Our longshot pick of the week focuses on the potential end of a rivalry that has lasted more than 50 years.
Photo By – Imagn Images. Rice Owls defensive back Marcus Williams (4).
Fewer than 10 teams won as an outright underdog in Week 1 of the college football season, but the Week 2 slate for college football offers up a new opportunity for teams to pull off the upset.
Rice was one of the few teams to defy the odds last week, and I break down why they’re one of the teams we’re targeting in our college football picks for Saturday, September 6.
CFB Week 2 upset picks
UNLV moneyline (+118)
Ohio moneyline (+138)
Rice moneyline (+500)
Is Utah that good, or is UCLA that bad?
The answer may be yes to both.
Indeed, the Utes are probably going to be one of the top teams in the Big 12 this season, and their dominant win over the Bruins can be attributed to that. However, UCLA is also in for a rough season.
Nico Iamaleava showed some flashes when he had time to set up, but he rarely had that behind an offensive line that the Utes beat all game long, as they hurried and hit him repeatedly.
UNLV may not be as dangerous in that sense, but I’m not sure it will matter. Iamaleava’s time at Tennessee was marred by inconsistent play, and the road environment won’t be easy to handle.
The Rebels are a popular choice to win the Mountain West and potentially crash the College Football Playoff. Dan Mullen has the offense clicking, having scored 38 points in each of their first two games.
That includes a win last week on the road at Sam Houston, where Anthony Colandrea threw two touchdown passes and ran for another. The Rebels also ran the ball exceptionally well, bad news for a UCLA defense that just gave up nearly 300 yards on the ground at 5.3 yards a pop.
A balanced UNLV offense will put pressure on UCLA, and Iamaleava won’t handle it well. He will once again make mistakes and poor reads, and the Rebels will not only cover but win outright.
West Virginia rolled to a 45-3 win over Robert Morris to open their season, but there were multiple red flags in their performance.
Let’s start with the fumbles. The Mountaineers coughed up the ball five times, four of which resulted in a turnover. That includes three straight possessions in the second quarter.
Then there’s the offensive line. Yes, Rich Rod’s team rushed for almost 400 yards on the ground, but it’s concerning that much of the production from Jahiem White and Nicco Marchiol came via yards after contact.
Ohio will present more problems on both sides of the ball. Parker Navarro runs the Ohio pistol spread offense at a high level of efficiency, and he’s coming off a MAC Offensive POTW performance where he posted 332 yards of total offense and four touchdowns with no turnovers.
The defense played great against Rutgers, nearly giving the Bobcats a chance to pull off the road upset. The Bobcats racked up five tackles for loss and should do even better at limiting yards after contact if the West Virginia line fails to improve.
Navarro is one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in college football, and West Virginia will struggle to get stops. Chase Hendricks is a dangerous receiver who can stretch the defense, and if the Mountaineers lose the turnover battle again, they could pay dearly.
It won’t surprise me at all if this game turns into a shootout, with the game coming down to the final minutes. I’ll back the home team to come away with the upset.
The annual rivalry between Houston and Rice appears to be a victim of conference realignment, but the two teams will meet one last time for the Bayou Bucket.
Houston is favored to win by nearly two touchdowns, thanks to a stifling defense that shut down Stephen F. Austin in its opener. The Cougars posted their first shutout in four years and didn’t allow their opponents to breach the 30-yard line.
However, there are concerns with an offense that didn’t post many explosive plays, had five three-and-outs, and punted seven times. The addition of Conner Weigman was expected to help an offense that ranked in the Bottom 10 nationally in passing offense.
Rice’s defense is going to pose problems for the Cougar offense. The Owls won 14-12 on the road last week at Louisiana as double-digit underdogs.
They controlled the line and repeatedly caused issues in the backfield. Rice also held Louisiana to just 88 yards passing and 10 completions in 28 attempts.
The Owls’ offense is a tricky one, utilizing a lot of motion and option concepts to confuse opponents. Rice will likely need more production from quarterback Chase Jenkins, who threw for just 45 yards on nine passes.Â
If they get that, they have a good chance to hold onto the bucket for a long time.
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
Not intended for use in MA.
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