Staff Predictions: Texas vs. Rice

[HornSports Staff]

Texas (1-1, 0-0) and Rice (0-2, 0-0) square off for the 96th time in history on Saturday with the Longhorns hoping to right the ship after a disastrous performance in Fayetteville last weekend.  The Owls are still in search of their first win of the 2021 season and hope to pull off the big upset over Texas, who has won 14 straight against Rice.

Will Texas fall prey to the Owls?  Does Rice have the firepower to win for the first time at DKR since the 1965 season?  The HornSports Staff weighs in with their thoughts on the outcome of Saturday's 7:00 PM game which will be televised on Longhorn Network.

Aaron Carrara (1-1)

Texas has issues to work on in all phases of the game, which was apparent last week in Fayetteville.  For Sark, Flood and Kwiatkowski, Saturday's game offers a chance to clean up a lot - schemes, personnel and an overall game plan.  Sarkisian knows Rice coach Mike Bloomgren from time spent in the Pac-12 (Sark with Washington and USC and Bloomgren with Stanford), and Rice's offensive strategy should come as no surprise.  The Owls would have to play a perfect game to pull off the upset at DKR but that is not going to happen.  Even with the Longhorns' challenges they will easily handle Rice to improve to 2-1 before conference play starts next week.  Bijan Robinson gets back on track with another 100+ yard game and the defense forces three turnovers en route to a blowout victory.

Score Prediction:  Texas 48, Rice 10

Jameson McCausland (1-1)

Texas has a lot of clean up on Saturday evening. Offensively, they need to re-establish the running game and find schemes that the offensive line is comfortable with. Bijan Robinson was a complete non factor in Fayetteville and that can not continue to happen with conference play right around the corner. Defensively, this is a game where Texas simply needs to dominate. Rice has shown they struggle mightily to throw and run the ball and their offensive line should be no match for what the Longhorns have on the defensive line.

This is a game Texas should win handily and I think they do exactly that. I expect Casey Thompson to have a good game and for Hudson Card to be able to get back out on the field to get some confidence back after a rough performance a week ago.

Score Prediction: Texas 42, Rice 10

Devon Messinger (1-1)

On Saturday, the Longhorns will look to bounce back with a win over Rice after losing in an absolutely demoralizing game against Arkansas. You would be hard pressed to find a position group that had a solid night against the Hogs last Saturday, however this loss will add fuel to Texas's fire.

For Rice, redshirt freshman Luke McCaffrey got the nod at quarterback last week and had a rather lackluster game against Houston, throwing for 86 yards and 3 interceptions. In order to stay competitive with Texas, McCaffrey will have to have a clean game under center and Owls freshman running back Khalon Griffin will have to lead Rice's offense.

Look for the Longhorns to play angry on Saturday, leaving no doubt.

Score Prediction: Texas 45, Rice 3

TFloss32 (1-1)

I don’t think anyone saw Texas falling flat on their face against Arkansas in Week 2, including one of the worst OL performances in years. Rice is coming to town at a great time with the team needing a solid bounce-back game and Casey Thompson getting the first start of his career. To put it bluntly, this game shouldn’t be close and any struggles or sloppy play would be deflating indicators right before conference play begins. Rice has an offense that Charlie Strong and Shawn Watson think is bad, and their defense is undersized. The good guys should be able to win convincingly as roughly 25-point favorites, and gain some confidence heading into the Tech game.

Score Prediction:  Texas 45, Rice 13

Tristan Larsen (1-1)

It seems as if we all took Arkansas a little too lightly. It was a great lesson on the competition to come in the SEC. Now, Texas gets to regroup against a Rice program that the Longhorns have beaten 14 consecutive times. It’ll be Casey Thompson, not Hudson Card, getting the start as the offense looks to find it’s groove again. On paper this is a total mismatch. If Texas somehow loses this game it would be cause to pull the fire alarm immediately. Rice does have a former 4-star prospect at QB with Christian McCaffrey’s younger brother, Luke. His playmaking and athleticism should keep Texas on it’s heels for the most part. The latest spread from ESPN is Texas -26, for Longhorns everywhere to feel good about entering Big-12 play look for Texas to cover that massive spread.

Score Prediction - Texas 45, Rice 13

Mitch Lovell (1-1)

This week’s game is more about Texas than their opponent. After the massacre in Fayetteville the Longhorns need to get back to basics and dominate in the trenches. Rice was leading 17-7 vs Arkansas with 10 minutes left in the game so Texas needs to come ready to play. This game may be too close for comfort for Texas fans but the Longhorns pull away in the 3rd quarter and notch the win.

Score Prediction:  Texas 38, Rice 21

[UTfish]

I agree with Mitch Lovell. Last week really lowered my confidence level. 

[Johnny Depp]

Some mighty bold predictions considering both teams played Arky already with a 2 point spread difference...And Rice was leading most of the game.

I''ll take Texas by 7, but anyone not taking that line is crazy.

[Sirhornsalot]

I think Texas covers the spread. We're at home. It's Rice. We had to live with the Arkansas loss for a whole week now. It will get ugly.

 

[Aaron Carrara]

My guess is the offense starts slow and the Rice defense is prepared to stop the run early on.  Let's not forget that Casey Thompson has never started a game at the collegiate level and he will likely take some time to get things clicking.  I'd like to see some other guys on the o-line play today. Sark and Flood talk about 8 players they look for on the line to be able to rotate in and shuffle around but through two games we've pretty much only seen five.  

[NEOkHorn]

15 hours ago, Sirhornsalot said:

I think Texas covers the spread. We're at home. It's Rice. We had to live with the Arkansas loss for a whole week now. It will get ugly.

 

I never got the sense that losses like last week really stung or hurt under the last two regimes. It is my hope that this staff has the ability to impress upon the athletes that stick in your gut motivation that losses like last week should leave. If so, I expect to see a highly motivated and angry Longhorn team. At least, that is what I want to see.

[Baron]

5 hours ago, Aaron Carrara said:

My guess is the offense starts slow and the Rice defense is prepared to stop the run early on.  Let's not forget that Casey Thompson has never started a game at the collegiate level and he will likely take some time to get things clicking.  I'd like to see some other guys on the o-line play today. Sark and Flood talk about 8 players they look for on the line to be able to rotate in and shuffle around but through two games we've pretty much only seen five.  

Sorry @Aaron CarraraI just cant agree with this. I expect that the coaches got everyone's attention this week and the players are ready to make good after last weeks debacle. 

[Johnny Depp]

1 hour ago, Baron said:

Sorry @Aaron CarraraI just cant agree with this. I expect that the coaches got everyone's attention this week and the players are ready to make good after last weeks debacle. 

 If only it was so easy as motivation to fix things...

[Baron]

52 minutes ago, Johnny Depp said:

 If only it was so easy as motivation to fix things...

Sometimes it is.