Boise State @ Troy preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 2, 2017 ) Troy 13, Boise State 24

Boise State is one of the preseason favorites to end up in a New Year's Six bowl game, and the No. 22 Broncos will strive to get off to a good start when they visit Troy on Saturday. The Broncos and Central Florida (No. 21) are the lone non-power conference schools to be part of the preseason national rankings.

Boise State has won 42 games in Bryan Harsin's four seasons, but the coach isn't all that thrilled about the prognosticators placing lofty expectations on his squad. "What we understand is whatever expectations are put on us from the outside, we can't control that, good or bad," Harsin told reporters. "People can say you're going to be great, people can say you're going to suck. Neither one's true in our minds, don't pay attention to that. At the end of the year, that's when you decide whether you had a good season or a bad season." Troy is 21-5 over the past two seasons -- including a memorable road win at LSU last season -- and has won its past seven contests. Coach Neal Brown announced Monday that junior Kaleb Barker will start at quarterback as the Trojans look to replace departed four-year starter Brandon Silvers.

TV: 6 p.m. ET, ESPNews. LINE: Boise State -10.5

ABOUT BOISE STATE (2017: 11-3): Senior quarterback Brett Rypien (2,877 yards, 16 touchdown passes last season) looks to increase his productivity after topping 3,300 yards and throwing for at least 20 scores in each of his first two seasons. Rypien has a sturdy back to hand the ball off to in junior Alexander Mattison, who rushed for 1,086 yards and 12 touchdowns last season but needs to develop a new go-to wideout after the departure of Cedrick Wilson (school-record 1,511 receiving yards last season). The Broncos lost star linebacker Leighton Vander Esch - a first-round pick by the Dallas Cowboys - but are still loaded on the defensive side with standouts such as senior cornerback Tyler Horton (two interceptions last season), sophomore outside linebacker Curtis Weaver (team-best 11 sacks in 2017) and senior defensive tackle David Moa (11.5 career sacks).

ABOUT TROY (2017: 11-2): Barker, who has thrown 17 collegiate passes, was chosen over sophomore Sawyer Smith (25 passes) in a tight competition, but both signal-callers will see action against Boise State. "(Barker) won the job from a production standpoint, the ability to make plays with his feet and from an efficiency standpoint in the passing game," Brown said in a press conference. "I still have a lot of confidence in Sawyer and the team does too, so he will have a significant role in our offense on Saturday." Senior cornerback Blace Brown is a defensive playmaker with 11 career interceptions and he returned one for a touchdown in last season's meeting with Boise State.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Boise State notched a 24-13 home victory over the Trojans in last season's opener in the lone previous meeting.

2. Troy sophomore CB Marcus Jones returned three kickoffs for touchdowns last season while ranking seventh nationally with a 30.3 kick return average.

3. Rypien has 9,876 career passing yards and needs 2,815 to surpass San Diego State's Ryan Lindley (12,690 from 2008-11) as the Mountain West's all-time leader.

PREDICTION: Boise State 30, Troy 24