Rice vs. LSU Total Prediction
The LSU Tigers will play non-conference foe Rice on Saturday night in Baton Rouge at 7:30 p.m. ET. Will the Tigers and Owls play under the betting total?
Game Snapshot
395 Rice Owls at 396 LSU Tigers
7:30 p.m. ET, Saturday, November 17, 2018
Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Tigers are 42.5-point favorites to beat the Owls. The total, meanwhile, sits at 52 points. As of this writing, 58% of the public betting tickets wagered on this matchup are on the Owls.
Rice Owls
Rice redshirt senior QB Shawn Stankavage completed 18-of-32 passes for 216 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions in Saturday’s 28-13 loss to Louisiana Tech. Stankavage was reportedly expected to miss the rest of the season after sustaining a foot injury back in mid-October, but he has made it back way ahead of expectations. Not only is it awesome that Stankavage’s career doesn’t end with an injury, but it also allowed Rice to redshirt quarterback Wiley Green. The Rice Owls’ offense struggled per usual, however, highlighted by Stankavage’s three interceptions. We think LSU will open as a slight favorite over Rice next week.
LSU Tigers
LSU redshirt sophomore CB Greedy Williams was named the top “lockdown” cornerback in college football by ESPN’s Todd McShay and Mel Kiper Jr. The two draft analysts were asked to build the best defensive backfield they could, and Williams (6’3/184) isn’t the only LSU player on the list, with Grant Delpit being named the best deep-ball safety. Williams came into the year with plenty of hype, and he’s lived up to it for the stingy LSU defense. “Williams struggled a little bit a week ago against Alabama, but he doesn’t have much bad tape,” they write. “He has an extremely high ceiling and is a potential top-five pick.”
Betting Trends
Rice
The over is 4-0 in the Owls’ last four games after allowing more than 280 yards passing in their previous contest.
LSU
The under is 4-1 in the Tigers’ last five games after allowing less than 275 total yards in their previous contest.
Prediction
I don’t see how Rice gets in the end zone enough against this LSU defense to help contribute to the over. The under is 16-5 in the Tigers’ last 21 games played in November, is 4-0 in their last four games versus an opponent with a losing record and is 9-3-2 in their last 14 games after allowing less than 100 yards rushing in their previous game. On the other side, the under is 4-1-1 in the Owls’ last six games overall and is 3-0-1 in their last four games versus an opponent with a winning record.
College Football Prediction: Rice/LSU under 52