I know they're still playing right now, but our game's done so let's get fired up for next week!

Rice 52
Marshall 48

But, will not be first 2014 win by a C-USA team over a ranked opponent.

41-24 Rice. Deja vu all over again.

37-34 Rice

Marshall 49-31. Hope I'm wrong.

42-17 Marshall.

Many reasons. We are 6-0 against teams with three or fewer wins, 0-3 against teams with 4 or more wins. Marshall has 9 wins.

The game is at Marshall.

I suspect that Marshall has been looking forward all year to get revenge and will be pumped up.

I saw a part of Marshall's game at USM. After falling behind 14-0 on the road, Marshall outscored its opponent 63-3. Final - 63-17. Simply awesome. There is a reason Marshall is 9-0.

(11-09-2014 10:59 AM)Ranger Wrote:  42-17 Marshall.

Many reasons. We are 6-0 against teams with three or fewer wins, 0-3 against teams with 4 or more wins. Marshall has 9 wins.

The game is at Marshall.

I suspect that Marshall has been looking forward all year to get revenge and will be pumped up.

I saw a part of Marshall's game at USM. After falling behind 14-0 on the road, Marshall outscored its opponent 63-3. Final - 63-17. Simply awesome. There is a reason Marshall is 9-0.

Marshall is also playing for a major bowl spot, and is the favorite if they can remain undefeated. Sure, they haven't beaten anybody worth a grain of salt yet, but unlike Rice, they have blown out virtually everyone on their schedule. Their median game performance ranking is well over 10 points higher than ours. In fact, their average performance ranking is considerably better than our best performance ranking. Add to that the home field advantage (which has been HUGE for Marshall the past 2 seasons), the motivational factor (avenge last year's loss, and stay in the lead for not only CUSA championship but major bowl birth), and the reality that Marshall's strength on offense (QB play and longball threat) is our greatest weakness/vulnerability on defense (made worse with Covington out and Hill ineligible for the first half), and The Herd should be at least 2 TD favorites going in.

Marshall 48
Rice 23 (as Bailiff continues to settle for meaningless FGs)

I'm hoping the OOC games prepared us for this game, while they haven't played anybody that's even at our level, so hoping they come out too pumped, go cold and play their worst game.

2-1 Rice. We score a safety and Marshall is awarded a single point for being good sports for playing with their dominant hands behind their backs.

(11-09-2014 11:48 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(11-09-2014 10:59 AM)Ranger Wrote:  42-17 Marshall.

Many reasons. We are 6-0 against teams with three or fewer wins, 0-3 against teams with 4 or more wins. Marshall has 9 wins.

The game is at Marshall.

I suspect that Marshall has been looking forward all year to get revenge and will be pumped up.

I saw a part of Marshall's game at USM. After falling behind 14-0 on the road, Marshall outscored its opponent 63-3. Final - 63-17. Simply awesome. There is a reason Marshall is 9-0.

Marshall is also playing for a major bowl spot, and is the favorite if they can remain undefeated. Sure, they haven't beaten anybody worse a grain of salt yet, but unlike Rice, they have blown out virtually everyone on their schedule. Their median game performance ranking is well over 10 points higher than ours. In fact, their average performance ranking is considerably better than our best performance ranking. Add to that the home field advantage (which has been HUGE for Marshall the past 2 seasons), the motivational factor (avenge last year's loss, and stay in the lead for not only CUSA championship but major bowl birth), and the reality that Marshall's strength on offense (QB play and longball threat) is our greatest weakness/vulnerability (made worse with Covington out and Hill ineligible for the first half), and The Herd should be at least 2 TD favorites going in.

Marshall 48
Rice 23 (as Bailiff continues to settle for meaningless FGs)

Nearly 3. They open at -19.5.

(11-09-2014 03:46 PM)At Ease Wrote:  

(11-09-2014 11:48 AM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(11-09-2014 10:59 AM)Ranger Wrote:  42-17 Marshall.

Many reasons. We are 6-0 against teams with three or fewer wins, 0-3 against teams with 4 or more wins. Marshall has 9 wins.

The game is at Marshall.

I suspect that Marshall has been looking forward all year to get revenge and will be pumped up.

I saw a part of Marshall's game at USM. After falling behind 14-0 on the road, Marshall outscored its opponent 63-3. Final - 63-17. Simply awesome. There is a reason Marshall is 9-0.

Marshall is also playing for a major bowl spot, and is the favorite if they can remain undefeated. Sure, they haven't beaten anybody worse a grain of salt yet, but unlike Rice, they have blown out virtually everyone on their schedule. Their median game performance ranking is well over 10 points higher than ours. In fact, their average performance ranking is considerably better than our best performance ranking. Add to that the home field advantage (which has been HUGE for Marshall the past 2 seasons), the motivational factor (avenge last year's loss, and stay in the lead for not only CUSA championship but major bowl birth), and the reality that Marshall's strength on offense (QB play and longball threat) is our greatest weakness/vulnerability (made worse with Covington out and Hill ineligible for the first half), and The Herd should be at least 2 TD favorites going in.

Marshall 48
Rice 23 (as Bailiff continues to settle for meaningless FGs)

Nearly 3. They open at -19.5.

If you listen to the Marshall fans on the conference board, about 17 points of that is for the home field.

Since this is the "score prediction thread"......I predict YES, both teams will score

(11-09-2014 08:13 PM)owlatheart Wrote:  Since this is the "score prediction thread"......I predict YES, both teams will score

RICE 38

MARSHALL 28

Probably the strongest home field advantage in the country.
Strongest Marshall team in decades.
Their strength exploits our greatest weakness.
Covington, Hill.
Revenge.
Their biggest game of the year so far.
They're feeding off the hype of being the Boise State of 2014.

We'll need to be almost perfect, plus get turnovers, to win.

(11-09-2014 08:46 PM)Barney Wrote:  Probably the strongest home field advantage in the country.
Strongest Marshall team in decades.
Their strength exploits our greatest weakness.
Covington, Hill.
Revenge.
Their biggest game of the year so far.
They're feeding off the hype of being the Boise State of 2014.

We'll need to be almost perfect, plus get turnovers, to win.

If we are almost perfect, we will get turnovers.

So are we that much weaker than last December, they that much stronger, or the home field that that advantageous, that we go from 17 victors to 20 point underdogs? what is the source of that 37 point swing?

(11-09-2014 09:31 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(11-09-2014 08:46 PM)Barney Wrote:  Probably the strongest home field advantage in the country.
Strongest Marshall team in decades.
Their strength exploits our greatest weakness.
Covington, Hill.
Revenge.
Their biggest game of the year so far.
They're feeding off the hype of being the Boise State of 2014.

We'll need to be almost perfect, plus get turnovers, to win.

If we are almost perfect, we will get turnovers.

So are we that much weaker than last December, they that much stronger, or the home field that that advantageous, that we go from 17 victors to 20 point underdogs? what is the source of that 37 point swing?

I think it's a combination of all three, plus the fact that I think the weather actually helped us last year as it limited their passing attack.

(11-09-2014 09:33 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(11-09-2014 09:31 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(11-09-2014 08:46 PM)Barney Wrote:  Probably the strongest home field advantage in the country.
Strongest Marshall team in decades.
Their strength exploits our greatest weakness.
Covington, Hill.
Revenge.
Their biggest game of the year so far.
They're feeding off the hype of being the Boise State of 2014.

We'll need to be almost perfect, plus get turnovers, to win.

If we are almost perfect, we will get turnovers.

So are we that much weaker than last December, they that much stronger, or the home field that that advantageous, that we go from 17 victors to 20 point underdogs? what is the source of that 37 point swing?

I think it's a combination of all three, plus the fact that I think the weather actually helped us last year as it limited their passing attack.

I don't remember what the weather was. We have no Covington or Gaines or Cella like last year, but the rest of the team seems to be doing pretty well. I think DJ is an upgrade. I have no idea of how and why Marshall may be better than last year. That Gator guy is gone.

I think maybe we are drinking too much of that Marshall green Kool-Aid, but no matter. We shall see Saturday. A lot of people didn't giver us much of a chance last year, too.

All the reasons to be pessimistic are listed above and agree.

However, plenty of reasons to be optimistic.

Marshall is #50 in rushing D (we are #31). Marshall posters do admit this is their kryptonite this year if there is something to nitpick at. Would expect us to use time-of-possession advantage and keep Cato and company off the field. I do think we have an advantage between the tackles.

Their stud RB (Johnson) did not play against USM b/c of knee issues. Not 100% for us.

We beat this same team last year. Discounting their garbage time TD in the C-USA game, we were up by 3TD's. Hard for anyone in Rice locker room to lack confidence we can beat them.

Last time Bailiff and staff were in Huntington, was a late McG fumble away from a W and that was not a good Rice team. Obviously different teams now but all the home field worth 17-pts chatter from Herd fans did not seem to affect Rice then. Hard to think why it would be different now.

Marshall has not played a bad game yet. One has to believe they are due. Regression towards the mean. That clearly happened last year against us. All good teams over a long season have an egg or two.

We are playing for something more than just beating them. Team is much better than earlier in season and focused on the goals they have.

Maybe giving our staff too much credit but they showed an awesome game plan last year with lots of new wrinkles out of existing plays/formations. One has to believe Rice staff has been ready for this game and showing lots of plays/formations in earlier games to set-up the wrinkles for this game. The bubble screen pump fake to go deep, the zone read pass options, reverse action off zone read, action off speed option, etc. all should be ready to go this week. I think Marshall has aggressive D and will be prepared for our tendencies. Thus, the action of that will be key this week for some big plays.

Much of their margin of victory is distorted from continuing to run up score late. They have to given their schedule. I don't blame them. As example last week, they were up 35-14 against USM in 4Q and continued to push it to get to 63-14.

Ironically, I think bad/cold weather benefits us more than them. Our style is suited for it. We saw that last year.


As I posted before C-USA title game, I view this like the Stanford/Oregon series. Oregon blows out all opponents while Stanford does not against same teams but when they play each other, different game and most years a very, very close game with different results compared to other Oregon opponents. Let's hope it is not same as this years results but I do think the Marshall stats need to be thrown out when playing us.

(11-09-2014 09:40 PM)owl40 Wrote:  All the reasons to be pessimistic are listed above and agree.

However, plenty of reasons to be optimistic.

Marshall is #50 in rushing D (we are #31). Marshall posters do admit this is their kryptonite this year if there is something to nitpick at. Would expect us to use time-of-possession advantage and keep Cato and company off the field. I do think we have an advantage between the tackles.

Their stud RB (Johnson) did not play against USM b/c of knee issues. Not 100% for us.

We beat this same team last year. Discounting their garbage time TD in the C-USA game, we were up by 3TD's. Hard for anyone in Rice locker room to lack confidence we can beat them.

Last time Bailiff and staff were in Huntington, was a late McG fumble away from a W and that was not a good Rice team. Obviously different teams now but all the home field worth 17-pts chatter from Herd fans did not seem to affect Rice then. Hard to think why it would be different now.

Marshall has not played a bad game yet. One has to believe they are due. Regression towards the mean. That clearly happened last year against us. All good teams over a long season have an egg or two.

We are playing for something more than just beating them. Team is much better than earlier in season and focused on the goals they have.

Maybe giving our staff too much credit but they showed an awesome game plan last year with lots of new wrinkles out of existing plays/formations. One has to believe Rice staff has been ready for this game and showing lots of plays/formations in earlier games to set-up the wrinkles for this game. The bubble screen pump fake to go deep, the zone read pass options, reverse action off zone read, action off speed option, etc. all should be ready to go this week. I think Marshall has aggressive D and will be prepared for our tendencies. Thus, the action of that will be key this week for some big plays.

Much of their margin of victory is distorted from continuing to run up score late. They have to given their schedule. I don't blame them. As example last week, they were up 35-14 against USM in 4Q and continued to push it to get to 63-14.

Ironically, I think bad/cold weather benefits us more than them. Our style is suited for it. We saw that last year.


As I posted before C-USA title game, I view this like the Stanford/Oregon series. Oregon blows out all opponents while Stanford does not against same teams but when they play each other, different game and most years a very, very close game with different results compared to other Oregon opponents. Let's hope it is not same as this years results but I do think the Marshall stats need to be thrown out when playing us.

I hope you're right, and I agree bad weather benefits us. Should we pray for snow?

(11-09-2014 09:52 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(11-09-2014 09:40 PM)owl40 Wrote:  All the reasons to be pessimistic are listed above and agree.

However, plenty of reasons to be optimistic.

Marshall is #50 in rushing D (we are #31). Marshall posters do admit this is their kryptonite this year if there is something to nitpick at. Would expect us to use time-of-possession advantage and keep Cato and company off the field. I do think we have an advantage between the tackles.

Their stud RB (Johnson) did not play against USM b/c of knee issues. Not 100% for us.

We beat this same team last year. Discounting their garbage time TD in the C-USA game, we were up by 3TD's. Hard for anyone in Rice locker room to lack confidence we can beat them.

Last time Bailiff and staff were in Huntington, was a late McG fumble away from a W and that was not a good Rice team. Obviously different teams now but all the home field worth 17-pts chatter from Herd fans did not seem to affect Rice then. Hard to think why it would be different now.

Marshall has not played a bad game yet. One has to believe they are due. Regression towards the mean. That clearly happened last year against us. All good teams over a long season have an egg or two.

We are playing for something more than just beating them. Team is much better than earlier in season and focused on the goals they have.

Maybe giving our staff too much credit but they showed an awesome game plan last year with lots of new wrinkles out of existing plays/formations. One has to believe Rice staff has been ready for this game and showing lots of plays/formations in earlier games to set-up the wrinkles for this game. The bubble screen pump fake to go deep, the zone read pass options, reverse action off zone read, action off speed option, etc. all should be ready to go this week. I think Marshall has aggressive D and will be prepared for our tendencies. Thus, the action of that will be key this week for some big plays.

Much of their margin of victory is distorted from continuing to run up score late. They have to given their schedule. I don't blame them. As example last week, they were up 35-14 against USM in 4Q and continued to push it to get to 63-14.

Ironically, I think bad/cold weather benefits us more than them. Our style is suited for it. We saw that last year.


As I posted before C-USA title game, I view this like the Stanford/Oregon series. Oregon blows out all opponents while Stanford does not against same teams but when they play each other, different game and most years a very, very close game with different results compared to other Oregon opponents. Let's hope it is not same as this years results but I do think the Marshall stats need to be thrown out when playing us.

I hope you're right, and I agree bad weather benefits us. Should we pray for snow?

\Current forecast is high of 40, low winds, no precip.

(11-09-2014 09:40 PM)owl40 Wrote:  All the reasons to be pessimistic are listed above and agree.

However, plenty of reasons to be optimistic.

Marshall is #50 in rushing D (we are #31). Marshall posters do admit this is their kryptonite this year if there is something to nitpick at. Would expect us to use time-of-possession advantage and keep Cato and company off the field. I do think we have an advantage between the tackles.

Their stud RB (Johnson) did not play against USM b/c of knee issues. Not 100% for us.

We beat this same team last year. Discounting their garbage time TD in the C-USA game, we were up by 3TD's. Hard for anyone in Rice locker room to lack confidence we can beat them.

Last time Bailiff and staff were in Huntington, was a late McG fumble away from a W and that was not a good Rice team. Obviously different teams now but all the home field worth 17-pts chatter from Herd fans did not seem to affect Rice then. Hard to think why it would be different now.

Marshall has not played a bad game yet. One has to believe they are due. Regression towards the mean. That clearly happened last year against us. All good teams over a long season have an egg or two.

We are playing for something more than just beating them. Team is much better than earlier in season and focused on the goals they have.

Maybe giving our staff too much credit but they showed an awesome game plan last year with lots of new wrinkles out of existing plays/formations. One has to believe Rice staff has been ready for this game and showing lots of plays/formations in earlier games to set-up the wrinkles for this game. The bubble screen pump fake to go deep, the zone read pass options, reverse action off zone read, action off speed option, etc. all should be ready to go this week. I think Marshall has aggressive D and will be prepared for our tendencies. Thus, the action of that will be key this week for some big plays.

Much of their margin of victory is distorted from continuing to run up score late. They have to given their schedule. I don't blame them. As example last week, they were up 35-14 against USM in 4Q and continued to push it to get to 63-14.

Ironically, I think bad/cold weather benefits us more than them. Our style is suited for it. We saw that last year.


As I posted before C-USA title game, I view this like the Stanford/Oregon series. Oregon blows out all opponents while Stanford does not against same teams but when they play each other, different game and most years a very, very close game with different results compared to other Oregon opponents. Let's hope it is not same as this years results but I do think the Marshall stats need to be thrown out when playing us.

You're my hero, Owl40. I was at the Marshall game last year. We went in as underdogs, if I remember correctly. And dominated them. I know it's tough to win in WV. I know they are a better team than last year. I know they have a great and experienced QB. But we have plenty of weapons, too.
I'm not quibbling with us being dogs in this game. But I think 19.5 is a bit much.
My head says Rice 24 Herd 34
My heart says Rice 27 Herd 24.
I'm going with the last one.
Final answer.