55th Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl
New Hampshire vs. Vermont

When and where: Saturday (2:30 p.m.) at Dartmouth's Memorial Field.
Team records: New Hampshire leads the series 39-13-2.
Head coaches: Laconia's Craig Kozens is the New Hampshire head coach. U-32's Mike Law will be guiding Vermont.
2007 result: New Hampshire won, 23-20.
Last Vermont victory: 2000 game (47-40).
Tickets: Tickets are $10 (general admission) and $20 (reserved seating) and are available at the gate.
Noteworthy: New teams, same storyline: Is this the year Vermont will be able to knock off New Hampshire? On paper this looks like one of the better New Hampshire teams in recent years. New Hampshire is much stronger at the skill positions than it was a year ago. The offensive cast includes Nashua South quarterback Billy Ferriter and Londonderry running back Alex Theodhosi. Ferriter, New Hampshire's Gatorade Player of the Year, will be running a spread offense similar to the one he ran for Nashua South. Theodhosi set a school record by rushing for 2,041 yards last season. He also scored 28 TDs. The offensive line is big, and includes two players headed to play in the Football Championship Subdivision: Portsmouth's Reed Spiller (Yale) and Pinkerton Academy's Josh Lane (University of New Hampshire). ... "Ferriter from Nashua South -- he can do everything," Law said. "(New Hampshire) has some really good speed at running back. If I had those running backs and that line I think I'd run the ball and see what happens. We know if we can't stop the run we're going to get a heavy dose of that. We've told our front seven that." ... The Vermont roster was been depleted by injuries and disciplinary issues. Vermont was hit particularly hard at running back. Law will be without running back Taylor DeVarney (disciplinary reasons) and Trevor Varney (food poisoning). DeVarney and Varney each rushed for more than 2,000 yards during their senior season. ... Shortly after selecting his team Law said he hoped to have a balanced offense, but Kozens said he expects Vermont to put the ball in the air two out of every three plays. Ethan Sylvain, who was Law's quarterback at U-32, is expected to take most of the snaps from center. Sylvain will likely look to take advantage of tight ends Adam Chicoine (Burlington) and Andrew Baker (Rutland). ... Both defenses will play a four-man front. The key matchup may be New Hampshire's secondary against Vermont's receivers. "We're deep and we're athletic back there," Kozens said. "I think we should be able to handle whatever they decide to do." ... New Hampshire will have 55 varsity football programs this fall. Vermont has 34. ... Prediction: New Hampshire 34, Vermont 13.