Four weeks of American Conference play are in the books, and most teams are wrapping up non-conference play.
South Florida remains the only undefeated team at 4-0, while Tulsa had its first hiccup on the road at Arkansas. UAB picked up a signature Friday night conference victory over Navy, while ther other service academy, Army, survived a scare from Temple earlier that day. UTSA dropped 59 points on Colorado State and Tulane survived Southern Miss in a Will Hall revenge game.
It was an action-packed Week 4 in the American, and here are four thoughts from the week, ranging from the Big Easy to Boca Raton:
Tulane needs Trace Johnson to work out
Tulane didn’t replicate its non-conference success from 2025, and the Green Wave’s prospects to return to the College Football Playoff took a significant hit in the month of September. However, they still operate with a blank slate in conference play, controlling their own destiny for a fifth-straight conference championship appearance.
How Trace Johnson performs will significantly dictate that. Tulane is set in the run game, even though starting running back Jamauri McClure sat out the entire month with a foot injury. The Green Wave are the only FBS team to showcase two different 200-yard rushers this year, as Jaylin Lucas attained 212 in the Week 2 win over South Alabama and Maurice Turner racked up 2022 in Week 4 against Southern Miss.
However, despite those prolific rushing performances, Tulane needed late-game heroics to stave off both the Jaguars and Golden Eagles in New Orleans. A stronger passing game, among other factors such as penalties, could have allowed Tulane to avoid these scares against Sun Belt competition at home. Tulane ranks 110th nationally in passing yards per game (186), operating with a 54.2 completion rate (10th-to-last in the FBS).
But late in the Southern Miss game, Tulane made a change which could define its season. Head coach Will Hall inserted true freshman Trace Johnson at quarterback. Johnson only finished 2-of-5 for 35 yards passing in a limited sample size. In all likelihood, he will be the starter going forward when Tulane returns to action Oct. 17 at Army. He would be the third different starter this year, following in the footsteps of Zeon Chriss-Gremillion and Kadin Semonza. Freshmen quarterbacks have worked out at Tulane before, and under Hall.
In Week 3 of the 2020 season, when Hall was offensive coordinator, the Green Wave thrust true freshman Michael Pratt into the Southern Miss game for a trial by fire. It worked out, and two years later, Pratt guided the program to its greatest win in history over USC in the Cotton Bowl. Time will tell if Johnson can write a similar story, but in order for Tulane to be successful this year, this gamble needs to pay dividends.
This is UAB’s best defense since joining American
UAB is 1-0 in American play for the first time ever. The Blazers used to be the standard of Conference USA, qualifying for the conference championship game every year from 2018-20 and winning a pair of league titles. However, that success did not translate to the American, and UAB has spun its wheels in the basement of the conference since joining in 2023.
Friday night in Birmingham provided perhaps the first glimmer of hope since the Blazers joined the American. UAB had been defined by struggling defenses throughout its tenure in the conference, but the Week 4 win over Navy told a different story. The Blazers reasonably held a high-powered Navy rushing attack in check, limiting the Midshipmen to 4.2 yards per carry on 58 attempts and only allowing one run to gain more than 17 yards. UAB hasn’t finished better than 120th nationally in run defense since joining the conference, but signs of improvement were evident in the American opener against Navy.
Navy also fumbled twice inside the UAB 40-yard line in the fourth quarter, and the Blazers capitalized on both miscues. UAB had the sixth-fewest turnovers created last year (9), and the team has already registered five takeaways in 2026. Longtime defensive coordinator Todd Grantham has proven UAB can take a step forward this year, and it has only allowed more than 21 points in one game so far.
Charlotte is still broken
There isn’t much to say about Charlotte that hasn’t already been said. The 2025 team went 1-11 and never finished with 11 points of an FBS opponent. The 2026 team has arguably been worse. The 49ers dropped their FCS matchup this year to The Citadel, which is 0-3 against its FCS peers with a 42-14 loss to Wofford and a 27-8 loss to Chattanooga.
In its Week 4 home game against Louisiana, Charlotte essentially did nothing. The 49ers completed 12 offensive possessions: six ended in punts (five were three-and-outs), three ended in fumbles, one ended in an interception, and the other a turnover on downs. Only one drive reached Louisiana territory — a 45-yard drive resulting in a fumble. Every other possession traveled 27 yards or fewer.
Charlotte finished with just 137 yards and finished 1-of-13 on third and fourth downs combined. The 49ers possessed the ball for roughly 19 minutes and lost the turnover battle 4-1. They avoided the shutout, however, as Louisiana got in its own way on a failed quarterback to running back exchange in the backfield, returning the fumble for a second quarter touchdown. Other than that, it’s been the same story every game. Offensive struggles, defensive struggles, and not much improvement from week to week. The main question is, does Charlotte win a game in 2026? The conference slate features Memphis, North Texas, Temple, Tulane, UAB, East Carolina, Tulsa, and Navy. The current losing streak sits at 13.
Easton Messer had the coolest punt return of 2026
Easton Messer is arguably the top wide receiver in the American Conference. In his first season at Florida Atlantic, he finished third in the FBS with 104 receptions. He was one of three American receivers to exceed the 1,000-yard threshold and the only one to return to the league for 2026. Messer is currently second in the conference with 357 receiving yards so far this season, only trailing teammate Kelby Valsin by 29 yards.
While Messer had a quiet day on the offensive front in the Owls’ 45-17 road domination of ULM, he still produced the greatest highlight of the night. The fifth-year senior receiver logged his first career punt return touchdown, and it was arguably the most impressive punt return of the season. Messer caught the ball off the bounce, ran nearly the length of the field horzontally from left to right, hit an effective spin move to escape the boundary, instantly juked tacklers from the front and back, and sprinted back toward the left side of the field for a 73-yard return. Watch this masterpiece.
The Owls, coming off a 4-8 season, are 3-1 for the first time since 2020. They currently ride their first three-game winning streak in six years as well, and they enter Week 5 as heavy favorites over FCS opponent Texas Southern.
