Saturday, Sept. 1
East Carolina (0-0) at No. 9 Virginia Tech (0-0), Noon (ESPN)
Opening Line: Virginia Tech by 24.
Series Record: Virginia Tech leads 8-4.
Last Meeting: 2000, Virginia Tech 45-28.
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The Pirates last beat the Hokies 30-27 in 1992. … Chris Johnson led the Pirates with 972 all-purpose yards. … Virginia Tech has won the last five meetings. … Branden Ore rushed for 1,137 yards and 17 touchdowns last year.
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UAB (0-0) at Michigan State (0-0), Noon (ESPN2)
Opening Line: Michigan St. by 16 1/2.
Series Record: First meeting.
Last Meeting: First meeting.
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Neil Calloway’s first game as coach of the Blazers. … The Blazers lost their last six games last season. … Mark Dantonio makes his coaching debut with the Spartans. … Javon Ringer led the Spartans in rushing for the second year in a row with 497 yards.
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Colorado State (0-0) at Colorado (0-0), Noon (FSN)
Opening Line: Colorado by 4.
Series Record: Colorado leads 57-19-2.
Last Meeting: 2006, Colorado State, 14-10.
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Colorado had three players rush for over 500 yards for the 10th time in school history. … The Rams are 4-6 in their last 10 games against Colorado. … RB Kyle Bell returns for the Rams after missing the entire 2006 season, Bell rushed for 1,288 yards in 2005. … The last three games have been decided by seven points or less.
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Virginia (0-0) at Wyoming (0-0), 2 p.m. (Versus)
Opening Line: Virginia by 3.
Series Record: Virginia leads 1-0.
Last Meeting: 2006, Virginia 13-12 OT.
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Virginia beat Wyoming in overtime last year when the Cowboys missed an extra point. … The Cowboys were ranked number one in passing defense in the Mountain West Conference. … The Cavaliers finished 17th in overall defense last season and ten starters are back.
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Georgia Tech (0-0) at Notre Dame (0-0), 3:30 p.m. (NBC)
Opening Line: Notre Dame by 3.
Series Record: Notre Dame leads 27-5-1.
Last Meeting: 2006, Notre Dame 14-10.
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The last time Georgia Tech won in South Bend was a 14-10 victory on Nov. 7, 1959. … Georgia Tech is 0-4 all-time when opening the season against Notre Dame. … Notre Dame returns 10 starters from last year’s 10-3 team. … The Fighting Irish have won the last seven and are 11-2-1 overall at South Bend against Georgia Tech.
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Nevada (0-0) at No. 20 Nebraska (0-0), 3:30 p.m. (ABC)
Opening Line: Nebraska by 17 1/2.
Series Record: First meeting.
Last Meeting: First meeting.
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The Wolf Pack return 14 starters from last season’s 8-5 team. … LB Ezra Butler recorded 71 tackles including 17 1/2 tackles for loss and seven sacks. … Marlon Lucky rushed for 728 yards and six touchdowns for Nebraska last season. … Bo Ruud was selected to the All-Big 12 team after recording 162 tackles last season.
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Wake Forest (0-0) at Boston College (0-0), 3:30 p.m. (ABC or ESPN)
Opening Line: Boston College by 7.
Series Record: Series is tied at 6-6-2.
Last Meeting: 2006, Wake Forest 21-14.
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Wake Forest is coming off its second ACC championship in 54 seasons. … As a freshman quarterback Riley Skinner led the ACC in passing efficiency with a 139.6 rating. … Jeff Jagodzinski makes his coaching debut at BC. … QB Matt Ryan led the ACC in passing yardage (242.2) and is fifth among school career passing leaders with 4,806 yards.
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Washington State (0-0) at No. 7 Wisconsin (0-0), 3:30 p.m. (ABC or ESPN)
Opening Line: Wisconsin by 14 1/2.
Series Record: Wisconsin leads 1-0.
Last Meeting: 1976, Wisconsin 35-26.
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Dwight Tardy led the Cougars with 667 rushing yards as a freshmen. … Cougars face four teams that won at least 10 games last year and are on the road against three of them (at Wisconsin, USC and California, home to Oregon State) … P.J. Hill rushed for 1,569 yards and 15 touchdowns as a freshmen last year for the Badgers. … Wisconsin is one of just 10 schools that have won at least 30 games (31-7) over the past three seasons.
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No. 14 UCLA (0-0) at Stanford (0-0), 3:30 p.m. (FSN)
Opening Line: UCLA by 14.
Series Record: UCLA leads 43-31-3.
Last Meeting: 2006, UCLA 31-0.
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set West Coast offense and has switched the defensive alignment from a 3-4 to a 4-3.
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Missouri (0-0) at Illinois (0-0), 3:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Opening Line: Missouri by 4 1/2.
Series Record: Missouri leads 13-7.
Last Meeting: 2003, Missouri 22-15.
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Missouri lost 42-0 in the last visit to Champaign in 1994. … The Tigers have won two straight and three out of the last four against Illinois. … Juice Williams became the first QB in Illini history to throw two touchdown passes of more that 65 yards in one game a 31-21 loss to Syracuse last season.
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Arizona (0-0) at BYU (0-0), 5:30 p.m. (Versus)
Opening Line: BYU by 5 1/2.
Series Record: Arizona leads 10-8-1.
Last Meeting: 2006, Arizona 16-13.
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Willie Tuitama had 93 consecutive passes thrown without an interception. … Wildcats return 19 starters. … Wildcats have brought in a new offensive coordinator, Sonny Dykes from Texas Tech. … The Cougars last win against Arizona was a 34-14 victory in 1977. … Cougars have the second longest current winning streak at 10 games.
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Oklahoma State (0-0) at No. 13 Georgia (0-0), 6:45 p.m. (ESPN2)
Opening Line: Georgia by 7.
Series Record: Georgia leads 2-0.
Last Meeting: 1947, Georgia 20-7.
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M. … Oklahoma State averaged 35.2 points per game last season to rank seventh nationally. … For the first time in school history, an unranked Georgia team defeated three consecutive ranked teams last season.
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North Texas (0-0) at No. 8 Oklahoma (0-0), 7 p.m. (FSN)
Opening Line: Oklahoma by 41.
Series Record: Oklahoma leads 6-0.
Last Meeting: 2003, Oklahoma 37-3.
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North Texas ranked 117th in the nation in both passing offense and total offense last season. … For the first time since 2003, Oklahoma will play seven home games, and are 47-2 at home under Bob Stoops.
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Kansas State (0-0) at No. 18 Auburn (0-0), 7:45 p.m. (ESPN)
Opening Line: Auburn by 13 1/2.
Series Record: Auburn leads 2-0.
Last Meeting: 1979, Auburn 26-18.
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Josh Freeman threw for Kansas State freshman record 1,780 yards last season. … Senior defensive end Quentin Groves was named to the Coaches and AP All-SEC First Team in 2006 … Auburn has won 16 of its last 21 season openers. … Senior QB Brandon Cox started all 13 games last season, throwing for 2,198 yards and 14 TDs. He is 19-5 as a starter.
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No. 15 Tennessee (0-0) at No. 12 California (0-0), 8 p.m. (ABC)
Opening Line: California by 5.
Series Record: Tennessee leads 2-1.
Last Meeting: 2006, Tennessee 35-18.
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Tennessee has outscored California 73-30 in the last two meetings. … Tennessee QB Erik Ainge threw for 2,213 yards and 16 touchdowns last season. … 2006 marked the first time since 1975 that California earned a share of the Pac-10 Conference championship. … California WR DeSean Jackson had a Pac-10 record four punt return touchdowns in 2006.
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Idaho (0-0) at No. 1 Southern Cal (0-0), 10:15 p.m. (FSN)
Opening Line: Southern Cal by 43.
Series Record: USC leads 7-0.
Last Meeting: 1929, USC 72-0.
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Brian Flowers Jr. led Idaho in rushing with 561 yards. … USC has outscored Idaho 215-20 in their seven meetings. … The Trojans have won 33 straight home games a Pac-10 record. … Trojans are going for an unprecedented sixth consecutive Pac-10 championship.
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