Marshall, App State rule Week 3 Group of 5 college football rankings

App State and Marshall jump to the top of the Group of 5 power rankings

Jumping up to No. 5 is Air Force. The Falcons took care of business against in-state Pac-12 foe Colorado at home in spectacular fashion, winning 41-10. Air Force pitched a shutout in three of the game’s four quarters and limited Buffaloes QB J.T. Shrout to just 5/21 passing for 51 yards. In fairness, Air Force QB Haaziq Daniels completed just one pass for 8 yards. But passing is not the strength of the Falcons, it’s all about the run game. Air Force racked up a punishing 435 rushing yards against Colorado, led by Brad Roberts, who accumulated 174 yards and 3 TDs on 24 carries. The way things are shaping up, Air Force looks like the team to beat in the Mountain West this season.

Dropping down to No. 4 and away from the top spot, is Houston. The Cougars outlasted UTSA in 3OTs in Week 1. They weren’t so lucky in Week 2, falling in 2OTs to Texas Tech by three points. A lot of college football experts pegged Houston to be this year’s Cincinnati— a Group of 5 team that could compete for a spot in the Playoff.

Rising all the way to No. 3 is the Marshall Thundering Herd after their miraculous upset over No. 8 ranked Notre Dame. Marshall forced three Irish turnovers, rushed for 219 yards and QB Henry Colombi outplayed Notre Dame QB Tyler Buchner. The Herd got up by as many as 11 points on the Irish in the fourth quarter and shocked the college football world by dealing Marcus Freeman his third consecutive loss as head coach of the Irish.

Up to No. 2, I have the Appalachian State Mountaineers. They held off Texas A&M and their nearly 100,000 fans in College Station to pull off an unbelievable upset. The Aggies were favored to win this game by 18 points and instead lost 17-14, never earning a lead over App State at any point in the game. Unfortunately, based on the new AP Top 25 rankings, the voters saw this as more of a failure for Texas A&M than it was a success from App State. The Mountaineers are not ranked in this week’s Top 25 nationally, but they’re No. 2 in my rankings and get a nice consolation prize: ESPN’s College Game Day is headed to Boone, N.C. for their Week 3 matchup vs Troy.

Back in their familiar spot at No. 1, I have the Cincinnati Bearcats. The Bearcats’ Week 1 loss at Arkansas by just 7 points is something that has and should continue to benefit Luke Fickell’s team. The Razorbacks look like an outstanding team and continue to climb in the national rankings— they’ve gone from No. 19 when the Bearcats played them to now No. 10 heading into Week 3.

So, Cincinnati losing to a really good team by just one possession isn’t so bad. It’s not a win, but it’s the next best thing— losing to a top-10 college football team by just one score.

In their Week 2 game against Kennesaw State, Cincinnati piled on the points, scoring 42 points in the second half to cruise to an easy win. Their defense gets a solid test against Miami (OH) from the MAC in Week 3.