Army Black Knights vs Rice Owls

Rice has balance on offense with QB E.J. Warner (466 yards) and running backs Dean Connors (197 yards 6.2 ypc) and Taji Atkins (115 yards, 6.8 ypc). Rice is on a 9-6-1 spread run. Army is one-dimensional on offense, all about running the football. The last time Rice's coaching staff under Mike Bloomgren went to West Point they handled the option very well in a 14-7 final. Army had 284 total yards and averaged 4.1 yards per carry, while Rice ran for 181 yards (6.0 yards per rush). Play Rice.

Rice managed to score only 17 points per game in 2017 and 19 points in an injury-plagued 2018 season, which was played with the third-most freshmen of any team in the country. The Owls went 5-2-1 UNDER its last eight games and Army stayed UNDER in three of its last five. Rice returns only six on offense and three quarterbacks are battling for the starting spot, including frontrunner Wiley Green along with Tom Stewart and Evan Marshman. Army allowed only 17.7 points per game last season and only 22 the year before. The Black Knights took Oklahoma into overtime before losing 28-21 last year and they could be looking ahead to next week when they go to the Big House and play Michigan.  The Owls plan on using several different looks defensively to try and slow down Army's triple-option offense. Kelvin Hopkins Jr. became the first Army player in history to complete more than 1,000 yards in both rushing and passing in a season. There will be a lot of time-consuming running plays in this one. Play the game to stay UNDER.

Army won last year's meeting 31-14 in a game that went UNDER by seven points. The Black Knights have gone UNDER in three of their last four games this season. Rice has scored a total of 20 points its last three games and the Owls are 3-0-1 UNDER their last four. Rice quarterback Sam Glaesmann has missed the last two games with a shoulder injury and he's questionable for this one. The backup QBs have little experience and Jackson Tyner was 15-of-32 for 222 yards and one touchdown but threw three interceptions against Pittsburgh in a 42-10 loss to Pittsburgh. Army, of course, runs a time-consuming offense with very few pass attempts and the Knights are averaging only 20 points per game against FBS competition. The Knights rushed for 353 yards on 50 carries in their win over UTEP. Defensively, Army is allowing only 20.6 points per contest and it has stayed UNDER five of its last six road games dating to last season. Rice is just 3-8-1 ATS in their last 12 games vs. winning teams and they have covered the number just once in their last five at home. The Owls are also 20-8-1 UNDER its last 29 games after an ATS loss and the offense shows no signs of improving. Take the favorite here and play the UNDER.

Rice has a relatively new quarterback, as senior Tyler Stehling steps in. The coaching staff might be having second thoughts, though, after last week's disaster against Western Kentucky, scoring 14 points. He threw no touchdowns with two interceptions. Last season Stehling completed 50% of his passes with one TD, and two picks. Last week the team was down 30-7 at the half, but Stehling threw for just 186 total yards despite 38 attempts. Rice is 11-5 UNDER the total against a winning team, plus 15-5 UNDER after allowing more than 280 yards passing in their previous game. They face a run-oriented Army squad and an underrated coach in Jeff Monken. The defense took a massive step forward last season to finish #47 in the nation in yards. The defense did a great job of keeping the team in games, allowing 22 points or fewer six times. That 'D' shined last week in a 28-13 upset at Temple, allowing just 251 total yards. The offense still has a ways to go, however, winning just two games a year ago when Army scored 77% of the time inside the 20 and came up with touchdowns on only 20 of 31 trips. Play Rice/Army UNDER the total.