UAB Blazers (3-5) vs. Rice Owls (4-5)
November 8, 2025 2:00 pm EDT
The Line: Rice Owls -2.5; Over/Under: 53.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The UAB Blazers and the Rice Owls meet Saturday in college football action from Rice Stadium. Here’s a Rice vs UAB prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Rice vs UAB pick.
UAB Blazers Betting Preview
The Blazers managed to post wins in two of their first three games this year, falling to Navy in between wins over Alabama State and Akron in that trio. UAB would then lose three straight to Tennessee, Army and Florida Atlantic to send their record spiraling, though. The Blazers followed that up with a stunning upset victory at home versus Memphis on October 18. In that game UAB went into the fourth quarter with a one-score lead and held on for the 31-24 finish. The offense would end up with 470 total yards, 219 rushing yards, 6.9 yards per play and 25 first downs alongside a very nice 9-of-13 on third-down tries. Defensively the Blazers held Memphis to 5-of-11 on third downs and 362 total yards along the way.
In their latest outing versus UConn back on Saturday, the Blazers couldn’t keep that momentum going in a tricky road matchup. UAB was flailing on a 24-0 deficit at the half and coughed up another couple of TDs from there in a 38-19 road loss. QB Ryder Burton logged a 21-of-30 line for 209 yards, two scores and two picks. Jevon Jackson was the team’s leading rusher with nine totes for 61 yards, while top receiver Brandon Hawkins had four catches for 89 yards and a touchdown of his own in the losing effort.
Rice Owls Betting Preview
Over on the Rice side, they opened up their season with a tight road win over Louisiana then fell in a blowout at home versus Houston. The Owls would win consecutive games from there versus Prairie View and Charlotte, then fell in three straight versus Navy, Florida Atlantic and UTSA ahead of an overtime win over UConn. In the home win over the Huskies, Rice needed two extra periods to power out the 37-34 result. Their offense provided 491 total yards along the way with 300 of those coming via the rush. On defense Rice gave up 449 yards, 6.1 yards per play and just 5-of-17 on third-down conversions.
Back on Friday in their most recent outing against Memphis, Rice was blitzed 31-7 in the first half. The Owls were able to trade scores in the second half along the way to a 38-14 loss at home. QB Chase Jenkins logged an 11-of-16 line for 100 yards, one TD and one pick while also leading the rush with 15 carries for 34 yards. Tyvonn Byars had a lone 43-yard catch that put him atop the receivers in the losing effort, and Aaron Turner added four grabs for 29 yards and a touchdown of his own in the defeat.
UAB Blazers @ Rice Owls Betting Trends: Week 11
Rice Owls Player Prop Facts
- Heading into Week 11, Quinton Jackson leads Rice for touchdowns (7) this season.
UAB Blazers Player Prop Facts
- Heading into Week 11, Solomon Beebe ranks 7th amongst FBS players for kick return yards (428) this season.
Matchup/League Facts
- Rice ranks T135th among FBS teams for red zone percentage against this season (100.0).
- Rice ranks 134th among FBS teams for passing yards per game this season (103.2).
- UAB has recorded the equal-most home wins by a margin of 10 points or less of any FBS team this season (3).
- UAB ranks 136th among FBS teams for Q1 opponent points per game this season (11.8).
Rice vs UAB Prediction
I’ll lean toward Rice. Sure, the Owls are coming off a pretty rough loss versus a tough Memphis team last Friday but should match up much better this weekend. Rice ended up with just 212 yards in their latest game with 3.4 yards per play, 13 first downs, 3-of-15 on third-down tries and two turnovers in that defeat. The defense gave up 355 yards on the other side with no takeaways but didn’t do too badly on third downs (4-of-10). Rice has been at 14 points or fewer in three of their last five games, so scoring will need to be a priority in this one.
As for UAB, they gave up 374 total yards in their last outing versus UConn along with 8-of-12 on third-down conversion attempts. The Blazers had scores 31 or more points in consecutive games leading up to that however, so they’ve got the goods to score when they’re so motivated.
