Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles vs Rice Owls Prediction, Odds and Preview - 10/02/2021

Game Time: 6:30 pm ET, Saturday, October 2, 2021

Venue:  Rice Stadium, Houston, TX

Where to Watch:  ESPN Networks

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  USM +2.5, Rice -2.5; Over/Under:  45 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  USM +2.5, Rice -2.5; Over/Under:  45 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  USM +2.5, Rice -2.5; Over/Under:  45 points

 

Southern Miss Golden Eagles:  1-3 (6th place, C-USA West)

Rice Owls:  1-3 (5th place, C-USA West)

 

Do not miss out on our expert handicapper analysis! Larry Ness has a CFB/NFL start to 2021: 26-18, +$5,810. Make sure you check out his picks and many more from the expert handicappers featured in the Shop Picks section.

 

Southern Miss Golden Eagles:  lost on the road on Sep. 25 against the Alabama Crimson Tide 63-14.

Rice Owls:  won at home on Sep.25 against the Texas Southern Tigers 48-34.

 

 

 

USM is coming into this college football game with a 1-3 record overall and they are 0-2 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. This will be their first conference matchup of the regular season. Their 1 win this year came against the Grambling State Tigers while their 3 losses came against the South Alabama Jaguars, the Troy Trojans, and Alabama in their last game. Ty Keyes struggled a bit in their last game as he completed 11/24 passes for 131 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. He also led the team in rushing with 41 yards on 12 carries in what was a very weak running game for them in that one. Grayson Gunter led the team in receiving with 61 yards on 3 receptions but other than him, no one else really did much for the receiving corps. Jay Stanley led the defense with 7 solo tackles and 1 assisted one. Josh Carr and Hayes Maples both recorded 1 sack each in that game while Malik Shorts came away with the only interceptions for them along with 6 solo tackles and 4 assisted ones. They have scored 67 points in their first 4 games and they have allowed their opponents to score 115 points against them. Their offense is averaging 284.7 YPG while their defense is allowing 248.3 YPG.

 

 

Rice is coming into this game with a 1-3 record overall and they are 1-1 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. This will be their first conference matchup of the season on their schedule. They started the season off rocky with losses against the Arkansas Razorbacks, the Houston Cougars, and the Texas Longhorns but they have finally bounced back a bit with a win over Texas Southern in their last game. Jake Constantine played alright in their last game as he completed 18/23 passes for 271 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception. Jordan Myers had a massive day in the run game as he led the team in rushing with 160 yards and 4 touchdowns on 26 carries. Khalan Griffin also had 5 carries for 43 rushing yards and 1 touchdown in that one. Cedric Patterson III had a nice day for the receiving corps as he led them with 108 yards receiving and 1 TD on 3 receptions. Jake Bailey also made 7 catches for 65 yards receiving. George Nyakwol led the defense with 7 solo tackles and had 1 interception as well in that game. Josh Pearcy and Ikenna Enechukwu both had 1 sack each in that one. They have scored 72 points in their first 4 games and they have allowed their opponents to score 174 points against them. Their offense is averaging 268 YPG while their defense is allowing 462 YPG.

 

Rice is coming in as a slight favorite here with the total set in the mid 40's. Southern Miss has not been able to score more than 14 points against an FBS opponent this year but against their 1 FCS opponent, their defense held up well shutting them out. Rice has also not been doing well on offense against FBS opponents being able to score no more than 17 points against one yet. They were even shutout in one of those games. They put up 48 points against an FCS opponent in their last game but their defense still allowed 34 points against them. This is an important game that USM will likely step up for here. The best bet to make in this game is for Southern Miss to win in an upset on the road and on the under as it will be a low scoring game that the offenses struggle to score in.

 

Southern Mississippi Rice Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Saturday, October 2, 2021 (6:30 pm ET start time) is Southern Mississippi 21 Rice 10.

Don't miss our champion handicappers betting tips, free picks and expert football picks today.  And if you enjoyed this Southern Miss Golden Eagles Rice Owls prediction, be sure to drop by every day for our weekly NCAAF predictions and previews.

 

 

Southern Miss Golden Eagles: 109-97 ATS against conference opponents. 93-83 ATS in road games.

Rice Owls: 49-28 ATS as a home underdog. 48-24 ATS after outrushing opponent by 150 or more yards last game.

 

 

Southern Miss Golden Eagles:  T. Lowe (QB) day-to-day - Undisclosed injury. D. Maberry (RB) out for season - Undisclosed injury.

Rice Owls:  B. Rozner (WR) day-to-day - Undisclosed injury. A. Pitre III (WR) day-to-day - Undisclosed injury. W. Green (QB) day-to-day - Undisclosed injury.

 

 

Southern Miss Golden Eagles: Frank Gore Jr. is one player to watch in this game. He leads his team in rushing yards and in touchdowns. Look for him to rip off some big runs and find the end zone in this game.

 

Rice Owls: Jordan Myers is one player to watch in this game. He leads his team in rushing yards and has a team-high 5 touchdowns this season. Rice will want to get their run game going in this one so look for him to get the ball for a lot of carries especially near the end zone.

 

“I thought defensively and in the kicking game, I thought, you know that we made some really good calls on the defense to get pressure on them a few times, and to make hits in the backfield. We just couldn't quite tackle them a few times, and it is what it is. They’ve got really, really good players.” - New head coach Will Hall on how his team played in their loss to Alabama. 

 

“Yeah, a lot of tempo. I don’t think Kendal is ever going to change his stripes,. I’ve followed his career as well and remember all the things they were able to do at Baylor when they were kind of cutting edge and nobody had really seen that offense before. I do think it’s an interesting combination with Coach Pittman and how he used to grind the ball and I’d study his film to learn how he blocked some things and how his guys got after people.” - Mike Bloomgren before their game against Arkansas.

 

 

 

 

WR Brownlee, Jason 

WR Dennis, Brad 

WR Robinson, Antoine 

TE Gunter, Grayson 

QB Lowe, Trey 

RB Gore Jr., Frank 

FB Cavallo, Cole 

 

WR Patterson III, Cedric 

WR Mason, Andrew 

WR Bailey, Jake 

TE Bradley, Jack 

QB Constantine, Jake 

RB Myers, Jordan 

FB Suckley, Brendan 

 

Passing: T. Keyes (338)

Rushing: F. Gore Jr. (281)

Receiving: G. Gunter (97)

Touchdowns: F. Gore Jr. (1)

Sacks: J. Carr Jr. (3.5)

Tackles: M. Shorts (18)

 

Passing: J. Constantine (351)

Rushing: J. Myers (224)

Receiving: C. Patterson III (170)

Touchdowns: J. Myers (5)

Sacks: K. Orji (1)

Tackles: N. Smith (15)

 

Coaches:

Southern Miss Golden Eagles: Will Hall (1st season)

Rice Owls: Mike Bloomgren (4th season)

 

84 degrees F partly cloudy, 63% humidity, 0% chance of rain, up to 10 mph wind speeds E.