Prior to the season, Texas' matchup with Colorado looked concerning to Longhorn fans: The Buffaloes were a young, improving team coming off a bowl appearance, and the game was set to be played before a raucous nighttime crowd in Boulder.

After the first month of the season, both teams have shown a bit of what they're made of, and fifth-ranked Texas (4-0) finds themselves a two-touchdown favorite in their Big 12 conference opener.

The Longhorns have cruised to easy victories in all four games this season, moving up in the polls as other highly ranked teams have fallen victim to upsets. Colorado (3-1) pulled off a solid win against then-ranked West Virginia, but looked overmatched in last week's 39-21 loss to Florida State and struggled to defeat Eastern Washington, 31-24.

The Buffaloes are led on offense by quarterback Cody Hawkins (son of head coach Dan Hawkins) and stable of good running backs, including freshman Darrell Scott, who chose Colorado over Texas in recruiting. Fellow freshman Rodney Stewart is the starter, averaging 5.6 yards per carry.

Things might be tougher for the Buffs on Saturday: They'll be missing starting right tackle Ryan Miller, who broke his leg against Florida State. Miller is the third Colorado lineman to suffer a serious injury this season.

Quarterback Colt McCoy has been the Longhorns' best player over the first four games, completing 80 percent of his passes for 14 touchdowns and only one interceptions. He also leads the team in rushing, averaging 8.2 yards per carry. McCoy's played so well, in fact, that Texas has pretty much scrapped the "Q Package", a series of plays designed to put McCoy and fellow QB John Chiles on the field at the same time.