Texas at Rice

The Texas Longhorns will be breaking in a new QB this year as the Colt McCoy era has come to an end. As with other top programs, when Texas loses one star, another emerges, so I expect Garrett Gilbert to have a big year for the Horns. While he struggled early in the title game last year, he actually finished that game really strong and will be better off this year for the experience. The good news for Rice is that they bring back nine starters on each side of the ball, but the bad news is that they were 2-10 last season, and their QB is gone. This is a young team that saw 22 freshmen see action a year ago and playing the likes of Texas is not conducive to starting strong. Last year they faced Texas Tech and a powerful Houston offense and gave up a combined 132 points in the two games. I don't see anything here to make me think that this one isn't going be any prettier. Texas scored 40 ppg last year while Rice managed just 18. I like Texas in a blowout.