Group of Five: 2017 college football Week 3 power rankings

Houston completely understands how the Florida schools feel. The Cougars also lost a prime chance to boost their record when their season opener at UTSA was canceled by the approach of Hurricane Harvey earlier this month. That meant that the Cougars had to wait until their trip to Tucson to start their 2017 campaign.

The result against Arizona made it all worth the wait. With Greg Ward Jr. now graduated, Kyle Allen took over at quarterback and completed over three-quarters of his passes for 225 yards and a touchdown. But Allen also threw two interceptions that kept the game far closer than it needed to be.

Dillon Birden and Duke Catalon combined for 161 yards and a touchdown on 32 carries, averaging over five yards per carry against a Pac-12 defense. The Cougars also clamped down on Arizona when the Wildcats had the ball. Brandon Dawkins and Khalil Tate combined to go 22-of-37 for 219 yards and an interception. Arizona’s running game averaged just 3.9 yards per carry at home. And if not for a pair of late Arizona field goals, the margin of victory would have been larger.

Ultimately, though, Houston did enough to claim a statement win in its belated first contest of the new year. After falling out of last week’s Group of Five Power Rankings, the Cougars gave notice that they will be in the thick of the New Year’s Six battle once again this season.