Week 4 of the College Football season will kick off with a Thursday Night matchup between the Rice Owls and Charlotte 49ers in an American Athletic Conference matchup. Rice enters with a 2-1 record on the season, with Charlotte entering having dropped two of their three games to start the year.
This likely will not be the most memorable football of the upcoming weekend, but the wins count all the same. These teams have faced off six times in their program’s history, with each team picking up three wins. They have played each of the last four seasons, with Charlotte winning three of the four matchups, including last year, 21-20.
Looking at the odds for this year’s matchup, Rice enters as 2.5-point favorites and holds -130 odds on the moneyline on DraftKings Sportsbook. Charlotte holds +110 odds of getting the outright victory, with the game total set at 44.5.
This article will take a brief preview of both teams and a pick for the opening Week 4 matchup.
Rice vs. Charlotte prediction, preview
Rice Preview
Rice opened up the season with a 14-12 victory over Louisiana. They then dropped the following matchup to Houston 35-9, but are coming off a 38-17 victory over Prairie View A&M University.
The Owls play a distinct style of football, which is extremely dependent on running the football. Through three games, they have just 210 total passing yards and two touchdowns through the air, or 70.0 passing yards per game. Rice has had much more success running the football, tallying 243.3 rushing yards per game and six rushing touchdowns. Quinton Jackson headlines the effort with 213 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns. They rank 14th among all FBS teams in rushing yards per game.
Defensively, Rice is allowing 21.3 points and 294 yards per game. Ty Morris leads the effort with 20 tackles. Joseph Mutomobo has 1.5 sacks, and Jack Kane has an interception already. They have had more trouble stopping the run game, allowing 151.7 rushing yards per game, compared to 142.3 through the air.
Charlotte Preview
Charlotte dropped the opening week matchup to Appalachian State 34-11 and fell 20-3 to Bill Belichick’s North Carolina squad the following week. The 49ers bounced back with a 42-35 victory over Monmouth and will now open up conference play against Rice this week.
They have a more pass-oriented offense compared to Rice, averaging 258.0 passing yards per game, versus 92.7 on the ground. Conner Harrell has completed 67.5% of his passes for 664 yards, four touchdowns, and a pair of interceptions. E. Jai Mason leads the conference in receiving yards with 284 yards and three touchdowns. Javen Nicholas is not far behind with 17 receptions for 177 yards through the opening three games.
Charlotte is giving up 29.7 points and 449 yards per game this season defensively. They rank 133rd among FBS teams in red zone percentage and 129th in first downs allowed. The 49ers have gotten outgained by an average of 98.3 yards per game. They are still digging themselves out of the 586 yards they allowed to Appalachian State. Ja’Quirous Conley leads the teams with 20 tackles, and Reid Williford has a pair of sacks.
Rice vs. Charlotte pick, best bet
Rice is just about as one-dimensional an offense as you will find in college football. They are averaging 13.7 pass attempts and 56.0 rushing attempts per matchup to this point. But this is a Charlotte squad that has struggled to stop the run this season. They gave up 182 rushing yards to Appalachian State in their season opener and 148 yards to North Carolina in Week 2. Rice hired Scott Abell from the FCS level at Davidson and is looking to build an identity a bit similar to the Army and Navy style of option attacks. At a minimum, the early results have been intriguing.
Charlotte also has some turnover issues that will continue to be problematic if they do not clean them up. They have given up seven turnovers through three games and have allowed a score on every opponent’s trip to the end zone this year. Their 3.4 red zone scores allowed per game are tied for 84th in the country.
This is a quick turnaround for both teams, and Rice enters as a slight 2.5-point favorite. There is a ceiling for how impactful this team can be with their style of offense in its current form. Luckily, Charlotte fails to clear this ceiling and enters coming off a 5-7 season last year and has just one win this season over an inferior opponent. The 49ers have dropped six of their last nine games overall and are 4-8 against the spread in their last 12 matchups as an underdog.
Expect this to be a grind-it-out style of matchup in which Rice can hold control and have success with its rushing attack. The turnover concerns are significant and will be the nail in the coffin if Charlotte does not clean it up. My lean is toward the under from the game total perspective, but my best bet is for Rice to get the outright victory and advance to 3-1 on the year. With little difference in the -130 odds on the moneyline and -110 and the spread, I will protect myself from a potential one or two point victory and back the moneyline.
