Rice Owls 2010 College Football C-USA Predictions & Odds: The 2010 Rice Owls football team struggled through a 2-10 season last year and their prospects of improving on that are not good in spite of the fact they return the bulk of their team from 2009. Fans and backers will see improvement in the Owls, but the positives might not reflect on their won-loss record this campaign.
Oddsmakers at BetUS.com list the Owls odds of winning the 2010 C-USA football championship at +8000 or 80-to-1. The Owls open their 2010 season on Sept. 4 by hosting the Texas Longhorns. The Owls are lined as a +28-point home underdog to the Longhorns for that game.
The youthful Owls concluded last season with a total of 14 starters that were either freshmen or sophomores, matching Louisiana Tech for the youngest starting lineup in the nation. The Owls listed 27 players who were redshirt sophomores or younger among the 44 players on the final two-deep of the year.
Sophomore defensive tackle Travis Bradshaw led the nation with an average of 7.5 unassisted tackles per game (90 total). His overall average of 10.1 stops per game ranked fourth in C-USA and his 121 total tackles matched Larry Izzo for eighth in Owls history.
Scott Solomon (63) and Cheta Ozougwu (61) led all C-USA defensive linemen in tackles last season. The duo combined for 124 tackles, 21 TFL’s and 11 sacks. Solomon has moved up to fourth place on Rice’s all-time sack list with 15.5, while Ozougwu racked up 39 tackles and four sacks in the final six games of last season.
Running back Charles Ross was named to the C-USA All-Freshman team last season after leading the league’s freshmen and ranking fi fth nationally among first-year players in rushing touchdowns with 11. The 11 touchdowns are the most by an Owl since Ed Bailey ran for 11 in 2004. With 491 rushing yards, he became the first freshman to lead Rice in rushing since Trevor Cobb in 1989. The Rice backfield should receive a boost from sophomore running back Sam McGuffie, who sat out last season after transferring from Michigan. In 2008, the Cypress,Texas native ran for 486 yards and three touchdowns on 118 attempts for the Wolverines.
Rice is probably a year away from putting together a winning team. The Owls will be more experienced and have the potential to eek out four or five wins.
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