MT vs. Rice Staff Predictions
The Blue Raiders visit Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas on Saturday to play the Rice Owls. This game finds the MT program at a crossroads - it split the last two games vs. FIU and North Texas, with the latter game slipping through its grasps in the third quarter.
MT sits at 1-5, and will likely need to win out in order to be considered for a bowl game.
Rice, on the other hand, is just now starting its season (in Week 6) after four prior scheduled games were cancelled due to COVID-19.
Here are the predictions:
Tyler Pellom (4-2 this season)
It's really hard for me to settle on an opinion of this game. Middle Tennessee has proven to not be a very good football team. One win in six tries is all the evidence you need. However, Rice is BAD - or, should I say, was BAD last year. But that didn't stop them from rolling into Murfreesboro and getting a win. The Owls were 0-9 before stunning the Blue Raiders last season.
Rice has a new QB - graduate transfer Max Collins from TCU. Collins started four games for the Horned Frogs while he was there. WR Brad Rozner is back this year, and Blue Raiders fans know him well. He torched MT for 3 TDs and 130 yards last season.
This game feels like the FIU game to me. MT has played a lot and has been knocked around. Rice hasn't played yet and is fresh. For these same reasons, I picked FIU to win two weeks ago and was proven wrong.
But I'm going to double down on the logic. I just look at a guy like Johnathan Butler., who was shaken up no less than 5 times last week but continued to play through pain and injury. He's not the only Blue Raider feeling the effects of a long and, to this point, futile season. I think we see that take a toll vs. a team which probably has less total talent, but more talent available to it on Saturday.
Rice: 34
MT: 27
Rickey Fuquay Jr. (4-2 this season)
Middle Tennessee Redshirt Junior Quarterback Asher O'Hara put on a show in thr first half with three touchdowns through the air on 164 yards and 18-of-29 passing; however the Mean Green outscored the Blue Raiders 38 to 7 to put the hammer on MT.
The Blue Raiders travel to Houston looking to avenge last year's loss to Rice in Murfreesboro which happened to be one of three wins for the Owls in 2019. This will be Rice's first game of the 2020 season after their first three games of the year were postponed due to the coronavirus.Rice will start out a little rusty from the get-go; however they will find their groove in the second half. In the end, the 1-2 punch in O'Hara and Redshirt Senior Wide Receiver Jarrin Pierce will come out with a big play to send MT back to "The Boro" with their second win of the year.
MTSU: 28
Rice: 21
Matthew Dossett (3-3- on the season)
I touched on it in my Rice preview article, but it is worth stating again that this game is difficult to get a pulse on.
There is no book and no tape to go by when it comes to the Rice Owls, at least this year anyway. All we have is everything that happened in 2019 as it pertains to Rice. In Rice's depth chart release this week they have named 6'5, 225 pound gunslinger Mike Collins as the quarterback.
Collins happens to be a graduate transfer by way of Texas Christian University. In 2018 Collins had four starts for the Horned Frogs.
As speculated in the preview article, the go-to halfback named in the depth chart release is Juma Otoviano. Otoviano has 478 rushing yards during his Rice career to go with 37 receiving yards. In 2018 he had three rushing scores.
When doing a head-to-head comparison for the quarterback position, I'll ride with MT's Asher O'Hara. Yes, Collins has the Big 12 pedigree, but O'Hara has the proven track record.
Look for this game to go right down to the wire. I think both offenses will go tit-for-tat the whole duration. I am .500 with my picks and I think that I'll be over .500 with my prediction for Middle to pull out a close victory.
MT: 35
Rice: 31