No. 21 Missouri at Arizona State (Friday 7:30 p.m., ESPN)@@http://espn.go.com/college-football/schedule@@
Though both earned wins, the Tigers and Sun Devils had very different season openers against non-BCS conference opponents. Missouri looked woeful against Miami of Ohio, tallying only 291 yards of offense in a 17-6 victory. Conversely, Arizona State racked up 517 yards in a 48-14 demolition of UC Davis. Sun Devils quarterback Brock Osweiler was sharp, completing 19 of 26 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns, and talented linebacker Vontaze Burfict had three sacks. @@http://www.azcentral.com/sports/asu/articles/2011/09/01/20110901asu-football-vontaze-burfict-season-debut.html@@If the Tigers are to extend their 22-game non-conference winning streak, they’ll need to play better against a stout Sun Devils defense.@@http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/15536710@@
Oregon State at No. 8 Wisconsin (Saturday, 9 a.m., ESPN)
Madison, Wisc., is not the place for a team to rebound from a season-opening loss, but that’s where the Beavers are headed after being shocked by Football Championship Subdivision squad Sacramento State last weekend. With athletic signal caller Russell Wilson at the helm, the Badgers looked sharp in a 51-17 shellacking of visiting UNLV last week. Wisconsin racked up 499 yards of total offense and ran away from the Rebels. Oregon State will be a heavy underdog, and a brewing quarterback controversy between Ryan Katz and redshirt freshman Sean Mannion won’t make things any easier.@@http://www.osubeavers.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/orst-m-footbl-mtt.html@@
No. 6 Stanford at Duke (Saturday, 12:30 p.m., ESPNU)
Last time Stanford visited the state of North Carolina, the Cardinal suffered a dramatic 24-17 loss. This time figures to play out differently. Fresh off a 57-3 rout of San Jose State, Stanford will battle a Duke team that was upset at home by FCS school Richmond a week ago. To make matters worse, the Blue Devils could be without star running back Desmond Scott,@@http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=204766144@@ who suffered a leg injury in Duke’s opener. The Blue Devils’ best shot for an upset lies in their relatively potent passing attack. Quarterback Sean Renfree threw for 3,131 yards last season, and has several skilled receivers, including Conner Vernon and Donovan Varner, to help put points on the board.@@http://cfn.scout.com/2/1082422.html@@
California at Colorado (Saturday, 12:30 p.m.)
Cal quarterback Zach Maynard@@http://www.calbears.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/maynard_zach00.html@@ was sharp in his Golden Bear debut, a 36-21 win over Fresno State last Saturday. Maynard, a dynamic athlete whose passing skills have been questioned, threw for 266 yards and two scores in the win. Colorado, on the other hand, struggled against Hawaii in a 34-17 season opening loss. Though quarterback Tyler Hansen was solid, Colorado gained only 17 yards rushing for a 0.6 yards per carry average. The Buffaloes will struggle to significantly improve that number against Cal’s solid front seven. It’s worth noting that even though both Colorado and Cal play in the Pac-12, this game will be considered a non-conference matchup because it was scheduled before conference realignment.
Hawaii at Washington (Saturday, 12:30 p.m.)
After getting by upset-minded Eastern Washington in the home opener despite allowing 473 passing yards, the Huskies’ shaky secondary will face another stiff test in Bryant Moniz @@http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/_/id/480919/bryant-moniz@@and the Warriors. Moniz, who threw for 5,040 yards last year, was sharp in his team’s season-opening victory over Colorado. While playing at home will be help, Washington will need to shore up its defense and rely on the steady play of running back Chris Polk, @@http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/_/id/379206/chris-polk@@or it could be the second straight Pac-12 squad to fall to Hawaii. The Huskies will also look for more production out of quarterback Keith Price,@@http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/_/id/482599/keith-price@@ who threw for only 102 yards in the opener.@@http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/_/id/264/washington-huskies@@
Utah at USC (Saturday, 4:30 p.m., Versus)
Neither the Utes nor the Trojans were sharp in their season-openers. USC edged out mediocre Minnesota 19-17 at home, while Utah held off lower-division Montana State 27-10. Both teams will look to play better in the Utes’ first-ever Pac-12 conference matchup. Last weekend, while USC moved the ball well through the air, the Trojans were stifled on the ground to the tune of 2.4 yards per carry. The return of star running back Marc Tyler from suspension should help USC in that facet of the game. Conversely, Utah gained only 101 yards through the air, but 191 on the ground in their opener.@@http://espn.go.com/ncf/conversation?gameId=312530030@@ @@http://espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=312440254@@ @@http://espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=312460030@@
UNLV at Washington State (Saturday, 2:00 p.m.)
Washington State, which opened the season with high hopes and bowl aspirations, took a big hit in their 64-21 route of Idaho State. Star quarterback Jeff Tuel suffered a broken left clavicle in the win, @@http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/_/id/482620/jeff-tuel@@and is expected to miss more than a month. His backup, Marshall Lobbestael, @@http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/_/id/236759/marshall-lobbestael@@played well in relief against the Bengals, but has struggled as a Cougar, throwing nine touchdowns against 12 interceptions in his career. That might not matter against an inferior UNLV squad that was rolled over 51-17 by Wisconsin in its season-opener. The Rebels were able to move the ball on the ground against the Badgers, however, piling up 146 rushing yards on 38 carries. @@http://espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=312460265@@ @@http://espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=312440275@@
San Jose State at UCLA (Saturday, 7:30 p.m.)
Both the Spartans and Bruins had season openers to forget. San Jose State was blown out 57-3 by Stanford, while UCLA fell 38-34 at Houston. Still, the Bruins, who will be without starting center Kai Maiava @@http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/maiava_kai00.html@@due to suspension, are heavy favorites against a Spartan squad that won only one game last season. UCLA quarterback Kevin Prince — who was knocked out of the Houston game with a concussion but could play this week — and backup Richard Brehaut form a solid, if unspectacular, duo. That should be plenty against San Jose State – the Spartans haven’t won a road game since Nov. 1, 2008, at Idaho.@@http://articles.latimes.com/2011/aug/30/sports/la-sp-ucla-football-20110831@@