Categories
NCAA Football

Rice Owls 2015 NCAA Football Gambling Odds & Predictions

2015-2016 Football Previews – (C-USA) – Owls

Rice had it’s Ups and Downs in the 2014 season. As far as the ups go, winning 6 straight in the middle of the season and then knocking off Fresno State in the Hawaii Bowl was a very encouraging sign for the program.

NCAA Football Gambling Lines

Conference USA Lines

C-USA 2015-2016 College Football Preview – Rice Owls
Head Coach: Todd Graham
2014 Record: 8-5
Rice Odds to win the C-USA: +400

With the ups, came the downs like allowing 76 points to Louisiana Tech and dropping a back and forth shootout with Old Dominion.

[dfads params=’groups=63738&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]

Still Rice is poised to make a run at the C-USA title this season and the oddsmakers think very highly of them as well.

Rice was a typical pro style offensive team. They used the play clock, pounded the ball on ground and did just enough to move the chains.

Their numbers support that as they averaged 28.8 points per game (66) and allowed 28.5 (82nd). Rice’s typical game consisted of them either getting blown out or up by at least 2 touchdowns. The lone exception came from the Old Dominion contest early in the season.

With high expectations for them in 2015, can they live up to those?

Team Strengths:

QB Threat: Returning Senior Driphus Jackson was the main reasoning behind the Owls’ 8-5 2014 record. He was asked to do a lot and would live up to those expectations throughout the entire season.

In 2014, Jackson threw for 2842 yards along with 24 touchdowns to just 8 interceptions. Along with his passing, Jackson showed off some serious wheels. He rushed for 556 yards and a touchdown as well.

[dfads params=’groups=66501&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]

On passing downs, the Rice Owls ranked 21st overall thanks in large part to Jackson being able to beat the chains with his ability to avoid pressure and find open receivers.

Rice is not a deep down field kind of team, but with Jackson running the offense, they always have the chance to sustain a drive, burn some clock, and put points up on the board.

Being in C-USA where the offenses dominate, it is sometimes overlooked that time of possession is important. Keeping big threat offenses who can strike quickly off the field leads to many frustrations for opponents.

Team Weaknesses:

Rebuilding Defense:

Rice was typically a blitzing defense that liked to run a lot of man to man on the outsides. Their M.O. in 2014 was that they were dominant against bad offenses, but ran over against good ones. Their embarrassment against Louisiana Tech was just one of the many struggles this defense had.

[dfads params=’groups=63739&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]

With a lot of their key pass rushers graduated and gone, the defense was forced to recruit hard. They’ll be one of the youngest in the conference and may have to rethink their strategy a bit.

Letting these new guys get a feel is most important. If they rush them into the Rice blitzing system, they are destined to fail right from the outset.

2015-2016 Rice Owls Season Prediction: 8-4

Rice is destined for a similar season like the one they had in 2014. It’s tough to put them in the top tier for C-USA teams like Western Kentucky and Marshall, but they’re not far away.

However, we saw their methodical, slow paced offense backfire at times, especially late in games.

Rice’s success will come from the young defensive core. They were beat up at times and when you go down big with the kind of offensive style Rice has, it usually spells trouble.

Rice Owls 2015 Schedule

Regular Season
Date Time vs Score
9/5/15 3:30 PM ET WAG
9/12/15 8:00 PM ET @TEX
9/19/15 2:30 PM ET @UNT
9/26/15 TBD @BAY
10/3/15 2:30 PM ET WKU
10/10/15 TBD @FAU
10/24/15 TBD ARMY
10/31/15 TBD LT
11/6/15 8:00 PM ET @UTEP
11/14/15 TBD SOMIS
11/21/15 TBD @UTSA
11/28/15 TBD CHAR

The 2015 College futures betting season is here in full force! If you like to bet on NCAA football, you are in the best possible place for online betting. CappersPicks.com has NCAAF odds up on a ton of futures, and you will also find College football lines up for early games as well.Check out our Updated College Football Odds.

And…as always click to view our top cappers COLLEGE FOOTBALL daily plays CLICK HERE!

[dfads params=’groups=63706&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]

By Tony M

Tony is new to Cappers Picks and has been betting on sports since the first day he turned 18. He is a 22 year old Cleveland native who lives and breathes Indians baseball. His dream is to be part of a championship celebration at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario.