Week Five Underdogs Poll

What is the Underdogs Poll? Every week, writers and editors from SB Nation's Group of Five blogs -- Bull Run, The Daily Stampede, Down the Drive, Hustle Belt, Miner Rush, Mountain West Connection, The UConn Blog, Underdog Dynasty, and Vanquish the Foe -- put their heads together to determine the best of the best, week in and week out, from the teams we cover. The poll is hosted by our friends at the Mountain West Connection. You can read their take on this week’s poll at this link.

After a couple weeks of stagnation we finally have some huge shifts in our SB Nation Group of Five poll. The South Alabama Jaguars drew the world’s attention in week one after beating Mississippi State in Stark Vegas courtesy of a Bulldog field goal shanked off the upright. The Jaguars lost to Georgia Southern and Louisiana-Lafayette before being taken to overtime by the FCS Nicholls Colonels. The rocky follow up to the Jaguars’ win over MSU led fools like myself to believe USA’s first week of the season to be a fluke. Ha!

Previously undefeated San Diego State traveled to Mobile only to have their #3 Underdog rank shredded to pieces by the Jags’ defense and quarterback Cole Garvin. Not only was the final score of 42-24 shocking, the Jags did it with their second string quarterback as starter Dallas Davis was forced to sit out with an injury. While South Alabama only reached the 13th spot in the poll their win forced the Aztecs to tumble from the third spot to the seventh as SDSU was passed up by Western Michigan, South Florida, Air Force, and Toledo.

Also making notable moves up the rankings include Southern Miss and Troy. USM suffered a tumble after losing to Troy but the Trojans have proven to be a high quality team under Neal Brown’s direction. The Golden Eagles defeated Rice last week to jump to #12 while Troy maintains their lead over the rest of the Sun Belt with a #8 ranking following a road win against Idaho.

Underdogs of the Week

Tyler Jones, QB, Texas State - 31-of-40, 475 passing yards, five touchdowns in a 48-17 win vs. Incarnate Word

Nick Mullens, QB, Southern Mississippi - 25-of-36, 591 passing yards, four touchdowns in a 44-28 win vs. Rice

Cole Garvin, QB, South Alabama - 16-of-21, 242 passing yards, three touchdowns in a 42-24 win vs. San Diego State

Games to Watch in Week Six (all times CST)

#14 Western Kentucky vs Louisiana Tech, 7:00 pm, October 6th (CBS Sports Network) - While neither team has been tearing up the Underdogs poll a road win here from the Hilltoppers will help them to re-stake their claim as the top dog in Conference USA. The Thursday night match up should be a fun one as both teams have been listed as betting favorites in differing sports books this week.

#1 Houston vs #11 Navy, 2:00 pm, October 8th (CBS Sports Network) - Houston has hardly shown a sign of weakness this year but defending the triple option has been the undoing of many great teams in the past. Most folks have jumped the gun in assuming Louisville will be the Cougars’ last great challenge before the AAC championship game but Navy is always a tough out.

#14 Army vs Duke, 2:30 pm, October 8th (ACC Network) - Army has been one of the biggest surprises of the season and Vegas oddsmakers are giving the Black Knights their due. The Blue Devils are just a four point home favorite over the Cadets. A win here would certainly cause Army to jump up into the middle of the poll at worst.