And another Group of Five unbeaten team has fallen. It almost seems poetic that it was fellow military academy Army that handed Air Force its first defeat of the season, and the Black Knights are now the favorites to take home the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. In the loss, the Falcons found out what happens when you turn the ball over six times in one game (hint, you lose 23-3).

In other news, Toledo ousted Buffalo thanks to a plethora of explosive plays featuring two sides of the ball, Liberty moved to 9-0 for the first time in school history, New Mexico State qualified for its second straight bowl game, Texas State picked up a marquee win over Georgia Southern to also reach bowl eligibility, Tulane survived a scare from 1-8 East Carolina, and Memphis won a 59-50 affair over South Florida in a game that featured over 1,100 yards of offense.

And, of course, James Madison remained an inevitable force by throttling Georgia State to the tune of 42-14 behind over 400 total yards and six touchdowns from Jordan McCloud. That guy is really good at football.

HOLY TOLEDO 🚀@jacquez_stuart goes 97 yards to the house on the opening kickoff!@ToledoFB | #MACtion pic.twitter.com/BwtCsNvbVt

— #MACtion (@MACSports) October 31, 2023

The Rockets have gone up two games on the rest of the MAC East, and Miami (OH) continues to fend off the challengers in the West. Troy remains a game ahead of Arkansas State and Texas State in the Sun Belt West with head-to-head wins over each, while James Madison controls the East but Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern and Appalachian State are in contention to represent the division in JMU’s place.

Fresno State’s path to the Mountain West title game became much clearer following its win over Boise State last week, while Tulane, SMU and UTSA remained unbeaten in American play and are set to play each other down the stretch. Liberty remains king of Conference USA, but its opponent will likely be the victor of the Jacksonville State vs. New Mexico State matchup over Thanksgiving weekend.

It’s a fairly light week in the Group of Five realm, but don’t let that get you down. There’s a pivotal non-conference clash in Lynchburg, Va., plenty more shenanigans to go down in the Sun Belt, and I’m sure Wyoming and UNLV will deliver a classic in Las Vegas on Friday night.

Also, be sure to check out our weekly piece highlighting the top players at the Group of Five level in the season-long race for the Colt Brennan Award.

Wyoming (6-3, 3-2) at UNLV (7-2, 4-1)

Friday, 10:45 PM ET | FS1

MyBookie Odds: UNLV -4

Last Matchup: Wyoming 45-14 in 2020

NY6 Impact: Moderate

Stars To Watch: Andrew Peasley (QB, Wyoming), Ricky White (WR, UNLV)

What’s On The Line: Consider this to be an elimination game of sorts in the Mountain West title race, as UNLV sits a game back of Air Force, and Wyoming is two back of the Falcons and one behind Fresno State in the current standings. A head-to-head victory here would go a long way in determining which team can crash the party that the Bulldogs and Falcons appear to be throwing in the MW Championship Game.

UNLV (mostly) coasted through the lighter portion of its conference slate to start out 3-1, even with quarterback Doug Brumfield going down with an injury early on. Freshman Jayden Maiava has stepped in and played admirably, throwing for 1,828 yards and 10 touchdowns compared to just four interceptions, and junior receiver Ricky White (876 yards, six touchdowns) has been his security blanket throughout the year. A heartbreaking 31-24 defeat at the hands of Fresno State two weeks ago put a dent in UNLV’s conference title hopes, but the Rebels rebounded to throttle New Mexico 56-14 in a dominant showing. UNLV still has a shot at making the MW Championship Game if it can close out the season strong against the likes of Wyoming and Air Force. 

The legendary Craig Bohl and his team have been business as usual this season, fielding a punishing rushing attack and a physical defense. Andrew Peasley and running back Harrison Waylee have formed a solid one-two punch in the backfield (combined for 921 rushing yards), and the defense has generally been solid in allowing 25.1 points per game. The 32-7 humbling loss to Boise State two weeks ago was damning, but the Cowboys did rebound nicely with a 24-15 win over Colorado State last week. Waylee has been banged up as of late, but he appeared to regain his confidence with a 128-yard performance against the Rams. With Hawai’i and Nevada lying in wait on the Cowboys’ schedule, this is the last true test for Wyoming during Mountain West play. A win here and Bohl’s team can make one last-gasp effort at qualifying for the conference title game.

In a contrast of styles, I’ll take the ground-and-pound to grind out a win in a hard-fought game. 

Score Prediction: Wyoming 28, UNLV 21

Old Dominion (4-5, 3-3) at Liberty (9-0, 7-0)

1:00 PM ET | ESPN+

MyBookie Odds: Liberty -13.5

Last Matchup: Liberty 38-24 in 2022

NY6 Impact: High

Stars To Watch: Jason Henderson (LB, ODU), Kaidon Salter (QB, Liberty)

What’s On The Line: We are treated to a bit of late-season non-conference action this weekend when the Monarchs travel to Lynchburg for a date with the Flames.

Liberty, while still likely behind Tulane in the upcoming College Football Playoff rankings, has a backdoor chance at representing the Group of Five in the New Year’s Six if it can maintain its undefeated record throughout the rest of the season. With Kaidon Salter slinging the rock and Quinton Cooley (981 yards) balancing the offense on the ground, the Flames are as dynamic of an offense as any in the country. That is in large part thanks to new head coach Jamey Chadwell, whose triple option-like attack has translated well to the speedy personnel that Liberty features. That offensive scheme looked unstoppable in a 56-30 win over Louisiana Tech last week, as the Flames racked up 602 yards of offense. Liberty has already passed its toughest C-USA tests of the season in taking down Western Kentucky, Jacksonville State and New Mexico State, but ODU will present a very different challenge.

In their second year of competition in the Sun Belt, the Monarchs have managed to tread water after being humbled during a 3-9 ‘22 campaign. ODU has managed to take down quality Louisiana and Appalachian State teams, and it narrowly fell to Wake Forest early in the season. The Monarchs don’t necessarily excel in any one area, but if there is anybody to know on this roster, it’s junior linebacker Jason Henderon, who leads the nation with 141 total tackles this season. ODU held a 21-6 lead over Coastal Carolina with 2:02 remaining in the third quarter last week, but the Monarchs relinquished that lead and fell 28-24 in heartbreaking fashion. Now, bowl eligibility is the goal for an ODU team that will have to take on the Georgia schools of the Sun Belt following this one.

I fully expect Old Dominion to challenge Liberty physically in a way that it has not been tested all season, and it will be desperate to pick up a pivotal win for its bowl hopes. The way the Flames respond to that challenge may determine if they are worthy of a NY6 bowl berth. It will be close, but the dream season will remain alive for Chadwell and Co.

Score Prediction: Liberty 31, Old Dominion 23

Texas State (6-3, 3-2) at Coastal Carolina (6-3, 4-2)

3:30 PM ET | ESPN+

MyBookie Odds: Texas State -1.5

Last Matchup: CCU 35-21 in 2021

NY6 Impact: Low

Stars To Watch: TJ Finley (QB, Texas State), Sam Pinckney (WR, CCU)

What’s On The Line: And, it would not be a typical week on the watch without at least one Sun Belt contest. 

This one carries a fair amount of conference title implications, as Coastal Carolina is currently positioned to take James Madison’s place in the Sun Belt Championship Game from the East and Texas State is one Troy loss away from being right back in the thick of things in the West.

GJ Kinne has worked wonders in San Marcos, revitalizing former LSU and Auburn quarterback TJ Finley’s career and leading the Bobcats to their first ever bowl appearance. The team played perhaps its best game of the season against Georgia Southern last week in a 45-24 win, as the defense contained Davis Brin and the GSU passing attack while Finley accounted for over 300 yards and five touchdowns. The transfer quarterback has thrown for 2,504 yards and 18 touchdowns in a breakout campaign, and he has an ultra-reliable target to throw to in junior Joey Hobert (team-high 64 catches and 804 yards). 5-foot-9 running back Ismail Mahdi is an explosive runner and has already rushed for 953 yards on the season, with an absurd 6.9 yards per carry. The Bobcats defense has looked vulnerable at times, but it forced GSU into two turnovers last week and held the Eagles to 4-for-10 conversions on third down. Consistently winning in those two areas would go a long way in supporting this potent offense.

The Chanticleers got out to a rocky start in the post-Jamey Chadwell era, beginning the season at 2-3 and 0-2 in Sun Belt play. The offense struggled at the start, but the unit figured things out amid a three-game winning streak in October. Veteran quarterback Grayson McCall appeared to rediscover his swagger during the streak, but he was carted off the field toward the end of the Arkansas State game after a late hit caused his head to bounce off the turf. McCall was motionless for some time, but it was reported that he had full movement the next morning. He did not play against Old Dominion last week, but backup Ethan Vasko threw for 180 yards, rushed for 170 more and accounted for two touchdowns in the comeback win over the Monarchs. If Vasco can continue to play at that high of a level, then the sky may be the limit for this CCU squad.

The Chanticleers are hot and will be in front of a raucous crown in Conway. Vasko will be charged with going toe-to-toe with Finley in this one, and I believe he will be up to the challenge with some help from Chadwell’s unique playbook.

Score Prediction: Coastal Carolina 34, Texas State 27

And now, 10 weeks into the season, we update the NY6 power rankings, with James Madison now claiming the top spot and Memphis and SMU making sizable moves up the standings:

1. James Madison
2. Tulane
3. Liberty
4. Fresno State
5. Troy
6. Memphis
7. SMU
8. Toledo
9. Texas State
10. UNLV