26,076
October 3	7 p.m.	SMU	#11 TCU	Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, Texas	The Mtn.	L 39-14	37,130

Week six

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 10	11:30 a.m.	Houston	Mississippi State	Davis Wade Stadium • Starkville, Mississippi	ESPNU	W 31-24	48,019
October 10	2:30 p.m.	Navy	Rice	Rice Stadium • Houston, Texas	CBS CS	L 63-14	15,096
October 10	6:30 p.m.	Southern Miss	Louisville	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, Kentucky	ESPNU	L 25-23	37,268

Week seven

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 17	2:30 p.m.	Marshall	West Virginia	Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, West Virginia	ESPN+	L 24-7	54,432
October 17	6 p.m.	UAB	Ole Miss	Vaught–Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, Mississippi	FSN	L 48-13	47,612
October 17	6 p.m.	#9 Miami	UCF	Bright House Networks Stadium • Orlando, Florida	CBS CS	L 27-7	48,453
October 17	7 p.m.	Navy	SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium • Dallas, Texas		L 38-35 OT	22,203

Players of the week

Week	Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
	Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
1 – Sep. 7	Joe Webb, QB	UAB	Rock Dennis, DB	SMU	Damaris Johnson, KR/PR	Tulsa
2 – Sep. 14	Case Keenum, QB	Houston	Jamal Robinson, CB	Houston	Michael Such, P	Tulsa
3 – Sep. 21	Emmanuel Sanders, WR	SMU	Albert McClellan, DE	Marshall	Freddie Parham, WR/KR	Southern Miss
4 – Sep. 28	Case Keenum, QB	Houston	David Hunter, DT	Houston	Peter Boehme, P	Southern Miss
5 – Oct. 5	Donald Buckram, RB	UTEP	Hiram Atwater, S	UAB	Damaris Johnson, KR/PR	Tulsa
6 – Oct. 12	Curtis Steele, RB	Memphis	Brandon Brinkley, CB	Houston	Margus Hunt, DE	SMU
7 – Oct. 19	Case Keenum, QB	Houston	DeAundre Brown, DB	Tulsa	Dwayne Harris, KR	East Carolina
8 – Oct. 26	Donald Buckram, RB	UTEP	C.J. Cavness, LB	Houston	Tyron Carrier, KR	Houston
9 – Nov. 2	Case Keenum, QB	Houston	Bruce Miller, DE	UCF	Fendi Onobun, TE	Houston

References