The 2020 Conference USA football season was the 25th season of college football play for Conference USA (C-USA). It was played from September 3, 2020 until December 18, 2020. The league consisted of 14 members in two divisions. It was part of the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season.
Preseason
Preseason Awards The conference preseason awards were released On August 25.
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Brenden Knox, Junior, RB, Marshall Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: DeAngelo Malone, Senior, DE, WKU Preseason Special Teams Player of the Year: John Haggerty, Sophomore, Punter, WKU
+ Offense Position Player Class Team QB Jack Abraham Senior Southern Miss RB Justin Henderson Senior Louisiana Tech RB Brenden Knox Junior Marshall OL D'Antne Demery Senior FIU OL Desmond Noel Senior Florida Atlantic OL Kody Russey Senior Louisiana Tech OL Cain Madden Senior Marshall OL Jordan Meredith Senior WKU TE Jason Pirtle Senior North Texas WR Jaelon Darden Senior North Texas WR Tim Jones Senior Southern Miss WR Austin Watkins Jr. Senior UAB
+ Defense Position Player Class Team DL Markees Watts Junior Charlotte DL Willie Baker Senior Louisiana Tech DL Dion Novil Senior North Texas DL Jordan Smith Junior UAB DL DeAngelo Malone Senior WKU LB Tavante Beckett Senior Marshall LB Blaze Alldredge SeniorRice LB Kristopher Moll Senior UAB DB Nazeeh Johnson Senior Marshall DB Ben DeLuca Senior Charlotte DB Reed Blankenship SeniorMiddle Tennessee DB Ky’el Hemby SeniorSouthern Miss
+ Specialists Position Player Class Team K Ethan Mooney Junior North Texas P John Haggerty Senior WKU KR Deion Hair-Griffin Junior North Texas PR Talik Keaton Sophomore Marshall LS Reeves Blankenship JuniorLouisiana Tech
Media predictions No 2020 Preseason Media Poll was released by Conference USA.
Head coaches Note: All stats shown are before the start of the 2020 season. Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school CUSA RecordCharlotte Will Healy 2 20-27 7-6 5-3FIU Butch Davis 3 86–59 23-16 14–10Florida Atlantic Willie Taggart 1 56–62 0–0 0–0Louisiana Tech Skip Holtz 8 144–107 56–36 37–19Marshall Doc Holliday 11 78–51 78–51 49–29Middle Tennessee Rick Stockstill 15 91–88 91–88 68–41North Texas Seth Littrell 5 28–26 28–26 18–14Old Dominion Ricky Rahne 1 0–0 0–0 0–0Rice Mike Bloomgren 3 5–20 5–20 4–12Southern Miss Jay Hopson 5 60–39 28–22 20-12UAB Bill Clark 5 45–22 34–19 23–9UTEP Dana Dimel 3 32-61 2–22 1-15UTSA Jeff Traylor 1 0–0 0–0 0–0Western Kentucky Tyson Helton 2 9–4 9–4 6–2
Rankings
Pre Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 FinalCharlotte AP C CFP Not released FIU AP C CFP Not released Florida Atlantic AP RV C RV CFP Not released Louisiana Tech AP RV C RV RV RV CFP Not released Marshall AP RV RV RV RV 22 19 16 16 15 17 15C RV RV RV RV RV 25 18 15 15 15 16 15 CFP Not released 21Middle Tennessee AP C CFP Not released North Texas AP C CFP Not released Old Dominion AP C CFP Not released Rice AP C CFP Not released Southern Miss AP C CFP Not released UAB AP RV RV RV RV RV RV RV C RV RV RV RV CFP Not released UTEP AP C CFP Not released UTSA AP C CFP Not released WKU AP C CFP Not released
+ Legend Improvement in ranking Drop in ranking Not ranked previous week No change in ranking from previous week RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll т Tied with team above or below also with this symbol
Schedule
Old Dominion suspended all Fall sports including football for the 2020 season. Rice suspended the start of the football season till September 26 on August 8. Rice pushed the start of their football season back an additional month, not starting play until October 24.
Regular season Index to colors and formattingC–USA member wonC–USA member lostC–USA teams in bold
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Five
Week Six
Week Seven
Week Eight
Week Nine
Week Ten
Week Eleven
Week Twelve
Week Thirteen
Week Fourteen
Week Fifteen
Conference USA Championship Game
Postseason
Bowl games
Legend C-USA Win C-USA Loss
Bowl gameDateSiteTelevisionTime (EST)C-USA teamOpponentScoreAttendance Myrtle Beach Bowl December 21 Brooks Stadium • Conway, SC ESPN 2:30 p.m. North Texas Appalachian State L 28–56 5,000 New Orleans Bowl December 23 Mercedes-Benz Superdome • New Orleans, LA ESPN 3:00 p.m. Louisiana Tech Georgia Southern L 3–38 3,000 Montgomery Bowl December 23 Cramton Bowl • Montgomery, AL ESPN 7:00 p.m. Florida Atlantic Memphis L 10–25 2,979 Camellia Bowl December 25 Cramton Bowl • Montgomery, AL ESPN 2:30 p.m. Marshall Buffalo L 10–17 2,512 First Responder Bowl December 26 Gerald J. Ford Stadium • Dallas, TX ABC 3:30 p.m. UTSA No. 19 Louisiana L 24–31 LendingTree Bowl December 26 Ladd-Peebles Stadium • Mobile, AL ESPN 3:30 p.m. Western Kentucky Georgia State L 21–39
Rankings are from CFP rankings. All times Eastern Time Zone. C-USA teams shown in bold.
Note: UAB was originally slated to play in the Gasparilla Bowl on December 26. However, the bowl was cancelled after their opponent, South Carolina, was forced to withdraw due to COVID-19 issues among the team.
Selection of teams Bowl eligible: Bowl-ineligible:
Awards and honors
Player of the week honors
Week Offensive Defensive Special Teams Player Team Position Player Team Position Player Team Position Week 1 (Sept. 7) Grant Wells Marshall QB K.D. Davis North Texas LB Matt Quinn UAB K Week 2 (Sept. 14) Sincere McCormick UTSA RB Tyler Murray Charlotte LB Hunter Duplessis UTSA K Week 3 (Sept. 21) Frank Harris UTSA QB Tavante Beckett, Marshall LB Jacob Barnes Louisiana Tech K Week 4 (Sept. 28) Luke Anthony Louisiana Tech QB Jamal Ligon UTSA LB Lexington Joseph FIU KR Week 5 (Oct. 5) Tyrrell Pigrome Western Kentucky QB Leighton McCarthy Florida Atlantic LB Brayden Narveson Western Kentucky K Week 6 (Oct. 12) Aaron McAllister Charlotte RB Tavante Beckett (2) Marshall LB Duron Lowe UTEP KR Week 7 (Oct. 19) Jason Bean North Texas QB Eli Neal Marshall LB Nikia Eason Jr. UAB OLB Week 8 (Oct. 26) Sincere McCormick (2) UTSA RB Trey Baldwin,Antonio Parks Louisiana Tech,UTSA LB,S Jalen Jackson Middle Tennessee CB Week 9 (Nov. 2) Aaron Allen Louisiana Tech QB Bee Jay Williamson Louisiana Tech DB Jacob Barnes (2) Louisiana Tech K Week 10 (Nov. 9) Grant Wells (2) Marshall QB DeAngelo Malone Western Kentucky DL Matt Hayball Florida Atlantic P Week 11 (Nov. 16) Grant Wells (3) Marshall QB Rashad Wisdom UTSA S Robert LeFevre Marshall P Week 12 (Nov. 23) Sincere McCormick (3) UTSA RB Dion Novil North Texas DL John Haggerty Western Kentucky P Week 13 (Nov. 30) Week 14 (Dec. 7) Week 15 (Dec. 14)
C–USA Individual Awards The following individuals received postseason honors as voted by the Conference USA football coaches at the end of the season AwardPlayerSchoolPlayer of the YearJaelon Darden, WR, Sr.North TexasOffensive Player of the YearSincere McCormick, RB, So.UTSADefensive Player of the YearTavante Beckett, LB, Sr. MarshallSpecial Teams Player of the YearLucas Dean, P, So.UTSA Freshman Player of the YearGrant Wells, QBMarshallNewcomer of the YearLuke Anthony, QB, Grad.Louisiana Tech Coach of the YearDoc HollidayMarshall
All-conference teams
Position Player Team First Team Offense WRJaelon DardenNorth TexasWRAustin TrammellRiceWRAustin Watkins, Jr.UABOLKody RusseyLouisiana TechOLCain MaddenMarshallOLJosh BallMarshallOLColby RaglandUABOLSidney WellsUABTEXavier GainesMarshallQBGrant WellsMarshallRBBrenden KnoxMarshallRBSincere McCormickUTSA First Team DefenseDTMilton WilliamsLouisiana TechDTDion NovilNorth TexasDEDarius HodgeMarshallDEJordan SmithUABDEDeAngelo MaloneWKULB Tavante BeckettMarshallLB Blaze AlldregdeRiceLB Kristopher MollUABDBBeeJay WilliamsonLouisiana TechDBSteven GilmoreMarshallDBGregory Grate, Jr.Middle TennesseeDBRashad WisdomUTSA First Team Special TeamsKHunter DuplessisUTSAPLucas DeanUTSAKRWayne ToussantLouisiana TechPRTalik KeatonMarshallLSJacob FuquaUAB
Position Player Team Second Team Offense WRVictor TuckerCharlotteWRAdrian HardyLouisiana TechWRJacob CowingUTEPOLAlex MolletteMarshallOLJacob BrammerNorth TexasOLAhofitu MakaUTSAOLMakai HartUTSAOLSpencer BurfordUTSAOLJordan MeredithWKUTEJordan MyersRiceTEHayden PittmanUABQBAsher O'HaraMiddle TennesseeRBSpencer BrownUABRBFrank Gore Jr.Southern Miss Second Team DefenseDTJamare EdwardsMarshallDTAntonio MoultrieUABDELeighton McCarthyFlorida AtlanticDEPraise AmaewhuleUTEPLB Trey BaldwinLouisiana TechLB Tyler GrubbsLouisiana TechLB Hayes MaplesSouthern MissLB Noah WilderUABDBNazeeh JohnsonMarshallDBBrontae HarrisUABDBTD MarshallUABDBDevon KeyWKUDBDionté RuffinWKU Second Team Special TeamsKBraydon NarvesonWKUPJohn HaggertyWKUKRLexington JosephFIUPRSmoke HarrisLouisiana TechLSReeves BlankenshipLouisiana Tech
*Denotes Unanimous Selection
Ref:
All Conference Honorable Mentions:
Offense:
Defense:
Special Teams:
All-Americans
The 2020 College Football All-America Teams are composed of the following College Football All-American first teams chosen by the following selector organizations: Associated Press (AP), Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Walter Camp Foundation (WCFF), The Sporting News (TSN), Sports Illustrated (SI), USA Today (USAT) ESPN, CBS Sports (CBS), FOX Sports (FOX) College Football News (CFN), Bleacher Report (BR), Scout.com, Phil Steele (PS), SB Nation (SB), Athlon Sports, Pro Football Focus (PFF) and Yahoo! Sports (Yahoo!).
Currently, the NCAA compiles consensus all-America teams in the sports of Division I-FBS football and Division I men's basketball using a point system computed from All-America teams named by coaches associations or media sources. The system consists of three points for a first-team honor, two points for second-team honor, and one point for third-team honor. Honorable mention and fourth team or lower recognitions are not accorded any points. Football consensus teams are compiled by position and the player accumulating the most points at each position is named first team consensus all-American. Currently, the NCAA recognizes All-Americans selected by the AP, AFCA, FWAA, TSN, and the WCFF to determine Consensus and Unanimous All-Americans. Any player named to the First Team by all five of the NCAA-recognized selectors is deemed a Unanimous All-American.2018 Consensus All-America Team
Position Player School Selector Unanimous Consensus First Team All-AmericansWRJaelon DardenNorth TexasESPN, FWAA, USATOLCain MaddenMarshallAthletic, USAT
Position Player School Selector Unanimous Consensus Second Team All-AmericansWRJaelon DardenNorth TexasAFCA, AP, CBS, TSNOLCain MaddenMarshallAPRBSincere McCormickUTSAFWAALBTavante BeckettMarshallFWAAPLucas DeanUTSATSN
Position Player School Selector Unanimous Consensus Third Team All-Americans
Position Player School Selector Unanimous Consensus Fourth Team All-Americans
All-Academic
National award winners
C-USA records vs Other Conferences 2020–2021 records against non-conference foes:
Regular season
Power 5 ConferencesRecordACC0–3Big Ten0–0Big 120–1BYU/Notre Dame0–3Pac-120–0SEC0–0Power 5 Total0–7Other FBS ConferencesRecordAmerican0–2Independents (Excluding BYU and Notre Dame)2–4MAC0–0Mountain West0–0Sun Belt5–5Other FBS Total7–11FCS OpponentsRecordFootball Championship Subdivision8–1Total Non-Conference Record15–19
Post Season
Power Conferences 5RecordACC0–0Big Ten0–0Big 120–0BYU/Notre Dame0-0Pac-120–0SEC0–0Power 5 Total0–0Other FBS ConferencesRecordAmerican0–0 Independents (Excluding Notre Dame)0–0MAC0–0Mountain West0–0Sun Belt0-0Other FBS Total0–0Total Bowl Record0–0
C-USA vs Power Five matchups This is a list of games the Sun Belt has scheduled versus power conference teams (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12, BYU/Notre Dame and SEC). All rankings are from the current AP Poll at the time of the game.