Arizona at Toledo
(5 p.m. Friday on ESPN)
The 2010 Wildcats season begins in Ohio as they face off with Toledo. Junior quarterback Nick Foles will pick up where he left off last season, taking the reins for his first full season as a starter.
The returners are ready for a fresh start after the Wildcats embarrassment in last December’s Holiday Bowl. That game will be best remembered as the first shutout in Holiday Bowl history, with Nebraska winning 33-0.
Luckily for Foles and the rest of nine returning offensive starters, Toledo is no defensive juggernaut. The Rockets struggled on defense last year, giving up 37.7 points per game en route to a 5-7 record. Sophomore Austin Dantin earned the starting quarterback job for the Rockets. Dantin started in three games last season, throwing for four touchdowns and a total of 962 yards. Toledo led the Mid-American Conference in total offense last season.
Key Stat: Toledo has yet to record a win in four total appearances against Pac-10 teams.
UCLA at Kansas State
(12:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC)
The Bruins’ season opens with a bit of irony. In a nationally televised game on ABC, former Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti will be providing the color commentary. Bellotti and UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel are not known to be the best of friends, but even Bellotti would have to admit that the Bruins may surprise the conference this year.
After a rocky start, UCLA won four of its last five games in 2009, including a 30-21 win in the EagleBank Bowl over Temple. Though just five starters return on defense, the unit should be strong under the leadership of junior safety Rahim Moore and senior linebacker Akeem Ayers. Both have been listed as players to watch, both for national awards and the NFL Draft.
The starting quarterback situation is less certain, with Neuheisel set to choose between sophomores Kevin Prince and Richard Brehaut just before game time. For Kansas State, senior Carson Coffman has earned the starting job at quarterback. Returning in the backfield is senior Daniel Thomas, a star running back who gathered 1,265 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2009.
Key Stat: The Bruins have won their last five season-opening games.
UC Davis at California
(1 p.m. Saturday)
After ending the 2009 season with two disappointing losses, the Golden Bears return to action at home against the Aggies.
Perennial Heisman candidate Jahvid Best may be gone, but head coach Jeff Tedford appears to have found an able replacement in junior Shane Vereen. Replacing an injured Best in the team’s final four games in 2009, the explosive tailback averaged 141.5 yards per game and scored six touchdowns. With the backfield all to himself this year, the sky appears to be the limit for Vereen. Also returning for his senior year is quarterback Kevin Riley.
UC Davis, meanwhile, is coming off a 6-5 season under veteran head coach Bob Biggs. Redshirt freshman Randy Wright will have his first collegiate start for the Aggies as quarterback. Given Wright’s inexperience, look for the Golden Bears to apply the pressure.
Perennial Heisman candidate Jahvid Best may be gone, but head coach Jeff Tedford appears to have found an able replacement in junior Shane Vereen. Replacing an injured Best in the team’s final four games in 2009, the explosive tailback averaged 141.5 yards per game and scored six touchdowns. With the backfield all to himself this year, the sky appears to be the limit for Vereen. Also returning for his senior year is quarterback Kevin Riley.
UC Davis, meanwhile, is coming off a 6-5 season under veteran head coach Bob Biggs. Redshirt freshman Randy Wright will have his first collegiate start for the Aggies as quarterback. Given Wright’s inexperience, look for the Golden Bears to apply the pressure.
Key Stat: Of California’s eight wins against UC Davis, six have been shutouts.
Sacramento State at Stanford
(3:30 p.m. Saturday)
Though unranked to start the season, many have picked the Cardinal as a dark horse candidate for the Pac-10 title.
Star running back Toby Gerhart may now be playing with Brett Favre in the NFL, but redshirt sophomore quarterback Andrew Luck and head coach Jim Harbaugh remain a source of genuine optimism around Palo Alto. After passing for 2,575 yards last season and throwing just four interceptions, Luck has even made it into the Heisman conversation, while Harbaugh is considered one of the better coaches in the nation.
Though the Cardinal ended 2009 on a bitter note with a loss at the hands of Oklahoma in the Sun Bowl, the 31-27 result did not look so bad considering the absence of an injured Luck. With Gerhart gone, look for Luck to take the reins of what should be an upstart team in the conference. Meanwhile, senior McLeod Bethel-Thompson will start at quarterback for the Hornets. A UCLA transfer, Bethel-Thompson will certainly face a challenge in his first ever season-opening start.
Key Stat: Junior wide receiver Chris Owusu has averaged 29.3 yards returning kicks for his career, first all-time in Stanford history.
Washington State at Oklahoma State
(4 p.m. Saturday)
After a 1-11 2009 season that could only be described as dismal, the Cougars look for a fresh start in 2010. The road will not be easy, however, and Oklahoma State is certainly no pushover.
Cougars sophomore Jeff Tuel will start at quarterback, looking to improve upon an uneven performance in 2009. The likely starter at running back will be senior James Montgomery, who returns from an injury-plagued 2009. Meanwhile, Oklahoma State begins what may be a transition year after the departures of quarterback Zac Robinson and wide receiver Dez Bryant.
Stepping in at quarterback will be 26-year-old junior Brandon Weeden, who will be expected to lead an offense that averaged 28.4 points per game last year.
Key Stat: The Cougars were outscored by an average of 24.3 points in 2009.
Washington at Brigham Young
(4 p.m. Saturday)
All eyes will be on senior quarterback Jake Locker, whom many analysts consider to be the top overall NFL Draft prospect in the class of 2011. In 2009, under the tutelage of first-year head coach Steve Sarkisian, Locker threw for 2,800 yards and 21 touchdowns, while also rushing for 388 yards and seven scores.
The Huskies compiled a 5-7 season, which included a stunning upset of then-No. 3 USC and a 42-10 whipping of then-No. 19 California to cap it off. Now, Sarkisian returns to Brigham Young, where he started at quarterback for two years.
On the Cougars’ side, junior Riley Nelson and freshman Jake Heaps will lead a two-headed attack at quarterback, replacing standout Max Hall.
Key Stat: Locker scored three times in his last meeting with BYU in 2008, a 28-27 loss.
No. 24 Oregon State at No. 6 TCU
(4:45 p.m. Saturday on ESPN)
In an otherwise mundane opening weekend for the Pac-10, this matchup stands out. Beavers head coach Mike Riley made the bold decision to accept a week one face-off with a powerhouse Horned Frogs squad, a choice that could make or break Oregon State’s season.
Without former quarterback Sean Canfield, both Jacquizz and James Rodgers will be relied upon more heavily than ever. Running back Jacquizz’s star was officially born in 2009, when he rushed for 1,440 yards, totaled 78 receptions for another 522 yards, and scored 22 total touchdowns. Wide receiver James, meanwhile, led the Beavers with 91 receptions in 2009 while also returning kickoffs and punts.
Promising sophomore Ryan Katz takes over at quarterback, while dominant tackle Steven Paea anchors the defense. Still, the Horned Frogs present a significant challenge with a defense that held opponents to just 12.8 points last season.
Key Stat: The Beavers find themselves in the preseason AP top 25 for the first time since 2001.
Portland State at Arizona State
(7 p.m. Saturday)
A disappointing 2-7 Pac-10 season now in its rearview mirror, Arizona State looks for a fresh start against Portland State. Michigan transfer Steven Threet earned the starting job at quarterback, beating out junior Samson Szakacsy and sophomore Brock Osweiler.
Sophomore linebacker Vontaze Burfict, meanwhile, looks to improve upon an impressive freshman season during which he earned honors as the Pac-10 Defensive Freshman of the Year. Portland State enters 2010 looking for redemption as well, having finished 2009 with a 2-9 record. The defense is in particular need for improvement, having given up 33.8 points per game in 2009.
Key Stat: Though Arizona State and Portland State have never met, Sun Devil head coach Dennis Erickson is undefeated (4-0) against the Vikings.