Around the Group of 5: UNLV, ULM Host Huge Opportunities

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In today’s college football, there are 134 Football Bowl Subdivision schools. Those schools are broken up into 10 conferences, nine if you don’t count the Pac 12/2 as a freestanding conference this season. There are currently four Power Conferences: the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), the Big Ten Conference (B1G), the Big 12 Conference (Big 12) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). These conferences house the best groups of teams in college football.

But there are also excellent programs in the Group of 5 conferences. Those conferences, nicknamed the G-5, are the American Athletic Conference (AAC), Conference USA (CUSA), the Mid-American Conference (MAC), the Mountain West Conference (MWC), and the Sun Belt Conference (SBC).

Each week, I will go over the top game from each of the G-5 conferences. See below for games you may not have had much interest in but should!

AAC

Navy (4-0, 3-0 AAC) at Air Force (1-3, 0-2 MWC) Noon EST, Saturday, Oct. 5, Falcon Stadium, north of Colorado Springs, Colo., CBS

Navy enters the first leg of the coveted Commander-In-Chief Trophy undefeated after four games for the first time since the Midshipmen went 5-0 to start the 2017 season...Dual-threat quarterback Blake Horvath has completed 68.2 percent of his passes for 637 yards with 7 touchdowns and only 1 interception... Horvath also leads the team with 450 rushing yards and 8 rushing TDs. Second-year head coach Brian Newberry has Navy trending in the right direction...Air Force is struggling this season, particularly on offense. The Falcons rank 131st out of 134 teams in FBS in both scoring offense with 12.5 points per game and team offense with 243.0 yards per game. This is an oddity for Air Force as the Falcons have won at least nine games in four of the last five years. The lone exception was the COVID-19 year of 2020…Navy, on the other hand, has won more than five games only once in that time frame…Wide receiver Cade Harris leads the Falcons in both rushing yards (147) and receiving yards (119)…But, as the saying goes, throw out the records in a rivalry game. On paper, Navy should win this game easily, but do not count out head coach Troy Calhoun and Air Force so easily.

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Conference USA

Sam Houston State (4-1, 1-0 CUSA) at UTEP (0-4, 0-1 CUSA), 9 p.m. EST, Oct. 3, El Paso, Texas, CBSSN

Slim pickings with Conference USA as only two games involving CUSA teams are on the docket. Sam Houston enters the game with four wins so far...K.C. Keeler’s Bearkats are led by dual-threat QB Hunter Watson, who has 635 passing yards, 5 TDs, 5 INTs and leads the team in rushing with 338 yards and 4 TDs… Defensive back Caleb Weaver is off to an incredible start to the season, notching 35 tackles and 2 INTs… First-year head coach Scotty Walden’s Miners are coming off a bye week, and it was perfectly timed…UTEP made a switch at QB from Skyler Locklear to Cade McConnell at halftime of its game at Colorado State on Sept. 21. While the Miners lost 27-17, McConnell did enough to earn his first start of the season against Sam Houston…The Miners’ defense has been gashed for 413.2 yards per game and 30.5 points per game. Mixing an ineffective starting QB with a defense surrendering an abundance of yardage and points is not a winning formula.

MAC

Miami (Ohio) (1-3, 0-0 MAC) at Toledo (3-1, 0-0 MAC) 3:30 p.m. EST, Oct. 5, Toledo, Ohio, ESPN+

A rematch of the 2023 MAC Championship Game, these two teams come into this game with opposite records, 3-1 for Jason Candle’s Toledo Rockets and 1-3 for Chuck Martin’s Miami Redhawks…Miami’s losses have come to Northwestern, Cincinnati and Notre Dame. The lone win was against UMass, the only common opponent thus far for the Redhawks and Rockets. Toledo has had a much easier path, defeating Duquesne, UMass and Mississippi State while losing to Western Kentucky...This clash might be a preview of the 2024 MAC Championship Game. Although Toledo experienced a lot of turnover from last year’s 11-3 roster, the Rockets have looked impressive this season. They rank No. 23 in the FBS in scoring offense with 37.2 points per game…Expect Miami to slow the game down and try to win a close, defensive battle. The Redhawks rank No. 118 in the FBS in total offense with 306.2 yards per game and No. 132 in scoring offense with 12.0 points per game. The Miami defense only surrenders 22.0 points per game, tied for No. 57 in the FBS.

Mountain West

Syracuse (3-1, 1-1 ACC) at UNLV (4-0, 1-0 MWC) 9 p.m. EST, Oct. 4, Las Vegas, Nev., FS1

It’s not often one sees an ACC team travel to the home stadium of a Mountain West team, yet here we are... First-year head coach Fran Brown’s Orange are 3-1 largely due to an offense that averages 33.8 points per game and 475.2 yards per game. The defense has deployed a bend-don’t-break strategy, which has come up big when needed...Barry Odom’s UNLV squad was 3-0 heading into last Saturday's game against Fresno State…On Sept. 25, Rebels starting QB Matthew Sluka announced he was taking his redshirt season and leaving the team due to issues involving NIL...Apparently, the Rebels didn’t need Sluka as they dismantled Fresno State 59-14. QB Hajj-Malik Williams went 13-16 for 182 yards with 3 TDs through the air. He also added 119 yards and 1 TD on the ground…The Rebels have beaten two Big 12 schools—at Houston and at Kansas—and will be looking for the hat trick against Power Four schools when they host the Orange. If you love offense, this is must-see TV on Friday night!

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Sun Belt

James Madison (4-0, 0-0 SBC) at ULM (3-1, 1-0 SBC), 7 p.m. EST, Oct. 5, Monroe, La., ESPNU

Raise your hand if you had ULM surpassing their 2023 win total after just five weeks. If your hand is up, you’re a LIAR…First-year head coach Bryant Vincent has the Warhawks and the city of Monroe buzzing. “Now is the time for the entire town to unite,” Vincent said after last Saturday’s win at Troy. “We have the biggest home game in Monroe, Louisiana in quite some time.”…Freshman RB Ahmad Hardy leads the Warhawks with 297 rushing yards and 3 TDs. Aside from a blowout loss at No. 2-ranked Texas, the defense has been solid…James Madison is also breaking in a first-year head coach in Bob Chesney…The Dukes are picking up where they left off last season. Most impressive on their resume so far is a 70-50 win at North Carolina…QB Alonza Barnett III has thrown for 1,002 yards, 12 TDs and only 1 INT. He also leads the team in rushing with 255 yards and 3 TDs…This may be the best game in the G-5 this week.

Group of 5 Truth Serum

Truth serum is something stated that is not necessarily a popular take but is more truth than fiction. This week’s truth serum: UNLV will go 3-0 against the Power Four Conferences, but it won’t mean much as it came against mid- to low-tier Power Four conference opponents. Their first true test of the season won’t come until the Runnin' Rebels play Oregon State on Oct. 19.