Houston Cougars secure dominant college football picks victory over in-state rival Rice

The Houston Cougars look to get healthy on the CUSA West road after it got dismantled at home by SEC rep Mississippi State when it takes the short ride to Rice Stadium in search of a commanding college football betting picks victory over the Owls.

Houston Cougars vs. Rice Owls

Game Date/Time: Saturday, October 16th, 3:30 ET

Game Location: Rice Stadium, Houston, TX

TV/Radio Broadcast: Local TV, Sirius

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NCAA Football Odds

Houston Cougars (-9.5) -110

Rice Owls (+9.5) -110

Over/Under 63.5

I’ll be the first to admit how pissed I was to hear the news that stud quarterback Kase Keenum was done for the season when he screwed his knee up playing at UCLA in a game he probably shouldn’t have after suffering a mild concussion the week before at home against UTEP. What his injury did was take away the ringleader of one of the most potent offensive attacks in the country from CFB bettors who looked forward to making college football picks on the Cougars on a weekly basis.

With backup Cotton Turner also out after breaking his collarbone, the Cougars offense has dramatically fallen off. In one and a half games with Keenum at the helm, Houston scored a total of 122 points in two games (61 PPG). In their three games since, the offense has only scored a total of 79 points (26.3 PPG).

Still, freshman signal caller David Piland probably got as good an introduction to playing ball at this level as possible last week after running up against a game Mississippi State defense in his first career college football picks start. Though the youngster threw a pair of picks, he also threw for 301 yards and a pair of TDs. And to think he did it without the team’s best WR, James Cleveland, who was suspended for the game after violating a team rule.

With the Bulldogs struggling to defend the pass this season, it was promising for head coach Kevin Sumlin and his staff to see the kid throw for 300+. It will have given him the confidence necessary to lead this team to a road victory, and do it in an impressive fashion.

Reason being, Piland is going to think he’s going up against a junior varsity defense this week with Rice boasting the 109th ranked overall defense (438.5 YPG), 117th ranked pass defense (290.2 YPG), and 105th ranked scoring defense (35.2 PPG). No team has scored less than 30 points against this unit this season, so a point total reminiscent of the first two weeks of the season certainly looks to be in the cards Saturday afternoon.

NCAA Football Insider Tip: Houston only needs to take a short bus ride to partake in this game, so the Cougars will certainly have a large contingent of fans also making the trip.

Throw a lack of a home field advantage into the recipe along with the enormous offensive advantage the Cougars own over the Owls defense, and the number oddsmakers posted looks awfully short in this spot.

This Rice program has taken a giant tumble since posting 10 wins and a bowl win back in 2008. It stands just 3-15 SU since and posted a 5-12-1 ATS mark during that stretch.

While it’s excelled as college football betting picks within conference play (21-9-2 ATS L/32), the Owls are just 2-5-2 ATS the L/9 times they were installed home pups. Until this team starts showing any semblance of improvement on the defensive side of the ball, there’s no reason not to stop fading it on a weekly basis; especially at this cheap number.

My NCAA Football Predictions: Houston Cougars (-9.5) -110