East Carolina at Rice

This season was setting up to be a difficult one for East Carolina. They brought back four offensive starters with a new QB, and just six defenders. They are 1-3 but the three losses have been to unbeaten Michigan, unbeaten Marshall, and Appalachian St., another good team. This certainly sets this game up to look favorable for Rice, but ECU should outplay their stats here as the three previous opponents were far superior to the Rice team they will see in this one. Rice gave up 600 yards to South Florida in a 13-point loss last week. The Owls are totally one-dimensional, as they gained one yard on the ground. Rice has generated less than 100 yards total on the ground vs. their three FBS opponents. I think including the home-field advantage by Rice in this game is about even, so the dog is the way to go here. Make the play on East Carolina.