Rice Owls at Memphis Tigers

The Memphis Tigers (0-1 SU & ATS) has a disappointing outing, to say the least, in their season opener. On Saturday they will seek better lick as they host the Rice Owls (1-0 SU & ATS), who started slowly but achieved a blowout in their own season opener, as the two Conference-USA teams battle it out at the Liberty Bowl (artificial turf) in Memphis.

Game time is 8 PM ET, Saturday, September 6

BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: MEMPHIS -3, Total 65.5

Here are some of the NCAA college football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* RICE has covered four of its last five games

* RICE has lost 10 of its last 14 games SU

* RICE has played 13 of its last 14 games OVER the total

* RICE has covered six of its last nine road games

* RICE has lost 19 of its last 25 road games SU

* RICE has played 11 of its last 12 road games OVER the total

* MEM has covered two of its last seven games

* MEM has lost 16 of its last 24 games SU

* MEM has played four of its last six games OVER the total

* MEM is 1-4-1 ATS in its last six games

* MEM has lost 10 of its last 14 home games SU

It's very early in the season, so it's kind of difficult to gauge whether Memphis' showing in its opener against was a reflection of its own disappointing level of play or the emergence of the Mississippi program under new coach Houston Nutt. But off-hand, it does appear that the Tigers, who split quarterback duties between Arkelon Hall (who left after an injury) and Will Hudgens, achieved a certain amount of offensive efficiency, out-gaining Ole Miss by a 453-438 margin and racking up 28 first downs. And after a disastrous first quarter, in which they fell down 24-7, the Tigers played the rebels even the rest of the way.

Memphis ought to have enough punch to advance the ball against Rice's defense, which still needs to prove something after finishing dead last against passing attacks a year ago. But personnel changes may not have changed the luck of the Memphis defense, which allowed Ole Miss to produce its first 40-point effort against a Division I opponent in almost five years.

No one should dare underestimate Chase Clement, who spearheaded Rice's 56-point effort against SMU by completing 24 of 37 passes with six touchdown throws. All-America candidate Jarrett Dillard (seven catches for 89 yards, three TD's) is just getting warmed up. And Rice got 121 rushing yards from people OTHER than Clement, which has to be just a little encouraging.

Last year's game in Houston was a bit of a donnybrook, resulting in a 38-35 Memphis win and slightly less than a thousand yards in total offense. I would expect things to be somewhat similar here. Rice has covered 14 of its last 20 as a dog, which means it can often do enough to hang in there. And the way they do it is not by stopping people, believe me.

We'll go OVER the posted total of 65.5 points in the BetUS NCAA football betting odds.

JAY'S PLAY: OVER 65.5 ***

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

(Charles Jay of www.ebookies.com gives it more than the old college try as a contributor to the BetUS Locker Room)