Utah game is MWC's best opener

Game day.

You can sniff it, feel it.

I could tell on Friday that college football had arrived when my neighbor had a DirecTV van at his house and a worker drilling a hole in his fireplace to bring in a cable to his new HD-TV. While my longtime friend made his case to his wife why they needed an upgrade to the TV in the kitchen, she wasn't biting.

The biggest game on the slate is Utah's venture into Big Ten country to the Big House at Michigan, one of the most storied programs in college football.

This game is a mystery, primarily because of the coaching change at Michigan, key losses to the Wolverines' offensive personnel and revamping that side of the ball by Rich Rodriguez to the modern-day spread he perfected at West Virginia.

Utah is catching Michigan exactly at the right time. Opening games are a crapshoot, and they are difficult to predict. Utah has a great chance to take an established offense, led by a fifth-year senior, into Ann Arbor and come out with a much-needed win for the disrespected Mountain West Conference.

But then, there's Michigan's defense. A year ago, this defense held opponents to about 46 yards rushing a game. It could give Brian Johnson and company fits.

If the Michigan offense can't move the ball and turns it over while trying to do something Rodriguez will need a few more games to perfect, the Utes will clinch a huge win.

This one is full of classic storylines, and if the Utes return victorious, there will be plenty to talk about in Salt Lake City and Ann Arbor.

I can see this as a huge defensive battle. In that case, I like Louie Sakoda to take over and win it with his leg, field position and some key field goals. That might be all it will take for the Utes if Michigan slips and slides around with its new offense.

The Cougars should beat Northern Iowa. The key for BYU is to get its defense some needed work against somebody else and see if Scott Johnson and Brandon Howard can really cover and tackle.

Northern Iowa's option power game should provide plenty of film to break down. The other key is for the Cougars to avoid major injuries heading into the Washington road trip.

It will be interesting to see how Max Hall Year 2 plays out, even against Northern Iowa, a team that's lost just once in two seasons. Hall was a rookie last year and it took him a third of the season to catch fire.

His sidekick, receiver Austin Collie, sees Hall as a significantly better quarterback from where he was at this stage last August.