Boise State is 39-3 over the past three years. Quarterback Jared Zabransky, a junior, is the WAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Boise State is 15-1 on ESPN games. They have won their last 10 road games and are on a 26-game regular season win streak. Running back Lee Marks led the team in rushing last season with 968 yards. On defense, two of their best players are senior defensive tackle Alex Guerrero and junior linebacker Korey Hall. (UGASports.com)

UAB AT TENNESSEE: Erik Ainge will be the Vol starting quarterback against UAB. Rick Clausen, who is also a team captain, will also play. Clausen graded out higher in every formal scrimmage in summer camp. The No. 3 quarterback might be freshman Lucas Taylor. Former Vol coach Johnny Majors said he would come back to Neyland Stadium for the 20th anniversary of the 1985 SEC title team that upset Miami in the Sugar Bowl 35-7. The secondary appears to be set with cornerbacks Jason Allen and Roshaun Fellows and Jonathan Hefney and Antwan Stewart at safety. The offensive line appears to be Arron Sears, Ramon Foster, Rob Smith, Cody Douglas and Albert Toeaina. Junior walk-on David Yancey will be the first back off the bench to spell Gerald Riggs, Jr. Montario Hardesty, Arian Foster and LaMarcus Coker will also play.

UAB has three new starters at linebacker-Mastaki Smith, Marcus Mark and Orlandus King. Smith and Mark have played primarily on special teams. Still, the Blazers will threaten Tennessee because quarterback Darrell Hackney can make plays. Defensive end Larry McSwain led C-USA in sacks last year with 13. (Volquest.com)

MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE AT ALABAMA: Five true freshmen-right guard Marlon Davis, right tackle Drew Davis, tight end Travis McCall, tailback Glenn Coffee and right defensive end Bobby Greenwood- made the two-deep depth chart. (Marlon) Davis is nipping at the heels of senior Mark Sanders for playing time at right guard. Le’Ron McClain beat out junior Tim Castille for the starting fullback job. Quarterback John Parker Wilson kept the No. 2 job ahead of Marc Guillon. Justin Britt nudged Jeremy Clark for the starting defensive tackle spot. Simeon Castille got the left cornerback job ahead of Ramzee Robinson, who has battled a bad back. Roman Harper is the No. 1 free safety in front of junior Bryan Kilpatrick. Jeffrey Aul is the starting punter. Jeremy Schatz is No. 2 due to a heart problem and a sore leg. Defensive back Eric Gray (hamstring) and offensive guard B J Stabler (knee) are definitely out.

Middle Tennessee State gave the Tide a scare in 2002 losing 39-34. MTSU runs a no-huddle offense. Last year, the Blue Raiders were No. 112 against the pass. The MTSU quarterback is Clint Marks who completes 70% of his passes and averages 250 yards per game. His favorite target is receiver Chris Henry who caught 60 passes last year. (Bol.com)

OLE MISS AT MEMPHIS: Coach Ed Orgeron said freshman guard Michael Oher is close to a starting position. Seven freshmen including Oher are on the two-deep depth chart. Sophomore tailback Alan Abrams is back on the team after he was suspended indefinitely for leaving practice early. Abrams has missed time with a sprained ankle. Orgeron has not decided who will start at quarterback between senior Micheal Spurlock or sophomore Robert Lane. In the last scrimmage, Lane was quite impressive. Senior linebacker Kelvin Robinson has recovered from a concussion and reclaimed his starting job back. Freshman Quentin Taylor is battling Robinson for the job. Freshman Jada Brown will not be returning to the team. He left then said he was returning, but Orgeron made it clear that his career at Ole Miss was over.

Memphis quarterback Danny Wimprine is gone, but tailback DeAngelo Williams returns. Replacing him is quarterback Patrick Byrne, who has not taken a snaps. One of the intriguing matchups in the game is new Rebel offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone against veteran defensive coordinator Joe Lee Dunn. Memphis is looking for its third straight win over Ole Miss. (RebelGrove.com)

MISSOURI STATE AT ARKANSAS: Hog quarterback Robert Johnson has recovered from his groin injury. Guard Zac Tubbs and tight end Jared Hicks will miss the game with high ankle sprains. Missouri State (formerly Southwest Missouri State) has a Purdue transfer (Scott Carroll) at quarterback and a SEC transfer (former Georgia tailback Michael Cooper) with 600 yards at running back. Two former Hog players-- tight end Payne Hall and offensive tackle Matt Gilbow—are also on the team. (Hawgsports.com)

WYOMING AT FLORIDA: The Gators are getting healthy. Linebackers Brandon Siler and Earl Everett and defensive back Dee Webb, linebacker Todd McCullough and Brandon Siler are improving. Freshman linebacker Darryl Gresham is up to 250 pounds. He could get a look at defensive end. Junior Kenneth Tookes could be looking at a fifth receiver spot because of his ability to block. Receiver Michael McIntosh might also get a chance to play. Several freshmen including defensive backs Avery Atkins, Reggie Nelson, and Dorian Munroe, quarterback Josh Portis, running back Kestahn Moore, receiver Louis Murphy, linebacker Jon Demps are likely to play against Wyoming. Coach Urban Meyer said freshmen David Nelson and Nyan Boateng aren’t ready to play yet. Wyoming has 19 starters back from a team that went 7-5 last year and beat UCLA in a bowl. (Gatorbait.net)

MURRAY STATE AT MISSISSIPPI STATE: Brian Anderson, Anthony Strauder, Chris McNeil, Johnny Wadley and Avery House are the starting five offensive linemen. Quarterback Omarr Conner has looked much better toward the end of fall practice due to his comfort with the offense. Jonathan Lowe has moved behind Jerious Norwood in the depth chart at tailback. Demarcus Johnson and Brandon Thornton are close behind him. Bryson Davis is a solid fullback who can catch out of the backfield. Jason Husband has turned into a solid receiverf. The top three receivers are Will Prosser, Keon Humphries and Tee Milons.

Murray State’s tailback is Nick Turner, the former Bulldog that Sly Croom made an example of and suspended him from the team shortly after he came to Starkville. Turner ran for nearly 750 yards last year at Murray State. Former Ole Miss receiver Frank Clayton transferred to Murray State. Mississippi State has lost recently to another I-AA team, Maine. (Bulldogblitz.com)

GEORGIA TECH AT AUBURN: The Tiger defensive line of Stanley McClover, Quentin Groves and Marquies Gunn is the key to stopping the Tech passing combination of quarterback Reggie Ball and Calvin Johnson. Washington State has been added to the 2006 Tigers schedule for a Sept. 2 date. The Cougars join Tulane, Temple and Division I-AA Villanova as Tiger non-conference opponents. Tiger officials had talks with Wake Forest, Michigan and Notre Dame before reaching an agreement with Washington State currently coached by Bill Doba, who was named head coach after Mike Price left to coach Alabama. Georgia Tech beat Auburn 17-3 in 2003. (Al.com and Auburnsports.com)

GEORGIA TECH: The Yellow Jackets send an experienced front seven led by defensive end Eric Henderson against the Tigers. Linebacker KaMichael Hall will play Saturday night after he has gotten his off-the-field matters cleared up. Hall, who has been demoted to second team after being expected to start, will play behind Gary Guyton. This is the second time Auburn and Georgia Tech have played since 1987. It may be the last for many years. The two schools have met 91 times. Next year, Tech plays Georgia, Notre Dame, Troy and Samford. (Ledger-Enquirer)

MIAMI AT FLORIDA STATE: Coach Bobby Bowden named Drew Weatherford as the starting quarterback. Tailback Leon Washington had his jersey retired Friday night at Andrew Jackson High in Jacksonville, Fla. Center David Castillo, Reid, defensive end Kamerion Wimbley, linebacker Sam McGrew and safety Kyler Hall have been named team captains. Last year with cornerback Antonio Cromartie on the sidelines with cramps, Miami picked on his replacement Gerard Ross for big plays (a 63-yard pass and 30-yard touchdown pass). Miami is a 3-point favorite. The offensive line appears to be set with Castillo, Matt Meinrod, David Overmeyer, Jacky Claude and Cory Niblock. The key to the offensive line is the new schemes put in place by assistant coach Mark McHale. (Warchant.com)

MIAMI: The Canes return nine defensive starters on a team that limited FSU to only 165 yards last year. Freshman Derron Thomas has won the No. 2 tailback spot. Charlie Jones was the second back, but he tweaked an ankle. Cornerback Devin Hester is still bothered by a turf toe and a pulled hamstring, but he will play. Randy Phillips is the team’s No. 3 cornerback behind Kelly Jennings and Marcus Maxey. In the past five games in the series, the FSU defense has sacked the Miami quarterbacks only twice, but the Canes have sacked the FSU quarterbacks 15 times. FSU will hope to confuse Wright with different looks. In the last three games, FSU has failed to score more than 14 points. The FSU offense is on a six-quarter scoreless streak. FSU has committed 21 turnovers during the six game losing streak. During the streak, the quarterbacks have hit only 47% of their passes. (Canesport.com)

VIRGINIA TECH AT N C STATE: Wolfpack coach Chuck Amato is not happy with his defensive line bragging to the media. He has put them off limits to the press. The Wolfpack had the nation’s leading defense last year. Quarterback Jay Davis will be in the spotlight Sunday night against the vaunted Hokie defense. Sophomore Darrell Blackman has won the starting tailback job. Senior Dwayne Herndon has been moved from the defensive line to the offensive line where he is starting at offensive guard. (TheWolfpacker.com)

VIRGINIA TECH: Tech started 2-2 last year and one of the losses was a close defeat at home to the Wolfpack. This is the first time since 1997 that the Hokies have opened away from home. After blocking at least seven kicks in 2000-02, the Hokies have only blocked seven kicks in the past two years combined. (HokieHaven.com)

TEXAS A & M AT CLEMSON: The Tigers are striving to have more offensive balance. Last year, Clemson threw the ball four times more than they ran it. Clemson averaged only 108 yards rushing per game. New offensive coordinator Rob Spence has simplified the running game for the offensive line because the pass formation blocking is so demanding. Leading returning rusher Reggie Merriweather is the starting taiback. The Aggies beat the Tigers 27-6 last year in what was a miserable game for Clemson. Texas A & M returns nine starters on offense including quarterback Reggie McNeal. Tailback Courtney Lewis ran for 165 yards against the Tigers last year. (TigerIllustrated.com)

WESTERN MICHIGAN AT VIRGINIA: Coach Al Groh is not hesitant to start freshman guard Branden Albert (6-7, 310) in the opener. The rest of the offensive line has 83 starts combined. (TheWagonOnline.com)

BOSTON COLLEGE AT BYU: The Eagles offensive line has the size and strength to wear down the Cougar defensive line. However, the defense except for the linebacker unit has very little depth. BYU’s offensive line is huge and could pose problems for the Eagle defense. The secondary is inexperienced going against a team like BYU who likes to open things up. BC could have trouble in the altitude. (EagleAction.com)

MARYLAND VS. NAVY IN BALTIMORE: Terp coach Ralph Friedgen is hoping this is a much-improved club this year with quarterback Sam Hollenbach at the helm. Maryland has only two offensive starters back that played in the same position as last year. On defense, five starters including linebackers William Kershaw, David Holloway and D’Quell Jackson return. Navy was 10-2 last year in their wishbone attack. Maryland’s defense has been consistent under Friedgen. Since he and defensive coordinator Gary Blackney came in 2001, the defense has allowed only 18 points per game. (TerrapinTimes.com)

NORTH CAROLINA: The Tar Heels do not begin their season until next week against Georgia Tech.

BRENT BEAIRD IS A SPORTS WRITER FOR THE CLAY COUNTY LINE IN ORANGE PARK, FL.
HE ALSO WRITES FOR RIVALS.COM AND SAMSPORTSLINE.COM.