![\"Kyle](\"http:\/\/www.sportscapping.com\/new\/cache\/capper_photos\/366_service_photo.jpg\" "\\"Kyle")
<\/a>Conference USA 2011-2012 Football Previews: Rice Owls Rice returns nine starters on the offensive side of the football and eight starters on the defensive side of the ball this year.<\/p>\n The team finished 2010 with a couple big wins over East Carolina and UAB, so there is reason to be upbeat if you a fan of the program.<\/p>\n Taylor McHargue took over at the quarterback spot during the middle of the year last season, and Rice averaged more than 40 points per game in their last four contests in 2010. Can the Rice offense continue last season\u2019s improvement? Can the defense stop anyone?<\/p>\n Sam McGuffie was one of the most highly touted recruits in the country a few years ago when he went off to Michigan. He wasn\u2019t a star right away at Rice, but last year he really came into his own. McGuffie led the Owls in rushing and receiving last year.<\/p>\n He may be the best running back in the conference, and I expect Rice to continue to get him the football frequently.<\/p>\n Taylor McHargue makes this offense run, and his dual-threat ability makes him quite dangerous. McHargue is more than capable of beating a team with his feet, but look for him to air it out pretty often this year.<\/p>\n The Owls have a solid group of receivers and tight ends.<\/p>\n Scott Soloman was one of the best players in Conference USA two years ago, but he missed all of last season with an injury. The Rice defense badly needs help, and Solomon should help them a great deal if he can stay healthy.<\/p>\n The Rice defense is lacking play makers overall. Solomon will certainly help a great deal, but he need some help. This is a defense that allowed a ridiculous 38.5 points per game in 2010. They have eight starters returning on defense this year, but is that really a good thing if this group can\u2019t stop anyone? [soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n Rice lacks a run stuffer in the middle of the defense. The Owls were constantly gashed by mediocre rushing attacks last season, and I see no reason to believe that will change in the near future.<\/p>\n The defensive line must be able to hold its own, and the linebackers need to improve in their pursuit of the football.<\/p>\n The offensive line is a question mark. The skill positions are all set for this Rice offense, but the offensive line may limit this team when they are playing against the best defenses on their schedule.<\/p>\n I absolutely believe Rice will be a much improved team in 2011, but I\u2019m not sure it will show much in the standings because of their schedule. Rice easily has the most difficult non-conference schedule of any Conference USA team this season. Rice must travel to Texas, Baylor, Houston, Northwestern, SMU, and Marshall this year.<\/p>\n Look to the Owls early season home game against Purdue as a barometer of what this team is capable of doing.<\/p>\n I expect Rice to pile up the points once again in 2011, but an extremely tough schedule and a poor defense will likely keep them out of a bowl berth.<\/p>\n 2011 Texas El-Paso Miners Schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n 9\/3\/11\t 12:00 PM ET\t @TEXAS College football preview guide for the 2011 Conference USA Rice Owls CFB betting season. Kyle Hunter weighs in with his ncaa football predictions, and BCS championship handicapping analysis\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":40311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[50358,44530,49957,50359,16468,14800,50364,1449,50365,50366,2894,50367],"class_list":["post-40277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaa-football","tag-2011-conference-usa-football-previews","tag-2012-bcs-lines","tag-bcs-sportsbook-odds","tag-conference-usa-football-predictions","tag-conference-usa-odds","tag-conference-usa-picks","tag-owls-bcs-futures","tag-rice","tag-rice-football-predictions","tag-rice-gambling-odds","tag-rice-owls","tag-rice-schedule"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40277"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40382,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40277\/revisions\/40382"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nHead Coach: David Bailiff
\n2010 Record: 4-8
\nRice Gambling Odds from BetOnline to win BCS: +1,500 (Part of Field)
\nRice Gambling Odds from 5Dimes to win Conference USA Championship: +2,300
\nRice Gambling Odds from 5Dimes to win Conference USA West Division: +1,100<\/strong>
\n Rice Team Page – Players Stats – Roster – 2011 Schedule –><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nTeam Strengths:<\/h3>\n
Team Weaknesses:<\/h3>\n
2011-2012 Rice Football Prediction: 5-7<\/h3>\n
\n9\/10\/11\t 12:00 PM ET\tPURD
\n9\/24\/11\t 7:00 PM ET\t @BAY
\n10\/1\/11\t 12:00 PM ET\t @SOMIS
\n10\/8\/11\t 12:00 PM ET\tMEM
\n10\/15\/11 12:00 PM ET\t @MARSH
\n10\/22\/11 12:00 PM ET\tTULSA
\n10\/27\/11 12:00 PM ET\t @HOU
\n11\/5\/11\t 12:00 PM ET\tUTEP
\n11\/12\/11 12:00 PM ET\t @NWEST
\n11\/19\/11 12:00 PM ET\tTULNE
\n11\/26\/11 12:00 PM ET\t @SMU<\/p>\nClick here to check out MORE 2011 college football previews for the 2011-2012 NCAA Football Season!<\/a><\/h3>\n
CLICK HERE TO VIEW KYLE HUNTER’S DAILY EXPERT SPORTS PLAYS –><\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"