A Look At The AAC
The UH/AAC Report: a high scoring week, some teams stay hot while others cool
Oct 9, 2019, 6:55 am
A Look At The AAC
Week six in the AAC was pretty high scoring. Five teams scored more than 30 points, with four of them scoring more than 40 and one scoring more than 50. Let's take a closer look at what transpired:
Even though the Coogs were off, there was a bit of news that came down. Graduate transfer offensive lineman Justin Murphy has apparently quit the team. He started four games this year: three at right guard and one at right tackle. It's yet to be seen how true the report from GoCoogs.com has any truth or other sources to back it up. So for now, we'll assume it's true.
Cincinnati 27, UCF 24: The Bearcats handed the Golden Knights their second loss of the season, and bumped them from the top 25 rankings while taking a spot on the rankings themselves.
SMU 43, Tulsa 37: SMU stayed undefeated with triple overtime win over the Tulsa. No one saw the lowly Golden Hurricanes giving the ranked, undefeated Mustangs this much trouble. SMU is 6-0 for the first time since 1982.
Tulane 42, Army 33: Tulane held off the Army rushing attack for a strong win improving to 4-1 on the season. What's most impressive is they beat Army with a rushing yardage differential of +131.
Cincinnati Defense: I said last week that UCF would have a tough time with this defense on the road. While they gave up 423 yards of offense, they also forced four turnovers that helped them win the game.
Kenneth Gainwell, RB, Memphis: Talk about an appropriate name! He rushed for 209 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns in a 52-33 win over ULM.
Tulane Offense: The Green Wave had four guys rush for 50 or more yards and a touchdown in their win over Army. This contributed heavily to their +131 rushing yardage differential.
Memphis @ Temple
Cincinnati @ Houston
Navy @ Tulsa
Kenneth Gainwell, Memphis: Gainwell leads a rushing attack that averages 214.4 yards a game going against a defense the gives up 125.6 yards a game on the ground.
Desmond Ridder, Cincinnati: I expect Ridder to have a big game against the porous UH defense as the 4-1 Bearcats look to build off their big win over UCF.
Tulsa Defense: The Golden Hurricanes are average against the run. Navy excels in their triple option attack. This will be the deciding factor in this matchup.
CJ Stroud put a lot of Texans fans at ease when he showed up to mandatory minicamp on Tuesday and participated in throwing drills. Many were concerned that Stroud might have received surgery in the offseason, and that was keeping him from throwing at voluntary OTAs last week. But Stroud put that narrative to bed, denying any offseason surgery.
Stroud told the media that he's been working on getting his body right this offseason, focusing on, among other things, lowering his body fat, improving his hip flexibility, and gaining speed.
CJ implied that the extra training this offseason might have been a factor in the soreness that kept him from throwing last week, but that should be expected. Pushing your body can sometimes lead to soreness, but it's not anything to be worried about.
He also said he had been throwing prior to minicamp on Tuesday, but this is the first time the media has been around to witness it.
Thoughts on the new system
CJ had positive things to say about the Texans' new OC Nick Caley. He pointed out that he cares more about the "person" than the system. He likes the energy from his new OC, even saying Caley calls him frequently, but doesn't always answer because Caley is “always yelling.”
Stroud also confirmed that the new offense allows him to have more control at the line of scrimmage, something we heard he was wanting last season.
Caley and CJ have watched old videos from 2003 and 2004 of Tom Brady working with Josh McDaniels. They believe this will help Stroud learn how to take “ownership” of the protections.
You can watch the full interview in the video below.
So what else happened at mandatory minicamp?
Newly signed running back Nick Chubb participated in drills. Head coach DeMeco Ryans credited GM Nick Caserio with signing the four-time Pro Bowler.
Nick Chubb takes the handoff in first #Texans practice @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/P4X9NGXB4B
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) June 10, 2025
How did the receivers look?
The big play of the day came from 2nd round receiver Jayden Higgins, who caught this pass from Stroud against Kamari Lassister. This looks like a connection the Texans will count on for years to come.
🎯🎯🎯 pic.twitter.com/4wLhMtduBd
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) June 10, 2025
3rd rounder Jaylin Noel was in attendance but didn't participate.
Nico Collins and Stroud appear to be in midseason form.
Nico Collins showin’ ‘em how it’s done. #MiniCamp #Texans pic.twitter.com/Ir4qrGsL15
— Adam Wexler (@AdamJWexler) June 10, 2025
Anything new with the offensive line?
Not really. The Texans lineup up from left to right with Cam Robinson, Laken Tomlinson, Jake Andrews, Tytus Howard, and Blake Fisher. Later on, rookie Aireontae Ersery got some work in at left tackle.
Current #Texans O-Line combination protecting Stroud: LT Airenontae Ersery, LG Laken Tomlinson, C Jake Andrews, RG Tytus Howard, RT Blake Fisher.
— Jonathan M Alexander (@jonmalexander) June 10, 2025
The Texans will wrap up minicamp Wednesday, and we'll keep you in the loop with any further developments.