Week One: Boise State versus Michigan State

Boise State at Michigan State--This is a very anticipated matchup between two very talented teams in the Boise State Broncos and the Michigan State Spartans. Both teams are breaking in a new quarterback after the graduation of two of college football's best recent quarterbacks in Kirk Cousins and Kellen Moore. Boise State went 12-1 last fall and came a missed field goal from playing for the national title. Michigan State went 11-3 with a triple overtime win over Georgia in the Outback bowl. Although Boise State is not expected to be the power they have been, the talent is there to give Michigan State quite the game.

Offense: Boise State loses its starting quarterback and running back from an offense that was top 40 in both passing and rushing offense and ranked #9 nationally with 481 yards of offense per game. The Broncos had a mesmerizing 45 touchdowns in the air to go along with 31 rushing touchdowns tying the Broncos for second nationally with 81 total touchdowns on the season. The Broncos had the 5th highest scoring offense in the nation with 44.2 points per game. Michigan State are unable to hang with the statistical anomalies of the Boise State Broncos. The Spartans were quite efficient in 2011 though with 252 yards passing and 137 yards rushing per game putting them at 56th nationally with 390 yards of offense per game. The Spartans scored 26 passing touchdowns and 21 rushing touchdowns and ranked 37th nationally with 31.0 points per game. EDGE: Boise State

Defense: Boise State was among the top of the nation in defense in 2011 with the 16th ranked defense in the nation last fall that only gave up 320 yards per game. The Broncos gave up 110 yards rushing with only 9 rushing touchdowns and a miniscule 3.5 yards per carry. The passing defense held opponents to 210 yards per game with 21 touchdowns allowed but 15 touchdowns. The Broncos held opponents to 18.7 points per game, good for 12th in the nation. Michigan State was even better last fall on defense. The Spartans were the 6th ranked defense nationally with only 277 yards per game given up. Running the ball could only give opponents 2.9 yards per carry, good for 100 yards per game and 11 touchdowns. The passing game gave up 176 yards per game and 20 touchdowns but picked off 18 passes on the season. The Spartans held opponents to 18.4 points per game, good for .3 points per game better than Boise State and #10 nationally. EDGE: Michigan State

Coaching: Boise State coach Chris Peterson is in his 7th year with the program as head coach. Peterson started coaching at UC Davis in 1987 coaching the freshmen. Since UC Davis, Peterson has coached at Pittsburgh, Portland State, Oregon, and finally Boise State. In Peterson's 6 previous seasons, the Broncos have gone 73-6 with 2 perfect records (14-0 and 13-0) and a 4-2 bowl record. The Broncos have finished ranked in the top 10 nationally in 4 of Peterson's 6 seasons. Michigan State trots out coach Mark Dantonio. Dantonio has been coaching since 1980 when he was a graduate assistant at Ohio. Since Ohio, Dantonio has coached at Purdue, Butler CC, Ohio State, Akron, Youngstown State, Kansas, Michigan State, Ohio State, Cincinnati, and finally Michigan State again but as a head coach. Dantonio previously was the head coach at Cincinnati where he went 18-17 in 3 season with 2 bowl berths. Dantonio is entering his 6th season with Michigan State and has a 44-22 record in 5 seasons with the Spartans. The Spartans are 1-4 in bowl games and have finished in the top 25 three times in 5 seasons. EDGE: Boise State

This is the first meeting between the two programs.

With so many losses to both teams including record setting quarterbacks, it is very difficult to gage these two teams for 2012. Both teams have been recruiting great and have solid head coaches that are excellent at developing talent. The fact that this game is set in East Lansing, Michigan gives the Spartans an extra edge going into the game. The fate of Boise State is entirely based on how well the Broncos are able to replace Kellen Moore this fall. For the simple reasons of home field advantage and Boise having to replace a legend, Michigan State should win a hard fought game over Boise State this fall. Either way the game ends, this season opener will go a long way in telling the nation how good these two programs will be in 2012.