College Football Outpost

Sun Belt Week Five Review

2015-10-05T14:41:00.000-05:00

Another week is in the books for the 2015 college football season with the Sun Belt going 4-6. Conference play kicked into gear with three Sun Belt games taking place. Let's take a look at the good, bad, and ugly of week five Sun Belt football action.

Week Six Schedule:

New Mexico State at Ole Miss
Appalachian State at Georgia State
Troy at Mississippi State
Louisiana Monroe at Tulsa
Texas State at Louisiana

Week Five Scoreboard:

Louisiana Tech 43, Louisiana 14
Appalachian State 31, Wyoming 13
New Mexico 38, New Mexico State 29
Liberty 41, Georgia State 33
South Alabama 24, Troy 18
Arkansas State 49, Idaho 35
Georgia Southern 51, Louisiana Monroe 31

Power Rankings:

Georgia Southern
Appalachian State
South Alabama
Louisiana
Arkansas State
Texas State
Troy
Louisiana Monroe
Georgia State
New Mexico State
Idaho

Who/What Looked Good:

Larry Rose III: The sophomore have been on fire in the last two weeks with 444 yards rushing on 41 carries. Rose hit the 12.4 yards per carry mark in gouging New Mexico for 260 yards. Keep feeding the ball to Rose as much as possible.
Arkansas State Rush Game: After struggling in the early portion of the season, the Red Wolves finally looked good running the ball with 333 yards versus Idaho. Michael Gordon rushed 21 times for 226 yards in the win.
Magee Hits the Homerun: It seems to be all or nothing for Magee this season. It was all in week five with Magee catching three passes for 118 yards in the 24-18 win. Magee is 16 yards short of his career high of 342 yards receiving in 2014.

Who/What Looked Bad:

Georgia State: It is bad enough to lose to Charlotte, but to also lose to Liberty is unacceptable. The Flames torched the Panthers for 502 yards and 41 points in the game. It is beginning to look like a win over New Mexico State was a fluke and Georgia State may be one of the three worst teams in the FBS.
Louisiana: A week after being dominated by Akron, the Ragin’ Cajuns were manhandled by Louisiana Tech. The Ragin’ Cajuns were much better versus a good running attack, but were controlled in pretty much every aspect of play.
Non-conference Woes: The Sun Belt again struggled versus other conferences with a 1-3 record. Only Appalachian State won their matchup. That number will get even worse next week with two Sun Belt teams slated to face SEC competition.

Bye Weeks:

Georgia Southern
South Alabama
Idaho

Sun Belt Standings:

Georgia Southern 2-0
South Alabama 1-0
Arkansas State 1-0
Georgia State 1-0
Appalachian State 0-0
Louisiana 0-0
Texas State 0-0
Troy 0-1
Louisiana Monroe 0-1
New Mexico State 0-1
Idaho 0-2

Mountain West Week Five Review

2015-10-05T14:17:00.001-05:00

Another week is in the books for the 2015 college football season with the Mountain West Conference going 5-7. Conference play kicked into gear with four MWC games played. Let's take a look at the good, bad, and ugly of week five Independent football action.

Week Six Schedule:

Boise State at Colorado State
New Mexico at Nevada
San Jose State at UNLV
Wyoming at Air Force
Utah State at Fresno State
San Diego State at Hawaii

Week Five Scoreboard:

Navy 33, Air Force 11
Appalachian State 31, Wyoming 13
Auburn 35, San Jose State 21
UNLV 23, Nevada 17
Utah State 33, Colorado State 18
New Mexico 38, New Mexico State 29
Boise State 55, Hawaii 0
San Diego State 21, Fresno State 21

Power Rankings:

Boise State
Air Force
Utah State
San Diego State
San Jose State
Colorado State
New Mexico
UNLV
Nevada
Hawaii
Fresno State
Wyoming

Who/What Looked Good:

Utah State’s Offense: Written for dead earlier in the season, the Aggies had their best offensive performance of the season in gaining 435 yards and scoring 33 point in a win over Colorado State. If the offense continues to play like this, Utah State could still have a very good season.
Brett Rypien: The TRUE freshman has started his career completing 51 of 69 pass attempts for 718 yards and six touchdowns. In his most recent start, Rypien threw for 271 and three touchdowns, leading many to wonder if the Broncos should have went with Rypien from day one.
Brian Hill: The Cowboys may be 0-5 on the year, but little blame can be given to Hill. The sophomore hit 200+ yards for the second time this season versus Appalachian State and has 669 yards rushing on the season. Expect Hill to crush his previous high of 796 yards rushing in 2014.

Who/What Looked Bad:

Air Force: The Falcons had an opportunity to get some national attention with a win over the undefeated Midshipmen. Air Force was unable to get on track with multiple turnovers and fell 33-11. An altogether disappointing day for the program.
Fresno State’s Offense: The Bulldogs ended the night with 89 yards. Yes, 89 yards, versus San Diego State in falling 21-7. I don’t even have words for a performance like that.
San Jose State Going For The Onside: The Spartan pulled within 28-21 of Auburn with 5:38 left in the game. The tried an onside kick that Auburn recovered. Two plays later, Auburn put the game away with a 36-yard touchdown run to take a 35-21 lead. Trust your defense to make one stop.

Bye Weeks:

None.

MWC Standings:

Mountain:

Boise State 1-0
New Mexico 1-0
Air Force 1-0
Utah State 1-0
Colorado State 0-1
Wyoming 0-1

West:

UNLV 1-0
San Diego State 1-0
San Jose State 1-1
Hawaii 0-1
Nevada 0-1
Fresno State 0-2

Conference USA Week Five Review

2015-10-05T13:47:00.000-05:00

Another week is in the books for the 2015 college football season with Conference USA going 5-7. Conference play kicked into gear with four CUSA game taking place. Let's take a look at the good, bad, and ugly of week five CUSA football action.

Week Six Schedule:

Southern Miss at Marshall
UTEP at Florida International
MTSU at WKU
Rice at Florida Atlantic
Portland State at North Texas
Louisiana Tech at UTSA

Week Five Scoreboard:

Temple 37, Charlotte 3
Massachusetts 24, Florida International 14
Marshall 27, Old Dominion 7
Western Kentucky 49, Rice 10
Southern Miss 49, North Texas 14
Vanderbilt 17, MTSU 13
Louisiana Tech 43, Louisiana 14
UTSA 25, UTEP 6

Power Rankings:

Western Kentucky
Louisiana Tech
MTSU
Marshall
Southern Miss
Rice
Florida International
Florida Atlantic
Old Dominion
UTSA
UTEP
North Texas
Charlotte

Who/What Looked Good:

Western Kentucky: The Hilltoppers put up video game numbers versus Rice, but actually looked somewhat competent on defense. Rice giftwrapped WKU a couple of turnovers and didn’t play well in this game. Even with Rice’s poor play, WKU took advantage and won easily.
Southern Miss Offense: Yes, it was North Texas, but the Golden Eagles put up 573 yards of total offense and 49 points in the dominant win. The run game averaged 7.5 yards per carry for a total of 248 yards. Mullens threw for 325 yards and four touchdowns, while Hayes (86) and Smith (84) led the way running the football.
Louisiana Tech: The Bulldogs easily beat in-state rivals Louisiana 43-14 Saturday night. A blocked punt for a safety and a pick six made for a 29-7 first half lead. The Bulldogs are rolling again and look like heavy favorites to face WKU in the CUSA title game.

Who/What Looked Bad:

MTSU Finishing Games: The Blue Raiders held a 13-3 lead with under eight minutes left in the game. Vanderbilt scored touchdowns on back to back drives in the fourth quarter and stole a homecoming win away from MTSU. This one will stick with the Blue Raiders for a while.
Old Dominion: The Monarchs were not 20 points worse than Marshall, but turning the ball over like they did is unacceptable. ODU was even given the ball on back to back drives to start the game for Marshall, but could not make the Thundering Herd pay for either mistake. The only bright spot for Old Dominion was the play of Ray Lawry with 160 yards on the ground.
UTEP’s Running Game: One of the better in the nation last fall, the Miners were stuffed for 59 yards on 22 carries by UTSA. No team has seen the loss of one player negatively affect their season like UTEP has with Aaron Jones.

Bye Weeks:

Old Dominion
Charlotte

CUSA Standings:

East:

Western Kentucky 2-0
Marshall 1-0
MTSU 1-0
Florida Atlantic 1-0
Florida International 0-1
Old Dominion 0-1
Charlotte 0-2

West:

Southern Miss 1-0
UTSA 1-0
Louisiana Tech 1-1
Rice 1-1
UTEP 0-1
North Texas 0-2

AAC Week Five Review

2015-10-05T09:46:00.001-05:00

Another week is in the books for the 2015 college football season with the American Athletic Conference going 7-5. The AAC kicked into gear with four conference games. Let's take a look at the good, bad, and ugly of week five AAC football action.

Week Six Schedule:

SMU at Houston
Tulane at Temple
Syracuse at South Florida
Navy at Notre Dame
Connecticut at UCF
Louisiana Monroe at Tulsa
East Carolina at BYU

Week Five Scoreboard:

Cincinnati 34, Miami 23
Memphis 24, South Florida 17
Temple 37, Charlotte 3
BYU 30, Connecticut 13
Tulane 45, UCF 31
Houston 38, Tulsa 24
Navy 33, Air Force 11
East Carolina 49, SMU 23

Power Rankings:

Temple
Memphis
Navy
Houston
Cincinnati
East Carolina
Tulsa
South Florida
Connecticut
Tulane
SMU
UCF

Who/What Looked Good:

Cincinnati: The Bearcats have been up and down all season, but played their best game of the season in defeating Miami 34-23. Hayden Moore looked excellent in his starting debut and should lead the Bearcats to several more wins this season.
Keenan Reynolds: No touchdowns this week, but the senior quarterback for Navy rushed for 183 yards on 24 carries, his third 100+ yard game of the year. He also broke 100+ yards passing for the first time in 2015 in a 33-11 win over Air Force.
East Carolina’s Second Half Defense: After giving up 23 points in the first 20 minutes of game action, the Pirates completely shut down SMU’s high powered offense. The Mustangs only gained 61 yards in the second half with ECU recording more sacks in this game than the rest of the season combined.

Who/What Looked Bad:

UCF: The Knights were completely dominated by Tulane in this game, but scored late to make the score more reasonable. At one time, Tulane held a 28 point lead in this game. An 0-12 season is completely possible for UCF.
South Florida’s Upset Hopes: For a while, it looked like the Bulls might get a huge upset win over Memphis in this game. Two huge second half turnovers proved otherwise as South Florida lost 24-17. Not a bad loss at all, but Taggart and company need real, not moral, wins.
SMU’s Rush Defense: East Carolina was able to run the ball better than they have in a very long time versus SMU. Once James Summers entered at quarterback, ECU literally ran all over the Mustangs defense in scoring 42 straight points to turn a 23-7 deficit into a 49-23 win.

Bye Weeks:

Cincinnati
Memphis

Conference Standings:

East:

Temple 1-0
East Carolina 1-1
Connecticut 0-1
South Florida 0-1
Central Florida 0-1
Cincinnati 0-2

West:

Memphis 2-0
Navy 2-0
Houston 1-0
Tulane 1-0
Tulsa 0-1
SMU 0-1

G5 Mailbag: October 2 Edition

2015-10-02T14:44:00.001-05:00

We got some good questions to delve into this week, including a couple that include Temple football.

Which Temple running back besides Jahad Thomas will have a breakout game versus Charlotte?

Jager Gardner. This is a game that Gardner has to have circled on his calendar since his arrival at Temple. A trip back to North Carolina, only 114 miles away from his hometown of Black Mountain, would be a great time to see lots of Gardner. I have not been overly impressed with Ryquell Armstead as the backup, and this just seems like the game that Gardner could get 10-15 carries and make a name for himself with a breakout game.

Is NIU good or does Ohio State suck?

Actually, it is a combination of both. NIU has a very good defense, I would rank them as one of the top seven in the G5 ranks, but they are a joke on offense. The problem with NIU is twofold. First, they were lulled into a false sense that their passing game was good versus UNLV and Murray State. It is not good. Second, NIU does not have an offensive identity. Are they the running team of the past that used their quarterback as a battering ram, or are they a pure spread offense that will throw the ball all over the field? Why do they not have an identity after four games? Until that is figured out, I can’t have faith in them as a team.

Ohio State is benefiting from a very weak schedule early in the season. Honestly, the Big Ten is doing them no favors with a schedule that includes Maryland and Rutgers. This week’s game versus Indiana could be impressive down the line, but Minnesota (who played TCU hard but have not looked good recently), Illinois, and Penn State are decent wins, leaving only the Michigan State and Michigan games as real tests. We may not know if Ohio State is any good until mid-November.

What G5 team is the favorite for a New Year’s Day Bowl?

We are down to Temple, Memphis, Navy, Houston, and Toledo as undefeated G5 teams. Boise State has to be in the mix as well if one of these teams falter.

First, let’s look at the AAC candidates. Memphis is too bad on defense to stay undefeated, not to mention a visit from Ole Miss in two weeks. They could get in with one loss, but will they really get past Navy, Houston, and Temple in three straight weeks undefeated? The answer is no. Temple survived a test versus Massachusetts, but have a trip to East Carolina, as well as visits from Notre Dame and Memphis on the schedule. 12-1 with an AAC title and their only loss to Notre Dame would most likely get the Owls in, but that is a lot to ask. Navy has way too tough of a schedule coming up to get to the AAC title game. Too bad, because seeing an option attack in a NYD bowl would be fun. Houston has a very tough second half of the schedule to overcome. Check back with me after the Vanderbilt game.

Conference USA, the Sun Belt, and independents are not going to make a NYD bowl. WKU is the only hope of the bunch and would need a win over LSU for that to happen. There will be someone higher rated than a two-loss WKU.

So that leaves Toledo yet again. The Rockets have a very reasonable schedule in front of them, but could be hurt from only playing 11 games. If they are undefeated, they will get the bid.

My best guess says that some team among the trio of Toledo or Temple or Boise State will get a bid.

Is the Sun Belt actually really bad?

In a word, yes. Can you really name a big non-conference game that a Sun Belt team won? South Alabama over San Diego State or Georgia Southern over Western Michigan are the only two that come to mind. I am beginning to think SDSU and WMU were a bit overrated heading into the season. The newest members, Georgia Southern and Appalachian State, are probably the best teams in the conference. Louisiana and Arkansas State have disappointed, but not to the level of Texas State. That is a bit of a dumpster fire. Maybe things will change as conference play kicks into gear, but enjoy for another day that Georgia State is tied for first in the conference.

Who is the most disappointing G5 team this season?

2015-09-30T11:39:00.000-05:00

There are always surprises and disappointments in any college football season. Tomorrow we will talk about the biggest surprises, but today is all about disappointment. Here are my choices for the most disappointing G5 teams so far this season.

Central Florida: Where to start? The Knights lost to Florida International in the season opener, but upped the ante with a 16-15 loss to Furman. UCF has scored no more than 15 points this season. An even competent offense and UCF may be looking at a 2-2 or 3-1 start. No doubt the most disappointing team at the quarter pole.
UTEP: Hopes were high for the Miners heading into the season, but the defense never got the memo. UTEP has been repeatedly gouged for 48, 69, 47, and 17 points this season. I only add the 17 because it was versus Incarnate Word. Yes, I said Incarnate word. A 27-17 win over Incarnate Word was the saddest win for a G5 team this season.
Eastern Michigan: Some people actually had the Eagles as a dark horse candidate to win a division or make a bowl game this season. Four weeks into the season, we can officially call those dreams dead. EMU is sitting at 1-3 and coming off of a 22-point loss to an Army team that is terrible. They only have LSU next on the schedule, no biggie.
Massachusetts: Another team that was predicted to finish at or near the top of their division in the MAC, the Minutemen are sitting at 0-3. Taking out blowout losses to Colorado and Notre Dame, the most disappointing moment of the year was playing Temple hard and having the game basically in hand with an extra point attempt to make the lead four. The attempt was blocked and ran back for a score. Minutes later, Temple kicked a game winning field goal. I don't know if UMass recovers from that.
Utah State: No one can deny that Utah State can play some defense. It is the offense that has let the Aggies down this season. The team has scored no more than 17 points in a game this season. As well as the defense is playing, you could make a case that Utah State could be 3-0 right now if they had a competent offense.
Wyoming: Oh Wyoming, it just keeps getting worse. A loss to an FCS team in the season opener, followed by a 19-point loss to another one of the G5 most disappointing teams in EMU made for a rough start. Losses to Washington State and New Mexico haven't helped the cause. Right now, I only see UNLV keeping the Cowboys from 0-12.
Fresno State: No one expected Fresno State to win the MWC this fall. No one even expected them to win their division. Even with low expectations, a 1-3 start that includes being outscored 167-68 versus FBS competition is disappointing. 3-9 is completely possible at this rate.
Texas State: You almost have to give applause to a team when they play defense as badly as Texas State has this season. The Bobcats have given up 49.5 points per game, including 50+ versus all three FBS opponents. The defensive coordinator has already resigned and we could be seeing an implosion from within the Bobcats program.
Arkansas State: Despite looking terrible versus USC and Toledo, the Red Wolves didn't look bad versus Missouri. Health issues have been a part of the problem for Arkansas State, but things could get worse before they get better. I still have some faith in them due to a reasonable Sun Belt schedule. They are one of the few disappointing teams that can turn things around.

Top 35 G5 Rushing Leaders: Post Week Four

2015-09-30T10:05:00.001-05:00

Four weeks into the college football season and we already have six G5 players over the 400 yard mark. San Jose State's Tyler Ervin has vaulted into second nationally with 641 yards on the season. A lot of that is on the back of a 300 yard game versus Fresno State. Georgia Southern's Matt Breida is the national leader in yards per carry among qualified backs at 10.9 yards per carry.

Tyler Ervin, SJSU: 95 carries, 641 yards, 9 TD
Matt Breida, GASO: 54 carries, 589 yards, 8 TD
Kenneth Dixon, LT: 73 carries, 524 yards, 5 TD
Ray Lawry, ODU: 78 carries, 475 yards, 6 TD
Brian Hill, WYO: 69 carries, 461 yards, 2 TD
Darius Jackson, EMU: 59 carries, 407 yards, 7 TD
Darian Green, BALL: 57 carries, 402 yards, 4 TD
Matt Davis, SMU: 75 carries, 397 yards, 6 TD
Jahad Thomas, TEM: 80 carries, 394 yards, 4 TD
Devon Johnson, MRSH: 59 carries, 390 yards, 3 TD
Zack Langer, TLSA: 88 carries, 389 yards, 5 TD
James Butler, NEV: 56 carries, 382 yards, 1 TD
Anthone Taylor, BUFF: 76 carries, 381 yards, 2 TD
Don Jackson, NEV: 70 carries, 381 yards, 5 TD
Marteze Waller, FRES: 85 carries, 379 yards, 0 TD
Jarveon Williams, UTSA: 61 carries, 370 yards, 3 TD
Jalen Richard, USM: 62 carries, 344 yards, 5 TD
Ahmad Bradshaw, ARMY: 68 carries, 341 yards, 4 TD
Joel Bouagnon, NIU: 73 carries, 338 yards, 6 TD
Elijah McGuire, ULL: 57 carries, 331 yards, 6 TD
Jasen Oden Jr., CSU: 74 carries, 327 yards, 2 TD
Xavier Johnson, USA: 44 carries, 320 yards, 3 TD
Larry Rose III, NMSU: 50 carries, 319 yards, 3 TD
Adam Hine, BYU: 54 carries, 312 yards, 2 TD
Marcus Cox, APP: 59 carries, 311 yards, 1 TD
Jarvion Franklin, WMU: 64 carries, 310 yards, 1 TD
Chris Swain, NAVY: 50 carries, 307 yards, 2 TD
Keenan Reynolds, NAVY: 63 carries, 305 yards, 9 TD
Jordan Parker, MTSU: 61 carries, 305 yards, 4 TD
Donnel Pumphrey, SDSU: 86 carries, 305 yards, 3 TD
Elijhaa Penny, IDHO: 74 carries, 296 yards, 2 TD
Conor Hundley, AKR: 51 carries, 294 yards, 4 TD
Tion Green, CIN: 61 carries, 293 yards, 3 TD
Greg Howell, FAU: 49 carries, 291 yards, 2 TD
Greg Ward Jr., HOU: 45 carries, 290 yards, 4 TD

Top 35 G5 Passing Leaders: Post Week Four

2015-09-30T09:42:00.000-05:00

Twelve G5 quarterbacks have broken the 1,000 yards padding barrier after four weeks of the college football season. Johnson, Doughty, Mullens, and Rush are among the top 10 nationally in passing yards. Memphis QB Paxton Lynch is the nationally leader in passing yards per attempt (min. 100 attempts) at 10.9 yards per attempt. Doughty (74.2%) has the highest completion percentage of passers with 100+ attempts.

Matt Johnson, BGSU: 134-207, 64.7%, 1760 yards, 13 TD
Brandon Doughty, WKU: 115-155, 74.2%, 1591 yards, 11 TD
Nick Mullens, USM: 97-152, 63.8%, 1366 yards, 10 TD
Cooper Rush, CMU: 116-167, 69.5%, 1268 yards, 6 TD
Paxton Lynch, MEM: 83-113, 73.5%, 1230 yards, 8 TD
Brent Stockstill, MTSU: 98-141, 69.5%, 1221 yards, 12 TD
Dane Evans, TLSA: 71-114, 62.3%, 1172 yards, 8 TD
Jeff Driskel, LT: 88-146, 60.3%, 1171 yards, 8 TD
Zach Terrell, WMU: 100-149, 67.1%, 1116 yards, 10
Matt Linehan, IDHO: 101-149, 67.8%, 1106 yards, 5 TD
Alex McGough, FIU: 100-155, 64.5%, 1014 yards, 9 TD
Blake Kemp, ECU: 108-152, 71.1%, 1011 yards, 7 TD
Nick Arbuckle, GAST: 82-121, 67.8%, 989 yards, 7 TD
Tyler Jones, TXST: 88-129, 68.2%, 976 yards, 6 TD
Cameron Coffman, WYO: 74-115, 64.3%, 944 yards, 8 TD
Matt Davis, SMU: 69-109, 63.3%, 933 yards, 6 TD
Cody Clements, USA: 69-133, 51.9%, 926 yards, 5 TD
Joe Licata, BUFF: 82-127, 64.6%, 894 yards, 6 TD
Drew Hare, NIU: 75-120, 62.5%, 879 yards, 6 TD
Nick Stevens, CSU: 68-114, 59.6%, 877 yards, 9 TD
Brogan Roback, EMU: 73-119, 61.3%, 877 yards, 5 TD
Gunner Kiel, CIN: 70-111, 63.1%, 868 yards, 5 TD
Tyler Rogers, NMSU: 60-111, 54.1%, 866 yards, 7 TD
Blake Frohnapfel, UMASS: 69-129, 53.5%, 851 yards, 4 TD
Bryant Shirreffs, CONN: 67-103, 65.0%, 847 yards, 4 TD
Greg Ward Jr., HOU: 61-81, 75.3%, 785 yards, 8 TD
Hayden Moore, CIN: 46-81, 56.8%, 782 yards, 5 TD
Driphus Jackson, RICE: 65-104, 62.5%, 750 yards, 6 TD
Derrius Vick, OHIO: 51-75, 68.0%, 742 yards, 6 TD
Max Wittek, HAW: 58-118, 49.2%, 730 yards, 5 TD
Tanner Mangum, BYU: 66-114, 57.9%, 719 yards, 4 TD
Blake Bogenschutz, UTSA: 62-107, 57.9%, 699 yards, 4 TD
Tanner Lee, TULN: 54-99, 54.5%, 688 yards, 3 TD
Phillip Ely, TOL: 57-118, 48.3%, 683 yards, 2 TD
Garrett Smith, ULM: 66-99, 66.7%, 650 yards, 5 TD

Sun Belt Week Four Review

2015-09-29T09:38:00.000-05:00

Another week is in the books for the 2015 college football season with the Sun Belt going 2-6 with one conference game taking place. Let's take a look at the good, bad, and ugly of week four Sun Belt football action.

Week Four Scoreboard:

Appalachian State 49, Old Dominion 0
Alabama 34, Louisiana Monroe 0
Akron 35, Louisiana 14
Toledo 37, Arkansas State 7
North Carolina State 63, South Alabama 13
Houston 59, Texas State 14
Georgia Southern 44, Idaho 20

Who/What Looked Good:

Appalachian State: The Mountaineers put up over 500 yards of total offense and 49 points in the blowout win. App State is currently the #2 team in the Sun Belt power ranking according to me. The Taylor Lamb-Marcus Cox combination is one of the best of all G5 teams.
Matt Breida: Breida had his best game of the season versus Idaho with 179 yards on 12 carries. The junior running back is sixth in the nation with 589 yards on the ground. His 10.9 yards per carry average is the highest in the nation among qualified rushers. His eight touchdowns tie him for fourth nationally, one behind the national leader with nine.

Who/What Looked Bad:

Terrible non-conference week: As a whole, the Sun Belt went 1-5 versus non-conference foes. Louisiana, Arkansas State, South Alabama, and Texas State were no shows in losing by a combined 146 points in those four games.
Louisiana: Expected to compete for the Sun Belt title, the Ragin’ Cajuns were terrible in getting dominated by Akron. This kind of game cannot happen if Louisiana expects to take the next step forward and get to 10 wins this fall.
Texas State Defense: The Bobcats have been brutally bad on defense in 2015. They have given up 56 or more points in three of their four games this fall. Houston gouged them for 689 yards in the 59-14 blowout. Things got so bad that defensive coordinator John Thompson resigned after the Houston game.

Sun Belt Power Rankings:

Georgia Southern
Appalachian State
Louisiana
Arkansas State
South Alabama
Texas State
Troy
Louisiana Monroe
Georgia State
New Mexico State
Idaho

Bye Weeks:

Texas State

Conference USA Week Four Review

2015-09-29T09:21:00.000-05:00

Another week is in the books for the 2015 college football season with Conference USA going 5-8 with two conference games taking place. Let's take a look at the good, bad, and ugly of week four CUSA football action.

Week Four Scoreboard:

Nebraska 36, Southern Miss 28
Louisiana Tech 27, Florida International 17
Baylor 70, Rice 17
Appalachian State 49, Old Dominion 0
Iowa 62, North Texas 16
Marshall 36, Kent State 29 (2OT)
Western Kentucky 56, Miami 14
Illinois 27, MTSU 25
Florida Atlantic 17, Charlotte 7
Colorado State 33, UTSA 31
UTEP 27, Incarnate Word 17

Who/What Looked Good:

Nick Mullens: The Southern Miss quarterback threw for 447 yards in their near upset versus Nebraska. Mullens has been a pleasant surprise this season with 1,366 yards passing, a 63.8% completion percentage, and 10 touchdown passes. He has thrown for 275+ in every game this season.
Brandon Doughty: The Western Kentucky quarterback hit the 440 yard mark for the third straight game with a conference-high 457 versus Miami OH. Doughty is second in the nation in passing with 1,591 yards on the year, to go with a 74.2% completion percentage and 11 touchdown passes.
Kenneth Dixon: The Louisiana Tech running back broke the 100+ yard barrier for the third time with 169 versus Florida International. Dixon is eighth national with 524 yards rushing on 86 carries for a 7.2 yards per carry average.
Ed’Marques Batties: The senior wide receiver for MTSU had his third 100+ yards game of the season versus Illinois. His 13 catches for 175 yards was a career-high. Batties is only 15 reception and 28 yards away from equaling his 2014 season totals. He has already caught four more touchdown passes than last season.

Who/What Looked Bad:

Old Dominion: The Monarchs have struggled mightily in the last two weeks, with Appalachian State dominating this week four matchup. Old Dominion gave up 501 yards of total offense and 24 first downs, while only totaling 175 yards, eight first downs and four turnovers. Things are looking rough for the Monarchs.
North Texas: No one expected the Mean Green to beat Iowa, but wow did they get clobbered. Giving up 62 points, including two defensive touchdowns, was embarrassing for a program trying to get back to respectability. With the offense of Southern Miss next on the schedule, things could get ugly once again in week five.
The FAU-Charlotte Game: 12 turnovers. Yes, I said 12 turnovers. The Owls committed five and the 49ers committed seven in this ugly, ugly game. Of the 24 total points scored in the game, 14 were from pick sixes. Even when FAU scored on offense, it was the result of turnovers. A field goal scoring drive actually went four plays for -8 yards.

CUSA Power Rankings:

Western Kentucky
Louisiana Tech
Marshall
MTSU
Southern Miss
Rice
Florida International
Florida Atlantic
Old Dominion
UTSA
UTEP
North Texas
Charlotte

Week Five Schedule:

Temple at Charlotte
Florida International at Massachusetts
Old Dominion at Marshall
Western Kentucky at Rice
North Texas at Southern Miss
Vanderbilt at MTSU
Louisiana at Louisiana Tech
UTSA at UTEP

Bye Weeks:

Florida Atlantic

Mountain West Conference Week Four Review

2015-09-29T09:00:00.000-05:00

Another week is in the books for the 2015 college football season with the Mountain West Conference going 6-4 with two conference games taking place (New Mexico-Wyoming, Fresno State-San Jose State). Let's take a look at the good, bad, and ugly of week four MWC football action.

Week Four Scoreboard:

Boise State 56, Virginia 14
New Mexico 38, Wyoming 28
Nevada 24, Buffalo 21
Penn State 37, San Diego State 21
Colorado State 33, UTSA 31
Wisconsin 28, Hawaii 0
UNLV 80, Idaho State 8
San Jose State 49, Fresno State 23

Who/What Looked Good:

Brett Rypien: Opening his starting quarterback career on the road cross country versus Virginia, Rypien was excellent. His 34-35 passing for 321 yards and three touchdowns gave the Boise State faithful a view of the future…. And the future is bright.
Tyler Ervin: One of the hardest things for a west coast team is to get notoriety from media that are already in bed before the game starts. SJSU running back Tyler Ervin woke up the masses with a 42 carry, 300 yard, three touchdown game versus Fresno State. The senior running back is #2 nationally with 641 yards rushing on the year.
UNLV’s Offense: Yes, it was versus Idaho State, but the Rebels got their first win of the season in emphatic fashion. UNLV put up 626 yards of total offense and benefitted from six Idaho State turnovers in the blowout win.
Non-Conference Wins: Boise State, Nevada, and Colorado State all earned nice non-conference wins for the Mountain West Conference. After a rough start to the season, the MWC looks much better.

Who/What Looked Bad:

Fresno State Freefall: No one expected Fresno State to have the weapons to win the MWC West Division this season. The problem the Bulldogs have run into is that they are not competitive versus solid to good teams. Versus Ole Miss, Utah, and San Jose State, Fresno State has come no closer than a 21-point margin of loss. They are -99 points in those three games.
San Diego State Defense: Built up as one of the nation’s best heading into the season, the Aztec defense gave up 30+ points to their third straight opponent in week four. At 1-3 on the season, the SDSU defense will have to find a way to play better if the Aztecs want to compete for the MWC West Division title.
Wyoming Can’t Win: Wyoming could be looking at a 0-12 season if they do not fix some issues soon. Outside of a disappointing Utah State and a season finale versus UNLV, I do not see any other wins for the Cowboys.

MWC Power Rankings:

Boise State
Air Force
Colorado State
San Jose State
Nevada
Utah State
San Diego State
New Mexico
Hawaii
Fresno State
UNLV
Wyoming

Week Five Schedule:

Air Force at Navy
Wyoming at Appalachian State
San Jose State at Auburn
UNLV at Nevada
Colorado State at Utah State
New Mexico State at New Mexico
Hawaii at Boise State
Fresno State at San Diego State

Bye Weeks:

None

MAC Week Four Review

2015-09-28T22:02:00.000-05:00

Another week is in the books for the 2015 college football season with the Mid-American Conference going 3-10 with no conference games taking place. Let's take a look at the good, bad, and ugly of week four MAC football action.

Week Four Scoreboard:

Michigan State 30, Central Michigan 10
Bowling Green 35, Purdue 28
Boston College 17, Northern Illinois 14
Minnesota 27, Ohio 24
Notre Dame 62, Massachusetts 27
Marshall 36, Kent State 29 (2OT)
Western Kentucky 56, Miami 14
Nevada 24, Buffalo 21
Ohio State 38, Western Michigan 12
Army 58, Eastern Michigan 36
Akron 35, Louisiana 14
Toledo 37, Arkansas State 7
Northwestern 24, Ball State 19

Who/What Looked Good:

Akron: The Zips were one of three teams in the MAC to win during week four. Quarterback Thomas Woodson accounted for 331 yards of total offense and three touchdowns in the win.
Toledo’s Defense: The Rockets were dominant versus Arkansas State in holding the Red Wolves to only 209 total yards and 11 first downs. Toledo also forced five turnovers and held Arkansas State to only 21:23 of possession for the game.
Matt Johnson: The senior quarterback again broke the 400 yards passing mark for the fourth time in four tries this season. Johnson has 1,760 yards passing and 13 touchdowns on the season. Johnson also added 58 yards on the ground in the win.

Who/What Looked Bad:

Northern Illinois Offense: No one expected NIU to do much on offense versus Ohio State, but putting up only 153 yards, 10 first downs and 14 points versus Boston College is a disappointment. The Huskies defense has been nothing short of excellent, but the offense has been a disaster. Something needs to change.
Eastern Michigan: There were people that actually picked EMU as a dark horse candidate to make a run at a division title. Sitting at 1-3 with a blowout loss to Army, the Eagles look like they are in store for another tough season. EMU gave up 654 yards, 29 first downs, and 58 points in the 22-point loss to Army.
Finishing Games: Northern Illinois, Ohio, Kent State, Buffalo, and Ball State all had chances in the fourth quarter to pull out wins. None of the five was able to find a way to win. The only close game that a MAC school won was Bowling Green over Purdue at 35-28.

MAC Power Rankings:

Toledo
Ohio
Bowling Green
Northern Illinois
Akron
Buffalo
Ball State
Western Michigan
Central Michigan
Kent State
Miami
Massachusetts
Eastern Michigan

Week Five Schedule:

Ohio at Akron
Toledo at Ball State
Florida International at Massachusetts
Northern Illinois at Central Michigan
Bowling Green at Buffalo
Miami at Kent State
Eastern Michigan at LSU

Bye Weeks:

Western Michigan

AAC Week Four Review

2015-09-28T21:34:00.000-05:00

Another week is in the books for the 2015 college football season with American Athletic Conference going 4-4 with two conference games taking place, Memphis-Cincinnati and Navy-Connecticut. Let's take a look at the good, bad, and ugly of week four AAC football action.

Week Four Scoreboard:

Memphis 53, Cincinnati 46
Navy 28, UConn 18
South Carolina 31, UCF 14
East Carolina 35, Virginia Tech 28
James Madison 48, SMU 45
Houston 59, Texas State 14

Who/What Looked Good:

East Carolina: From an excellent day punting the football to the great call of going with a backup quarterback, the Pirates made all the right moves. ECU deserved the win and this could easily be the game that sends their season in a good direction.
Memphis Offense: Paxton Lynch threw for 412 yard and the team added 158 yards on 37 carries in putting up 572 total yards. Any coach will take 11.1 yards per pass attempt on the day. 53 points makes Memphis 4-4 in scoring 40+ points on the season. They have only been held under 50 by Bowling Green.
Greg Ward Jr.: The Houston quarterback accounted for 274 yards and four touchdowns in the air to go along with 91 yards and another two touchdowns on the ground in a 59-14 route versus Texas State.

Who/What Looked Bad:

Defense in the Memphis-Cincinnati Game: In this 53-46 final, the two teams combined for 99 points, 60 first downs, 1322 yards, and 11 offensive touchdowns. Can Memphis continue to get gouged on defense, but win with insane offensive performances?
SMU: Yes, they were playing one of the best in the FCS in James Madison, but when you are trying to prove that you are competitive again, losing to an FCS school cannot happen. The Mustang defense gave up 729 yards, 8.5 yards per carry, and 34 first downs in the loss.
UCF: How can a team that won a share of the AAC last season be so bad this season? The Knights were held to 15 or fewer points for the fourth straight game in the loss to South Carolina.

AAC Power Rankings:

Temple
Memphis
Navy
Houston
Cincinnati
East Carolina
Tulsa
South Florida
Connecticut
Southern Methodist
Tulane
Central Florida

Week Five Schedule:

Miami (FL) at Cincinnati
Memphis at South Florida
Temple at Charlotte
Connecticut at BYU
UCF at Tulane
Houston at Tulsa
Air Force at Navy
East Carolina at SMU

Bye Weeks:

None

Conference USA Week Four Preview

2015-09-24T10:36:00.000-05:00

Week four of the college football season gets underway tonight with Cincinnati and Memphis getting a seat on the big stage. Conference USA action kicks into gear with 11 games scheduled for Saturday.

Southern Mississippi at Nebraska: The Golden Eagles were on fire offensively in week three, but face a much tougher defense from Nebraska. I would expect this game to stay close for an uncomfortable amount of time before the Cornhuskers finally pull away in the second half. As long as Southern Miss gets out this game healthy and having played well, then life is good.
Florida International at Louisiana Tech: At this point in the season, I still cannot figure out the Panthers. Are they good, are they bad, are they in the middle? This game against Louisiana Tech should show us quite a bit about FIU. The Bulldogs need to take care of business in this game after losing their conference opener to WKU. They cannot afford to start 0-2 in conference play.
Rice at Baylor: I would think Rice can keep this game closer than the experts predict, but it seems like the Owls cannot get out of their own way at times. Baylor will score lots and lots of points. The only question becomes, how many points can Rice put up? Not enough is the correct answer as Baylor wins by four touchdowns.
North Texas at Iowa: Iowa is 3-0. Are they any good? Does it really matter in this game versus North Texas. The Mean Green only have one true game breaker in wide receiver Carlos Harris. Iowa does not think one player can beat them, so they won’t mind Harris getting his stats. The Mean Green need to step up on defense to have a shot at the upset. It will not happen.
Appalachian State at Old Dominion: Marcus Cox versus Ray Lawry. Two of the best running backs in G5 football square off in this game. Expect both running backs to have monster games in this G5-G5 matchup, with Appalachian State having the advantage due to Taylor Lamb. The sophomore quarterback just finds ways to produce, whether with his arm or his legs. This game will go well into the second half before the Mountaineers find a way to pull past the Monarchs.
Marshall at Kent State: The Thundering Herd are not quite as talented as least season, but do have one of the best running backs in the nation in Devon Johnson. The defense is playing well, but lost starting safety AJ Leggett for the season after the junior left the program. Kent State is an interesting team due to the fact that they are one of the best G5 defenses, but one of the worst G5 offenses. I honestly do not think they can score enough to be competitive versus Marshall, but they should give that Thundering Herd offense fits.
Miami OH at Western Kentucky: The Hilltoppers are angry after blowing a chance to beat a second P5 team versus Indiana. WKU is again one of the best offensive teams in the nation, but are among the worst on defense. Virtually the exact opposite of Kent State. Miami looked the best they have all season in a 37-33 loss to Cincinnati. Is Miami the team that nearly upset Cincinnati, or the team that struggled to put away Presbyterian?
MTSU at Illinois: This game is being broadcast on the radio in CHINESE. Am I the only one excited about that? MTSU has the weapons to pull off this upset, but Illinois really wants to put forth a better effort than in the previous game versus North Carolina. I expect MTSU to give the Illini everything they can handle, but not quite have the final gear to get the upset win.
Florida Atlantic at Charlotte: On paper, this should be an easy win for the Owls. Games are not played on paper. The key for FAU in this game is to not turn the ball over so much, and if they do, they cannot give up defensive touchdowns. They should have beaten Buffalo, but three defensive touchdowns by the Bulls changed the game completely. Charlotte got their welcome to FBS football moment in week three. MTSU put up 42 first quarter points in route to scoring 73. Will Charlotte roll over now that they have taken a beating, or will they dig deep and get a conference win?
Colorado State at UTSA: The scariest words in week four of the season for UTSA are “A healthy Rashard Higgins.” Higgins has struggled through an ankle injury this season, but looks like he is finally healthy as evidenced by 125 yards receiving versus Colorado. If he was healthy from the beginning, the Rams are most likely 3-0, rather than 1-2. UTSA is coming off of the worst loss in school history and just need to stay in games longer. Right now, it is just baby steps for a very inexperienced team. UTSA should give the Rams a push, but Colorado State is just too good overall to lose this game.
Incarnate Word at UTEP: UTEP will win this game. I cannot even find the energy to talk about this game.

Three things to look out for:

Louisiana Tech: The Bulldogs are the overwhelming favorites to win the West, but if they lose to FIU, they are 0-2 in conference play. They cannot afford be at 0-2 with all of the west division still on the schedule.
MTSU’s Upset Bid: The Blue Raiders have a chance to get a nice win over a P5 team this week. A trip to Illinois will not be easy, but it is possible. This is a game to watch this week.
Ray Lawry: The sophomore is in the top ten nationally running the football. He had a very tough game versus NC State last week, but should be able to get back in his groove versus App. State. Can he break the 200 yard barrier for the third time this season?

Bye Weeks:

None

Mountain West Week Four Preview

2015-09-23T11:54:00.000-05:00

Week four of the college football season get underway tomorrow with Cincinnati and Memphis getting a seat on the big stage. Mountain West action kicks into gear with the Boise State-Virginia on Friday night.

Boise State at Virginia: Could we be seeing the coming out party of true freshman Brett Rypien at quarterback? Rypien saw action during the Idaho State game and looked like a star in the making. While it was against an FCS foe, Rypien seems to be the real deal. Virginia is not a bad team, but should not match up well versus Boise State. Expect the Broncos to look better than they have looked in a while on offense and move to 3-1 with this win.
New Mexico at Wyoming: Expect to see the ball on the ground for a significant portion of the game. Running back Brian Hill has been the only good part of a disappointing 0-3 start to the season for Wyoming. If Wyoming learns how to put the ball in the endzone, they could have a chance to make some noise. New Mexico is too much on the road in this early Saturday afternoon game.
Nevada at Buffalo: Nevada may be 1-2 on the season, but played Arizona and Texas A&M well before running out of gas in the second half. Buffalo is not on the talent level of either of those teams, so we should get a good matchup. The Bulls are coming off of an odd 33-15 win that saw the defense score three touchdowns and earn a safety. Buffalo will need that kind of magic once again to pull off this win. Expect Nevada to get back in the win column versus Buffalo.
San Diego State at Penn State: This is another game that looked better heading into the season. San Diego State and Penn State have not yet lived up to expectations and nothing tells us that the tide will turn in week four. Both offenses have been bad, but the Aztecs have been a different type of bad this season. Expect Penn State to pull away in the second half for the win.
Colorado State at UTSA: The scariest words in week four of the season for UTSA are “A healthy Rashard Higgins.” Higgins has struggled through an ankle injury this season, but looks like he is finally healthy as evidenced by 125 yards receiving versus Colorado. If he was healthy from the beginning, the Rams are most likely 3-0, rather than 1-2. UTSA is coming off of the worst loss in school history and just need to stay in games longer. Right now, it is just baby steps for a very inexperienced team. UTSA should give the Rams a push, but Colorado State is just too good overall to lose this game.
Hawaii at Wisconsin: Hawaii heads to a Big 10 foe for the second time in three weeks after getting blanked 38-0 by Ohio State. Hawaii is 2-1 on the season and things look optimistic for the future as long as this stretch can be overcome. Wisconsin has responded from a season opening loss to Alabama with back to back wins over G5 programs. Expect the Badgers to make it three in a row with a win over Hawaii.
Idaho State at UNLV: The jury is still out in the experiment of taking a high school coach and giving him a college job. UNLV has looked solid at times in losses to NIU and Michigan, while getting boatraced by UCLA. The Rebels should earn their first win of the season versus the FCS Idaho State Tigers.
Fresno State at San Jose State: San Jose State may sit at 1-2 on the season, but they look like a different team from 2014. The Spartans played Oregon State and Air Force tough while dominating New Hampshire in the opener. Fresno State has been in a bit of a struggle this season in giving up 118 points in the last two games combined. Marteze Waller has been is normal workhorse self in the opening three games. This is a big game for both programs to prove what they are this season. San Jose State will find a way to win this game.

Three things to look out for:

Brett Rypien: Many expect the Broncos to start the Rypien era versus Virginia Friday night. If he does, expect some freshman trouble, but also several impressive plays that show he is ready for the spotlight.
Can the MWC get a non-conference FBS win?: Since week one, no MWC team has defeated a non-conference FBS team. The MWC has five chances to do so this week. Hopefully, at least one can break the streak.
Can someone stand up in the West? West division favorites San Diego State have looked poor in the opening weeks of the season, while 2014 division champs Fresno State are clearly rebuilding this season. Could San Jose State get in the fight for a division championship with a win over Fresno State this week?

Top game for week four:

Boise State at Virginia: The poster child for the Mountain West and all of the G5 has been Boise State. The Broncos have another national tv game versus a P5 team to get some love for the conference.

Worst game this week:

Idaho State at UNLV: If you are a fan of either team, I can understand you watching this game. Otherwise, spend time with family, go for a walk, enjoy nature, just do something more fun than watching this game.

Bye Weeks:

Air Force
Utah State

AAC Week Four Preview

2015-09-23T11:07:00.000-05:00

Week four of the college football season get underway tomorrow with Cincinnati and Memphis getting a seat on the big stage. The Conference play is finally kicking into gear with the Cincy-Memphis game one of two conference games on the slate. Navy-UConn is the other.

Cincinnati at Memphis: One of the biggest games of week four G5 football. It would have been even bigger if Cincinnati would have gotten by Temple a couple of weeks ago. Memphis survived a scare versus Bowling Green and head into this game at 3-0. A win here and the Tigers could be headed to a mid-October matchup of the undefeated versus Ole Miss. A win in front of a national audience over a good Cincinnati team should propel the Tigers into the Top 25.
Central Florida at South Carolina: The dumpster fire that has become UCF football this season could get even worse with a trip to South Carolina. The Gamecocks are not their best incarnation, but UCF is one of the lowest scoring teams in the nation at 12.0 points per game. This game will be ugly, with Central Florida falling to 0-4 on the season.
Navy at Connecticut: UConn proved to the nation that maybe they aren’t quite the pushover of the last few seasons in nearly beating Missouri on the road. The Huskies have yet to face an offense with the efficiency of the Naval Academy. Keenan Reynolds runs an offense that is scoring 46.5 points per game while rushing for 393.0 yards per game. Expect the Midshipmen to be too much to handle for Connecticut.
Virginia Tech at East Carolina: The Pirates are coming off of a disappointing defensive effort versus Navy in a week three loss. Virginia Tech heads into this game with revenge on their minds after falling to ECU last season in Blacksburg. East Carolina is struggling to put a healthy offensive line on the field, so expect the Hokies to send pressure over and over to get to Blake Kemp. ECU just does not have the horses this season to win back-to-back versus Virginia Tech.
James Madison at SMU: Under first year head coach Chad Morris, the Mustangs have been much improved on offense in scoring at least 21 points in all three games. Defense is an issue versus good teams with Baylor and TCU racking up a combined 112 points in those two games. SMU will need to outscore opponents as the transition continues with a first year coaching staff. James Madison is no joke on the FCS level in scoring 42 or more points in all three of their games. Expect this game to be high scoring and fun. SMU should be able to pull out the win.
Texas State at Houston: With a bye week following the big win over Louisville, the Cougars need to watch for a letdown versus Texas State. Both teams come in averaging 43.0 points per game, led by dual threat quarterbacks that make things tough on opposing defenses. The Cougars play solid defense, which should be the differences in the game with Texas State giving up 46.3 points per game so far. Expect both team to put up some points, but Houston should cruise in the second half to a victory.

Three things to look out for:

SMU's offense: Morris and company have the Mustangs rolling on offense and should put up lots of offense versus James Madison.
Reynolds rushing TDs: Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds is eight touchdowns from breaking the rushing touchdowns record (77) held by Monte Ball. He shouldn't break it in this game, but he should move ever closer with at least a couple versus UConn.
A letdown from Houston: Houston had a big win versus Louisville followed by a bye week. Many times that is the recipe for a letdown in the next game. Houston cannot afford a letdown as Texas State can put up points in a hurry and stay in this game.

Top game for week four:

Cincinnati at Memphis: This game should be a classic that could go in either team's favor. A win from Memphis and they are on pace for a huge game versus Ole Miss in a couple of weeks.

Worst game this week:

Central Florida at South Carolina: Heading into the season, this looked like a good matchup. Now, it is a battle of two huge disappointments with UCF at 0-3 and South Carolina at 1-2. The loser of this game will be in bad shape moving forward.

Bye Weeks:

Temple
South Florida
Tulsa
Tulane

G5 Team Statistics (Post-Week Three)

2015-09-22T13:22:00.000-05:00

Looking at team statistics after three weeks of games, interesting trends start to emerge. The scariest is that five G5 teams are giving up 550+ yards per game. All stats are after three weeks of action.

Top 5 Total Offense:

Bowling Green: 609.3 ypg.

Tulsa: 607.0 ypg.

Cincinnati: 579.3 ypg.

Memphis: 570.3 ypg.

Houston: 541.5 ypg.

Bottom 5 Total Offense:

UCF: 248.3 ypg.

Utah State: 292.3 ypg.

Kent State: 293.0 ypg.

Army: 298.0 ypg.

Hawaii: 310.7 ypg.

Top 5 Total Defense:

Kent State: 199.0 ypg.

Air Force: 269.7 ypg.

UConn: 279.3 ypg.

Appalachain State: 282.0 ypg.

Boise State: 286.0 ypg.

Bottom 5 Total Defense:

New Mexico State: 576.7 ypg.

Tulsa: 575.3 ypg.

UTEP: 568.3 ypg.

SMU: 561.0 ypg.

Texas State: 550.3 ypg.

Top 5 Rushing Defense:

Boise State: 45.7 ypg.

Houston: 49.5 ypg.

Kent State: 66.7 ypg.

Temple: 87.0 ypg.

Appalachian State: 88.0 ypg.

Bottom 5 Rushing Defense:

Eastern Michigan: 312.3 ypg.

San Jose State: 285.7 ypg.

Idaho: 271.7 ypg.

Tulsa: 270.0 ypg.

East Carolina: 254.0 ypg.

Top 5 Rushing Offense:

Navy: 393.0 ypg.

Air Force: 367.0 ypg.

Georgia Southern: 330.3 ypg.

Louisiana: 303.5 ypg.

Appalachian State: 296.0 ypg.

Bottom 5 Rushing Offense:

Central Michigan: 84.0 ypg.

UCF: 85.3 ypg.

East Carolina: 86.3 ypg.

Western Kentucky: 88.3 ypg.

Western Michigan: 93.3 ypg.

Top 5 Passing Offense:

Bowling Green: 455.7 ypg.

Tulsa: 390.7 ypg.

Western Kentucky: 378.0 ypg.

Louisiana Tech: 350.3 ypg.

Cincinnati: 343.3 ypg.

Bottom 5 Passing Offense:

Georgia Southern: 45.7 ypg.

Navy: 54.0 ypg.

Army: 90.7 ypg.

Air Force: 97.3 ypg.

New Mexico: 149.7 ypg.

Top 5 Passing Defense:

San Jose State: 73.0 ypg.

Kent State: 132.3 ypg.

Eastern Michigan: 136.7 ypg.

Louisiana-Monroe: 146.5 ypg.

Cincinnati: 152.3 ypg.

Bottom 5 Passing Defense:

UTEP: 346.0 ypg.

New Mexico State: 343.0 ypg.

Toledo: 343.0 ypg.

Texas State: 342.0 ypg.

SMU: 335.0 ypg.

Top 5 Scoring Defense:

UConn: 13.7 ppg.

Navy: 15.5 ppg.

Boise State: 16.0 ppg.

Ohio: 17.3 ppg.

Toledo: 17.5 ppg.

Bottom 5 Scoring Defense:

UTEP: 54.7 ppg.

New Mexico State: 48.3 ppg.

Idaho: 47.3 ppg.

UTSA: 47.0 ppg.

Texas State: 46.3 ppg.

Top 5 Scoring Offense:

Memphis: 54.0 ppg.

MTSU: 51.0 ppg.

Navy: 46.5 ppg.

Louisiana Tech: 44.3 ppg.

Texas State: 43.0 ppg.

Bottom 5 Scoring Offense:

UCF: 12.0 ppg.

UNLV: 13.3 ppg.

Utah State: 14.3 ppg.

UConn: 16.0 ppg.

UTSA: 16.3 ppg.

Top 5 Fewest Penalty Yards:

UCF: 23.0 ypg.

Georgia Southern: 31.0 ypg.

Ball State: 33.3 ypg.

Fresno State: 36.6 ypg.

San Jose State: 38.0 ypg.

Bottom 5 Fewest Penalty Yards:

Bowling Green: 100.0 ypg.

Ohio: 99.0 ypg

Kent State: 95.0 ypg

Miami: 94.6 ypg.

UTSA: 94.3 ypg.

Top 5 Third Down %:

Rice: 67.3%

Navy: 61.5%

Cincinnati: 56.1%

East Carolina: 56.0%

Memphis: 53.5%

Bottom 5 Third Down %:

Kent State: 19.6%

New Mexico State: 26.8%

UMass: 27.3%

South Florida: 27.9%

Miami: 28.3%

Buffalo: 28.3%

Conference USA Week Three Review

2015-09-22T12:12:00.000-05:00

Another week is in the books for the 2015 college football season with Conference USA going 6-7 with two conference games (Rice-UNT, MTSU-Charlotte) taking place. Let's take a look at the good, bad, and ugly of week three Conference USA football action.

Week Three Scoreboard:

Buffalo 33, Florida Atlantic 15
Rice 38, North Texas 24
Kansas State 39, Louisiana Tech 33 (3OT)
Oklahoma State 69, UTSA 14
Marshall 45, Norfolk State 7
Indiana 38, Western Kentucky 35
Florida International 39, North Carolina Central 14
MTSU 73, Charlotte 14
Southern Mississippi 56, Texas State 50
NC State 38, Old Dominion 14
UTEP 50, New Mexico State 47 (OT)

Who/What Looked Good:

Jalen Richard: The Southern Miss running back had a career high 230 yards rushing in the 56-50 win over Texas State. Richard also found the endzone four times and had an 8.5 yards per carry average in the win.
Southern Miss’ Offense: The Golden Eagles shredded Texas State for 613 yards and 56 points in winning this crucial non-conference game. Jalen Richard rushed for 230 yards and 4 touchdowns, while Nick Mullens added 333 yards and four touchdowns in the air.
MTSU’s Scoring Binge: No one doubted that MTSU would beat Charlotte in this game, but for the Blue Raiders to put up 42 points in the first quarter in route to 73 total points was unexpected. MTSU hit four touchdown plays of 30+ yards in the opening quarter and six total. Quarterback Brent Stockstill put up 369 yards passing and five touchdowns in the game.
UTEP’s Passing Game: When running back Aaron Jones was ruled out for the season, much of the hope for the Miners was lost. Even worse, the Miners were down to backup quarterback Ryan Metz with Mack Leftwich out of play. Metz stunned the NMSU crowd in throwing for 218 yards and three touchdowns on only 19 attempts. Metz is now 21-28 passing for 252 yards and three touchdowns on the season.

Who/What Looked Bad:

Florida Atlantic Turnovers: How do you lose a game by double digits that you dominate statistically with 490 yards of offense, 27 first downs, while holding your opponent to 13 first downs and 290 total offensive yards? Easy, three turnovers returned for scores. Yes, FAU had an interception and two fumbles returned for touchdowns in the defeat to Ohio. FAU even gave up a safety in the loss.
Western Kentucky’s Defense: Word in Bowling Green heading into the season was a much improved defense would make WKU a force to be reckoned with. Giving up 639 yards, 34 first downs, and 38 points to Indiana did not make a strong case for the Hilltoppers. WKU cannot be taken seriously until defensive issues are taken care of.
0-4 Versus P5 Teams: Conference USA had MAC syndrome in week three, going 0-4 in G5-P5 games. Louisiana Tech (vs. Kansas State) and WKU (vs. Indiana) had multiple chances to win their games, while UTSA and Old Dominion were dominated by their foes. That puts the CUSA record versus P5 schools at 2-13 on the season.

Week Four Schedule:

Southern Mississippi at Nebraska
Florida International at Louisiana Tech
Rice at Baylor
Appalachian State at Old Dominion
North Texas at Iowa
Marshall at Kent State
Miami (OH) at Western Kentucky
Middle Tennessee at Illinois
Florida Atlantic at Charlotte
Colorado State at Texas San Antonio
Incarnate Word at UTEP

MAC Week Three Review

2015-09-21T17:06:00.000-05:00

Another week is in the books for the 2015 college football season with MAC going 6-7 with only one conference game (Ball State-EMU) taking place. Let's take a look at the good, bad, and ugly of week three MAC football action.

Week Three Scoreboard:

Minnesota 10, Kent State 7
Buffalo 33, Florida Atlantic 15
Akron 52, Savannah State 9
Syracuse 30, Central Michigan 27 (OT)
Ohio 35, Southeastern Louisiana 14
Temple 25, Massachusetts 23
Memphis 44, Bowling Green 41
Ball State 28, Eastern Michigan 17
Cincinnati 37, Miami (OH) 33
Ohio State 20, Northern Illinois 13
Western Michigan 52, Murray State 20
Toledo 30, Iowa State 23 (2OT)

Who/What Looked Good:

Buffalo’s Defense: The Bulls forced five FAU turnover, retuning three for touchdowns, in the 33-15 win. FAU moved the football, but when you outscore an entire team with defensive scores, it is a very good day.
Roger Lewis: As good as quarterback Matt Johnson played versus Memphis, Lewis was even better with 261 yards receiving. Lewis proved to the nation just why he is one of the best receiving prospects in the FBS in dominating a good Memphis defense. Lewis leads the nation with 510 receiving yards.
Northern Illinois’ Defense: The national story is that Ohio State played poorly, but the Huskies made every play of the game a battle in holding the defending national champions to 298 total yards, 14 first downs, and creating five turnovers. The NIU defense only gave up 13 of the 20 Ohio State points.
Toledo: The mark of a great team is the ability to beat a good team on an off day. That is what Toledo did despite totaling only 309 yards and 16 first downs. Toledo is in the driver’s seat for a perfect season.

Who/What Looked Bad:

Close But Not Quite: Six different MAC schools had a chance late in the game to pull a major upset and could not come through with the win. Moral victories are nice, but beating a Minnesota, Syracuse, Temple, Memphis, Cincinnati, or Ohio State would have been huge for the conference.
Bowling Green’s Defense: The Falcons have a video game offense with at least 30 points scored in all three games of the season. The defense was never expected to be very good, but it has been downright terrible on several occasions. It is hard to take the Falcons seriously until they prove they can stop someone.
The UMass Ending: The Minutemen were an extra point away from taking a four point lead with 1:20 left in the game. Instead, their kick was returned for a two point score followed by Temple driving for a game winning field goal. The kick was good, sending UMass to a sickening loss.

Week Four Schedule:

Central Michigan at Michigan State
Bowling Green at Purdue
Northern Illinois at Boston College
Ohio at Minnesota
Massachusetts at Notre Dame
Marshall at Kent State
Miami (OH) at Western Kentucky
Nevada at Buffalo
Western Michigan at Ohio State
Army at Eastern Michigan
Akron at Louisiana
Arkansas State at Toledo
Ball State at Northwestern

Mountain West Week Three Review

2015-09-21T16:36:00.000-05:00

Another week is in the books for the 2015 college football season with Mountain West going 2-10 with no conference games taking place. Let's take a look at the good, bad, and ugly of week three Mountain West football action.

Week Three Scoreboard:

Boise State 52, Idaho State 0
Arizona State 34, New Mexico 10
Michigan 28, UNLV 7
Michigan State 35, Air Force 21
Texas A&M 44, Nevada 27
Washington 31, Utah State 17
Colorado 27, Colorado State 24 (OT)
Oregon State 35, San Jose State 21
South Alabama 34, San Diego State 27 (OT)
Washington State 31, Wyoming 14
Utah 45, Fresno State 24
Hawaii 47, UC Davis 27

Who/What Looked Good:

Brian Hill, Wyoming: The sophomore running back has been one of the few bright spots for a Cowboys team that is 0-3. In the last two games, Hill has carried the ball 41 times for 381 yards and two touchdowns.
Rashard Wiggin’s Health: After missing the loss to Minnesota due to injury, Wiggins was again his impressive self with eight catches for 125 yards and a touchdown versus Colorado. The Rams might easily be 3-0 if not for his injury.
Hawaii: Say what you will about the win over UC Davis, but Hawaii is 2-1 with a win over a team that beat UMass and Colorado State. Max Wittek (43-86/541/5TD) bounced back from a poor showing at Ohio State with his second 200+ yard passing game of the season.

Who/What Looked Bad:

Non-conference Woes: The MWC went 2-10 in non-conference play during week three and has no non-conference wins over FBS competition since week one. For a conference expected to be among the best in the G5, the start to this season has been disastrous.
San Diego State’s Defense: The biggest question mark for the Aztecs was on offense heading into the season. Instead, the vaunted defense was the one to disappoint in week three, with South Alabama racking up over 500 yards of total offense. SDSU is playing on a razor’s edge with a bad offense and cannot afford to play like that one defense.
Utah State’s Offense: The Aggies are struggling badly with only 14.3 points per game, under 300 yards of total offense per game. Injuries have played a major role, but this could get ugly before the season ends.

Week Four Schedule:

Boise State at Virginia
New Mexico at Wyoming
Nevada at Buffalo
San Diego State at Penn State
Colorado State at UTSA
Hawaii at Wisconsin
Idaho State at UNLV
Fresno State at San Jose State

Sun Belt Week Three Review

2015-09-21T10:01:00.001-05:00

Another week is in the books for the 2015 college football season with Sun Belt going 5-3 with no conference games taking place. Let's take a look at the good, bad, and ugly of week three Sun Belt football action.

Week Three Scoreboard:

Oregon 61, Georgia State 28
Wisconsin 28, Troy 3
Idaho 41, Wofford 38
Georgia Southern 48, Citadel 13
Arkansas State 70, Missouri State 7
Southern Mississippi 56, Texas State 50
South Alabama 34, San Diego State 27 (OT)
UTEP 50, New Mexico State 47 (OT)

Who/What Looked Good:

Tyler Jones: The Bobcats quarterback threw for 310 yards and three touchdowns, as well as rushed for 160 yards and another two touchdowns in a 56-50 loss to Southern Miss. Jones is 12 yards passing from hitting 4,500 for his career.
Larry Rose III: The New Mexico State running back rushed for 186 yards with a long of 82 yards in an overtime loss to UTEP. The sophomore averaged 9.3 yards per carry and even made two catches in the game.
South Alabama: The Jaguars were heavy underdogs versus San Diego State, but pulled out a 34-27 overtime win on the road. Xavier Johnson (19/142/2TD) produced his second 100+ yard game of the season in the win.
Troy: The Trojans fell 28-3 to Wisconsin, but never looked completely overmatched during the game. The Trojans earned more first downs and won the time of possession battle in the loss.

Who/What Looked Bad:

Texas State Defense: The Bobcats knew that they would give up some offense to Southern Miss, but 613 yards and 56 points is unacceptable. Southern Miss averaged 11.9 yards per pass attempt and 6.1 yards per rush attempt and scored eight touchdowns versus Texas State
Idaho: A win is a win, but struggling to pull out a win versus a team that attempted only six passes is tough to swallow. The Vandals gave up 326 yards on the ground at a 7.4 yards per carry clip in the very close win.
New Mexico State Defense: Facing a team without their only major offensive weapon, the Aggies were shredded for 544 yards and 50 points in the overtime loss. UTEP averaged 6.3 yards per carry and 8.0 yards per pass, extraordinary for a team that does not pass the ball much at all.

Week Four Schedule:

Appalachian State at Old Dominion
Louisiana Monroe at Alabama
Akron at Louisiana
Arkansas State at Toledo
NC State at South Alabama
Texas State at Houston
Georgia Southern at Idaho

G5 Week Three Mailbag

2015-09-18T11:08:00.000-05:00

This week's mailbag talks about undefeated possibilities, surprise teams, injuries, and conference power rankings. Send in your questions to adcock.jeremy@yahoo.com or on twitter @cfoutpost and I will answer your G5 queries.

Best shot at an undefeated season? And why is it WKU?

Surprise, surprise... It's not WKU.

Let's first look at the teams that are still in contention for an undefeated season. The AAC has six in Temple, Connecticut, Houston, Memphis, Navy, and Tulsa. Conference USA has three: WKU, Charlotte, and Old Dominion. BYU is the only undefeated G5 independent. The MAC has three: Ohio, Toledo, and Northern Illinois. Air Force is the only Mountain West team that is still undefeated.

I can go ahead and knock out UConn (at Missouri), Tulsa (at Oklahoma), Charlotte (at MTSU), Old Dominion (at NC State), BYU (at UCLA), Northern Illinois (at Ohio State), and Air Force (at Michigan State) from contention this week. Wow, that only leaves seven teams undefeated after week three.

Temple should cruise until a Halloween matchup with Notre Dame. Despite the Golden Domers sustaining injury after injury, I think this is where the undefeated streak for Temple ends. If not then, UCF or Memphis will knock them off. Houston could make it to the final four games of their regular season, but are not beating Cincinnati, Memphis, and Navy in a four week stretch. Memphis will see their hopes of undefeated end on October 17 with a visit from Ole Miss. Navy will fall versus either Air Force or Notre Dame, but if they are somehow undefeated at that point, they still have road games versus Memphis and Houston. They will not win both.

WKU is an interesting prospect. The Hilltoppers have a good schedule and should be undefeated heading to LSU, unless Indiana gets them this week. I do not think I am quite ready to pull the upset alarm for WKU over LSU. I think they stumble there. I believe that Minnesota ends Ohio's undefeated run in late September.

That leaves one team. Toledo. The Rockets have gotten past their toughest game of the season, a trip to Arkansas. As long as they take care of business versus Iowa State, they are in perfect position for an undefeated season. They get NIU and WMU at home, but have to face NIU, CMU, Bowling Green, and WMU in the final four weeks of the season. That will not be easy to do, but Toledo can pull it off.

So, I see Toledo as the only undefeated G5 team and gate crashers for a New Year's Day bowl this season.

Who is your surprise team so far?

Good Surprise: Charlotte. The 49ers beat Georgia State in their season opener, which is a good job, but they did it while committing five turnovers. Charlotte has not been afraid of FBS competition and should give quite a few CUSA teams more of a challenge than expected. While I see the 49ers going 2-10 this season, that is still more wins than I thought they would have going into the year.

Bad Surprise: Utah State: Anyone that pays attention to college football knows that Utah State has a nasty defense. All that is needed is something, anything, offensively to win games. Well, nothing good has happened on offense with Keeton struggling to find his pre-injury form. The Aggies are only 1-1 but have looked bad in the process with a terrible game versus Southern Utah and looked better versus Utah so maybe this team can still be what everyone expected this season.

Seems alot of injuries early for some teams so how will it affect #CUSA?

Injuries to WKU's Leon Allen and UTEP's Aaron Jones have been the two biggest injuries that can affect the CUSA as a whole. With Allen, WKU is a top level offense that can score on anyone and even put a scare into some of the best P5 teams in the nation. Without Allen, the Hilltoppers don't have that explosiveness at the running back position. Backup Anthony Wales should be back in the coming weeks after sustaining preseason injury, but until then, redshirt freshman D'Andre Ferby will be the man with Indiana transfer Anthony Davis also getting carries.

Jones going down for UTEP is even more catastrophic as he was the team leader in rushing and receiving. Football is a next man up game, but asking anyone to step in and replace Jones is asking a lot. The second leading rusher on the team has 19 yards rushing, only 190 fewer than Jones. This single injury could end up knocking the Miners out of bowl contention.

G5 conference power rankings? I'm thinking AAC, CUSA, MAC, MWC, SBC so far.

My current G5 conference power rankings are:

AAC: Six teams still undefeated. Even with UCF looking bad so far this season, the conference as a whole looks excellent.
CUSA: The conference as a whole struggled in week two, but WKU, Louisiana Tech, MTSU, and Rice look like good programs this season. The jury is still out on Marshall and Old Dominion, home of the nation's leading rusher Ray Lawry.
MWC: A Hail Mary falls to the ground and the MWC is right behind the AAC. The West Division looks wide open with San Diego State the favorites. SDSU is coming off of a disappointing 35-7 loss to Cal. The East division still looks good, but the only team in the division to win in week two was Air Force.
MAC: This is a very top heavy conference with Toledo, Bowling Green, and Northern Illinois at the top. After that, you get to CMU and disappointing teams WMU and UMass. The rest of the conference is just not all that good.
Sun Belt: Every other G5 conference has won a game over a P5 team other than the Sun Belt. Louisiana was the only team that had a real shot at a win after a masterful week one comeback. The only impressive win of the season from the conference is a Georgia Southern win over Western Michigan.

AAC Week Two Review

2015-09-15T11:27:00.000-05:00

Another week is in the books for the 2015 college football season with the American Athletic Conference going 6-5 with only one conference game (Temple-Cincinnati) taking place. Let's take a look at the good, bad, and ugly of week two AAC football.

Week Two Scoreboard:

Florida State 34, South Florida 14
Houston 34, Louisville 31
Connecticut 22, Army 17
Georgia Tech 65, Tulane 10
Florida 31, East Carolina 24
Memphis 55, Kansas 23
SMU 31, North Texas 13
Temple 34, Cincinnati 26
Tulsa 40, New Mexico 21
Stanford 31, UCF 7

Who/What Looked Good:

Temple's Run Game: The Owls rushed for a TOTAL of 1,293 yards as a team in 2014 with Jahad Thomas rushing 80 times for 384 yards and no touchdowns. The Owls have already rushed for 364 yards in two game with Thomas (55/328/3TD) already close to surpassing his numbers from last season.
Greg Ward Jr.: It's time to finally stop calling him a converted wide receiver. Ward is a dual threat quarterback that threw for 236 yards and rushed for 98 yards. Ward made several huge plays down the stretch in a game-winning fourth quarter drive.
Memphis Dominates: For those smart enough to take Memphis versus the line, it was like taking candy from a baby. Paxton Lynch threw for 354 yards with the TIgers rolling up 651 yards of total offense in the win.
Tulsa Wide Receivers: Everyone knew of Keyarris Garrett and Keevan Lucas heading into the game but Joshua Atkinson (3/119/1TD) stole the show in his three catches versus New Mexico. The trio accounted for 14 catches and 186 yards in the game.

Who/What Looked Bad:

UCF's Defense: The Knights had high hopes going into this season, but now sit at 0-2 with some of the blame going to the vaunted defense. Stanford, a team that struggled to look like an FBS level football team in week one, looked like world beaters in racking up 491 yards and a career-high 341 in the air from Kevin Hogan.
Cincinnati's Turnovers: The Bearcats outgained Temple by 250+ yards and had 21 more first downs but lost 34-26. Why is that? Five Bearcats turnovers is the reason for the loss. YOu cannot beat a team like Temple with those mistakes.

Week Three Schedule:

South Florida at Maryland
Connecticut at Missouri
Tulsa at Oklahoma
Temple at Massachusetts
Memphis at Bowling Green
Cincinnati at Miami (OH)
East Carolina at Navy
Furman at UCF
SMU at TCU
Maine at Tulane

Conference USA Week Two Review

2015-09-14T19:05:00.000-05:00

Another week is in the books for the 2015 college football season with Conference USA going 4-9 with only one conference game (WKU-La. Tech) taking place. Let's take a look at the good, bad, and ugly of week two Conference USA football.

Week Two Scoreboard:

Western Kentucky 41, Louisiana Tech 38
Miami (FL) 44, Florida Atlantic 20
Kansas State 30, UTSA 3
Charlotte 34, Presbyterian 10
Texas Tech 69, UTEP 20
Southern Mississippi 52, Austin Peay 6
Alabama 37, MTSU 10
SMU 31, North Texas 13
Ohio 21, Marshall 10
Old Dominion 24, Norfolk State 10
Indiana 36, Florida International 22
Texas 42, Rice 28

Who/What Looked Good:

WKU's Offense: Nonexistent for most of the week one game versus Vanderbilt, the Hilltoppers offense ran wild versus a good Louisiana Tech defense. Brandon Doughty ended the night with 441 yards passing.
Charlotte: It was against an inferior program, but Charlotte improved to 2-0 on the season with a 34-10 win over Presbyterian. The 49ers are only one of three CUSA teams that are 2-0.
Ray Lawry: The Monarchs running back broke 200 yards rushing for the third straight game dating back to 2014. Lawry leads the entire FBS in rushing after two weeks for the 2-0 Monarchs.
Southern Miss Gets Win #1: Another CUSA team facing an inferior foe, the Golden Eagles dominated Austin Peay in a 52-6 win. In a make or break year for Monken and company, getting that first win is very important.

Who/What Looked Bad:

CUSA Non-Conference Struggles: The conference as a whole had a bad weekend with only WKU, Old Dominion, Southern Miss, and Charlotte winning. Eight of the losses were by double digits.
UTEP's Defense: Playing against Arkansas and Texas Tech, the Miners defense gave up 490 and 674 yards in those two losses. UTEP is in a rough spot but have a chance to get back to 2-2 and improve that defense in the next two weeks.
Rice's Turnovers: Rice was in all reality the better team against Texas, but five turnovers swung the scoreline in favor of the Longhorns. One was returned 26 yards for a touchdown and three others took place in Texas territory.
UTSA Rush Offense: The Roadrunners rushed the ball 25 times for 37 yards versus Kansas State for a 1.5 yards per carry average. Jarveon Williams had a 10-yard run but was held to 21 yards on his other nine carries. The rest of the team rushed 15 times for six yards.

Week Three Schedule:

Buffalo at Florida Atlantic
Rice at North Texas
Louisiana Tech at Kansas State
Texas San Antonio at Oklahoma State
Norfolk State at Marshall
Western Kentucky at Indiana
North Carolina Central at Florida International
Charlotte at Middle Tennessee
Southern Mississippi at Texas State
NC State at Old Dominion
UTEP at New Mexico State

Sun Belt Conference Week Two Review:

2015-09-14T14:39:00.000-05:00

Another week is in the books for the 2015 college football season with the Sun Belt going 6-5 with only one conference game (Ga. St-NMSU) taking place. Let's take a look at the good, bad, and ugly of week two Sun Belt football.

Week Two Scoreboard:

Clemson 41, Appalachian State 10
Georgia Southern 43, Western Michigan 17
Louisiana 44, Northwestern State 17
Louisiana Monroe 47, Nicholls State 0
Texas State 63, Prairie View A&M 24
Troy 44, Charleston Southern 16
Missouri 27, Arkansas State 20
Georgia State 34, New Mexico State 32
USC 59, Idaho 9
Nebraska 48, South Alabama 9

Who/What Looked Good:

Georgia Southern: The Eagles, coming off of a disappointing opening game loss to West Virginia, completely outclassed the Western Michigan Broncos in what many expected to be a close G5-G5 game. Matt Breida rushed for 176 yards in the 43-17 win.
Elijah McGuire: The reigning conference player of the year was dominant versus Northwestern State with 162 yards on only 14 carries. The junior running back also scored five touchdowns in the win.
Josh Magee: The UAB transfer had a career day with six catches for 147 yards and a touchdown versus Nebraska.
Passing in the Georgia State-New Mexico State Game: Georgia State's Nick Arbuckle (32-43/372/2TD) and New Mexico State Tyler Rogers (31-55/445/3TD) combined for 817 yards in the air during the Sun Belt Conference opener. FunBelt is alive and well this fall
Arkansas State Defense: The Red Wolves defense showed up versus Missouri in holding the Tigers to only 282 overall yards in the loss. Khari Lain (12 tkl, 2 tfl) led a defense that made eight tackles for loss.

Who/What Looked Bad:

Idaho: The Vandals were not expected to compete versus USC but giving up 737 total yards, 35 first downs, 12.2 yards per pass, and 7.7 yards per rush, along with 59 points was not good at all.
South Alabama Run Game: The only way the Jaguars would be able to pull the upset over Nebraska would be to run the ball. Instead, the Jaguars were held to 19 total rushing yards on 24 carries.
Defense in the Georgia State-NMSU game: Over 800 yards passing and 1,100 total yards were given up in this game. If not for four overall turnovers, this game could have easily seen both teams score 40+.
Appalachian State Turnovers: Interceptions on three straight first half possessions doomed the Mountaineers.

Week Three Schedule:

Georgia State at Oregon
Troy at Wisconsin
Wofford at Idaho
The Citadel at Georgia Southern
Missouri State at Arkansas State
Southern Mississippi at Texas State
South Alabama at San Diego State
UTEP at New Mexico State