Rice at Houston Spread
Written by Jack Jones - Google +
The 18th-ranked Houston Cougars look to remain unbeaten Thursday when they host the Rice Owls in a Conference USA showdown. Houston has won seven of the last 10 meetings in this series overall, but Rice has actually taken two of the last three despite being an underdog in each. The Owls beat the Cougars 34-31 at home last season, which should come as no surprise considering the home team has won seven of the last eight meetings. The Cougars were victorious last time here at Robertson Stadium by a final of 73-14. Kickoff is set for 8:00 EST Thursday night.
Taking a look at the spreads in Las Vegas, I find a line of Houston -27 over Rice.
Houston
The Cougars have been putting up video game-like numbers this season. Houston (7-0, 3-0 C-USA) has scored 49 or more points in four straight games, including a 63-28 triumph over Marshall this past Saturday. Their schedule has been about as easy as they come, but they are still dominating their opposition overall nonetheless. However, they have survived some scares with three wins by seven points or less over UCLA, Louisiana Tech and UTEP.
Houston quarterback Case Keenum became the FBS’s career leader in total offense against the Thundering Herd, throwing for 376 yards and tying his career high with six touchdown passes. He only needed 130 yards to pass Tim Chang from Hawaii, who held the record with 16,910 yards. Keenum set the record with a 30-yard pass to Justin Johnson with 3:56 remaining in the first quarter. He now needs 802 passing yards to move ahead of Chang’s record (17,072) and five touchdown passes to surpass Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell (134).
For the season, Keenum is completing 72.9 percent of his passes for 2,685 yards with 23 touchdowns and only two interceptions. Patrick Edwards (44 receptions, 751 yards, six TD), Tyron Carrier (46, 553, three TD) and Johnson (31, 462, five TD) are his three favorite targets. Houston leads the country in total offense (606.1 yards/game) and they are 1st in scoring offense (49.3 points/game) as well. Their offense has made up for a stop unit that ranks 80th in total defense (408.2 yards/game), though they are only giving up 23.4 points/game.
Rice
The Owls appear to be headed toward yet another losing season. Rice (2-5, 1-3 C-USA) is coming off a 20-38 home loss to Tulsa over the weekend, which was their fourth setback by 18 points or more this season. They have yet to lose by more than 27 points, with their largest defeat coming at Baylor by a final of 56-31.
In their loss to the Golden Hurricane on Saturday, the Owls were outgained 473-353. What cost them the most were four turnovers, including two interceptions and a fumble from starting quarterback Taylor McHargue in Rice’s first three possessions. Those miscues led to 17 points from Tulsa as the Golden Hurricane jumped out to a 17-0 lead. Backup QB Nick Fanuzzi played well the rest of the way in place of McHargue, completing 20 of 37 passes for 234 yards and a touchdown.
Head coach David Baliff has stated that he will decide this week who gets the starting quarterback job against Houston. Whoever is under center needs to spark an offense that ranks just 99th in the country in total yards/game (326.4). The Owls have been gashed for 472.5 yards/game, which ranks them 115th in total defense. That’s not good news considering they’ll be up against the top offense in the land Thursday.
Betting Trends
The home team is 7-1 ATS in the last 8 meetings, and the underdog is 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings.
The Owls are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 meetings with Houston, but just 1-11 ATS in their last 12 road games vs. a team with a winning home record. Rice is also 0-6 ATS in their last 6 games as a road underdog of 10.5 or greater.
The Cougars are 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games as a favorite of 10.5 or greater, including a perfect 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games as a home favorite of 10.5 or more. Houston is also 4-0 ATS in their last 4 home games overall.
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