College Football: Group of 5 Week 4 power rankings
By Zach Bigalke
The new leaders in the Group of Five race are the Aztecs. San Diego State won its second straight game against a Pac-12 opponent in Week 3. In Week 2, it was a statement win on the road over Arizona State. Last Saturday, Rocky Long‘s team took down No. 19 Stanford in a #Pac12AfterDark thriller at home to move to 3-0 on the season. A delay due to a lighting malfunction couldn’t prevent the Cardinal from falling on the road.
The 20-17 upset at Qualcomm Stadium knocked Stanford out of the polls and under .500 on the season. It nevertheless remains a statement win over one of the Pac-12 North’s tougher teams. Rashaad Penny set himself up as a dark-horse Heisman contender with 207 combined rushing and receiving yards and a touchdown. Christian Chapman outplayed Keller Chryst, going 21-of-29 for 187 yards and a touchdown in the air.
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More importantly, the defense allowed 184 yards and two touchdowns from Bryce Love but gave up just 70 yards and zero scores to the rest of the Cardinal offense. The undefeated Aztecs now take over front-runner status in the New Year’s Six race, with their Mountain West opener at Air Force next week followed by a home game against fellow Group of Five hopeful Northern Illinois. The game against the Huskies offers a third statement chance outside of MWC play for SDSU to build its resume for the selection committee and solidify their hold on No. 1 in these rankings.