No. 6 Stanford at Arizona (Saturday, 7:45 p.m.)@@http://espn.go.com/college-football/schedule@@
Stanford, coming off blowouts of San Jose State and Duke in its first two weeks of action, looks deserving of the top-10 ranking it received to begin the season. Andrew Luck appears to be the Heisman Trophy front-runner and will try to kick off his conference season with a bang against the Wildcats. Arizona, on the other hand, is in the midst of a brutal four-game stretch, having lost to then-No. 9 Oklahoma State last week and facing Stanford, Oregon and USC in its first three Pac-12 contests. In 2010, a November loss to then-No.13 Stanford put the Wildcats into a late-season tailspin that ruined an otherwise-promising campaign. This year’s matchup could yield a similar effect as Arizona tries to grit through a series of early contests with conference heavyweights.
No. 23 Texas at UCLA (Saturday, 12:30 p.m.) @@http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/_/id/251/texas-longhorns@@
UCLA has started 2011 with a pair of lackluster performances, losing a shootout to Houston before squeaking by an overmatched San Jose State squad last week. A matchup with the Longhorns may be just what the Bruins need to get the fire burning. Last year, UCLA highlighted an impressive early-season run with a 34-12 shellacking of then-No. 7 Texas. Though the Bruins faded late in the season, the win showed promise for a rushing attack that racked up 264 yards in that matchup. Junior running back Jonathan Franklin @@http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/_/id/380712/johnathan-franklin@@needs to hit the ground running again or the Bruins may get buried early on. Texas, who escaped with a 17-16 win over BYU last week thanks to the late heroics of Case McCoy @@http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/_/id/501941/case-mccoy@@(younger brother of Colt) and Jaxon Shipley @@http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/_/id/511290/jaxon-shipley@@(younger brother of Jordan) has a bona fide quarterback controversy on its hands. Regardless, that seems to be sufficient in Austin to pull out another win over an unranked opponent.@@http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=302680251@@
Presbyterian College at California (Saturday, 2:30 p.m.) @@http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/_/id/2506/presbyterian-blue-hose@@
Cal head coach Jeff Tedford @@http://www.calbears.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/tedford_jeff00.html@@will look to become the program’s all-time leader in wins when his team takes on Presbyterian College of the Big South Conference Saturday. This contest should be a welcome break for the Golden Bears, who last week needed a clutch grab by promising sophomore wide receiver Keenan Allen @@http://www.calbears.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/allen_keenan00.html@@to beat Colorado in overtime. Allen’s half-brother, starting quarterback Zach Maynard, @@http://www.calbears.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/maynard_zach00.html@@should have a big day for Cal. Last season, ACC opponents Wake Forest and Clemson throttled Presbyterian in lopsided blowouts. Saturday should produce more of the same for a heavily favored California squad.
Syracuse at USC (Saturday, 5 p.m.) @@http://www.fbschedules.com/ncaa-11/pac-10/2011-usc-trojans-football-schedule.php@@
After a shaky start to 2011, USC’s offense needs to make a statement against the Orange on Saturday. Last week, the Trojans needed a last-minute field goal block to escape with a 23-14 victory over Utah in the inaugural game of the newly minted Pac-12. The week before that, against a weak Minnesota squad, USC was unable to score in the second half of an unsightly 19-17 win. The highly touted quarterback-wide receiver tandem of Matt Barkley @@http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/_/id/480322/matt-barkley@@and Robert Woods@@http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/woods_robert00.html@@ has performed well, but the running game, behind newly reinstated back Marc Tyler, @@http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/tyler_marc00.html@@needs take a step forward for the Trojans to support their status as heavy favorites in the Pac-12 South.
Washington at No. 11 Nebraska (Saturday, 12:30 p.m.) @@http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/_/id/264/washington-huskies@@
The Huskies and Cornhuskers battled two times in 2010, with sharply contrasting results in each matchup. In their first game of the season in September, then-No. 8 Nebraska humbled Washington during a 56-21 victory in which it racked up 533 yards of total offense. In his first career road start, quarterback Taylor Martinez @@http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=3662348@@ran for 137 yards and three touchdowns, including the longest TD run by a freshman in Nebraska history. However, the two teams met again in the Holiday Bowl, and the Huskies turned the tables, emerging with a 19-7 victory in their first bowl berth since 2002. Though Martinez later admitted he was hindered by injury in the defeat, this nonconference matchup presents an intriguing opportunity for Washington to highlight its first season in the post-Jake Locker era with a landmark victory over a ranked Nebraska squad that was picked to win the Big Ten in its first season in the conference.@@http://www.huskers.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPSID=3&SPID=22&DB_OEM_ID=100&Q_SEASON=2010@@
Colorado vs. Colorado State (Saturday, 12:30 p.m.)
Colorado’s explosive passing attack was on full display last week against California, with senior quarterback Tyler Hansen @@http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/_/id/380345/tyler-hansen@@throwing for 447 yards and three scores. @@http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/gamelog/_/id/380345/tyler-hansen@@However, most of those completions came courtesy of sophomore receiver Paul Richardson, @@http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/players/113276/paul-richardson@@who hauled in 11 of those completions for a school-record 284 yards.@@http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/gamelog/_/id/505345/paul-richardson@@ Despite outgaining the Bears by more than 200 yards, the Buffaloes came up just short in overtime. If it wants to have a successful first season in the conference, Colorado needs to reduce its penalties (12 for 98 yards last week) and up its conversion rate on third downs (they were a paltry 6 of 17 versus Cal). Colorado State usually gets up for games against their in-state rival, and this matchup is taking place in Denver at a neutral site. With a few small mistakes in this game, Colorado could find itself 0-3 before beginning play in the revamped Pac-12. (Its contest with Cal didn’t count due to a home-and-home scheduled prior to conference realignment.)@@http://espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=312530038@@
Utah at BYU (Saturday, 6:15 p.m.) @@http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/sep/14/byu-utah-rivalry-game-no-longer-mountain-west-matc/@@

BYU squandered a momentous opportunity to take out a powerhouse opponent when it blew a 10-point halftime lead against Texas last week. The same could be said for Utah, which entered the fourth quarter trailing USC by three before being held scoreless for the remainder of the game. This in-state rivalry game (nicknamed the Holy War) looks to be close, as the two teams have split the rivalry down the middle of the last 24 seasons. One key will be Utah quarterback Jordan Wynn@@http://utahutes.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/wynn_jordan00.html@@ — whose arm strength is down after shoulder surgery — utilizing his reads to pick apart the Cougars secondary.
No. 22 Arizona State at Illinois (Saturday, 4 p.m.) @@http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/preview?gameId=312600356@@

Arizona State, fresh off a 37-30 victory over then-No. 21 Missouri, should be feeling good about its chances in Champaign. @@http://ci.champaign.il.us/@@Against the Tigers, the Sun Devils used an impressive effort by first-year starting quarterback Brock Osweiler @@http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/osweiler_brock00.html@@(353 yards, 3 touchdowns, no interceptions) @@http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/_/id/9/arizona-state-sun-devils@@to build an early 30-16 lead, though they needed a score in overtime to end the game. Illinois, off to an impressive 2-0 start, will aim to assert its powerful running game (283 yards per game, best in the Big Ten) and wear down Arizona State early. Even on the road, the Sun Devils should get the best of the Illini in a closely contested match.@@http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/_/id/356/illinois-fighting-illini@@
Washington State at San Diego State (Saturday, 3:30 p.m.) @@http://www.fbschedules.com/ncaa-11/pac-10/2011-washington-state-cougars-football-schedule.php@@

Washington State finds itself in unfamiliar territory two games into 2011. The Cougars are 2-0 for the first time since 2005 and have put together their first two-game winning streak under fourth-year head coach Paul Wulff. @@http://www.wsucougars.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/wulff_paul00.html@@They also lead the nation in scoring with nearly 62 points per game after averaging only 19.6 per game last season. However, the team can’t feel good about the absence of starting quarterback Jeff Tuel,@@http://www.wsucougars.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/tuel_jeff00.html@@ who had shown huge upside in 2010 and was lost to a broken collarbone in their first game of the season. The Aztecs will look to slow down the Cougars’ aerial attack and establish their running game with speedy running back Ronnie Hillman,@@http://goaztecs.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/hillman_ronnie00.html@@ who has already rushed for 306 yards and four touchdowns through two games.