Rutgers vs Washington State

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Rutgers’ offense vs. Washington State’s defense: Rutgers’ best hope of containing Halliday and the Cougars’ passing game is to keep the ball away from them. To pull that off, erratic quarterback Gary Nova must minimize his mistakes and the Scarlet Knights must play ball control by running the ball. Washington State returns seven starters from a defense that forced 30 turnovers last season, tied for second-most in the Pac-12. Rutgers’ offensive line, considered a strength, needs to win its matchups.

Washington State’s offense vs. Rutgers’ defense: RU’s defense gave up more than 4,000 passing yards last season, so the pressure is on its inexperienced secondary. They will have to contain Halliday and his eight returning pass catchers, who all recorded at least 37 receptions last season. Rutgers’ defensive line is a strength, but the Scarlet Knights are not exceptionally big and may need to blitz more than usual to put pressure on Halliday. If Washington State generates a rushing game, Rutgers could be in for a long night.

Reinhardt vs Mercer

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The much-anticipated Southern Conference debut is next week. But that’s next week. The Mercer Bears have a game to play before then.

Yes, Mercer opens its conference schedule Sept. 6, but first up is Reinhardt in the season opener Thursday night at Mercer University Stadium.

“Everybody is pointing to the Southern Conference and conference play, but I have to pause and say, ‘We’ve got Reinhardt first,’ and that’s our main concentration right now is to play a very good Reinhardt team as we saw last year,” Mercer head coach Bobby Lamb said. “We’re just looking forward to playing on a Thursday night and have a little different feel, and hopefully the stadium will be packed like it was last year.”

Presbyterian At Northern Illinois

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he offensive: QBs Matt McIntosh, Drew Hare and Anthony Maddie all may see playing time against the Blue Hose as coach Rod Carey seeks a clear-cut leader. Four starters from the offensive line return. Tailback Cameron Stingily is out for four weeks with an undisclosed injury.
Kirk Herbstreit offers high praise for NIU football
Kirk Herbstreit offers high praise for NIU football
Fred Mitchell

Getting defensive: Plenty of new faces on the NIU defensive line will be tested as the season progresses. In the secondary, Marlon Moore (three interceptions last year) and Dechane Durante (one) need to be big play-makers to fill the void left by Jimmie Ward’s departure to the NFL.

Point U At Charleston Southern

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CSU vs Point University
When: Thursday, August 28, 2014 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Where: CSU Stadium
See: http://ift.tt/1zKtBMR
Description: The Charleston Southern University Bucs host Point University. Kickoff is at 7:00 p.m.
Contact: Athletics 843-863-7678 http://ift.tt/1zKtBMR
Topical Areas: Football
Tags: Athletics

North Dakota vs San Jose State

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SAN JOSE STATE VS. NORTH DAKOTA

2013 RECORDS: San Jose State 6-6; North Dakota 3-8

KICKOFF: 7 p.m., Spartan Stadium

TV: ESPN3 (online only)

RADIO: 1590-AM, 90.5-FM

SERIES HISTORY: First meeting

STORYLINE: San Jose State’s last four season-opening victories have come against Football Championship Subdivision teams, and it’s looking to make that five. The Spartans are also trying to win back-to-back openers for the first time since the Fitz Hill days of 2002 and 2003, when they opened with wins over Arkansas State and Grambling State.

INJURY UPDATE: San Jose State — RB Jarrod Lawson (suspension), LB Moses Saucedo (knee), LB Jared Leaf (burns) and OL Nico Aimonetti (shoulder) are out. OL Oscar Barron (concussion) is doubtful. TE Billy Freeman (foot) and CB Jimmy Pruitt (knee) are probable. North Dakota — P Mitch Meindel (suspension) is out.

MATCHUP TO WATCH: San Jose State’s running game vs. North Dakota’s defense. The Spartans seem to have a decided size advantage in the trenches when they are on offense. UND’s defensive line starters average just 271 pounds, which is small especially for a 4-3 front. SJSU’s averages over 292 pounds across its line, and with hard-to-tackle backs such as Thomas Tucker and Brandon Monroe, it should look to win the physical battle.

Missouri State At Northwestern State

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College football fans across the nation will relish for the first sizable slice of games Thursday, and Northwestern State coach Jay Thomas hopes his Demons can entice a large crowd for NSU’s home opener against Missouri State.

If Demon faithful opt not to attend in person, they will have to wait until Oct. 11 for NSU’s next home game against Incarnate Word – the second game of the Southland Conference slate.

Thomas said he can’t worry about the upcoming four-game road trip after the opener, but the Demons will enjoy starting the season in Turpin Stadium for just the second time in six seasons.

“You’ve got to coach every (game) within itself,” Thomas said when asked if the home opener carried even more weight given the following road swing. “You’ve got treat every game the same way.

Missouri Baptist vs Southeast Missouri State

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Date: Thursday, Aug. 28
Kickoff: 6 p.m., CT
Site: Missouri National Guard Field/Houck Stadium (10,000)
Surface: FieldTurf
Series History: First Meeting
Forecast: Sunny, 92 degrees
Head Coaches: Tom Matukewicz (1-0 overall; 0-0 at Southeast; 0-0 OVC). Jason Burianek (0-0 overall; 0-0 at Missouri Baptist).

Media Coverage
Radio: ESPN 92.9 FM; Real Rock 99.3 FM (Erik Sean, Rick Wieser, Todd Bonacki)
Video: OVC Digital Network (Todd Richards, Lawrence Brookins)
Live Stats: GoSoutheast.com
Twitter Updates: @GoSoutheast
Southeast Missouri Game Notes

Redhawks Open Season Thursday
Southeast Missouri opens its 2014 season when it hosts Missouri Baptist Thursday. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m., CT, at Missouri National Guard Field/Houck Stadium.

Kentucky Christian At Tennessee Tech

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KENTUCKY CHRISTIAN AT TENNESSEE TECH

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

Outlook: Tennessee Tech snapped a five-game losing streak by winning its final two games last season. Golden Eagles coach Watson Brown installed a new offense, which includes a QW — quarterback at wing — that puts two quarterbacks on the field at all times. One will be the traditional quarterback, and the other will line up in various formations. Sophomore Jared Davis (935 pass yards, 9 TDs) will serve as the traditional QB; senior Darian Stone (1,008 passing yards, 536 rushing, 11 combined TDs) will be the QW. Kentucky Christian, an NAIA school, went 3-8 last season and lost its final four games by a combined score of 126-25.

Idaho State vs Utah

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Key #1 – Quarterback Play:

After his 2013 season was cut short by a concussion and subsequent medical condition, Travis Wilson will need to assert himself early and be efficient and smart with the football. Look for Wilson to sit early on this night. The ideal plan would be to have Kendal Thompson seeing action starting in the third quarter, and to have Brandon Cox or Connor Manning seeing some live work as well. Idaho State returns nine starters to a defense that gave up 52 points to BYU, and 32 to Weber State a year ago. Utah should have no problem getting into a rhythm early. Coach Whittingham should be able to get a lot of live game experience for the young players on this team.

Key #2 – Always Stout Utes Defense:

If Idaho State scores more than a couple of field goals, they should consider themselves fortunate. Although, while they do return eight starters on offense, they simply do not have the horses to run against this Kalani Sitake defense. Based on what we saw when Utah played Weber State a year ago, simply getting to midfield will be a test for this Bengals offense. Like the offense, look for the 2nd and 3rd string players to get plenty of live work.

Key #3 – New Special Teams Coordinator:

With the departure of Jay Hill to Weber State, Utah’s long-time special teams coordinator, Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham takes over coordination duties of the third phase of the game. Will he prove to be the gambler that Hill was in recent years or the conservative, calculating Whittingham from his early head coaching years? In any event, this will be a great opportunity to work out some kinks in the punt and kick return games. Although the depth chart is set, there are still some unknowns, and Kaelin Clay should plenty of time to separate himself as a primary returner. Thursday night’s match-up will go a long way toward sorting out some of the undecided situations at these positions.

Overall this is what some would call a glorified scrimmage, however, it is live work. At the end of the day, it counts in the Win/Loss columns, and this team will be looking to make a statement.

Howard vs Akron

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The Akron Zips come into 2014 with a term they haven’t been too familiar with: expectations. The Zips ended 2013 with a three game winning streak to finish the season at 5-7 (4-4 in the MAC). This was a considerable success for a team that hasn’t won six games since 2005 and the fans are rallying behind the team expecting even bigger and better in 2014. Could a bowl game be within the team’s grasps for the first time since 2005?
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Akron opens the season against the Howard Bison of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and FCS. The Zips cannot get ahead of themselves and need to take things week by week, as cliche it is. They haven’t always taken care of business when they face their FCS foes. They lost in overtime to Gardner-Webb in 2010 and had to rely on a failed 2-point conversion to defeat James Madison in 2013. If the Zips are going to be a true contender in the MAC, games against FCS opponents have to be more of the tune-up variety and less of the down to the wire variety.