Last week’s Group of Five upsets over Power Five schools shed some light on some schools and players that might not get much national attention.
There were four such upsets in Week 1 and a couple of others that were one-possession games.
Week 2 presents plenty of opportunities for more chaos. Here’s a look at some of the most intriguing G5 vs. P5 games this weekend.
No. 24 Tulane at No. 22 Ole Miss
Michael Pratt dazzled last week in the Green Wave’s impressive victory over South Alabama, going 14 for 15 for 294 yards and four touchdowns. Oxford will provide a much bigger challenge for Pratt and his squad.
It’ll be the first test of the season for the Rebels, who cruised past Mercer in a 73-7 victory last week. The last time these teams played was almost exactly two years ago when the Rebels won 61-21. This one should be much closer. A lot will fall on how well Tulane’s defense can play, and if its solid defensive line can take some pressure off its inexperienced secondary by disrupting Jaxson Dart.
College football betting odds currently list the Rebs as 7.5-point favorites.
SMU at No. 18 Oklahoma
Much like Pratt, Mustangs QB Preston Stone guided their offense to a solid showing. In his second career start, the sophomore passed for 248 yards and three scores in SMU’s 38-14 win over LA Tech. Behind its two transfers in LJ Johnson Jr. and Jaylan Knighton, the SMU backfield also proved it can be effective as they combined for 194 yards on 31 rushes.
The offense should continue to find success in what should be a high-scoring affair. It’ll be hard to match Oklahoma and QB Dillon Gabriel score-for-score, however. The OU fight song will surely be playing a lot:
SMU is 15.5-point underdogs.
Troy at No. 15 Kansas State
The Wildcats have been in a similar situation recently, losing to Tulane 17-10 in September of last season and to Arkansas State in 2020. Those are the Wildcats’ only two losses to non-conference FBS opponents in the Chris Klieman era.
This year, it’s a Troy team that can’t be overlooked visiting Manhattan. Everyone knows Troy leans on its defense to make things happen, and it will need to rely on that Saturday. The Trojans also coughed up the ball four times last week against Stephen F. Austin. That can’t happen if they want to cover the 17-point spread or win outright. Expect Troy to run the ball and try to slow the game down.
UCF at Boise State
As our G5 Underdog of the Week, Boise will probably do some things a little bit differently than it did in last week’s loss to Washington. With the best running back duo in the Mountain West and a dual-threat QB like Taylen Green, we should see the Broncos run the ball much more this week.
It was surprising to see the Broncos pass the ball 47 times, but they were playing behind the whole game. Still, I think everyone expected more reliance on the ground game early on. UCF QB John Rhys Plumlee will try to expose the Broncos’ inexperienced pass defense for the second week in a row. This is a bigger game for Boise than it is for the Knights, and the Broncos will play like it.
UCLA at San Diego State
The Bruins saw action from two QBs last week — Ethan Garbers and Dante Moore — and are likely to see the same this week. Moore was more reliable, going 7 of 12 for 143 yards and two scores. This is probably who the Aztecs will spend more time scouting for.
If the game is close, Moore is likely to be playing. On the other side of the ball, SDSU signal caller Jalen Mayden has been effective with both his arm and his legs. The Aztecs should continue to lean on their run game. UCLA has a stout run defense, so who wins this matchup will be a key part in this game.
