College Football 2017 -- Week 1 By The Numbers

 Let Sports Illustrated and Fox Sports and whoever else tell you that Sept. 2 is week one of college football.

 We know the REAL truth -- this weekend, even with a limited slate of games -- is the actual kickoff of the 2017 college football season. And a glorious thing it is.

 Every Friday during the season, we will delve into the best matchups and provide some entertaining, possibly relevant, numbers and facts. Things we find interesting about the matchup, which may or may not have any bearing on the outcome. All games are Aug. 26th.

 Oregon State at Colorado State, 2:30 pm
 Oregon State is just 21-36 on the road the last 10 seasons, but has gone 20-15 in non-conference games; Beavers coach Gary Andersen is 1-1 vs. CSU from his time as head coach of Utah State. OSU is just the fourth Power 5 school to visit Fort Collins since 2004; Colorado State is 20-3 in home openers, and is working on a streak of four straight; CSU is 13-4 at home the last three seasons, but just 8-6 against non-league competition; The Rams offense has allowed just 30 sacks total over the last two seasons.

 Portland State at Brigham Young, 3 pm
 Portland State lost its FBS games last year, to San Jose State and Washington, by an average of 35 ppg; Neil Lomax is probably the most famous player from PSU, and notable head coaches include Mouse Davis, Pokey Allen and Jerry Glanville; Brigham Young is 9-0 vs. FCS programs since 2005, winning by an average of 42 ppg; The Cougars are 12-4 in home openers since 2000, with just one game coming against an FCS team

 Hawai'i at UMass, 6 pm
Hawai'i is coming off a seven-win season, which included a bowl game win over Middle Tennessee; the Rainbow Warriors are just 4-18 in their last 22 road openers, and have dropped six straight by an average of 23 ppg; Hawai'i's 58.7 completion percentage was its highest since 2011 (60.0); UMass has not had a winning season since transitioning to FBS in 2011, with its best win total -- three games -- coming in 2014 and 2015. UMass was -10 in turnovers last season; Dick MacPherson is among the men who have prowled the sidelines in Amherst, winning 45 games in seven seasons.

 South Florida at San Jose State, 7:30 pm
 USF is 8-12 in road openers, and its victory over Syracuse last year snapped a three-game skein; Charlie Strong is just the fourth head coach in school history, following Jim Leavitt, Skip Holtz and Willie Taggart. Only Holtz had a winning record in year one (8-5); The Bulls are +19 in turnovers the past two seasons; USF's 43.8 ppg last year was a school record; San Jose State is 13-2 in its last 15 home openers, but is 6-12 the last four years in non-league action; SJSU allowed 40 or more points six times last season and gave up an average of 5.5 ypc on the ground.

 Stanford vs. Rice, 10 pm (Sydney, Australia) 
The Cardinal have won just twice in six meetings with the Owls, including 23-13 in the last meeting (1963); Stanford is 7-3 in its last 10 road openers, but its last two losses came as a ranked team; Stanford's 26.3 ppg last year were the lowest of the David Shaw era (six seasons), and the 34 sacks allowed was the highest total in that span; Rice has one of the lowest enrollments in all of FBS (6,628); The Owls are 0-26 since 1998 vs. ranked teams, their last win coming in 1997 over No. 21 BYU; Rice is -19 in turnovers the past two seasons; Rice allowed fewer than 21 points just once all of last season.