It must be an open week. My body has defaulted to sleep mode. At least that is my excuse if you think these rankings are nuts.

1. Central Florida (Staying put — taken to OT, but the Knights were not going to lose. Next: at Memphis)
2. Tulsa (Has won 16 of last 17 C-USA games. Next: Rice)
3. Marshall (Gets home-team benefit of the doubt. Next: at Southern Miss)
4. Houston (566 total yards, 8 sacks vs. UAB. Next: at SMU, Thursday)
5. East Carolina (Pirates can’t run but DBs can’t hide from QB Shane Carden. 308 yds, 5 TD vs. Memphis. Next: at UAB)
6. Southern Miss (I may be falling into the Lou/Skip Holtz school of buttering up opponents, but this is an 0-6 team that will finish at least 4-8. Saturday: Marshall)
7. UAB (Could have been worse — Blazers forced Coogs to kick 6 FGs. Next: East Carolina)
8. SMU (Let me get this straight: June Jones coaches a team dead last in passing efficiency. Next: Houston, Thursday)
9. Rice (At least good enough to handle UT-San Antonio. Next: at Tulsa)
10. Texas-El Paso (Finally, I quit overrating the Miners. Mike Price Death Watch is on. Next: Tulane)
11. Tulane (Ryan Griffin’s return at QB makes Green Wave different on offense. Next: at UTEP.)
12. Memphis (Fell behind 41-0 to East Carolina, thus restoring order to college football. Next: Central Florida)

It must be an open week. My body has defaulted to sleep mode. At least that is my excuse if you think these rankings are nuts.

1. Central Florida (Outscored ECU 40-6 after Pirates took quick 14-0 lead. Next: home vs. Southern Miss)
2. Tulsa (May have best team with worst QB since Rob Calabrese started at UCF. Next: home vs. UTEP, Thursday)
3. Marshall (Clumbed a spot after a loss, yes. But who would you put ahead of Herd? Next: Chillin’ and watchin’ UCF-Southern Miss)
4. Houston (I guess Coogs remembered Charles Sims was on their side. Next: home vs. UAB
5.  SMU (Second C-USA shutout in two years … OK, so last year’s was against Memphis, but still … Next: At Tulane)
6. East Carolina (QB Shane Carden can do damage when he gets time. Which UCF didn’t give him. Next: home vs. Memphis)
7. UAB (I can’t believe I’m doing this. Saturday: at Houston)
8. Texas-El Paso (As Miners zoom toward bowl ineligibility, I’m still overrating them. But I’m not overrating Nick Lamaison, trust me. He’s not good. Next: Thursday at Tulsa)
9. Rice (Losing to Memphis. How could you? Next: home vs. UT-San Antonio)
10. Southern Miss (Home game with Boise State looked intriguing not so long ago. Saturday: at Central Florida)
11. Memphis (Blind Squirrels land acorn, ruin perfectly good Memphis-Tulane matchup Nov. 10. Saturday: at East Carolina)
12. Tulane (D.J. Ponder (no relation) 14 of 39, 2 picks vs. UL-Lafayette. Next: home vs. SMU.)

Re-tallied SMH Index for bad penalties … Tulsa 135, Marshall 95. That’s not a bad development, but it does not count Antavious Wilson’s offensive pass interference (which was a good call).

As we know, the refs booted 2 calls: the roughing/running into the kicker and Dexter McCoil shot to the head of Gator Hoskins.

OFFENSE: C-

Can’t look past 3 turnovers, 1 that resulted in a Tulsa score, or the failure to score a touchdown three different times in the red zone. Otherwise, the Herd wore out one of C-USA’s better defenses.

DEFENSE: D+
Tackling was shaky at best, but the Herd had 4 3-and-outs, believe it or not. With MU’s offense, giving up 31 points and 340 total yards is not a horrendous result.

SPECIAL TEAMS: D
Gave up one fumble, recovered one fumble. Gave up kickoff return, which should never happen in today’s rules. Kickoff returns still blah. Hope Tyler Williams isn’t hurt long-term.

QUARTERBACKING: B
Perhaps Cato had better options on the 2 drives late in the game. Some run-pass options went the wrong way. The one pick was an awful decision, on second-and-3, no less. But Cato played well enough to win … and what about Blake Frohnapfel’s one play, converting a third-and-11. Rock solid there.

COACHING: C-
Must re-examine the kick return team, and have to re-examine short-yardage defense after Alex Singleton’s 48-yard dash. 2 timeouts were used in the second half and neither were excusable, I thought.

OVERALL: D
Whiffed on an opportunity to go 3-3, 2-0 at the halfway point and make a statement to the rest of the league. Second half of schedule looks much easier, though.

The SMH Index summary:

Tulsa pass interference 10
Marshall personal foul on PAT 15
Marshall false start in red zone Dobson. 10
Tulsa personal foul 15
Marshall personal foul on Hoskins, 15+20
Tulsa face mask 15+20
Tulsa pass interference 10+20
Marshall personal foul 15+20
Tulsa pass interference on 3rd down 20
Tulsa personal foul 15+10

Marshall 95, Tulsa 135

Updates, snippy observations and the SMH Index, as it happens.

OK, the 1-12 ratings:
1. Tulsa (Saw the risk of risk-reward defense at UAB. Saturday: At Marshall)
2. Central Florida (Thursday: home vs. East Carolina)
3. East Carolina (Went up 28-10 on UTEP, survived KO return for TD, recovered onside kick. Thursday: at UCF)
4. Marshall (Go ahead, impress me! Saturday: Tulsa)
5. Texas-El Paso (Nick Lamaison 9-27, 3 picks vs. ECU. Saturday: SMU)
6. Houston (Beat up McHargue-less Rice. Saturday: UAB)
7.  Rice (Anybody arguing McHargue’s value. Saturday: at Memphis)
8. SMU (Later TD made TCU game look closer than it was. Saturday: at UTEP)
9. UAB (Beware of punt-block unit. Saturday: at Houston)
10. Southern Miss (Rain helped in narrow loss to Louisville. Saturday: Boise State)
11. Memphis (Believe it or not, rose without playing. Well, they didn’t lose, right? Saturday: Rice. Nov. 10: Tulane)
12. Tulane (Minus-9 yards rushing vs. UL-Monroe. Saturday: at UL-Lafayette. Nov. 10: at Memphis.)

OK, gang, I introduced you to my SMH (stands for Shaking My Head) Index in my Monday morning column, an effort to tally the really grating fouls of each game. This combines my penchants for stat-geekiness and dark humor, but I expose a serious point here: The Herd commits too many stu … er, ill-advised fouls.

As I tallied the 5 games, I realized the offense was not given any “love” in my scoring system. After some soul-searching, I decided that penalties in the red zone were the most agonizing on the offensive side.

The scoring scale:
– 15 for all personal fouls, independent of all other scoring.
– 10 for any penalty resulting in a first down. That becomes 20 on third-down plays and 50 for fourth-down plays.
– 20 points “bonus” any such penalty in a drive ending in a touchdown. Yes, the bonus applies to each dumb penalty in the same drive.
– 15 points for fouls during kickoff and punt returns. Tack on a 10-point bonus of the penalty makes the offense start from inside the 15-yard line; or a 20-point bonus of your team has to start from inside its 10.
– 10 points for any offensive foul in the red zone. Make it 25 if the drive ends in a field goal, 40 if the drive ends up in no points.

As far as I know, 85 is the most points a single foul can deliver. Purdue’s Kawann Short turned the trick, committing a personal foul (15) on a fourth-day play resulting in a Marshall first down (50) in a drive that ended in a touchdown (20).

Alas, the Thundering Herd has exceeded its opponent’s score in four games and tied Ohio in a pretty clean contest. The itemized “boxscore”:

WVU game (Marshall 195, WVU 35)
For Marshall
Defense illegal use of hands — 30
Wilson personal foul — 15
Bazzie personal foul — 65
Illegal block on kickoff — 20
Okoroha personal foul face mask — 15
Bruhin holding in red zone — 25
Bruhin false start in red zone — 10
Aiken personal foul — 15
Total — 195

For WVU
Illegal block on punt — 20
Alston personal foul face mask — 15
Total — 35

Western Carolina game (Marshall 205, WCU 85)
For Marshall
Jeffries false start on 2nd-and-goal from WCU 7 — 25
Hunter roughing passer — 15
Okoroaha personal foul — 35
Taylor roughing passer — 55
Sparrow face mask — 35
Thomas pass interference — 40
Total — 205

For WCU
Pass interference — 20
False start in red zone — 10
Face mask — 45
Holding downfield — 10
Total — 85

Ohio game (Marshall 55, Ohio 55)
For Marshall
Baxter pass interference — 40
Dobson personal foul — 15
Total — 55

For Ohio
Personal foul — 25
Punt return penalty — 30
Total — 55

Rice game (Marshall 125, Rice 25)
For Marshall
Defensive holding Okoroha — 40
Face mask LeGrande — 55
Holding kickoff — 30
Total — 125

For Rice
False start at Marshall 1 — 25
Total — 25

Purdue game (Marshall 170, Purdue 155)
For Marshall
LeGrande personal foul — 45
Baxter — 40
Taylor offside — 10
Illegal block on punt — 25
Bruhin personal foul — 15
Bazzie personal foul — 35
Total — 170

For Purdue
Personal foul — 15
Personal foul — 15
Pass interference — 40
Roughing the passer — 85
Total — 155

If you waded this far, give yourself a medal of bravery… If you have comments or want to propose a tweak in this goofy system, drop me a line.

OFFENSE: C
I still remember the day this program couldn’t get 534 total yards in 2 games … wasn’t that 2011? But this grade might stand to be lower — the 3 picks turned the game, right?

DEFENSE: C-
Gave up drives of 89, 75, 53, 62 and 78, couldn’t stop most 3rd downs, got shredded by the inside screen. But you know what I liked? This unit stayed physical throughout the game — actually, those guys got more physical in the 2nd half — and only allowed 149 rushing yards, less the 3.0 per carry.

SPECIAL TEAMS: C
The punt-block for a touchdown raises this grade. Take your pick: Weak returns, one blocked field goal, penalty on return (oh, do I hate that), etc. … Ugh.

QUARTERBACKING: C
Same theme… Can’t throw to the other team… On 2nd pick, he led defender. On 3rd, should have never gone wide side and let CB jump the route.

COACHING: C
Not sure what to do here. Hate to see big cushions on *downfield* passes to the sideline. … Anybody want to adjust to the middle screen? etc., etc., etc. Then again, offensive strategy did as much as could be expected to keep Purdue DTs from dominating. … Second-half attitude a big, big plus.

OVERALL: C
The score could have been 51-14 with a lot of recent Marshall teams (Hey, that was the Wisconsin score, right?). What the heck, bring on Tulsa.

I probably should have added one Curtis Painter to Legg’s proteges picked in the NFL draft (6th round, Colts). Legg was co-coordinator during Painter’s sophomore and junior seasons, and Painter posted these stats — 671-of-1,099, 7,831 yards, 51 TDs, 30 ints. NCAA passer rating was good but not super … 130.76.

Which got me to looking at Cato’s rating after four games … that’s 147.7, 39th in the country. Something you may not have considered: In 3 games vs. FBS foes, he was most efficient at Rice (28-of-39, 259 yards, 2 TDs, 0 int).

Once again, I have worked my way on the road. I’m only in Lafayette, Ind., tonight, ready to drive over to West Lafayette about midday or so. Good group of Herd fans in the lobby of my hotel; good to see.

OK, the 1-12 ratings:
1. Tulsa (Dominated Fresno State after falling behing 20-7. Today: At UAB)
2. Central Florida (Today: home vs. Missouri)
3. Texas-El Paso (I still can’t believe I’m doing this … but the Miners were down 23-19 to Wisconsin deep into 4th quarter. Today: at East Carolina)
4. Marshall (Everybody is bellyaching about a C-USA road win but me. Today: at Purdue)
5. East Carolina (Has not played its bigger-name neighbors well at all. Today: home vs. UTEP)
6. Rice (Behind who else? Today: vs. Houston at Reliant Stadium)
7. Houston (Today: vs. Rice at Reliant Stadium)
8. SMU (Today: home vs. TCU)
9. UAB (Hung around with Ohio State a bit. Today: home vs. Tulsa)
10. Southern Miss (Losing 42-17 at WKU? Really? Today: home vs. Louisville)
11. Tulane (Today: Rut, roh. Here comes the ULM Warhawks. They’re good. May bring fans, too.)
12. Memphis (a merciful week off)

OFFENSE: A

What, you wanted more then 334 rushing yards, 593 total, with no turnovers? (Props to offensive linemen for 2 fumble recoveries)

DEFENSE: D

Lifted out of the dead because it forced Rice to settle for 3 field goals. As I’ve said before, field goals are victories against some teams, and this was the case. The hit “O” made on Vance McDonald to rob a passing TD in the 2nd overtime is the defensive play of the day.

SPECIAL TEAMS: C

Rescued by Tyler Williams’ punting (gross 50.8, net 50.6, 3 inside the 20). Booker takes a knee at the 6 on funky onside/not onside formation, a penalty on a return, the botched fake PAT … ugh.

QUARTERBACKING: A

Cato didn’t miss much on the run-pass option, I thought. 28-of-39, 259 yards, nothing close to a pick, survived three sacks. Solid outing.

COACHING: A

Yes, you read that right, an “A”. Are you vomiting on your keyboard yet?

Choose your goofy decision: The “pooch” kickoff, the fake PAT (I’m almost on board), the onside kick thing … a tough day for Herd tacticians, to be sure. Probably not a great day for Coach Rip on the D side, either.

But you know why I’m giving this grade? Consider the work of Joe Miday, strength and conditioning coach.

Being September in Houston, it was 90 degrees and somewhat humid. Summer has broken, for the most part, back home. You get where I’m going with this?

The O-line seemed fresh in the overtime, even. The defense mustered enough energy to come up with one big play in the 2nd OT. Runners were strong throughout.

Ladies and gents, I’ve covered a few Marshall teams who would have gotten gassed out of their minds in this game. Sort of like Rice’s defense. Those poor souls were beat into the ground, and couldn’t have begun to stop MU’s ground game in the overtime.

I think this win goes to the strength and conditioning program. Coach Miday gets an “A” on this game, wiping out all other negatives.

OVERALL: B

Much to work on. Defense is still frightening, and that may not change. But the Herd won a conference road game and finally won the state of Texas. Gotta take it.