Week 6 American football scores, picks recap and quick analysis.

GAMES IN ORDER FROM BEST TO WORST

East Carolina at BYU

Final Score: BYU 45, East Carolina 38
Pick: BYU 31, East Carolina 23
Line: BYU -7.5, o/u: 56

Algernon Brown scored his fourth touchdown of the day with a nine-yard run with 19 seconds to play to finally put away a game East Carolina team. The Cougars were rolling right along, up 38-21 with Tanner Mangum throwing three touchdown passes and Brown scoring three times including a 53-yard dash, but East Carolina roared back with 17 fourth quarter points with Chris Hairston running for a two-yard score, and Isaiah Jones catching a seven-yard pass to get close. A 34-yard Davis Plowman field goal tied it, but BYU went 75 yards in ten plays for the winning score.

Player of the Game: BYU RB Algernon Brown ran 24 times for 134 yards and three scores, and caught two passes for 20 yards and a score. The two teams combined for 1,026 yards.

Navy at Notre Dame

Final Score: Notre Dame 41, Navy 24
Pick: Notre Dame 34, Navy 24
Line: Notre Dame -14.5, o/u: 54.5

Helped by three takeaways, Notre Dame was able to get past a 21-21 tie with 17 straight points helped by two of C.J. Prosise touchdown runs from 22 and 11 yards out and a 52-yard Justin Yoon field goal. The Irish took a 21-7 lead on Prosise’s first touchdown on, a one-yard DeShone Kizer touchdown run and a 30-yard pass to Will Fuller, but Navy fought back to tie it on Quentin Ezell scoring runs from 45 and 22 yards out. The Irish were able to control things the rest of the way.

Player of the Game: Notre Dame RB C.J. Prosise ran 21 times for 129 yards and three scores.

SMU at Houston

Final Score: Houston 49, SMU 28
Pick: Houston 52, SMU 23
Line: Houston -25.5 , o/u: 73.5

Greg Ward Jr. ran for four scores including touchdown dashes from two yards out at the end of the first half and ten yards away and two yards out in the second – to go along with two of the three short scoring runs from Kenneth Farrow – as part of a 35-point run to pull away from the Mustangs. Matt Davis threw three touchdown passes for SMU, keeping pace early, but the offense lost three fumbles and couldn’t handle a razor-sharp game from Ward.

Player of the Game: Houston QB Greg Ward Jr. completed 16-of-18 passes for 243 yards, and ran 14 times for a team-high 82 yards and four scores.

ULM at Tulsa

Final Score: Tulsa 34, ULM 24
Pick: Tulsa 40, ULM 27
Line: Tulsa -10, o/u: 66.5

Tulsa cranked up 563 yards on offense and came away with three takeaways on D in an interesting game. The Golden Hurricane were rolling along, up 20-7 after Dane Evans found Justin Hobbs for a 36-yard score late in the first half, but the third quarter was all ULM with 17 straight points on the way to a 24-20 lead. DeVontae McNeal ran for a 43-yard score and Garrett Smith found Ajalen Holley for a 26-yard touchdown, but Tulsa owned the fourth with 14 unanswered points on a 15-yard Evans pass to D’Angelo Brewer and Zack Langer’s second one-yard scoring run of the game.

Player of the Game: Tulsa QB Dane Evans completed 28-of-44 passes for 341 yards and two scores.

Tulane at Temple

Final Score: Temple 49, Tulane 10
Pick: Temple 33, Tulane 14
Line: Temple -15, o/u: 49

Temple took a 10-7 lead on a seven-yard Teddy Veal catch early in the second quarter, and then it was all Temple the rest of the way with 42 unanswered points. P.J. Walker threw two touchdown passes and Jahad Thomas caught a pass for a 16-yard score and ran for a ten-yard touchdown on the way to the rout. Ryquell Armstead ran for two 16-yard touchdowns in the third quarter, and the D got into the act with a pick six from Sean Chandler from 22 yards out. Tulane was held to just 110 yards of total offense and eight first downs. The Green Wave ran for eight yards.

Player of the Game: Temple QB P.J. Walker completed 11-of-15 passes for 183 yards and two scores.

Syracuse at South Florida

Final Score: South Florida 45, Syracuse 24
Pick: Syracuse 24, South Florida 20
Line: South Florida -2.5 o/u: 48

The normally mediocre South Florida offense woke up with Marlon Mack running for touchdowns from 25 yards out and 45 yards away, and Quinton Flowers running for a touchdown and throwing for another in the surprisingly easy win. Syracuse pulled within seven on a seven-yard Eric Dungey touchdown run late in the third, but South Florida scored 21 unanswered points starting with the second Mack dash. USF outgained Syracuse 541 yards to 305.

Player of the Game: South Florida RB Marlon Mack ran 20 times for 184 yards and two scores.

Connecticut at UCF

Final Score: Connecticut 40, UCF 13
Pick: Connecticut 26, UCF 21
Line: UCF -1, o/u: 39.5

UCF scored first on a 19-yard Matthew Wright field goal, and then UConn rolled with 40 straight points helped by two Bryant Shirreffs touchdowns on a one-yard run and a 16-yard scoring pass to Noel Thomas in the second quarter. Arkeel Newsome ran for two short scores and Ron Johnson added a 12-yard touchdown in the third on the way to a 40-3 lead. UCF scored ten points in the fourth, finally getting into the end zone on an 11-yard Nick Patti catch.

Player of the Game: Connecticut RB Akeel Newsome ran 13 times for 84 yards and two scores, and caught two passes for a team-high 67 yards.