Cincinnati ruins Chip Kelly’s debut; Temple ninth in power ratings | American Athletic Conference notebook

Eagles fans who didn't enjoy Chip Kelly's tenure would have taken absolute joy with the opening game of the season for the University of Cincinnati.

That's because the Bearcats, coming off consecutive 4-8 seasons, spoiled Kelly's UCLA head coaching debut in a big way.

Traveling to the Rose Bowl, Cincinnati defeated UCLA 26-17 on Saturday.

"It is an incredible building block," second-year Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell said during Monday's American Athletic Conference media call.

Fickell felt that facing Kelly, who was 46-7 at Oregon, 26-21 with the Eagles and 2-14 in his only season with the San Francisco 49ers, was a major challenge.

"It was difficult competing against a completely new coaching staff, with Chip Kelly, not only what he brought from Oregon but from the NFL," Fickell said. "There were a lot of unknowns."

The Bearcats were able to hold UCLA relatively in check. The Bruins had 306 total yards.

Cincinnati linebacker Brian Wright was named AAC co-defensive player of the week after recording four tackles, including three tackles for loss and two sacks.

Running back Michael Warren rushed for 142 yards and three touchdowns on 35 carries.

Cincinnati was picked to finish fourth in the six-team East Division in the preseason AAC media poll, one spot behind Temple.

That one may have to be revisited.

One other note, Cincinnati's win was the AAC's 27^th over a school from a Power-Five conference (including Notre Dame) since the start of the 2015 season, the first year of the American's current membership.

After the first week of the regular season Temple is No. 9 in the AAC power ratings, voted on by media members. The Owls host Buffalo at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

Here are this week's ratings: 1. Central Florida (1-0), 2. Memphis (1-0), 3. Houston (1-0), 4. South Florida (1-0), 5. Cincinnati (1-0), 6. Navy (0-1), 7. Tulane (0-1), 8. Tulsa (1-0), 9. Temple (0-1), 10. SMU (0-1), 11. UConn (0-1), 12: East Carolina (0-1).

Houston junior defensive tackle Ed Oliver has been listed as a Heisman candidate and his long-shot candidacy got off to a great start.

Oliver was named co-AAC defensive player of the week after recording 13 tackles, including 3.5 for loss and two quarterback hurries in the Cougars' 45-27 win against Rice.

Memphis at Navy, Saturday, 3:30 p.m.

Memphis is the defending West Division champion and the favorite to repeat. Navy is a contender in the West, but the Midshipmen are still reeling from last week's 59-41 loss at Hawaii.

"Normally when you score 40 points that should be enough to win," Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo said during Monday's conference call.

Hawaii quarterback Cole McDonald threw for 428 yards and six touchdowns.

Memphis (1-0) opened with a 66-14 rout of Mercer. The Tigers have won 13 of their last 14 regular-season games.