Oregon State freshman receiver Jesse Legree leads the nation in receiving yards.

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Growing up, my favorite part of college football has always been watching the non-power conference teams, whether it’s some mid-week MACtion or some 11 p.m. Mountain West football. The Group of 6, year in and year out, has some of the most underrated players in college football and I want to point those players out to the casual college football fan. 

Everyone watched Trinidad Chambliss and the Rebels take down Lane Kiffin in primetime, but did you hear about the Memphis tight end Hunter Tipton going for 230 yards against Boise State? The GO6 is awesome this season, and here are some of the top performances from players that you may not have heard about.

Oregon State WR Jesse Legree (10.00 BiteScore) and QB Braden Atkinson (10.00 BS)

This Oregon State duo has been unbelievable to start the year. In just three games, this duo has put up video game numbers against solid defenses. In their first two games of the season, they played Houston and Texas Tech, two teams that are thought of as Big 12 title contenders. 

They brought their team to close games against both, with Atkinson throwing for 413 yards against the Red Raiders. Legree also hauled in 240 of those yards, and this defense was supposed to be one of the best in the country. This Oregon State team was expected to be quite bad, but through these two players, it has a real shot in the reassembled PAC-12 title race. 

We haven’t even mentioned the craziest part about these players. Atkinson is a true sophomore, and Legree is a true freshman. This duo has so much more room to grow and improve as the season progresses.

Boise State RB Dylan Riley (10.00 BS)

Don’t we all just love an elite Boise State running back? 

Dylan Riley has been lights out through three games this season. In one of the biggest Group of 6 games of the year so far, Riley ran all over Memphis, accumulating 216 rushing yards to pave Boise State’s path to a dominant win. 

Want to know what he followed that game up with? 198 rushing yards to help the Broncos cruise to a victory over South Dakota. While Riley might not be Ashton Jeanty, he certainly isn’t a slouch, and he deserves more attention than he’s getting. Boise State is becoming a farm for talented running backs.

California S Kingston Lopa (10.00 BS)

I can’t help but sit in awe while Kingston Lopa flies around the field. In California’s Week 2 game against Syracuse, Lopa had three interceptions, one of which was the game-winning pick-six in the late fourth quarter. It was probably one of the more impressive defensive performances I’ve seen and his game deserves more recognition.

His other two games have also been quite good, recording an interception in both. He’s had an unbelievable start to this season and I just can’t believe the lack of coverage on his Week 2 game.

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