The Rice Owls will travel to L.T. Smith Stadium to take on the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers on Thursday night in a Conference USA match-up. The game is scheduled to get underway on September 1st at 8:00 p.m. ET on the CBS Sports Network. The Hilltoppers are considered a favorite in their league this year. We will see if they can close the deal in what’s considered a winnable contest. The Hilltoppers are a -16 point favorite and the over/under is 63.5.
Rice:
The Owls relied heavily on senior QB Driphus Jackson to manage games and keep the first downs coming. Rice is now putting their faith in a different signal-caller. With a new face behind center, Rice will expect more output from their talented running backs.
The Owls had a big problem giving away points last season. The defensive side of the ball relented over 36 points a game. Racking up first downs and keeping an otherwise undermanned squad off the field would help Rice tremendously.
Tyler Sterling will take over the starting role at the quarterback position for the Owls. Even though Sterling hasn’t taken any snaps in a game for Rice, he will have a player-maker to distribute the rock to. Wide receiver Zach Wright mustered up five touchdowns last year and had a solid 46.2 yards a game average. Those stats may not seem like much, but are pretty impressive considering how run happy the Owls are.
Head Coach David Bailiff looks to build on the offensive numbers from a solid 2015 campaign. Rice returns both of their ball carriers from last season. Darik Dillard carried the ball plenty and had five touchdowns to show for his efforts. Jowan Brown was used as the two in the one two punch. He averaged over four yards a carry and hit pay-dirt once. Another positive for the ground attack is that the majority of the offensive line is back.
Western Kentucky:
The Hilltoppers boasted a prolific offense last season. They were fourth in the country in scoring (44.3) that was bolstered by the nations sixth ranked passing attack. There is no doubt that the Hilltoppers figured out how to push the ball down field through the air. The big question is how will the departure of rifleman Brandon Doughty to the Miami Dolphins effect the offense.
Head Coach Jeff Brohm hasn’t revealed who will be under center for the start of the season opener but whoever he chooses will have plenty of weapons to throw to. First and foremost is wide receiver Taywan Taylor. Taylor scored 17 touchdowns for the Hilltoppers en route to amassing over 1,400 yards.
To compliment the phenom is wide-out Nicholas Norris. Norris racked up 70 yards a game and added six more scores of his own. Western Kentucky will also have a potent backfield combination of D’Andre Ferby and Anthony Wales. together, they combined for 140 yards a game and 20 end-zone appearances.
On the defensive side of things, Western Kentucky might struggle a bit. They only return four starters from an otherwise unproductive unit in 2015. On the bright side, they did acquire two stud transfers from Louisville. T.J. McCollum, the Hilltoppers leading tackler will also be back in the mix. Whether these three will be able to improve on the 405.2 total yards and 25.9 points a game is yet to be seen.
Match-Up Analysis:
Coach Jeff Brohm decided to stay at Western Kentucky. You have to expect another big year for the Hilltoppers. The Hilltoppers may have lost their talented QB Doughty to the NFL, but with Brohm’s ability to guide youngsters in the signal calling roll it shouldn’t matter. Rice had a decent 2015 but they also lost their play-making quarterback and have a lot more holes to fill than that. Either way, I see both of these squads finding a way to get some points on the board. Neither team has a defense that strikes fear into any Division I foe. I’ll sit back and enjoy the first down festival.
The Hun’s Prediction:
The Over 63.5
