Around the Group of 5: Week Three

Week three of college football has come to an end without a Group of 5 team in the AP top 25, leaving the New Year's Six bid still largely up for grabs. Favorites have begun to emerge and the Group of 5 hierarchy will become more clear after this Saturday.

With Deion Sanders and Colorado garnering large amounts of coverage from all across the nation, it only makes sense to feature the Group of 5’s version of the Buffaloes. Texas State made headlines after new coach GJ Kinne added 49 new players to its roster in the offseason.

After following up a program-changing win over Baylor with a hard-fought loss to UTSA, the Bobcats went out and made a statement by beating Jackson State, Sanders’ former team, by a whopping score of 77-34.

Former LSU and Auburn quarterback TJ Finley threw for 251 yards and three touchdowns in only a half of play to help assert the Bobcats as a dark horse New Year’s Six team.

Seven Group of 5 teams remained undefeated after week three.

James Madison, who last season was ranked in the AP poll in their first-ever year as an FBS team, defeated fellow Sun Belt team Troy 16-14 in a gritty defensive battle.

Fresno State has already taken down two Power 5 schools, beating Purdue in week one and shutting out Arizona State on Saturday.

Memphis survived a scare against Navy to move to 3-0.

Liberty, Georgia State and Air Force all took care of business while Marshall had the weekend off at 2-0.

The undefeated teams club might get whittled down next weekend with some great games to look forward to.

Georgia State has a tough matchup on Thursday against Coastal Carolina, who are still led by one of the best quarterbacks in college football in Grayson McCall. Coastal lost a tough opener against UCLA before defeating Jacksonville State in week two and obliterating Duquesne on Saturday.

Liberty takes on an FIU team who have surprised many by winning three of their first four games and look to continue their underdog story by taking down the undefeated Flames.

Appalachian State, who always seems to be one of the more entertaining teams every year, takes on a pesky Wyoming team that gave Texas some trouble last weekend.

Alex Perez is a second-year majoring in sports broadcasting. To contact him, please email app5877@psu.edu.