September 6th, 2008: Hosting the Northern Colorado Bears

The first game of the season will see the Purdue Boilermakers hosting the Big Sky Conference gems, the Northern Colorado Bears.

This team starts their season with Northern Colorado losing nine starters from its 2007 squad. They are replacing their star center and starting the season with a new signal caller. Their strength will lie in the running game where their two leading rushers from last season, Tyrone Wilson and David Woods, combined for over 1,000 yards last year.

On defense, they are returning three all-conference selections to their defense which is shaping up to be a unit that is going to be more stubborn than last season.

I really do not see the possibility of this team really causing too many problems for the boilers, there is the possibility that this developing defense will be a bit opportunistic with the Purdue offense. I predict a couple fumbles and possibly an interception from Curtis Painter this coming weekend. However, with a completely shifted line and replacing so much experience on the UNC offensive line, I see a big day for the Purdue defense. I look for at least one score for the Purdue defense this week.

Final predictions: Purdue 42, UNC 27