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Rice vs FIU: Game Preview & Prediction

FIU leads the C-USA East after their thrilling win over MTSU, while Rice is looking to jump-start their season with an upset in Miami.

By Eric C. Henry
Middle Tennessee v Florida International
FIU will look to defend their home turf as they welcome a struggling Rice team to Riccardo Silva Stadium.
Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images

Rice (1-6, 0-3 C-USA) vs FIU (4-2, 2-0 C-USA)

Date/Time: Saturday, October 20, 7:30 PM

TV: ESPN+ (Play-By-Play: A.J. Ricketts, Analyst: Kenny Kelly)

Radio: 610 WIOD (Chris Wittyngham)/ KFNC Sportsmap 94.1 (Play-By-Play: J.P. Heath, Analyst: Nate Griffin, Sideline: Matt Pedersen)

Location: Riccardo Silva Stadium, University Park, FL

Betting Line: FIU -23.5 O/U 53.5

All-Time Series Record: Tied 1-1 (FIU won last match-up 13-7 in 2017)

FIU Preview

Florida International head coach Butch Davis routinely preaches that his teams need to be playing their best football as the season hits conference play.

Coming off of their thrilling 24-21 victory over C-USA rival Middle Tennessee State, it appears as if his Panthers are doing just that.

Quarterback James Morgan is coming off of the best game of his career. He went 27-36 for 311 yards and threw two touchdowns and his 14 TD passes are the most by a Panther signal-caller ever in a six game span.

FIU’s offense should continue hitting their stride against a Rice team that’s given up over 40 points in five of their seven contests this season. Expect the dynamic rushing attack to rebound after an sub-par outing against the Blue Raiders.

Also, kicker Jose Borregales continues to be a valuable weapon, hitting 3 of 4 field goal attempts last week, including a school-record 53-yarder.

Middle Tennessee v Florida International
Jose Borregales gives the FIU offense another weapon in putting up points.
Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images

On the defensive side of the ball, FIU put together its most complete performance against MTSU. Texas transfer Edwin Freeman had 10 tackles including two tackles for loss and the FIU pass defense held MTSU to under 150 yards through the air.

NCAA Football: Florida International at Miami
Texas transfer Edwin Freeman is finding his footing at FIU.
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

They’ll have every opportunity to build on that success against the struggling Owls offense that will be starting former walk-on Evan Marshman at quarterback Saturday night.

Rice Preview

For Mike Bloomgren and Rice, the season as gone in the wrong direction after their season-opening win versus FCS Prairie View A&M.

They were competitive in losses against Houston and Hawaii. However, the last four games haven’t been close and the offense has been held to a field goal in the last 120 minutes.

Their task will only get tougher as Vanderbilt transfer Shawn Stankavage has been ruled out with a foot injury. The former walk-on in Marshman went 6-16 in his collegiate debut and will be saddled with trying to get the Owls offense in the end-zone for the first time in three weeks.

The Owls best opportunity to compete with FIU will be on the ground.

Talented backs Austin Walter and Emmanuel Esukpa are both averaging over four yards a carry and the Panther run defense has given up an average of 185.3 yards per game.

NCAA Football: Rice at Texas-San Antonio
Emmanuel Esukpa will lead the Owls rushing attack into South Florida.
John Gutierrez-USA TODAY Sports

Defensively, Rice will have a tall task in trying to stop a red-hot Morgan and the unit isn’t helped by an offense that is among the worst in the nation in converting third-downs.

Prediction

FIU is in the driver’s seat to win Conference USA’s East division. What they can’t afford is a slip-up against a Rice team that’s just looking to make an improvement in Mike Bloomgren’s initial campaign as head coach.

Esupka and Walter are capable backs who have a chance to make plays against the Panther run defense that gave up over 100 yards to an FCS back earlier this season. However, the FIU offense is firing on all cylinders.

Expect big days from Napoleon Maxwell and Shawndarrius Phillips which will allow Morgan to find his rhythm and continuing playing the best football of his career.

FIU 48 Rice 13

Three key match-ups for Rice vs FIU

  1. Rice run game vs FIU run defense: The Panther defensive line is immensely talented. Anthony Johnson is a premier DT in college football. However, the unit outside of last week’s performance has been shaky at best. They have to keep Esupka and Walter in check to force Rice into third and medium/long situations. For Rice to have any chance at pulling off the upset, both backs will have to get going early.
  2. James Morgan vs Rice pass defense: Morgan is playing the best football of his career and last week was no different. He looks like a completely different player than the one who threw a pick-six in FIU’s opening week loss to Indiana. If he can get in rhythm early, expect a similar output to last week’s game where he completed balls to 10 different players.
  3. Aaron Cephus vs FIU DB’s: The Panther pass defense did a great job last week against a back-up QB who was pressed into duty. For the third time this season they’ll face a back-up as Evan Marshman makes his first start. Cephus is a big target at 6’4, 210 pounds. FIU has had their issues with larger wide receivers, so it’ll be up to the FIU secondary to play up to their potential for the second straight week.

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