09: Alabama-Birmingham Blazers-Rice Owls

Written by Mark | 01 September 2009

College Football 9/5/09

Rice Owls (CUSA)-Alabama-Birmingham Blazers (CUSA)

By Mark • Saturday, September 5th, 2009 4 PM EST

Alabama Birmingham (0-0) vs. Rice (0-0)
Line-UAB -6

It's East (UAB) versus West (Rice) as both teams open the season with a Conference USA clash. Rice dominated CUSA play last season posting a 7-1 record while the Blazers struggled through conference play finishing with a 3-5 mark. The two haven't met since the '90's and the way the Owls played in 2008 it's probably a good thing.

Every team loses players eventually but Rice suffered through nothing less than a mass exodus. Over 6,000 yards of offense in the form of James Casey, Jaret Dillard and Chase Clement are now little more than memories and that kind of production is not replaceable. The Owls will likely employ a two quarterback system with Nick Fanuzzi and John Shepherd. Fanuzzi has the arm and Shepherd the legs and it seems each will see playing time as the game dictates. Toren Jackson will be the go to guy in the passing attack if one of these guys can get him the ball. Don't expect Rice to approach the #5 passing attack and 41 ppg they enjoyed in 2009; it's not going to happen. What's more likely to occur and what the Owls can ill afford is a repeat of last season's poor defensive performance. This unit allowed over 450 yards and 33 points per game and if opposing offenses even come close to those numbers Rice has a mountain to climb.

Alabama-Birmingham has virtually their entire offensive unit returning from last season. UAB was an average scoring team at it's very best, notching just 23 ppg. The Blazers had a decent rushing attack and need to do as well or hopefully better to keep an overmatched defense off the field as much as possible. However, the Blazers don't have a stand out running back as quarterback Joseph Webb was their leading rusher with 950 yards. He has quick feet and is more than happy to take off and run. His 10 TD/16 INT ratio tells me he's not a pocket passer but he did manage to connect on 60% of his passes. Statistically, Alabama-Birmingham was slightly better than Rice on 'D' but only marginally, allowing 20 fewer yards and 31 points per game. Obviously not much better and this is another unit that would best serve the team if it saw minimal playing time. UAB returns 18 starters and has the edge in experience if nothing else.

Rice has 13 players back, 9 on the defensive side while UAB has virtually their entire team back as already mentioned. I don't think the trends matter a great deal considering the loss of talent by Rice which skewers the numbers. This is not one of the most interesting games to kickoff the season except possibly to fans of these respective schools. I did say possibly...