Rice at Houston - 9/24/22 College Football Picks and Prediction

The Rice Owls and Houston Cougars face off on Saturday in a Week 4 college football showdown at TDECU Stadium. In 2021 it was Houston that secured a 44-7 victory. 

Houston still has high expectations for what this season they can be but they come into this game with a 1-2 record overall. Houston opened up the season with a 37-35 record overall but since that point, they have lost two games. In the last game against Kansas the defense was awful giving up 48 points, and that led to the defeat. The Cougars defense is giving up 38.7 runs per game. Under center for Houston is Clayton Tune and he completed 22 of his 31 passes for 272 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He also rushed 16 times for 63 yards and a touchdown. 

On the other side of this matchup is Rice who also sit with a 2-1 record. Rice opened up the season with a 66-14 defeat at the hands of USC, but since that, they have beat McNeese State 52-10 and in the last game against Louisiana they won 33-21. In the last game quarterback TJ McMahon completed 25 of his 36 passes for 303 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions. He looked pretty good, but the interceptions are an issue, and that will need to be cleaned up here. Rice's defense is going to also need to be better. They probably don’t want to get into a shootout here.