Boise State battles Georgia in Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic

One of only two games featuring a pair of ranked programs in the first week of the 2011 season, fifth-ranked profile bout against the 19th-ranked Georgia fil-A Kickoff Game.

Boise State, which made the move to the Mountain West Conference after spending the previous 10 campaigns in the Western Athletic Conference where it captured an unprecedented eight league titles and sported an incredible 75-5 record, has never defeated a school from the SEC, losing all four previous encounters.

Last season the Broncos were again the toast of the WAC, putting up a record of 12-1 and winning all but one of their eight league tests. Boise State, which had chances to remain unbeaten and perhaps play for the national title, was taken down by Nevada in overtime in late November of last year, 34-31. With 11 wins in the regular season BSU, which failed to claim the league title outright, faced off against Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl and stumped the Utes by a score of 26-3.

With the victory over Utah, Boise State head coach Chris Petersen continued to build on one of the most impressive resumes as he moved to an incredible 61-5, a stellar winning percentage of .924 which makes "Coach Pete" the winningest active coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Since 2001, the Bulldogs and head coach Mark Richt have the third-best record among SEC programs at 96-34, the team capturing two SEC titles and playing in 10 bowl games, but some of that success seems like a distant memory given the squad's mere 6-7 mark a year ago.

Georgia crushed Louisiana in the 2010 opener at home, 55-7, but then stumbled in four straight decisions and even though the Bulldogs qualified for the postseason they were less than impressive in their woeful 10-6 loss to UCF in the Liberty Bowl. Coach Richt has been on a steady decline since the Bulldogs put up an 11-2 record in 2007 and tied for first in the SEC standings, dropping to 10 wins, then eight and finally a career-low six in 2010.

This is just the second meeting ever between these two programs, the first coming in 2005 when the Bulldogs whipped Boise State by a final of 48-13. That game was played on this same date six years ago and again the squads were both nationally ranked, BSU checking in at No. 18 in the AP and the Bulldogs five places higher at 13.

As has been the case for several years now in Idaho, the focus of the Broncos will again fall on quarterback Kellen Moore who has seemingly come out of nowhere to become one of the most accomplished college quarterbacks. Named to the 2011 Davey O'Brien and Maxwell Award Watch Lists, Moore enters the season as the nation's active career leader in passing efficiency (166.74) and wins by a quarterback (38). Despite being undersized at just six feet, Moore has managed to complete better than 68 percent of his pass attempts and log almost 11,000 yards through the air, numbers that are hard to fathom no matter what league you call home.

As great as Moore has been, he'll have to find some new favorites to seek out down the field after losing both Titus Young and Austin Pettis who both accounted for close to five and a half catches per game last year. Matt Miller and Mitch Burroughs will try to fill those big shoes, while Tyler Shoemaker and Kyle Efaw likely figure more prominently into the offensive scheme after sporting more than a few highlights last year.

"I think we'll be just fine," Moore says about the loss of Young and Pettis. "Certainly you'd be lying if you said you're not going to miss those guys, I played with them for three years, so I've been very fortunate with that but we've got guys that are just as talented, a little less experienced...we're looking for a lot of success with them."

Senior running back Doug Martin, on the watch lists for both the Maxwell and Doak Walker Awards, set a career high with 1,260 yards on 201 carries a season ago, so its clear that he can help shoulder the load.

While Moore is handling his business, the BSU defense will be pressed hard to follow up a 2010 campaign in which the group ranked second in the nation in yards allowed (254.7) and points (12.8) per game. Boise State was first in the country in sacks with almost 3.7 per game, a number that will be hard to live up to this time around. Named to the 2011 Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List, given annually to the nation���s top lineman, Shea McClellin has to answer the call for the group again after posting 9.5 sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss last season.

Also earning preseason recognition by being placed on the 2011 Jim Thorpe Award Watch List, senior safety George Iloka has been one of the most consistent defenders during his tenure with the Broncos and his all-conference honors bear that out.

Last season, Georgia's Aaron Murray made a huge splash at quarterback, throwing for 3,049 yards and accounting for 3,216 yards of total offense, numbers that placed him second all-time in the SEC for a freshman. Murray sported an efficiency rating of 154.48, 14th in the nation and tops among first-year signal-callers, but he'll have to be at the top of his game in order to fend off an attacking defense like the one Boise State puts on the field year after year.

"I think Aaron has the chance to have a big year," says junior defensive end Abry Jones. "He's a great leader, a team player that doesn't really think about himself. Everyone on the team believes in him and trusts that he will go out and have a good game."

Georgia's top returning receiving threat is junior Tavarres King, having finished with 27 catches for 504 yards and three touchdowns in 2010, but Murray will need more key skill players to step up and force the action as well.

Coming out of the backfield Richard Samuel will be the primary figure for the Bulldogs, even though he's started just six of the 22 games in which he has appeared over his career. Samuel hasn't had much success finding the end zone, scoring just three touchdowns, but increased playing time and opportunities should change that rather quickly.

For the second year in a row the Bulldogs have planned to attack teams with a 3-4 scheme on defense, returning six of their top-10 tacklers from 2010. Tops on that list is Bacarri Rambo who had 82 stops and tied for the team lead with three interceptions.

The loss of All-American outside linebacker Justin Houston and All-SEC inside linebacker Akeem Dent to the NFL will be tough to overcome, but Christian Robinson and Cornelius Washington will try to fill the voids, as will Alec Ogletree who has moved from safety to linebacker during the offseason.