Rice Owls 2009 College Football Predictions, Picks & Odds: It only took Head Football Coach David Bailiff one year to turn around the Rice program. The Owls actually won a bowl game in 2008 and there is good reason to think that the Rice program is headed in the right direction. However, the Owls lose a lot of talent this year and there are some major holes to fill. Odds makers at Sportsbook.com have college football predictions on the Rice Owls 50-1 odds to win the BSC 2010 National Championship.
There are options at quarterback. John Thomas Shepherd has the most experience in the program, but redshirt freshman Ryan Lewis has plenty of potential and Alabama transfer Nick Fanuzzi had a solid spring. Even without Dillard and Casey, the Owls have some quality receivers. Toren Dixon caught 50 passes last year and Corbin Smiter emerged as a big play receiver. The ground game should be better this year, especially while the passing game readjusts. Senior Jeramy Goodson only carried the ball 12 times last year and that has left the door open for Tyler Smith. Smith has had a great spring and could turn the ground attack into a formidable force.
The defense returns eight starters, but this was a unit that ranked 111th in the nation in total defense. Rice was extremely young on this side of the ball last year and they are not much older this time around. However, the year of experience should make the team better. However, how much better will they be? Without the offense putting up huge numbers, the defense will have to step it up. Safety Andrew Sendejo needs to turn into a leader right now and linebacker Terrance Garmon has to step up his production. Defensive ends Scott Solomon and Cheta Ozougwu are now upperclassmen and they will need to do a much better job getting into the backfield.
Clark Fangmeier is slated to kick for his fourth season, but offseason hip surgery may open the door for true freshman Chris Boswell to get a shot. Kyle Martens (38.3-yard average) is back at punter and running backs Smith and Goodson will likely handle the punt and kick return duties.
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