UTSA travels down I-10 to take on a Rice team looking for their first FBS win of the season. Here are our staff predictions for the week.
Jared Kalmus - UnderdogDynasty.com - Record (4-1)
This a very tough game to crack. UTSA should be riding high coming off back-to-back wins against in-state competition but neither win was very convincing. The offense continues to look fundamentally impaired as the Roadrunners just can't get the ball into the endzone on a consistent basis.
Rice's 1-4 record doesn't show the progress the Owls are making under Mike Bloomgren. They need to find consistency but the building blocks are starting to settle into place. One matchup that seems to heavily favor the Owls is 6'4" Aaron Cephus on UTSA's undersized corners so keep an eye on how Clayton Johnson and Cassius Grady are able to cover Cephus.
I think we'll see a lot of punts in this game but ultimately I think that UTSA's front six will carry them to a narrow victory in Houston.
UTSA 24, Rice 21
Chase Otero - Multimedia Producer - Record (3-2)
Rice matches up pretty well with the Roadrunners this year. Both teams are ranked low in almost all of C-USA's statistics so I treat this game not as a "gimme game". I predict a higher scoring affair than last week, but I still see UTSA coming out on top against Rice for the 4th straight year.
UTSA 27, Rice 24
Stephen Whitaker - Staff Writer - Record (4-1)
For the third weekend in a row the Roadrunners will face a team sitting on either one win or zero wins. Rice won their season opener and since then has lost four straight. The Roadrunners are on a two-game winning streak after starting out 0-3. This will be the seventh meeting all-time between the two teams. The first six games were split 3-3 but UTSA is 1-2 all-time at Rice Stadium. UTSA has a chance to get to the .500 mark on the season and its likely that if they get there it will be thanks to the defense and kicker extraordinaire Jared Sackett.
UTSA 23, Rice 10
Burk Frey - Photog - Record (3-2)
Heading into this week’s game, oddsmakers slightly favor Rice... and that’s fair. But I have a different result in mind.As the Roadrunner offense has settled in, they've more or less improved each week as the season goes on. While UTSA is averaging just under 20 points a game, they’re trending up (albeit against worse competition, but still). And when the offense performs, the defense has time to rest and do their thing. I think Grundy, the young WR corps, and the running back tandem put together a low profile but decent performance that puts enough on the board to win.
UTSA 27, Rice 21
Colton Mannella - Staff Writer - Record (4-1)
UTSA hits the road for the first time since their loss to Kansas State. The Roadrunners have not won on the road yet this season, and it's hard for me to confidently say that they will this weekend. On the other hand, Rice hasn't won since their first game of the season against a less than impressive Prairie View A&M, and it was a very narrow victory at that. I see this being a close game, as the spread of 2.5 in favor of Rice predicts. I believe Rice will end up with their second win of the season, but it will be a very close game.
Rice 28, UTSA 24
Eric Moreno - Staff Writer - Record (2-0)
The Roadrunners are starting to show the signs of being the team we all hoped the would be. The defense, at least in the front seven, has shown promise of becoming one of the Conference's best. While the offense continues to show frustrating flashes of being explosive, it has been the special teams that have proven to be the difference the past two weeks. That will continue against Rice.
UTSA 27, Rice 14
Javi Cardenas - Publisher - Record (5-0)
I delayed posting the staff predictions solely because I couldn’t make mind up on this game. Rice is looking for their second win of the season (first FBS win) and seem determined to take their frustrations out on UTSA. Their defense struggles defending the pass in due part to the large number of underclassmen they are throwing out there. If Grundy is going to have a breakout game through the air it has to be this week.
I don’t think the UTSA will be able to advantage of the Owl defense. It will be a close game that is won late by the Owls.
Rice 27, UTSA 24
