Rice at UTEP: 11/20/21 College Football Picks and Prediction

UTEP Miners (6-4) vs Rice Owls (3-7)

Game Info: Saturday, November 20, 2021 at 4:00 pm (Sun Bowl)

Betting Odds: UTEP Miners -9 -- Over/Under: 47 Click Here for the Latest Odds

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The Rice Owls will travel to the Sun Bowl to take on the UTEP Miners this Saturday afternoon in College Football action.

The Rice Owls lost their 3rd straight game and dropped to 3-7 on the season after being defeated by the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, 42-21, this past Saturday. Rice had no answers for the Western Kentucky passing attack and could not fight back after going into halftime trailing by a 28-0 margin. Rice was outgained by Western Kentucky by a 587-504 margin and committed 5 turnovers in the loss. Leading the way for the Owls was WR August Pitre III who had 9 receptions for 133 yards.

On the season, Rice is averaging 19.5 ppg on 351.0 total yards per game (206.4 passing yds/g; 144.6 rushing yds/g). Offensively, Rice has been led by the rushing attack of RB Ari Broussard (102 att, 533 yards, 2 TD), RB Khalan Griffin (97 att, 360 yards, 2 TD), & TE Jordan Myers (89 att, 334 yards, 8 TD). QB Jake Constantine has completed 61.9% of his passes for 1439 yards, 6 TD, & 7 INT. The top receiving threats for the Owls have been Jake Bailey (51 rec, 656 yards, 2 TD), Cedric Patterson III (31 rec, 441 yards, 3 TD), & August Pitre III (22 rec, 361 yards, 2 TD).

Defensively, Rice is allowing their opponents to average 36.5 ppg on 431.3 total yards per game (261.6 passing yds/g; 169.7 rushing yds/g).

The UTEP Miners lost their 3rd straight game and dropped to 6-4 on the season after being defeated by the North Texas Mean Green, 20-17, this past Saturday. UTEP fought back from a 10-point deficit late in the 4th quarter to tie the game with just :55 seconds left, however, North Texas was able to pull out the victory after quacking driving down the field and hitting a 27-yard game-winning FG with just :07 seconds left in regulation. UTEP was outgained by North Texas by a 423-382 margin and lost the turnover battle by a 1-0 margin in the loss. Leading the way for the Miners was WR Jacob Cowing who had 5 receptions for 174 yards & 1 TD.

On the season, UTEP is averaging 23.9 ppg on 390.6 total yards per game (240.5 passing yds/g; 150.1 rushing yds/g). Offensively, UTEP has been led by WR Jacob Cowing who had 51 receptions for 1110 yards & 5 TD. QB Cavin Hardison has completed 54.2% of his passes for 2401 yards, 14 TD, & 10 INT. The top receivers for the Miners outside of Cowing have been Justin Garrett (40 rec, 533 yards, 3 TD) & Tyrin Smith (20 rec, 422 yards, 4 TD). Leading the way for the Miners backfield has been the duo of Ronald Awatt (131 att, 682 yards, 5 TD) & Deion Hankins (99 att, 357 yards, 5 TD).

Defensively, UTEP is averaging 22.7 ppg on 334.2 total yards per game (210.6 passing yds/g; 123.6 rushing yds/g).

The Owls are 2-8 ATS in their last 10 games overall and 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games as an underdog. The Miners are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games after scoring less than 20 points in their previous game and 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games vs. a team with a losing record.

Rice has had a long season on both ends of the field as they come into this game ranked just 117th in scoring offense & 120th in scoring defense and I think those struggles continue the road against a UTEP team that has some impactful players on the offense and a defense that ranks 44th in scoring defense. UTEP is 4-1 at home this season and as I think the defense will have no trouble slowing down the Owls in this one, I think the UTEP will be able to do enough offensively to win this one by double-digits and cover this spread. Good Luck!

Brett’s Pick UTEP Miners -9

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The pick in this article is the opinion of the writer, not a PickDawgz site consensus.

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