College Football Opening Night: Oregon State at Stanford

All the waiting. All the excitement. All those preview magazines later, college football is back, folks! Zombie Nation is proud to provide you with only the best Penn State and college football blogging. We continue opening day with a look at Oregon State facing off with Stanford. This is an early Pac-10 match between two programs fighting for the middle of the conference in 2008. Oregon State has won at least nine games the last two seasons, but lose a ton of talent from the front seven. Stanford's 2007 campaign wasn't exactly dominant, but they did shock USC in the Coliseum. The Beavers travel to Happy Valley next Saturday for a nationally-televised game with the Nittany Lions. Will Oregon State overlook the Cardinal tonight? Let's find out.

The Beavers' front wall has been stronger than stone, but has to completely rebuild this season. That could put tons of pressure on OSU's fantastic secondary, led by safety Al Afalava, who's gained a reputation for his punishing hits on opposing receivers. He'll team up with Brandon Hughes, and hopefully for the Beavers, give the line plenty of time to get to the quarterback. Expect a lot of coverage sacks tonight, as Stanford doesn't have the speed or talent to break State's shut-down secondary.

Stanford has a lot of momentum from last season, in which the defense came along slowly, and the offense score at least once when the team needed it to--at USC. But Cardinal quarterback Tavita Pritchard will have some tough times this year if his team has to win shootouts. The magic of that USC win doesn't come around each week, and we all have to remember that this is still Stanford. But head coach Jim Harbaugh is a rising star on the West Coast, if for any reason, because his attitude is addicting. He won't let this team back down from a challenge, and tonight shouldn't be any different.

Prediction: Oregon St., 23 - Stanford, 18