With the battle of two heavyweights on national television complete and numerous great games and exciting finishes this week, I am posting the "How They Fared" sheet for Week 5.

There were few surprises in the top 17, as teams went a combined 14-2, and the two losses were to the #5 (North Dakota State over #9 North Dakota) and #8 (Eastern Washington over #4 Montana) teams. In other words, there were going to be two losses within this group anyway. Teams ranked #18-24 went 4-3, with a the three losses being a bit surprising either due to opponent (The Citadel over #18 Virginia Military Institute; Elon over #20 Richmond) or due to the game result itself (#38 Harvard over #23 Holy Cross).

Teams #26-40 fared well, going 10-5. Two of the losses in this group were to the #2 (Sam Houston over #34 Stephen F. Austin) and #3 (James Madison over #29 New Hampshire) teams, and two of the losses were to each other (#36 Kennesaw State over 28 Jacksonville State and #31 Duquesne over #37 Merrimack).

A few of the games this week were nail-biters and also a bit surprising. Western Illinois managed to put yet another scare into a top 10 team this week, this time losing to #6 Southern Illinois 30-31 in OT. #2 Sam Houston (with a backup QB starting) had to score 15 unanswered (including one score within the final 3 min) in the 4th Qtr to defeat #34 Stephen F. Austin 21-20. Even #29 New Hampshire, after getting beat by Pitt 77-7 last week, gave #3 James Madison all they could handle, losing 21-23.

To see all of this and other game results, CLICK HERE TO SEE “HOW THEY FARED”.