UTEP Miners (4-5) vs. Rice Owls (4-4)
November 3, 2022 7:00 pm EDT
The Line: Rice Owls -1.5 / UTEP Miners +1.5 ; Over/Under: 51.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Rice Owls and UTEP Miners clash Thursday in week 10 C-USA college football action from Rice Stadium. UTEP is coming off a matchup versus Middle Tennessee. In that one the Miners lost by 11 points. As for Rice, they played Charlotte last weekend. The Owls ended up losing in a blowout. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sport Chat Place.
UTEP lost three of their first four games this year, falling to North Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico (while beating New Mexico State) in that time. The Miners went 3-1 over their next four, losing to LA Tech while otherwise beating Boise State, Charlotte and Florida Atlantic.
In the Saturday matchup versus Middle Tennessee, the Miners had the score tied 10-10 by halftime. UTEP couldn’t keep the pace in the second however, and lost 24-13. QB Gavin Hardison put up 177 yards with a TD and a pick. Deion Hankins rushed 13 times for 68 yards.
Over on the Rice side, they beat Louisiana and McNeese State while otherwise falling to USC and Houston over their first quartet this year. The Owls would then beat UAB, fall to Florida Atlantic and eke out a win over LA Tech in the next three.
In the Charlotte game, Rice was up by seven points after one quarter. The Owls gave up a whopping 42 points over the next two quarters and lost 56-23. QB TJ McMahon managed 218 yards with three scores and a pick. Brad Rozner caught five balls for 102 yards and two TDs.
PICK: I’m going to stay with UTEP. Probably not touching this one though, since both teams are coming off rough games. The Miners posted 292 total yards with 19 first downs and eight penalties in the loss to Middle Tennessee. UTEP gave up 378 yards and 20 first downs on the other side and couldn’t get much going after halftime.
As for Rice, they had a lot of trouble stopping Charlotte in their last game, giving up 514 yards with 25 first downs. UTEP should have some solid opportunities to score in this one.
