Welcome back to the 18Stripes G5 Top 10. This weekend’s games showed how fun and chaotic this great and dumb sport can be. However, even with G5 shakeups, the Top Ten doesn’t see many changes from the pre-season.
Also Considered: UAB, Ball State, San Jose State, Memphis, Marshall
Week 1 Recap
Movers and Shakers
Starting on Thursday, we have the big Group of 5 showdown. Boise State walked into the Bounce House and did alright for themselves. They capitalized on UCF mistakes, like the pick six on UCF’s first drive, but never seemed to get any traction beyond that. The comeback by UCF felt inevitable, commencing with a touchdown at the end of the third quarter and subsequent safety on the ensuing Bronco drive.
However, these teams showed their cracks at the end of the game. Gabriel threw another interception, which led to Boise State retaking the lead. UCF responded, leaning on Isaiah Bowser’s running attack to retake the lead. Hank Bachmeier then made one of the weirdest throws of the weekend. With Boise driving, he tried to rush for a first down before throwing the ball. The problem, of course, was that he was nowhere close to being behind the line of scrimmage. UCF intercepted that pass, making the point moot and UCF held on.
Our other headliner of the weekend was the Roadrunners sprinting away from Champaign with a key non-conference win. I mentioned a week ago that I had UTSA circled as a dark horse for C-USA. The advanced numbers loved them and they had a manageable schedule. The Roadrunners proved themselves with their performance Saturday afternoon. UTSA never trailed on the road, getting enough stops on defense in the beginning of both halves to ensure their winning condition late.
The main connection was Roadrunners QB Frank Harris to WR Zakhari Franklin. Harris finished with 280 yards passing on 20-32 throws, with one TD through the air and another on the ground. Franklin caught 10 balls for 155 yards and a TD. The touchdown to Franklin put UTSA up two scores for the first time in the second half, giving the Roadrunners breathing room to shut down the Illinois offense, who was successful in Lincoln the week prior. I wandered back and forth between putting UTSA in over UAB at the 10 spot this week. I ultimately decided this statement victory for the Roadrunners was enough to put them over their fellow C-USA West team.
Our other big upset was a classic Pac-12 After Dark. Only this time, it had a twist of the Mountain West added in. Carson Strong and Nevada overcame a early 14-0 deficit to beat Cal in Berkeley 22-17. Strong’s night was slow to start but ended up finding his receivers deep down field to help cut into the deficit. Strong finished 22-39 with 312 yards, 2 TDs, and an interception. The Nevada defense held the lead, getting an interception and forcing a turnover on downs in the waning minutes. Nevada is looking to establish themselves as a Mountain West player and this is the best way they could have done that.
Power 5 Scares and Roundup
There were some other Power 5 teams that had a scare against a top Group of 5 team. The big game was Tulane, in a “home game,” taking on Oklahoma and pushing them to the brink. It gives me hope about the Green Wave potentially making a move out of the AAC middle class. I’m going to keep an eye on them moving forward.
Over on the Pac-12 Network, Fresno State, despite the ways I thought they would last week, kept it close with Oregon. I think this is two forces at work; I think Oregon is a little rusty with Anthony Brown at QB, and Fresno State had a game under their belt. Fresno State is always lurking in the Mountain West; and with the conference wide open I could see them make a move.
Keeping it in the Mountain West, San Jose State hung around USC for a couple of quarters before the Trojan defense stifled the Spartans and pulled away winning, 30-7. Finally, we’re going to do a quick wrap around the rest of the top teams. Coastal easily took out The Citadel on Thursday night. UAB did the same with Jacksonville State on Wednesday. Ball State let Western Illinois hang around before winning by 10. App State kept East Carolina at arms length in Charlotte. Finally, Cincinnati, Marshall, and Toledo blew the doors off of Miami (OH), Navy, and Norfolk St, respectively.
Week 2 Preview
Much like last week, I’ve split up the games of Week 2 into a couple of different categories.
Headliners
The first headliner we have is in primetime between two red hot 1-0 teams. That’s right it’s your Kansas Jayhawks looking to win two in a row against Coastal Carolina. In all seriousness, after seeing Coastal Carolina take care of The Citadel, I am curious to see what they can do against a team with a little more firepower. I think the Chants will win, but how much remains to be seen.
After the Chants-Jayhawks game we have more Pac-12 After Dark, Holy War Edition. Future Big 12 member BYU hosts in-state rival Utah in another edition of their rivalry. Utah has won every game since 2010, but I’m curious to see this BYU team take them on. They have shown they can knock off a lesser Pac-12 South team, but now they face one of the better teams in the conference. It’s a shame we never saw 2020 Zach Wilson take on Utah, but this will have to do instead.
Interesting Power 5 Games
Buffalo, a team I was unsure about with their changes late in the offseason, made quick work of Wagner in Week 1. Now they go into Lincoln this upcoming Saturday. This a must win for Scott Frost and the Huskers, but I could see Buffalo keeping this close for at least a half.
South Carolina literally started their GA at QB this week. East Carolina looked solid in spurts in their losing effort against App State on Thursday. If they can scheme around the former Iowa State and North Dakota State QB, this could be fairly close throughout.
So, we know Miami got flattened. Alabama will do that to teams. The problem is that Miami needs to lick its wounds and turn around and host a game App State team. Out of all of these games this is the one I’m curious about. Miami could win easily or App State could pull off the upset. I truly think all results are in play for this matchup.
Both Ball State and Penn State struggled mightily. Granted, the Wisconsin defense is probably better than the Western Illinois unit, but this game is worth noting. Penn State will probably win, but it will show more of what the Cardinals are made of going into their showdown with Toledo.
Speaking of Toledo, they are facing the Irish this week. I’m gonna keep my thoughts brief because you’ll read more about this matchup on Friday.
UAB will be flattened for four quarters by Georgia. It’s unfortunate considering how much I like the Blazers program, but this seems inevitable.
Top Teams Roundup
The rest of the teams in the Top Ten and its orbit are having easier weeks compared to their G5 compadres. Boise State is looking to rebound from their disappointment by taking on the only G5 2-0 team UTEP. UCF and Cincinnati are taking on their FCS opponent before they get back into their conference schedule. Nevada and UTSA are looking to continue their big program wins by taking on Idaho St and Lamar, respectively. Louisiana is looking to get into the win column with a showdown with Nicholls. Finally, Marshall is preparing for their App State game with NC Central.
That’s all I have for you this week! Let me know your thoughts on the top ten, the games this past weekend, and the look ahead.
I was keeping the South Dakota at Kansas game score pulled up and really thought Kansas would be able to start the season with losses to South Dakota and Costal Carolina, but alas, a last gasp touchdown with 70 seconds remaining.
I think Charlotte is the only G5 team with a win over a P5 that didn’t make the “Also considered” category. This week they take a step down in competition against FCS Gardner Webb.
Might have been worth watching if it didn’t overlap with the ND game: MTSU’s offense put up 50 last week and they travel to Va Tech who shut down Sam “Number One Overall to the Jets” Howell in their opener. Might be fun for a bit, but won’t get any viewers.
The Charlotte win was something I considered making a note of, but Duke just seems that bad that I feel like this win was something of things to come for Duke rather than a reason for hope for Charlotte. I’ll be keeping an eye on them for sure, especially since C-USA is usually wide open, but that was more of the reasoning there.
MTSU definitely feels like they are in a similar spot to UTSA last week, so it will be interesting to see if VT can continue this momentum against a lesser opponent. C-USA is definitely one of the more intriguing conferences for me just because the teams seem to be all on a similar level, with maybe Marshall, UAB, and UTSA a slight step above. Fascinated to see where it goes.
G5 football has increasingly become more enjoyable for me. Maybe its that perpetual underdog mentality, but also, so many of these games get WILD!
When alabama is winning by 40 every week, and the playoffs are the old faces, G5 is a refreshing breath of funness. That being said, boo Toledo (this week)
That was part of the reason I wanted to dive into this last season! With so many teams breaking through and watching more games I found myself enjoying those games a ton! They still seem “college football” more so than the higher tiered teams if that makes sense? Because there is really only one long term stalwart of the “division” is Boise and even they have down years where they take a backseat to some fun teams