Colorado vs. Colorado St.
After the Democratic National Convention cools down and leaves Invesco, the intrastate rivalry in Colorado heats up. The Buffaloes are led by the Hawkins’ father-son duo, both starting their second season with the Buffaloes with father Dan calling the plays for son Cody.
The younger Hawkins threw for just over 3,000 yards in his first season, and with the addition of highly touted true freshman Darrell Scott, the Buffaloes should have a high-powered offense. The Rams want nothing more than a win against their rival in new head coaches Steve Fairchild’s first game.
No. 6 Missouri vs. No. 20 Illinois
Fresh off their best seasons in a long, long time, both Missouri and Illinois enter this season ranked in the top 20 and looking to have even bigger seasons this year. Chase Daniel was a Heisman finalist last season when he threw for 4,306 yards and 33 touchdowns. Though Daniel lost a huge target in tight end Chase Koffman, he still has the speedy Jeremy Maclin to throw to. The Tigers will also try to get Maclin the ball on the ground on reverses and by putting him in the backfield — if he can get away from the Illinois defense, the Tigers might be on their way to another win against a resurgent Illinois
team.
Though Illinois lost running back Rashard Mendenhall, quarterback Juice Williams returns
to lead the Illini against their rival Missouri. Williams, who is emerging into a strong pocket
passer, will try not to be outshone by Daniel in this regional rivalry.
No. 14 Kansas vs. Florida International
Texan Todd Reesing leads the Jayhawks into the 2008 season trying to reproduce last year’s dream season, which included a BCS bowl win and a climb all the way to No. 2 in the national rankings. Though Kansas has lost some of the key players from last year’s dream team, it does return Reesing — who threw for over 3,486 yards and 33 touchdowns
— as well as nine starters on defense. While Florida International won’t be a huge test for
Kansas, it will give the Jayhawks a chance to find replacements — a key to duplicating last year’s success.
Nebraska vs. Western Michigan
The Huskers start the Bo Pellini-led era on Saturday, when theytake on the Broncos, who madea bowl last year in a season theyupset Iowa. Pellini can hope the Broncos don’t duplicate the Iowa outcome with a win in Lincoln—the Husker faithful might frown about an opening game loss.
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