Group of Five Football Power Rankings, Week 12: ECU, WKU making late-season surge

Boise State is finally hitting their season in stride after alternating wins and loses every game for the first seven games of the season. The Broncos are winners of three consecutive games and have beat two teams ranked in the AP Top 25 this season (BYU and Fresno State). The Broncos are trying to get back to the powerhouse they once were: attendees of 17 bowl games from 2000-2017. Since then, they’ve been to just one bowl game. Head Coach Andy Avalos has this team getting back to where it needs to be.

Head coach Bill Clark has been the head coach at UAB for six seasons now and has recorded six straight seasons of winning six or more games in a season. The Blazers won a tough road game at Marshall and now preparing to face red-hot UTSA. This will be UAB’s second game of the season against a ranked opponent—their first coming early in the season against Georgia. Regardless of what happens against UTSA or El Paso, the Blazers are well on their way to another bowl game.

QB Carson Strong is so much fun to watch for Nevada. He can sling the ball just about as good as anyone. This season he’s recorded 28 touchdown passes and more than 3,500 yards through the air. In the team’s two-point loss to SDSU, Carson threw for 350 yards and 3 touchdowns. A tough game against Air Force awaits the Wolf Pack. The Falcons are giving up just 17.6 points per game this season.

Liberty had the week off after falling to Ole Miss last week. The team will need every bit of the extra time to prepare for one of the toughest teams to beat in the Group of Five: Louisiana. The Ragin Cajuns will be a tough matchup for the Flames, but they’ll be facing Louisiana at home. There should be a lot of offense in this game as both teams record 400+ yards of offense each.

Coastal Carolina has been bitten by the injury bug, losing starting QB Grayson McCall to injury on Oct. 28. The Chants missed him in the loss to Georgia State, falling 42-40 at home; but, McCall’s absence did not preclude the Chants from giving up a season-high 40 points. That fell mostly on the defense. Coastal Carolina will try to limp across the finish line to finish the season against Texas State and South Alabama.