Houston at Rice - 9/11/21 College Football Picks and Prediction

The Rice Owls fell to 0-1 on the season after being defeated by a Arkansas Razorbacks, 38-17, this past Saturday. Rice gave Arkansas all they could handle and held a 17-7 lead early in the 3rd quarter, however, the Owls struggled late and allowed the Razorbacks to pull away after scoring 21 unanswered points in the 4th quarter. Rice was outgained by Arkansas by a 373-308 margin while also losing the turnover battle by a 3-1 margin in the loss. Leading the way for the Owls was WR August Pitre III who had 4 receptions for 97 yards & 1 TD. QB Wiley Green completed 12 of 25 passes for 152 yards, 1 TD, & 3 INT. The other top receivers outside of August Pitre III included Jake Bailey (4 rec, 47 yards), Bradley Rozner (2 rec, 30 yards), & Cedric Patterson III (1 rec, 15 yards). Leading the way for the Owls backfield was the duo of Khalan Griffin (13 car, 35 yards) & Jordan Myers (10 car, 23 yards, 1 TD).

Defensively, Rice did a solid job limiting the Razorbacks passing attack, however, didn’t have many answers for their rushing attack as Arkansas racked up 245 yards & 4 TD’s on the ground. Leading the way for the Owls defense was Antonio Montero (11 tackles, 1 sack) & Treshawn Chamberlain (11 tackles).

The Cougars are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games vs. C-USA opponents, however, are just 4-11 ATS in their last 15 games as a road favorite. The Owls are 25-12-1 ATS vs. a team with a losing record and 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games following a straight up loss of more than 20 points.

Houston got off to a great start against Texas Tech, however, the wheels really fell off for the Cougars and it was quite concerning that Houston offense could not find the scoreboard in the entire 2nd half against a Texas Tech defense that allowed over 36.0 ppg last season. Rice looked primed for an upset of Arkansas until the defense fell apart late, however, it was a bit encouraging to see the Owls offense look a bit more dangerous than we’ve seen in year’s past. Rice had an awful ATS beat last week, however, this is still a defense that is solid and should be able to plan for Houston one-dimensional passing attack and between the fact that Owls are at home and should be able to put up some points, I think the play here is to take Rice and the points.