Earlier this week, Disney owned the social media world with their Investor Day, which had some additions to ESPN+ (which is owned by Disney through ABC). I find it ironic then, that the most notable moment on the ESPN+ platform after this investors call was the iconic finish between Ball State and Western Michigan. ESPN+ got some free publicity after that gaff, but not the same type I think they would have liked given the promise of Investor Day. Never the less, I promise this article will not get cut off towards the end. Let’s dive into the list.
18 Stripes G5 Top 10 Poll
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | LAST WEEK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cincinnati | 8-0 | Canceled @ Tulsa |
| 2 | Coastal Carolina | 11-0 | 42-38 Win @ Troy |
| 3 | BYU | 10-1 | 28-14 Win vs San Diego State |
| 4 | Louisiana | 9-1 | BYE |
| 5 | Buffalo | 5-0 | 56-7 Win vs Akron |
| 6 | Tulsa | 6-1 | Canceled vs Cincinnati |
| 7 | San Jose State (+1) | 6-0 | 30-20 Win vs Nevada |
| 8 | Marshall (-1) | 7-1 | Canceled vs Charlotte |
| 9 | Boise State | 4-1 | 17-9 Win @ Wyoming |
| 10 | Liberty (NR) | 9-1 | BYE |
Also Considered: Ball State, Army, Nevada
Week 15 Recap
Our game of the weekend also had one of the weirdest finishes we’ve seen this season. With the MAC West Division on the line, Western Michigan and Ball State battled in Muncie. WMU looked to take the lead in the first quarter, but saw two different drives stall out inside the Ball State 10. The Ball State offense wasn’t doing much better, only mustering a TD drive, but even that ended in anti-climatic XP missed. The second quarter showed off the offenses as the Broncos took a 20-13 halftime lead. The Bronco defense clamped down in the third quarter, forcing an opening drive punt and getting a turnover on downs, while also extending their lead. A turning point for the game happened at the end of the quarter, Cardinal Corner Chris Agyemang intercepted a Kaleb Eleby attempted screen pass to put the Cardinals in position to get back on the board. Over the next three minutes of game time, Ball State march down the field to make it a one score game, missed the XP (again), forced a three and out, then had a one play 55 yard catch and run by Justin Hall and two point conversion to tie the game at 27. Western drove down the field, missed a chip shot FG. The teams then exchanged unsuccessful drives, before the Cardinals drove down the field to take the lead with 30 seconds left. Then, the finish mentioned above happened. In the midst of the chaos, Ball State punched it’s ticket to Detroit, with a chance to knock off undefeated Buffalo.
The other semi-final for the weekend was on Friday night. The game was a home game for San Jose State, but due to the previously mentioned guidelines by Santa Clara County, the game was played in Las Vegas, with the colors for New Mexico. To match that weirdness, San Jose St spotted Nevada a 20-7 lead, which should have been more but Nevada missed a chip shot before the halftime buzzer. The second half got weird with San Jose St returning the second half kickoff for a TD. Nevada then turned around on the ensuing possession and drove down the field, which led to a “fumble” where Nevada’s Toa Taua was down upon alternate replay angles, but the ref crew did not overturn the call on the field. The Spartans marched down the field in 6 minutes and 12 plays to take the lead for the first time. The Spartans added a quick 69 yard run by Tyler Nevens to put the game out of reach for the Spartans. San Jose State, by virtue of their win, will now host their first Mountain West Championship Game.
A personal favorite game every year is Army-Navy. While this year it didn’t have the pomp and circumstance that usually surround it, due to other games this weekend and COVID moving the game to West Point, it still delivered a truly unique and fun game, despite the score. Army seemed to control this every step of the way, with Navy unable to get their offense moving, culminating in the goal line stand in the beginning of the second half that I’m still unsure how Navy didn’t score from. Army took all momentum from that point forward, allowing -4 yards of total offense from Navy. Army moves to 8-2 and now has won four of their last five against Navy.
The final word I left you all with last week is that I was concerned for both Coastal Carolina and BYU coming off the high of their dramatic showdown two Saturdays ago. While BYU kept San Diego State at arms length all night (but not covering), CCU had some troubles in Troy. Noting that their Sun Belt Championship opponent Louisiana would have this week off, it looked as though the Chants were sleep walking through this game, giving Troy opportunity after opportunity to stay in the game. Then, in the fourth quarter, they struck. They got a goal line stand of the CCU offense to keep the game close and then took advantage of a poor decision by Grayson McCall, turning both into scores to take the lead with under two minutes to go. McCall rebounded and took his team down the field in 45 seconds to retake the lead that they would never surrender back.
We have a bevy of clinching games this weekend to round out our Championship Weekend. UAB, who had not played since Halloween, got their elusive fourth game in the C-USA conference to knock off Rice 21-16, and clinched their third straight C-USA West Division Championship. Marshall had their game with Charlotte canceled. That opened the door for Florida Atlantic to throw some doubt into the C-USA East Division, but failed to put away Southern Miss in a letdown Thursday night. Boise State and Buffalo made the formalities of their appearances into the MWC and MAC Championships (respectively) realities with wins over Wyoming and Akron. To finish the wrap around, Memphis knocked off UH to put themselves at the top of the next tier of American teams and App State had a fourth quarter comeback win against Georgia Southern.
Week 16 Games to Watch
Tulsa vs Cincinnati (-16) (American Championship Game)
This game was canceled this past week because of an outbreak in Cincinnati, and because of previous rules that use CFP rankings for hosting of this week’s Championship, so now this game essentially moves to Nippert for all of the marbles. A thing to look for tomorrow’s CFP rankings is to see if Cincinnati gets any bump from the Florida loss. This game may give Cincinnati a super outside shot at the CFP (I mean probably not but still worth imagining).
Louisiana vs Coastal Carolina (-4) (Sun Belt Championship Game)
If Tulsa can pull off the upset against Cincinnati, the winner of this game has an excellent case for holding off the Golden Hurricane for the NY6 spot. Louisiana lost the first game on a last second field goal that was essentially as even as it could get. Now the game will be on the Teal Turf in Conway. I imagine that outside of the Power 5 games, this will be the closest Championship Game all weekend. If you want a second screen to watch during the commercials of the ND game, I would recommend this one.
Ball State vs Buffalo (-14) (MAC Championship Game)
Buffalo’s run game is probably the best thing going in this game and if Ball State wants to have any success in the game they will need to contain the 1-2 punch of Jaret Patterson and Kevin Marks Jr. I think both of these backs will crack 100 yards a piece and the Bulls will either control the clock and win going away, or the Bulls hit home run after home run with their rushing attack and cruise to their first MAC Championship since 2008, where they stopped Ball State’s undefeated season (just needed to point that out for the potential symmetry of it all).
Boise State (-8) vs San Jose State (Mountain West Championship Game)
San Jose State has been one of the lesser talked about success stories of the truncated season, but Arkansas transfer QB Nick Starkel, combined with the effort by Cade Hall on the DL, have put San Jose State back in the AP Poll for the first time since 2012 and a chance to become the fifth current member of the Mountain West to win the conference. Boise State is their usual good to great self, but none of their performances are truly amazing, and their one notable performance was getting beaten for four quarters against BYU. I can understand why the line is what it is, giving Boise respect and all, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this ended up being tight in the fourth quarter.
UAB vs Marshall (-7) (C-USA Championship Game)
Marshall should easily take care of business against UAB, who has done well for themselves when they were on the field, but considering how little they have actually played, nothing seems off the table for them. While I do trust Bill Clark to keep his team focused, especially since he’s been here before, I suspect the Marshall offense, fresh off their shutout at home against Rice, will have a chip on their shoulder and bring home the C-USA Championship.
Air Force at Army (PK) (Commander-In-Chiefs Trophy Championship)
This matchup, by virtue of Army’s win over Navy, is essentially a Conference Championship of its own, with the winner taking the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy with a win. Army has shown their strengths all year in slowing down offenses that are on their level and below, with a brief hiccup against Tulane. Air Force hasn’t played in a couple of weeks, so they’ve had ample time to prepare for the matchup, but I still see Army focused with this game and a bowl game left on their schedule.
SMU (-9) vs UTSA (Frisco Bowl)
Speaking of bowl games, somehow our first one is being played on Saturday! In what could potentially be Sonny Dykes’ last game coaching SMU (given his previous P5 coaching background) the Mustangs take on a fun surprise in the Roadrunners. While UTSA weren’t lucky enough to get into the C-USA Championship Game, they will probably have their minds focused on a team that is a step up from their usual competition in SMU. I could see this game being close for a half or so, with the SMU offense being too much to overcome for the Roadrunner defense.
Just as a note too, next week will be the penultimate list, with a blurb for each of the G5 bowl games over the course of bowl season. So expect next week’s entry to be a little bit longer. Enjoy the games!
As a BSU alum who graduated 7 months before the disastrous 2008 MAC CG and was in Detroit for it, I badly want revenge. Not feeling super great about our chances, but it would be a sweet victory.