Not certain you might call Texas vs. Rice an in-state rivalry when they meet Saturday in Houston. I meanthey are in Texas, but the Owls have not won a match in the show since 1994. How long ago was that? ESPN was desperate to broadcast on a Sunday because the MLB season was canceled because of the players’ strike, therefore Texas-Rice was transferred to Sunday.
Overall, Texas leads the series 72-21-1 3-0 in NRG Stadium and has taken the past 13. They were both in the Southwest Conference until that has been officially dissolved in May 1996. Naturally, Texas is now in the Big 12 and Rice at Conference USA. The meeting was in 2015.
Rice isn’t a program with only 11 wins since 2015. They were 1-11 at David Bailiff’s last season in 2017 and »improved » into 2-11 final year under first trainer Mike Bloomgren. The reason that Rice got to play with 13 games was because any college that travels to Hawaii is allowed to. The Owls’ wins last season have been over Prairie View A&M (barely) and Old Dominion.
The Owls and Week 1 in a 14-7 loss at a Army staff played pretty well but then fell 41-21 last week, this season. Beginning quarterback Wiley Green left one delivered to the hospital and carted off. All tests were negative on the redshirt freshman. I often doubt that he performs here. Senior Tom Stewart appears likely to get started. The Harvard move was 19-for-30 for 185 yards and a touchdown in place of Green vs. Wake Forest.
Perhaps Stewart will improve an offense that ranks 120th in yards per game (282.0), 118th in scoring (14.0) and 113th in death (158.0). Rice is better for ranking 128th in pass efficiency D, defense and 118th against the rush.
Rice is 3-6 all-time playing NRG Stadium; it generally plays campus. The Owls haven’t defeated a ranked team since Nov. 11, 1997, vs. No. 21 BYU.
Texas fans are surely bummed their group dropped 45-38 in the home to LSU a week at the first and only Top 10 matchup of the year, but UT is still in nice shape to make the College Football Playoff if it ends up, for instance, Big 12 title game. Each year but one has won the national title. No two-loss group, though, has attained the playoff. Nine of Texas’ 11 losses under Tom Herman have come by 10 points or fewer.
Junior Sam Ehlinger has become one of the better quarterbacks of the country. When running for a fifth rating a very good LSU defense was torched by him for 401 yards and four touchdowns last week. It was only the first since Colt McCoy versus UCF at 2009 and the sixth passing game in Texas history. Ehlinger, clearly UT grossing because McCoytied his career with all the five full TDs. 31 touchdowns have thrown to just 3 interceptions. Texas is currently 11-4 in that interval, including five wins over ranked teams.
1 injury notice from this LSU loss was that nickel cornerback BJ Foster hurt his hamstring and will miss a few weeks. He started six games as a freshman in 2018, recording 45 tackles, including nine for a loss and 2.5 sacks, to go with an interception.
It is obviously not a matter of if Texas wins here but if it insures. I tend to think that the Horns may be a bit flat in their first »road » game of this year and following that close call vs. LSU. Plus, UT opens Big 12 play next week with a far harder challenge vs. Oklahoma State.
Free NCAAF Choose: Rice +32.5 (-112) in Pinnacle
Read more here: http://umfp.ma/?p=4200
