Rice Owls 2016 NCAA Football Preview
RICE OWLS
Conference USA
2015 Record – 5-7
ATS – 4-6-2
2016 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating Rank
West Division #4
Conference #10
2015 Recap
Expectations are a funny thing. David Baliff has done such a fine job at Rice that a 5-7 season is considered to be a disappointment. The Owls went 18-9 the previous two seasons and even won a C-USA Title. Last season, Rice only managed to beat Wagner, North Texas, FAU, Army and Charlotte, so there needs be some improvement in 2016 if the Owls want to contend for the division title.
2016 Preview
OFFENSE
5th year senior Tyler Stehling is charged with the task of replacing former starting QB Driphus Jackson. The running game promises to be decent with everyone returning and the OL features 3/5 returning starters. Leading receiver Zach Wright is back this season, but overall, there does not appear to be a true #1 in the group.
DEFENSE
The defense returns 9 starters from last year’s team. Unfortunately, this defense gave up 36 points per game in 2016 and was ranked 12th in C-USA in sacks and turnovers forced. The defense is undersized but should be better this season with all the experience returning to the group.
MLB Alex Lyons is back in 2016 and he led the team in tackles last season and was a 2nd Team C-USA performer. The secondary returns all four starters but was an absolute mess last year as the Owls allowed a mind-boggling 36 (!) TD passes and only recorded 2 (!) interceptions. Both of those picks were courtesy of a player no longer with the team. This unit needs to be better but we are not brimming with confidence.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The Owls were pretty much average in the return game last season. PK Heyden Tobola is back for duty and he hit 8/13 FGs last season. Rice needs to find a new punter and they will miss having James Farrimond handling those duties.
MEGALOCKS ATS Value Rating (10) 4.0
MEGALOCKS says:
The Owls’ schedule is interesting if for no other reason than you can almost see what is coming. Lose – Win – Lose – Win – Lose. In layman’s terms, they start the season facing WKU, Army, Baylor, North Texas and Southern Miss. In any event, the schedule is palatable in terms of achieving bowl eligibility, but they do not want it to come down to the last game, as they face Stanford on the road.
Overall, we give the OWLS a 4.0 ATS Value Rating (Below Average) this season. There is nothing you can point to with this team that makes you want to get excited. The good news is that the Owls are in the soft division of C-USA where truly anything is possible. Bowl eligibility is certainly right there for the taking. Rice had a three-year 25-14-1 (64%) ATS streak going before last season. The Owls are not a team that people are crawling all over to support so you do not want to fade them indiscriminately (value). However, we are going to pass on backing this squad until we get a better handle on what to expect.
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