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C-USA Football Game Previews - Week One
11 TV Games Opening Week

	Tracy Lampley

Aug. 28, 2012

Week1Previews

All 12 Conference USA teams will be in action on opening weekend, with 11 of the 12 games being televised over the span of four days. The challenging opening week slate features three games against ranked opponents: No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 11 West Virginia and No. 16 Nebraska. C-USA schools will battle four schools from the Big 12, as well as opponents from the Big East, Big Ten, Mid-American, Pac-12, Sun Belt and Western Athletic Conferences.

The 2012 season will kick off on Thursday, August 30 with a pair of games. UCF will visit Akron (7 p.m. EDT on ESPN 3) and Rice will welcome UCLA (6:30 p.m. CDT on CBS Sports Network. Dave Ryan will return as the lead play-by-play voice for CBSSN on C-USA Football this fall and he is joined by analyst Ron Zook and sideline reporter Evan Washburn on the call.

Conference USA Football will be featured throughout the day on FSN on Saturday, September 1. In-state rivals Appalachian State and East Carolina meet for the 31st time to begin the day's action at Noon EDT. Lead C-USA play-by-play man Ron Thulin is joined in the booth by former Tulane QB Shaun King, while Desmond Purnell reports from the sideline.

The second FSN game is Tulsa at Iowa State (2:30 p.m. CDT). Mark Followill and Gary Reasons will be in Ames to watch an experienced Tulsa team that welcomes back 85 percent of its rushing total and 76 percent of its pass receiving total, as well as three of its top four tacklers.

The first college football Saturday of the season will conclude when No. 4 Oklahoma visits UTEP (8:30 p.m. MDT). The Sooners are the highest-ranked opponent to ever face UTEP at the Sun Bowl. Mike Morgan and JC Pearson will be in the booth, while Laura McKeeman will be on the sidelines.

A C-USA school will be featured on FX for the first time when Marshall renews its Mountain State rivalry at No. 11 West Virginia (Noon EDT). Eight starters return on the Herd offense, including preseason All-C-USA wide receiver Aaron Dobson. Justin Kutcher, Eric Crouch and Darius Walker are the announcing team.

Fox College Sports will be at Legion Field for the debut of Garrick McGee as UAB's head coach. McGee takes over as the fourth coach in Blazers history and battles Troy (11 a.m. CDT), a team that UAB has played back-to-back one-point games against the last two seasons. Mike Gleason, Ben Leber and Lesley McCaslin are set to announce the action.

CSS will debut its coverage of C-USA Football on Saturday night (7 p.m. CDT) when Texas State plays at Houston. The game will mark the home debut of Cougar head coach Tony Levine, who guided the Cougars to a win over No. 22 Penn State in the TicketCity Bowl in his coaching debut, and Matt Stewart, Chuck Oliver and Rachel Baribeau will be there to announce.

Defending C-USA Champion Southern Miss will play at No. 16 Nebraska (2:30 p.m. CDT) in a game that will be televised by ABC, with an ESPN 2 mirror to parts of the country. Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham and Jeanine Edwards will announce, as the Golden Eagles look to make it two victories in a row in Lincoln after winning their last visit there in 2004.

Tulane's Curtis Johnson makes his debut as Green Wave head coach against Rutgers on Saturday night (7 p.m. CDT). Tulane won at Rutgers two seasons ago and Brad Johansen, Doug Chapman and Tammy Blackburn will be on hand for CBS Sports Network to see if the Wave can make it two straight.

The weekend will conclude on Sunday, September 2 when SMU visits Baylor in a nationally-televised contest on FSN (5:30 p.m. CDT). Joel Meyers, Brian Baldinger and Jim Knox will call the action when these former Southwest Conference rivals meet for the first time in seven years.