Free NCAA Football Prediction: Owls vs. Blazers Odds
Looking for Rice Owls vs. UAB Blazers free picks? College football betting sees the Owls taking on the Blazers on Saturday, October 23, 2021, at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, AL. Cappers Picks provides complimentary handicapping picks all NCAA football season long so stay tuned for more FREE college football game Week 8 predictions like this Owls UAB free pick.
College Football Handicapping Analysis: Week 8
Rice Owls (2-4) vs. UAB Blazers (5-2)
Date: October 23, 2021
Time: 3:30 pm EST
Venue: Protective Stadium
NCAA Football ATS Spread Odds: Rice +23 / UAB -23 (Bet Now!)
NCAA Football Moneyline Odds: Owls +1000 / Blazers -2000
NCAA Betting Total Odds: O/U 45
Week 8 college football sees the Owls and Blazers meet at Protective Stadium.
The Blazers are favored by 23 points in this Conference USA matchup and are expected to easily cruise to their bowl eligibility with a 6th win of the 2021 campaign.
The Blazers should be headed to their 5th straight post-season appearance but 2020 was a strange season for all of us. UAB won 6 games and the Conference USA title game but had no bowl game to play in. Covid-19 certainly had an impact on every program a season ago but head coach Bill Clark has kept his program solid throughout.
Already 3 – 0 in conference play, the Blazers have won and covered all 4 meetings with Rice since returning to the field in 2017.
Rice is, well, surviving if we can go with that as their 2 wins have come against Southern Miss and Texas Southern at the FCS level. Coach Bloomgren has yet to win more than 3 games in any of his first 3 seasons in Houston and the schedule ahead will likely show them as underdogs for the rest of the 2021 season.
It was just announced today that Rice and UAB will be 2 of 6 teams from Conference USA moving to the American Athletic Conference. It still has some ironing out to do but it appears that either the ’23 or ’24 season will see a lot of conferences shifting teams around the country.
Rice Owls
Head Coach Mike Bloomgren has been part of a losing tradition at Rice, and a winning record seems more like Mission: Impossible than Mission: Difficult.
Rice is 3 – 6 in 9 games with UAB and the Blazers have dominated them since returning to FBS football and Conference USA. Bloomgren is 0 – 4 contributing to those numbers against UAB and the line setters have made it clear of their expectations for the Owls.
It is homecoming in Birmingham this weekend and Rice is coming off a disparaging 45 – 0 loss to UT-San Antonio last time out. The Owls were held to only 102 total yards. Each of Rice’s QB’s threw a ball to the wrong team that ended with 6 points as the UTSA defense basically dominated the entire day.
Jake Constantine and Luke McCaffery combined to complete 8 balls for 16 yards to their own team with 36 yards and the pair of picks. HOUSTON!! WE HAVE A PROBLEM!! Constantine looks as if he might be out of this game so that will put all the emphasis on McCaffery to carry the load on the road.
Going on the big limb here and saying that Coach Bloomgren simply doesn’t have the players or ability to change the losing ways in Houston with Rice. This should be the final year this program stays with him with the announced move soon to the American. This program needs to be in much better shape soon to make the move worth the effort.
This team is putting up 16 points a game and they give up 39.7 points a contest so you do the math!
UAB Blazers
The goals are clear in this spot for the Blazers. Win the damn game whether you cover or not but UAB has had their way with Rice since returning to FBS football in 2017. Coach Clark knows how to motivate his kids and he has produced a winning season every year back with 3 straight Conference USA title game appearances.
Last year’s title win would have surely put them in a decent bowl game but we all know the only reason they were not part of the post-season in 2020.
Regardless, this team is looking for a 4 – 0 start in conference play and the offense hasn’t exactly been all that spectacular thus far. Luckily, it has done enough to keep the wins coming while the defense has been exceptional!
This UAB defense is only allowing 19 points a game and ranks 30th allowing only 321.1 YPG. The passing numbers could use improving and that will likely happen here because the Rice passing offense is utterly offensive!
Dylan Hopkins came out of the Southern Miss game but he is expected to be on the field for this game. His presence is obviously important because of his dual-threat ability and the confidence he brings to the offense.
Hopkins has a decent 10 – 2 TD to INT ratio and he has produced a couple of scores in the ground game as well. He is leading the 99th ranked passing offense that only puts up 197.4 YPG in the air.
Tight End Gerrit Prince is leading the team with only 17 receptions through 6 games but he has found the end zone half a dozen times. That is 50% of the TD passes from the receiving corps which should help Rice know where the ball might go on Saturday.
NCAA Football Handicapping Trends
- Over is 4-1 in Owls’ last 5 games on field turf.
- Over is 33-16-2 in Owls’ last 51 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
- Over is 5-0 in the last 5 meetings in UAB.
- The home team is 8-1 ATS in all 9 all-time meetings.
- Blazers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall
- Blazers are 18-7-1 ATS in their last 26 home games.
4* Free Week 8 NCAA Betting Final Analysis:
The Blazers should cruise to a 37 – 12 win and I think the total will sneak in over the number as a result. It won’t be easy because Rice cannot move the ball worth a lick with McCaffery so those 4 field goals will be as good as it gets for the Owls.
4* Free Week 8 NCAA Betting Pick: Over 45
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