SMU Rice Line, Spread & NCAA Football Picks
August 28, 2008
When the SMU Mustangs head down to Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas to take on the Rice Owls, the June Jones error will begin. The game will take place live on ESPN at 8 PM EST and will feathure two in-state Conference USA Rivals. These two teams are well acquainted with one another, having faced off 85 times in their histories. JustBet has opened up the betting line with Rice a 3.5 favorite over SMU.
June Jones was brought in front Hawaii to help SMU make the climb up the ranks of Confernce USA. His offense took the Warriors to unprecedented heights, and fans are hoping he can work quickly to bring the Mustangs a few wins. It isn’t going to be easy as this team has lost 10 straight games and ended last year with a single victory. The good news out of that is that five of their losses came by less than a touchdown, with three of them in overtime. Rice wasn’t very good either when they went 3-9 with a single home victory. The Owls did beat the Mustangs last year by a single point, 43-42.
Jones fully plans on bringing the spread offense that he perfected at Hawaii to SMU and the talent is in place to run it. There are two freshman quarterbacks who will vie for the starting position and it seems they are executing it well in practice. Junior WR Emmanuel Sanders is the man who will be the deep threat for SMU, but he won’t have much help behind him on the depth chart. Jones doesn’t like to run the ball very much, but he does have a tough inside runer in senior DeMyron Martin. Pass protection might be a problem though with both tackles being fresh faces. If you like SMU then you are getting 3.5 points on the betting line.
The SMU defense was horrible last year when they ranked 116th in total defense and 117th in scoring defense. Sophomore Youri Yenga should improve significantly at defensive end and will be able to get some heat on the opposing passers. At linebacker there is only one starter coming back, and that is the potential Butkus Award finalist Will Bonilla. The two new starters are young, but talented. The secondary gave up 300 ypg last season, but does have a star in junior Bryan McCann.
The offense wasn’t a problem for Rice last season and it shouldn’t be for the Owls in 2008. Several starters return, including quarterback Chase Clement, who threw for 3,377 yards and 19 TDs while rushing for 535 yards and eight touchdowns. He’ll be helped by the return of the team’s top four receivers. Jarett Dillard has caught 170 balls and 2,304 yards with 35 touchdowns over the past two years. The ground game is more of a question mark as nobody has stepped up as the main ball carrier.
The Owl defense was bad to say the least, giving up almost 43 ppg and 510 total ypg. Who knows if it’s a benefit that several starters are returning, but one name to look out for is defensive end Scott Solomon, who racked up 49 tackles, 11 for a loss, and 4.5 sacks as a freshman. Rice runs an unconventional 4-2-5, and both linebackers return along with a deep secondary to run the scheme. Betting on Rice will only force you to lay 3.5 points at JustBet.
Predicted Score:
Rice 36
SMU 33
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