Week 8: LA Tech vs Rice 10/22/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and Rice Owls clash Saturday in week 8 C-USA college football action at Joe Aillet Stadium. The Rice Owls look to get a game above a .500 record. The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs look to rebound from their 2-4 record.

The Rice Owls have lost 5 straight road games. TJ McMahon is completing 59.1 percent of his passes for 1,277 yards, 10 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Bradley Rozner and Luke McCaffrey have combined for 831 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns, while Isaiah Esdale has 19 receptions. The Rice Owls ground game is averaging 127.3 yards per contest, and Ari Broussard leads the way with 236 yards and 9 touchdowns. Defensively, Rice is allowing 28.7 points and 357.2 yards per game. Gabe Taylor leads the Rice Owls with 27 tackles, Josh Pearcy has 3.5 sacks and George Nyakwol has 1 interception.

The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs have won 5 of their last 8 home games. Parker McNeil is completing 59.8 percent of his passes for 1,591 yards, 14 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. Tre Harris and Griffin Hebert have combined for 927 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns, while Smoke Harris has 29 receptions. The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs ground game is averaging 96.8 yards per contest, and Marquis Crosby leads the way with 368 yards and 3 touchdowns. Defensively, Louisiana Tech is allowing 38.8 points and 490.8 yards per game. Bee Jay Williamson leads the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs with 45 tackles, Jaiden Cole has 2.5 sacks and Willie Roberts has 2 interceptions.

The Owls are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games in October and 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Bulldogs are 3-7-1 ATS in their last 11 games on fieldturf and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games in October. The over is 9-1 in Owls last 10 games overall. The over is 20-8 in Bulldogs last 28 games overall. The over is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings.

Both of these teams have issues defensively, so this contest could go either way. With that said, there’s no doubt the Rice Owls are the better team here. While not great on either side of the ball, Rice competes, winning all of the games it was supposed to win up to this point and taking Houston and FAU down to the wire on the road. The LA Tech Bulldogs have been decent at home, but they’re also 128th in total defense, 131st in rush defense and 128th in scoring defense. I can’t get behind that. I’ll lay the small number with Rice on the road.