Locals

Boise State (6-5 last season) at No. 17 UCLA (10-2)

* Kickoff: 6 p.m. Saturday at the Rose Bowl, Fox Sports West 2.

* Story line: The season opener for both teams comes under difficult circumstances. Boise State players and coaches not only have the death of a teammate fresh in their minds, but now play the first game since the tragedy close to Paul Reyna’s La Puente home. It’s nothing by comparison, but UCLA will be short-handed because of suspensions and injuries.

* UCLA update: Flanker Danny Farmer is not expected to play because of the sprained ankle that has kept him out of practice since Aug. 21, save some jogging and drills earlier this week to test the joint.

* Boise State update: Playing before a big crowd will be a rarity for the Broncos, but not unheard of. The 50,000 expected are about 14,000 more than anything they saw last season, and more than twice as much as the 1998 average, but the surroundings might not be a problem for the veterans. Boise State played before 73,209 at Wisconsin in 1997 and 49,108 at Arizona State in ’96.

* Edge to UCLA: The Bruins are missing a lot of people. But not that many.

* Line: UCLA by 27.