The Bayou Bengals and Boise State Broncos Grace This Week’s Sports Illustrated Cover(s)

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LSU running back Michael Ford graces the national cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated — dated Sept. 12 and on newsstands tomorrow — while Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore appears on a regional cover that will be distributed in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. Below is the last time both the Tigers and the Broncos appeared on the cover and how many appearances they’ve had overall:

• LSU Tigers: Oct. 19, 2009 (Patrick Peterson tackling Tim Tebow); eighth appearance
• Boise State Broncos: Oct. 4, 2010 (whole team before game vs. Oregon State); third appearance

LSU’s matchup with Oregon in the Cowboys Classic, initially envisioned by Jerry Jones as a showcase between national title contenders, turned out to be a competition to see which team could better withstand the epic screwups of its marquee players(s). In the end, LSU became the second straight SEC team — after Auburn in last year’s BCS title game — to shut down Oregon’s high-octane offense and the third team to hold the Ducks below 100 yards rushing in Chip Kelly’s two years as their head coach. It was little wonder that Ford’s game-clinching, 16-yard touchdown run triggered chants of “S! E! C!” (page 40)

Meanwhile, Boise State’s 35–21 defeat of Georgia in Atlanta — its first win over an SEC team in five attempts — virtually guaranteed two things: that the Broncos will be in the national championship discussion deep into the fall and that the calls for Georgia coach Mark Richt’s firing will grow ever louder in Athens. Said Broncos’ receiver Matt Miller (page 44): “Georgia had a ton of great athletes all over the field, and we were able to play pretty well with them. That just shows how we’ve gotten some big-time recruits in recent years.”

To read senior writer Austin Murphy’s (@si_austinmurphy) Oregon–LSU recap, The Start of Something Big, click here. To read senior writer Lars Anderson’s (@LarsAndersonSI) Boise State–Georgia recap, Moore of the Same Boise Magic, click here.

On the Tablets: Highlights of Oregon–LSU plus write-ups on Stanford–San Jose State and Notre Dame–South Florida courtesy of senior writer Phil Taylor (@SI_PhilTaylor) and staff writer Chris Mannix (@ChrisMannixSI), respectively.

FIVE WORTH WATCHING – LARS ANDERSON (@LarsAndersonSI)

With college football’s opening weekend in the books, here are the games that fans should keep an eye on in Week 2 (page 46):

• Alabama at Penn State
• South Carolina at Georgia
• Notre Dame at Michigan
• BYU at Texas
• Utah at USC

Click here to read a full write-up on all five matchups, including what to expect based on each team’s performance in Week 1.