The Rice Owls (+15) will clash with their in-conference foe Southern Miss Golden Eagles (-15) at Carlisle-Faulkner Field at M.M. Roberts Stadium. Kickoff for this game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET and ESPN+ has the TV rights.
Rice Owls vs. Southern Miss Golden Eagles Betting Preview
The Owls enter into this Saturday CUSA game as a noticeable underdog and are currently receiving 15 points. The Owls are also receiving +510 moneyline odds while the Golden Eagles are -750. There will likely be some good in-game betting scenarios in this matchup, and oddsmakers have placed the over/under (O/U) at 59 points.
This game’s opening line was -14, while the total has yet to change since being initially set at 59.
The Owls are 2-1 against the spread (ATS) and are down 1.0 unit so far. The team’s recorded an Over-Under mark of 3-0. The Golden Eagles are down 2.4 units this season. The team is 1-1 ATS and owns an O/U record of 0-1.
The Owls are 1-2 straight up (SU) and they haven’t faced any CUSA competition yet. The Golden Eagles are 1-1 SU overall and are also 0-0 SU in conference play.
The Owls are hoping to get back on track after a 43-29 defeat to Hawaii on September 8. Shawn Stankavage completed 20 passes for 299 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Emmanuel Esukpa (104 yards on 17 rush attempts, one TD) spearheaded the running attack. Austin Walter (five receptions, 82 yards) and Aaron Cephus (five catches, 97 yards, one TD) handled the receiving duties in the defeat.
Two weeks ago, Louisiana-Monroe knocked off this Southern Miss crew by a score of 21-20. Jack Abraham completed 31-of-46 passes for 378 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Tez Parks (42 yards on 17 rush attempts) spearheaded the running attack while Quez Watkins (11 receptions, 81 yards, one TD) and Jaylond Adams (nine catches, 158 yards, one TD) led the pass-catching corps in the loss.
Rice has run the ball on 57.4 percent of its offensive possessions this year while Southern Miss has a rush percentage of 50.0 percent. The Owls have run for 201 yards per game and have four touchdowns on the ground this year. The Golden Eagles are logging 130 rushing yards per game and have just one rush TD.
The Owls offense has tallied 226 yards per game through the air overall and has five passing scores so far. The Golden Eagles have recorded 317 pass yards per contest and have six total pass TD.
Defensively, Rice has let opponents rush for an average of 186 yards and pass for 294 yards per game. The Southern Miss defense has given up 146.5 yards per game to opposing passers and 130.0 yards per game on the ground. The Golden Eagles are allowing an adjusted net yards per pass attempt (ANY/A) of only 3.19 to opponents, while the Owls have given up a whopping 11.37 ANY/A.
Offensively, Stankavage has amassed 342 passing yards on the year. He’s connected on 27-of-46 attempts with two passing scores and one interception. He’s got a 6.49 adjusted net yards per pass attempt, including 7.10 over the last two outings.
Jack Abraham has completed 31-of-46 passes for 378 yards, two TDs and two INTs for Southern Miss. His ANY/A stands at 5.73 for the year and 7.56 over his past two outings.
When these two teams met a year ago, Southern Miss won by three field goals 43-34.
NCAA Prediction: Rice Owls vs. Southern Miss Golden Eagles
SU Winner – Rice, ATS Winner – Rice, O/U – Over
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Notes
Team Betting Trends
Rice was favored by 17 points in its last game and the Over/Under was 69. The over cashed and Rice did not cover in the 43-29 loss to Hawaii.
The Southern Miss offense has lost three fumbles this season while Rice has lost one.
Over its last three contests, Rice is 2-1 ATS and the over cashed in each of those three.
Southern Miss was favored by 6 points in its last match and the Over/Under going into it was 67. The under cashed and Southern Miss failed to cover in the 21-20 loss to Louisiana-Monroe.
Both teams have produced one pass play of 40+ yards. The Owls have have made six pass plays of 30+ yards while the Golden Eagles have created two such plays.
The Rice defense has allowed five pass plays of 40+ yards, while Southern Miss has given up one such play.
The Rice offense has created 12 rushing plays of 20 or more yards, while Southern Miss has created zero such runs.
The Owls defense has allowed five rushing plays of 20 or more yards, while the Golden Eagles have given up two such runs.
The Rice defense has sacked opposing quarterbacks five times this season. Southern Miss has recorded two sacks.
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