Week 5 college football Five Factors box scores

This week’s Five Factors box scores are up! Check out all the results here. Week 5’s superior performances in each category are below.

Top 5 success rate margins (vs. FBS)

1. Alabama (+54.2% vs. UL-Lafayette)
2. Cincinnati (+33.9% vs. UConn)
3. Wake Forest (+31.8% vs. Rice)
4. Michigan State (+30.2% vs. CMU)
5. Fresno State (+29.7% vs. Toledo)

Michigan State pawed at CMU like a cat with an injured mouse but never actually got around to administering the kill.

Top 5 yards per play margins (vs. FBS)

1. Oklahoma (+6.4 vs. Baylor)
2. Troy (+5.2 vs. Coastal Carolina)
3. Georgia Tech (+5.0 vs. Bowling Green)
4. Alabama (+4.8 vs. UL-Lafayaette)
5. Cincinnati (+3.6 vs. UConn)

UConn and UTEP have gotten attention for how bad they’ve been this year, but Bowling Green has been slipping below the radar. But make no mistake: the Falcons have been terrible. And they’re just 1.0 points from being the worst team in S&P+.

Top 5 field position margins (vs. FBS)

1. Kentucky (+19.7 yards per possession vs. South Carolina)
2. Ball State (+17.8 vs. Kent State)
3. UTSA (+17.5 vs. UTEP)
4. ODU (+16.8 vs. ECU)
5. Michigan State (+15.5 vs. CMU)

ODU is not good, but ECU overcame a massive field position advantage to secure a win. The Pirates are, at 102nd, almost in the double digits in S&P+. These aren’t amazing things, but they’re definitive signs of progress in Greenville.

Top 5 points per scoring opportunity margins (vs. FBS)

1. UAB (+4.7 points per opp vs. Charlotte)
2. Iowa State (+4.5 vs. TCU)
3. Cincinnati (+4.4 vs. UConn)
4. Georgia Southern (+4.1 vs. Arkansas State)
5. Appalachian State (+4.0 vs. South Alabama)

Let’s not overlook the fact that Georgia Southern is now 3-1, less than a year after looking like they were going to go 0-12. The Eagles still have to deal with Troy and company in the Sun Belt East, but Chad Lunsford’s done a hell of a job there so far.

Top 5 turnovers luck margins (vs. FBS)

1. Liberty (+2.7 vs. New Mexico)
2. WKU (+2.5 vs. Marshall)
3. Georgia State (+2.4 vs. ULM)
4. West Virginia (+2.3 vs. Texas Tech)
5. UCF (+2.0 vs. Pitt)

Translation: WVU had a turnover margin that was +2.3 ahead of where national averages suggest it should have been. As each turnover is worth approximately five points, that means the Bears enjoyed about a 11 to 12-point boost thanks to turnovers luck in an eight-point win. You fell asleep but got away with it, Mountaineers.

(Baylor, by the way, was at plus-1.8 in the turnovers luck department. Always fun to get lucky in a 33-point loss.)