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26 NWA College Football Preview 2019 Sunday, August 25, 2019 GAME 1 PORTLAND STATE DATE Aug. 31 PLACE Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fay- etteville 2018 RECORD 4-7, 3-5 Big Sky Conference COACH Bruce Barnum (19-29 in four seasons at Portland State) RETURNING STARTERS 9 offense, 8 de- fense KEY PLAYERS QB Davis Alexander, TE Charlie Taumoepeau, RB Carlos Martin, DT Kenton Bartlett 2019 SCHEDULE Aug. 31 ......................................... at Arkansas Sept. 7 ........................................Simon Fraser Sept. 14 .....................................at Boise State Sept. 21 ................................. Eastern Oregon Sept. 28 .....................................at Idaho State Oct. 5 ........................................Southern Utah Oct. 12 .....................................................Idaho Oct. 19 ...........................at Northern Colorado Oct. 26 ............................. at Northern Arizona Nov. 2 ................................................ Montana Nov. 9 ............................................... UC-Davis Nov. 23 ....................... at Eastern Washington OUTLOOK Bruce Barnum has seen the good and bad times at Portland State heading into his fifth season. In 2015, he led Portland State to a 9-3 record — including victories at Wash- ington State and North Texas — and the FCS playoffs. He won Big Sky and national coach of the year honors. The Vikings then endured an 0-11 season in 2017. They began working their way back with a 4-7 finish last season and are looking to have a winning record with 17 starters back. Portland State is playing Ar- kansas for the first time. Junior quarterback Davis Alexander leads the offense after pass- ing for 1786 yards and 11 touchdowns, and rushing for 424 yards and 12 touchdowns last season. GAME 2 OLE MISS DATE Sept. 7 PLACE Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, Miss. 2018 RECORD 5-7, 1-7 SEC COACH Matt Luke (11-13 in two seasons at Ole Miss) RETURNING STARTERS 3 offense, 8 de- fense KEY PLAYERS QB Matt Corral, RB Scot- tie Phillips, LB Qaadir Sheppard, DT Benito Jones 2019 SCHEDULE Aug. 31 ......................................... at Memphis Sept. 7 .............................................. Arkansas Sept. 14 .....................Southeastern Louisiana Sept. 21 ............................................ California Sept. 28 ......................................... at Alabama Oct. 5 ............................................... Vanderbilt Oct. 12 ............................................at Missouri Oct. 19 ........................................... Texas A&M Nov. 2 ............................................... at Auburn Nov. 9 .................................New Mexico State Nov. 16 ......................................................LSU Nov. 28 ............................. at Mississippi State OUTLOOK Matt Luke added star power to his coaching staff by hiring two former head coaches — Rich Rodriguez and Mike Mac- Intyre — as assistant coaches. Rodriguez, who had a lot of success at West Virginia and less at Michigan and Arizona, is the new offen- sive coordinator. MacIntyre, who couldn't sus- tain success at Colorado, is the defensive co- ordinator. Both previously were Pac-12 coach- es of the year with the Wildcats and Buffaloes. Rodriguez will break in a new starting quarter- back with redshirt freshman Matt Corral, who passed for 239 yards and two touchdowns last season when he played in four games to retain his redshirt. He also is a running threat. MacIntrye has a lot of experience on defense, but the Rebels must adjust to his 3-4 scheme. GAME 3 COLORADO STATE DATE Sept. 14 PLACE Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fay- etteville 2018 RECORD 3-9, 2-6 Mountain West Con- ference COACH Mike Bobo (24-27 in four seasons at Colorado State) RETURNING STARTERS 5 offense, 6 de- fense KEY PLAYERS QB Collin Hill, RB Marcus McElroy, FS Jamal Hicks, DE Emmanuel Jones 2019 SCHEDULE Aug. 30 ....................... vs. Colorado in Denver Sept. 7 .....................................Western Illinois Sept. 14 ........................................ at Arkansas Sept. 21 ................................................. Toledo Sept. 28 ...................................... at Utah State Oct. 5 .....................................San Diego State Oct. 11 ..................................... at New Mexico Oct. 26 .....................................at Fresno State Nov. 2 ..................................................... UNLV Nov. 16 .............................................. Air Force Nov. 22 ......................................... at Wyoming Nov. 29 ..........................................Boise State OUTLOOK Not much went right for Colorado State last season, but the obvious highlight was the Rams' 34-27 victory over Arkansas when they rallied from an 18-point deficit. CSU's only other victories were against San Jose State and New Mexico, and the Rams finished the season on a five-game losing streak. It was CSU's first losing season un- der Coach Mike Bobo — a former Georgia quarterback and offensive coordinator — af- ter the Rams went to bowl games in his first three seasons. Junior quarterback Collin Hill is back to lead the offense. He played off the bench the first eight games last season after recovering from knee surgery, but started the final four games. In that span, he passed for 1,099 yards and 5 touchdowns along with 6 interceptions. Senior safety Jamal Hicks had 93 tackles. GAME 4 SAN JOSE STATE DATE Sept. 21 PLACE Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fay- etteville 2018 RECORD 1-11, 1-7 Mountain West Con- ference COACH Brent Brennan (3-22 in two seasons at San Jose State) RETURNING STARTERS 7 offense, 5 de- fense KEY PLAYERS QB Josh Love, RB Tyler Nevens, LB Ethan Aguayo, DE Cade Hall 2019 SCHEDULE Aug. 29 .............................. Northern Colorado Sept. 7 ..................................................... Tulsa Arkansas opponent capsules By Bob Holt AP File Photo/Oxford Eagle/BRUCE NEWMAN Mississippi quarterback Matt Corral passes Aug. 5 during practice in Oxford, Miss. Corral is expected to help lead the team to a bowl-eligible season in the highly competitive SEC. v Continued on next page