Hello everyone. You may remember me when I once wrote for this site. While I don’t write nor agree with some of the writers here, I have more capacity to return and write about our favorite conferences. Depending on how popular these are, I will keep writing about these every week. Please let me know if you enjoy this format or maybe if you would prefer this in a podcast format. Also, seeing this site just discusses AAC, C-USA, and SBC, that is all I will be talking about in these. Without further ado, here is my conference roundup.

AAC

UCF 56 - SC State 10

In typical UCF fashion, UCF dominated the inferior competition. The game was over in the first quarter. What else do I need to say? John Rhys Plumlee looks like the real deal being effective in both passing and rushing.

Temple 0 - Duke 30

In typical Temple fashion, Temple got dominated by Duke in every facet of the game. D’wan Mathis is not the answer at QB. This team is in full rebuild mode. I would say they’re the worst team in college football and there isn’t much debate around that.

BYU 50 - USF 21

As a USF fan, this gives me mixed feelings. We haven’t scored a single point in an opening game in a long time. So it kind of felt like progress. But at the same time, I felt the team only moderately improved. Xavier Weaver could be our first 1,000 yard receiver with Bohanon at QB. This team could surprise people come conference play.

NC State 21 - ECU 20

As an AAC fan, this one hurts. ECU should have won the game on two different occasions, but a missed extra point and missed field goal jeopardized their chances. Ahlers looks pretty good and come conference play time, ECU is going to be hard to beat. This isn’t the same ECU of the late 2010s. Just don’t ask much of their special teams.

Delaware 14 - Navy 7

Wow... The ultimate rule of an FBS team is to never lose to an FCS team. Navy failed. Give Delaware credit for playing Navy tough. Triple option teams can be difficult. They got their yards, but 1 touchdown is just not enough. Navy is usually better than this, but I’m starting to lose hope on the amazing Navy runs we use to see.

Cincinnati 24 - Arkansas 31

If you missed this game, you missed a great one. The Ben Bryant and company gave it their best shot against this tough SEC team, but KJ Jefferson and Raheim Sanders played so well. We know Cincy might be down this year with big loses to the NFL in Ridder and Gardener, but this team showed that they’re still pretty good. Watch them come conference play.

Houston 37 - UTSA 35

Triple overtime fun on week 1! This game was so much fun. UTSA deserved to lose this game as they got complacent. When you go up 14 and look in control, you need to keep the pedal on the gas and go. They allowed Houston to come back into the game. Good on Houston for being the team we thought they were by coming back for this win. Houston is looking at an NY6 bowl appearance if they can continue. Great game for the G5.

Wyoming 40 - Tulsa 37

Another great overtime game. Davis Brin threw for 460 yards and Keylon Stokes had 169 yards receiving. Tulsa is being slept on right now, but a lot of teams in the American don’t play defense. So, Tulsa is definitely a dark horse for this conference if they can keep up this production,

Tulane 42 - Umass 10

Ya what else did you expect here. Umass, which is commonly known at Umess, is a bad team and has been for years. Pratt took a while to really click as the most impressive player here is Tyjae Spears with his three touchdown runs. Not a whole lot of yardage here, but an impressive showing being able to get in the end zone.

SMU 48 - UNT 10

Apparently Sonny Dykes was not necessary for SMU to continue their success. Mordecai is the best QB in the conference (debate in the comments if you think otherwise), and Rashee Rice might be one of the best receivers. Both had big performances against UNT. The game against Houston is looking like a title game match. All aboard the Pony Express.

Memphis 23 - Miss St 49

Remember when Memphis was really good? Ya it seems like those days are coming to an end really quickly. There was no remarkable performance here. Henigan passed for just over 160 with him spreading the ball to many of his receivers so I guess that’s not too bad. I expect a down year from Memphis with so many good teams in the AAC.

C-USA

Bryant 37 - FIU 38

While this is much closer than FIU should have ever been to losing this FCS team, I have to give the offense credit. They generated points when they needed it and made a gutsy call to get the ball in the end zone on the two point conversion for the overtime win. I don’t expect much from them, but good for them getting the win here.

Alabama A&M 0 - UAB 59

UAB continues to prove they are a force even after a change in head coach. 478 total years is incredible. This team appears ready to compete for a C-USA title before leaving for the American.

LA Tech 24 - Mizzou 52

Did any tech fans think they would win this game? Genuine question. Typically these are the games where is G5 teams go to the P5 schools to get that money. Looks like we have a QB competition going on here with Matthew Downings performance (194 yards, 1 TD, and 3 INT) and Parker McNeil (142 yards, 2 TD, and 0 INT).

William & Mary 41 - Charlotte 24

The past two weeks have not been kind to Charlotte. The first loss against FAU was disappointing, but I can forgive it. Losing to an FCS team and allowing that team to put up 559 yard, and over 40 points, is terrible. As a fan of the American, I’m not thrilled this team is moving to our conference. This school has potential, but this year looks like a complete loss.

UTEP 13 - Oklahoma 45

While this result was completed expected, the worse loss was losing to UNT in Week 0. UTEP has looked completely outclassed in starting from the second half of the UNT game. This isn’t the same UTEP from a few years ago, but signs of improvement or a bowl game are looking bleak.

Houston 37 - UTSA 35

You can see the above for this. I just want to emphasize though that UTSA, despite choking, should feel in a great position. They have amazing talent all over this roster. With Harris at QB, the Roadrunners are the top contenders to win the C-USA. Don’t be too disappointed just because NY6 hopes are most likely gone.

Rice 14 - USC 66

At least Rice scored some points? There really isn’t much great here other than they were tied after the first quarter. See LA Tech explanation. Make that money.

FAU 38 - Ohio 41

I’m not going to sugar coat this. I’m really disappointed in FAU here. This was a game that I was expecting them to win. Perry’s performance was incredible minus the lost fumble he had. The FAU defense was just awful though (476 yards allowed). I still think FAU has a good shot of making a run at the C-USA title, but this game proves they still have a little ways to go before being at the top.

MTSU 7 - JMU 44

Wow MTSU got destroyed. No points in the first half against the newly appointed Sun Belt team. I wish I could say anything positive, but this is the game you turn off so you don’t have to look anymore. 12 rushing yards doesn’t give your team any shot at competing. They’re close to Temple territory.

WKU 49 - Hawaii 17

While the result was expected, it seems WKU is on track to be one of the best in the conference (maybe the G5 too). Austin Reed has been brilliant in his first two games throwing for 550 yards and 7 touchdowns. You’ll hear it here first, WKU beats P5 Indiana next week.

Sun Belt

Virginia Tech 17 - Old Dominion 20

What a way to join a conference! The offense didn’t do anything spectacular to win the game. But, they did just enough to pull out the W. The real win goes to the amazing defense. They intercepted Grant Wells 4 times and even got a fumble return for a TD! While VA Tech is not in any sense the power house they once were, this is a huge program win and the students got to storm the field. All positive here for ODU this week.

UNC 63 - App St 61

This was the game of the week, full stop. It seemed like everyone, including me, thought App was going to win this game. Scoring 40 in the 4th proved that they were going to go down swinging against this P5 foe. Former Clemson and Duke QB, Chase Brice put on a clinic. Actually, the entire offense put on a clinic. The defense got roughed up for 63 points which isn’t good. But overall, I don’t think any G5 team this year has the offensive power that App State does. NY6 is probably out of the picture, but this could be the best team in the G5 despite that.

Norfolk St 3 - Marshall 55

Taking care of business is exactly what Marshall needed to do. The game was honestly over after Ethan Payne’s big 45 yard rushing touchdown. We will get a much better read of how this team is against Notre Dame next week.

Troy 10 - Ole Miss 28

This was another game that was over by the first half. Ole Miss was just the superior team in every facet of the game. Looking back at the stats, Troy had more passing yards than Ole Miss. Where Troy is lacking is both their rushing attack on offense and their rushing defense. They gained less than 100 yards rushing and allowed more than 200 to their opponent. Troy gets an easy one next week to recover and get a W on the board.

Nicholls 7 - South Alabama 48

This is exactly what everyone would have expected. USA QB Carter Bradley had himself an incredible game with three passing TDs and one rushing TD in his debut game. Opponents will need to watch out for what appears to be his favorite target Jalen Wayne (3 catches for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns).

Texas St 14 - Nevada 38

All you need to know about this game is the fact that Texas State gave away the ball 4 times and their leading rusher Jahmyl Jeter rushed for 16 yards. This was a disaster of a game that ended long before it started. This team hasn’t really improved at all. They’ll have a winnable game against FIU next week though.

Morgan St 7 - Georgia Southern 59

I’ll admit my bias here that I root for Georgia Southern because I have family that went there. So I’ll always be a little more optimistic. Didn’t really need to defend this week because the Clay Helton era started off very positive. QB Kyle Vantrease looked pretty good throwing for 367 yards and 4 touchdowns in the new look offense. Also, I invite you to check out the Derwin Burgess Jr TD catch. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

MTSU and James Madison I discussed above and I don’t really have anything else to say. JMU has another slam dunk game next week.

Army 28 - CCU 38

Grayson McCall’s farewell tour started off excellent. He was efficient and effective throwing for 174 yards and 3 touchdowns. The running game was also super effective with Reese White rushing for 133 yards and a TD on 21 carries. It’s tough to evaluate the defense here because of the triple option Army runs, but overall a successful game for one of the best G5 teams.

Liberty 29 - Southern Miss 27

Another overtime game that had to be decided after 4 of them! Quarterback play was pretty below average to average ( on the Liberty side). The MVP of the game goes to Frank Gore Jr of Southern Miss with 32 carries for 178 yards and 2 touchdowns. Southern Miss will be very disappointed wasting that great performance. It doesn’t get any easier as they are going for a making money game next week against Miami.

SE Louisiana 7 - Louisiana 24

The post Napier era began on a positive note. While they will definitely miss their old head coach, they got the W against the inferior foe. Johnny Lumpkin was the star of the game in my option with 5 receptions for 78 yards and catching 2 touchdowns. I am a sucker for good special teams though so maybe Eric Garror with his 83 yard punt return for a touchdown can share the MVP of the game.

Grambling 3 - Arkansas St 58

I really don’t think I need to do any analysis here. The better team won. As someone who does not follow Arkansas State very closely, I had no idea that former Florida State QB James Blackman was heading up the team. The offense and defense looked completely in control. However, let’s see how well they do later in the season.

Georgia St 14 - South Carolina 35

Look I didn’t expect much from Georgia State going into this game. But I did see something very concerning to me that might be a problem come conference play. Darren Grainger was bad. 7-29 for 111 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT is awful. Between that and the awful special teams performance, I think this is going to be a long season for the Panthers.

UL Monroe 10 - Texas 52

This team had no shot in beating Texas. But ULM didn’t even really put up a fight. There only real score was a field goal in the first quarter before Zach Martins garbage time rushing TD. ULM fans, it’s going to be a long season. Enjoy next week’s cupcake game.

G5 Team Rankings

Now I fully expect this part to be the one people fight over the most. I have yet to see anyone attempt this for the G5 so I will be the first. Please leave your opinions in the comments so we can have a lively discussion about this!

1. App State (yup they earned the right despite the loss)

2. Houston

3. SMU

4. UCF

5. Cincy

6. ECU

7. WKU

8. UTSA

9. ODU

10. Coastal Carolina

11. UAB

12. FAU

13. Georgia Southern

14. JMU

15. Tulane

16. Tulsa

17. Arkansas State

18. Marshall

19. South Alabama

20. Louisisna

21. USF

22. Memphis

23. FIU

24. LA Tech

25. North Texas

26. Southern Miss

27. Troy

28. Georgia State

29. Rice

30. UTEP

31. MTSU

32. Navy

33. Charlotte

34. Texas State

35. ULM

36. Temple

This is the first week 1 round up. While I know this is a lot of information, I’m absolutely willing to tweak this because it took a long time. I just felt like there were some coverage areas on this site that maybe a little synopsis of each team and rankings would be fun! Let me know in the comments if you enjoyed this article and want more of them or want a tweaked format! For the question of the week, which team should be number 1 in these rankings? Have a great week!