Group of Five power rankings: UAB, Marshall, Coastal rising in Week 2

Who’s the best Group of Five college football team after Week 1?

UTSA lost to No. 24 Houston 37-35 in 3OT

It took three overtime periods to decide a winner in a matchup of arguably the best team from Conference USA and arguably the best team from the American Athletic.

The Roadrunners, who were the underdogs despite playing at home, were oh so close to upsetting No. 24 Houston at the Alamodome in Week 1—a game that was intensified after Cougars Head Coach Dana publicly planted a seed that his staff would be watching out for fake crowd noise being pumped into the Alamodome during the highly anticipated game.

Houston QB Clayton Tune and Texas-San Antonio QB Frank Harris were both outstanding. It’s a shame this highly entertaining game ended after three overtimes, I could have watched these guys go back and forth for several more.

Fresno State defeated Cal Poly 35-7

If it weren’t for a blistering start to the first quarter, we may be having a different conversation about Fresno State right now. The Bulldogs got out to a quick, 21-0 lead, but Cal Poly turned it into a ball game after that.

In quarters two through four, the Bulldogs narrowly came out on top 14-7. Cal Poly held Fresno State scoreless in the second quarter and only allowed seven points in both the third and fourth quarters.

QB Jake Haener did his part, connecting on 36 of 42 passes for 377 yards and 2 TDs. The team as a whole can make improvements across the board and will likely do so with such a veteran lineup.

UCF defeated South Carolina State 56-10

New UCF starting QB John Rhys Plumlee, a transfer from Ole Miss, looked every bit as good as advertised against SC State in Week 1.

The supremely athletic senior almost single-handedly propelled the Knights to victory. He was 20/31 on passing attempts for 308 yards, 4 TDs, and 0 INTs. He also rushed for 86 yards on 15 carries and 1 TD— the kid can ball. And you can watch him and UCF look to upset Louisville on Friday, Sept. 9 at 7:30 PM ET on ESPN2.

As long as Rhys Plumlee stays healthy, this UCF team will be able to hang with anyone on their schedule and have a real shot at competing for a conference championship.

Cincinnati lost to No. 19 Arkansas 31-24

The Cincinnati Bearcats lost to a really good Arkansas team by just 7 points, which is why I’ve only knocked them back one spot in my rankings.

However, Cincinnati, a team known for doing the little things really well, did not do hardly any of the little things right against the Razorbacks.

They had 10 penalties in the game, several of which occurred successively in the third quarter. While at the Arkansas three-yard line, the Bearcats had a false start penalty, an illegal formation penalty, an incomplete pass, a delay of game penalty, two completed passes, another delay of game penalty, and finally, a made field goal.

They also had instance after instance of player helmets coming off, which required them to make one-play substitutions way too frequently.

The usually buttoned-up Bearcats looked a little frazzled. If they don’t make as many self-inflicted errors, they might have been able to push this game into overtime or even upset the Hogs in Fayetteville.

Houston defeated UTSA 37-35 in 3OT

Thanks to Clayton Tune’s heroics scoring the two-point conversion in the third overtime, Houston narrowly escaped San Antonio to start the season off 1-0. The Cougars knew they were going to be in a battle against one of the best teams from the Group of Five in UTSA.

While Cincinnati did lose to a ranked Arkansas team, they showed several more holes in their game than the Cougars did, which is why I have Houston as the new No. 1 team in this week’s Group of Five college football power rankings.

Can Houston avenge their 2021 loss to Texas Tech when they square off in a rematch in Week 2?