UCLA at Kansas State

Written by Steve Janus

The UCLA Bruins will open the 2010 season on the road, as the Bruins must travel to take on the Kansas State Wildcats this Saturday. The Wildcats will be looking for revenge in this one, as the Bruins crushed Kansas State 23-9 last season.

Kansas State finished the 2009 season 4-4 in the Big 12 and 6-6 overall. The Wildcats have just 11 starters back for the 2010 season, and will need to get off to a fast start, as they have just three home games in the final eight games of the season. UCLA went 7-6 under Rick Neuheisel in 2009, including a nice win over Temple in the EagleBank Bowl to finish the season. They have 13 starters back for the upcoming season, and are a sleeper to win the Pac-10 this season.

The key to the Bruins success will be how well sophomore quarterback Kevin Prince and sophomore running back Johnathan Franklin improve off their freshman season. I believe that they will help turn the offense into one of the best in the Pac-10. The Bruins have just five starters back on defense this season, so it will be interesting to see if they build off the success of last season (21 ppg), or drop off and return the 2008 form (29 ppg).

The Wildcats offense will be all about senior running back Daniel Thomas, as he careed the load last season, running the ball 247 times for 1,265 yarsd and 11 touchdowns. Thomas figures to have an even better year in 2010 with four of five starters back on the offensive line. The big question mark for the Wildcats offense is what kind of production are they going to get out of senior starting quarterback Carson Coffman. The defense should be a little better than people expect, as they are pretty solid up front on the defensive line with two solid starters back from last year.

Looking at the Odds: Pretty tough call on this one, as the oddsmakers really aren’t giving you much to work with on this one. I personally like the Wildcats to cover the 2 points and win this game, but honestly this game could go either way. I think the more safe bet is on the UNDER 45, as I think both teams are going to struggle to move the ball in the first game of the season.

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