Houston Football: Preseason game-by-game predictions for 2017 season
By Zach Bigalke
Rice certainly isn’t going to be the team to topple Houston, either. The Owls fielded one of the worst defenses in FBS last season en route to a 3-9 record. Three years removed from their last bowl appearance, Rice brought in Brian Stewart to replace Chris Thurmond as defensive coordinator.
Stewart was Kevin Sumlin‘s defensive coordinator at Houston in 2010 and 2011. In his first year at Rice, though, the cupboard is pretty bare. Even marginal improvements could help the Owls return to the postseason down the road, but it doesn’t look like they are about to turn things around in 2017.
Houston is far too good to let this one slip against a crosstown rival. After lighting up Arizona, Applewhite is probably going to limit the snaps of his starters and use this game as a way to get their entire roster more experience.
The defense probably won’t pitch a shutout, but it will be close. Look for the Cougars to yield enough yards to put Rice’s freshman kicker Will Harrison in range for a mercy field goal at some point late in the game.