Previewing College Football’s Week 2 rivalry games

The Border War has been played since 1891, but this is the first football meeting between the two schools since Missouri left the Big 12 Conference in 2012. The Tigers gotbad news earlier this week on quarterback Sam Horn, who is expected to miss an extended amount of time after an injury in his season opener. Horn entered the season in a time-share situation with Penn State quarterback transfer Beau Pribula, who will now be called upon exclusively to run the Missouri offense. There are no quarterback question marks for Kansas, who is led by fifth-year senior Jalon Daniels, who will start his 36th game under center for the Jayhawks. Missouri leads this rivalry 56-55-9, but Kansas could even it up with a win in Columbia on Saturday.

Houston at Rice

This crosstown rivalry was first played in 1971, and Houston leads the series 34-12. The winner of the game receives the Bayou Bucket, and thus the rivalry is known as the Bayou Bucket Classic. Both teams come into this contest 1-0, with Houston blanking Stephen F. Austin 27-0 last weekend and Rice squeaking by Louisiana 14-12. Led by Texas A&M transfer quarterback Conner Weigman, the Cougars are a two-touchdown favorite on the road. After starting 13 games over three seasons for the Aggies, Weigman kicked off his Houston Cougar career by tossing three touchdown passes in Week 1. Rice has a solid defense, but can they manage enough offensive output to hang with Houston in what should be a low-scoring game.

Texas State at UTSA

The I-35 Rivalry pits two schools whose campuses are located just 55 miles from one another. This is the youngest rivalry being played this weekend, starting in 2012, the year after UTSA first fielded a football program, though the two programs had established rivalries in other sports. UTSA won the first five meetings in this rivalry before Texas State drubbed the Roadrunners 49-10 last season. The Bobcats’ quarterback this season, Brad Jackson, is well aware of the rivalry, having grown up in San Antonio. He looked sharp tossing four touchdown passes against Eastern Michigan in Week 1, but UTSA will be looking for vindication after losing to Texas A&M last weekend in a game where they stayed within striking distance of the nation’s No. 19 ranked team into the second half.

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