Harold Wilson

Marquis Franklin calls it like he and several others see the 1-2 showdown shaping up. With his No. 2 Blinn College team set to take on No. 1 Butler (Kan.) tonight in the season opener, Franklin labeled the game "the biggest I've played in."

That statement came long before the scheduled 7 p.m. kickoff for a game with so much on the line, so early.

Butler and Blinn butt heads at the 24,000-seat Cessna Stadium on the Wichita State University campus in a game being dubbed the "battle of champions."

Under the direction of coach Troy Morrell, Butler captured the 2007 national championship.

Blinn, led by head coach Brad Franchione, won it all in 2006.

The highly anticipated contest features the only two programs to ever win back-to-back NJCAA national championships -- Blinn in 1995 and 1996, and Butler in 1998 and 1999.

"It's the biggest game of the season because we're No. 2 and they're No. 1," Franklin said following the team's final practice on campus Tuesday before taking off for Kansas. "We're going to go and ball. If we get over this hump, we're going back to the championship (we feel)."

Franklin, a former John Tyler High School standout, hopes to end his junior college career with a bang before moving on to bigger and better things.

Coming out of high school, Franklin ranked among the nation's best at his position -- an ESPN recruiting service listed him as the No. 18 tackle recruit in the entire nation.

The older Franklin, who is usually the biggest player on the field standing 6-6 and weighing 315, compares little to the high school version.

"I've switched to a whole other level," Franklin said on a cell phone call with the Tyler Paper on Tuesday. "If I could go back to high school now I could be dominant."

Recruiting services seem to agree. One Web site, jcfootball.scout.com, lists Franklin as the No. 1 tackle recruit in all of JUCO, and the 13th overall player in junior college.

The schools on his radar include Arkansas, Arizona State, Kansas, Kansas State, LSU, Oklahoma State and Ole Miss, with most already offering scholarships.

"That gives me a big boost to keep pushing," Franklin said of the high expectations.

"They say I'm physical, fast for my size and with a good attitude. I think I just need to get a little stronger and I'm ready. Juco was the best thing for me."

From day one, Franklin started at right tackle. Being in a spread offense, similar to the one JT ran, made for "easy transitioning."

"I had to get in where I fit in," Franklin said of the change in environments from East Texas to the rural area in the vicinity of Houston. "Everybody got to know me real good."

The talent level of the '08 squad rivals that of past Blinn teams, Franklin said. Blinn brings back six starters on offense and defense.

"It's superb. Blinn has the best talent out of all the JUCOs," he said. "We've got a lot of newcomers but they're good. The defense and run game is solid.

"Were going to try and go undefeated and go get this national championship."

Harold Wilson
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