What's up Owl fans? I just wanted to check in and clear up a few things. First off, I'm the MSU blogger (3rdAnd57) who wrote this article (http://3rdand57.com/a-look-at-rices-weaknesses/) that many are disagreeing with in the other thread.

Wanted to address a few things. I haven't watched Rice film and don't know a ton about y'all outside of the CUSA CG. I looked through every stat imaginable trying to find things that y'all didn't do well on paper. I write about the whole SEC but I'm an MSU grad and write the most about MSU so you have to understand that this was an article aimed at MSU fans to see what statistical match-ups will be favorable to them.

Next, it's not meant as a "diss Rice" article. Simply a look at things that MSU could try to exploit. As I looked through Rice numbers there are plenty of things they do really well but that wasn't the aim of this article. I will write a game preview that you guys will probably find much more like-able at a later date. I'm very objective in these and write them as if I was preparing MSU and it's fans for what Rice does well. Take a look at this Arkansas game preview for an example. They had 7 straight losses heading into our game and I was very fair with them, as I will be with Rice. http://3rdand57.com/msu-knowing-the-oppo...azorbacks/

I'm not downplaying Rice at all as an opponent and look for forward to a great game and a fun time in Memphis. Maybe I'll meet some of you guys.

If anyone has any interest in writing anything regarding the Liberty Bowl from a Rice POV, I'll publish it to give you author credit in hopes to give a more balanced view if you'd like. You can email any inquires to 3rdAnd57@gmail.com and I'll get back with you. You can also follow me on twitter @BeastManSteve

Merry Christmas fellas and have a safe time in your holiday and bowl game travels

Thanks for coming over.

We understand your audience (not Rice fans) and the audience probably likes some red meat to get excited about a W. It was something that none of would have seen if not for someone posting it here. Also understand your knowledge of Rice football is low (as is 99.9% of the country as well). I also have not seen Miss St. more than maybe a quarter all season on TV so if you asked me to write a blog about the Bulldogs, I don't know what I could say either that would be very educated other than looking at stat sheets and stating the obvious hard schedule. But I have seen each Rice game and thus much more comfortable weighing in on our strengths and weaknesses and being critical of those who don't know them.

I posted a an overview of our team by position, scheme, etc. on the State Scout board that you can look/use at and am sure many here can/will weigh-in as well on the team. We are glad to be getting the exposure for the program.

Ricefootball.net is another good source of info.

Best of luck.

Seems to me it all depends on which Rice team shows up. If the one we hope for shows up, we will be very competitive. If the other one shows up, well, it will not be a happy time for us.

If I were analyzing Rice's statistics, I think I would remove the two Thursday night games. I think both games reflected the difficulty of playing on a short rest period of four days. In addition, Rice was on the road for both games and had difficulties with both UAB and UNT. I spoke with a couple of players and I don't think you can overestimate the effect of the short week. That factor obviously won't be in play on New Year's Eve.

(12-18-2013 05:36 PM)@BeastManSteve Wrote:  What's up Owl fans? I just wanted to check in and clear up a few things. First off, I'm the MSU blogger (3rdAnd57) who wrote this article (http://3rdand57.com/a-look-at-rices-weaknesses/) that many are disagreeing with in the other thread.

Wanted to address a few things. I haven't watched Rice film and don't know a ton about y'all outside of the CUSA CG. I looked through every stat imaginable trying to find things that y'all didn't do well on paper. I write about the whole SEC but I'm an MSU grad and write the most about MSU so you have to understand that this was an article aimed at MSU fans to see what statistical match-ups will be favorable to them.

Next, it's not meant as a "diss Rice" article. Simply a look at things that MSU could try to exploit. As I looked through Rice numbers there are plenty of things they do really well but that wasn't the aim of this article. I will write a game preview that you guys will probably find much more like-able at a later date. I'm very objective in these and write them as if I was preparing MSU and it's fans for what Rice does well. Take a look at this Arkansas game preview for an example. They had 7 straight losses heading into our game and I was very fair with them, as I will be with Rice. http://3rdand57.com/msu-knowing-the-oppo...azorbacks/

I'm not downplaying Rice at all as an opponent and look for forward to a great game and a fun time in Memphis. Maybe I'll meet some of you guys.

If anyone has any interest in writing anything regarding the Liberty Bowl from a Rice POV, I'll publish it to give you author credit in hopes to give a more balanced view if you'd like. You can email any inquires to 3rdAnd57@gmail.com and I'll get back with you. You can also follow me on twitter @BeastManSteve

Merry Christmas fellas and have a safe time in your holiday and bowl game travels

Great explanation. Honest and gutsy. You might ask ricefootball.net (his handle on this board) to write something for your blog. You can contact him through his website, http://www.ricefootball.net.

(12-18-2013 06:21 PM)Ranger Wrote:  Seems to me it all depends on which Rice team shows up.

And which State team shows up.