Two teams that had a wide-open nail-biter in last year's season-opener will kick off the new season against one another again on Saturday, when the Chadron State Eagles host Missouri Science and Technology at noon on Saturday.
 
The Eagles pulled out a 40-34 victory in Rolla a year ago, when Lane Haller returned an interception 79 yards in the second overtime.
 
Chadron State sent the game into overtime by driving 79 yards and scoring on a 12-yard pass from quarterback Jonn McLain to inside receiver Cody Roes to tie the score at 27-27 with 44 seconds remaining.
 
While the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference coaches' poll pegged CSC to finish second in the league again this fall this fall, S&T is picked for fourth in its Great Lakes Valley Conference, which includes teams from five Midwestern states.
 
"We're eager to play a game," said CSC head coach Jay Long. "With many members of the All-Century team coming back, it should be a neat atmosphere. I know our players are looking forward to hitting somebody else. There's always a lot of excitement for the first game."
 
The Eagles will have several first-time starters on both sides of the ball, but nearly all of them were in their position's rotation last fall. Even the four sophomores who are scheduled to start played quite a bit a year ago. For instance, both cornerback Jordan Jones and safety Ryan Wood were starters much of the season and defensive end Tyler Kiess played in all 11 games.
 
As for Missouri S&T, most of their skill position players on offense are back. That includes tailback Zenel Hudson, who led the Miners in rushing with 121 carries for 520 yards, and all four of their leading receivers.
 
The latter group features Melvin Stovall, who caught 66 passes for 712 yards and five touchdowns for the season. Against CSC, Stoval had nine receptions for 150 yards and also returned a kickoff 42 yards.
 
"They got way too many passing yards (365) against us last year," said CSC secondary coach Craig Jersild. "We've got to do a lot better job this year."
 
The CSC defensive coaches don't know what's going on at quarterback with the Miners. Last year's starter, Reed Brown, who completed 27 of 40 passes for those 365 yards against CSC and finished the season with 133 of 232 for 1,327 yards, is still on the roster, but is not on the team's two-deep list.
 
Instead, sophomores Kason Key and Peter Simpson share the top spot. Key is a transfer from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M and Simpson was the quarterback when the Miners won four of their final five games.
 
For the year, Simpson completed 90 of 171 passes for 1,064 yards and six TDs.
 
Up front, S&T returns both of its starting offensive tackles, but will start redshirt freshmen at both guards and at center.