WKU Football: Gameday Information at Rice
After the bizarre 2020 college football season, WKU found a way to scratch and claw to a bowl game appearance and a 5–7 overall final record. With a team that many thought could compete for a conference championship, the Tops finished in the middle of the pack.
However, with a momentous offseason with tons of huge “gets” and “coups”, the most significant of which were Houston Baptist transfer quarterback Bailey Zappe signing with the Tops and superstar defensive end DeAngelo Malone deciding to forego a realistic shot at the NFL and stay on campus for a fifth year, the Tops seem poised to be a legitimate threat to make a title run.
Fast forward through nine games now. WKU is 4–1 in conference and in a two way tie for first. WKU is 5–4 after a nice win against a rival that has slipped in recent years. WKU’s lone conference loss came to now-15th rankedUTSA (Oh wait nevermind, apparently they’re barely a top 25 team; thanks a lot, College Football Playoff Committee!). With a two-way tie for first, WKU just needs to keep pumping out wins. Now, admittedly, this game means absolutely nothing to WKU in the long run. If WKU loses this game and beats FAU and Marshall, this loss shall be fairly forgotten. However, to maximize all tiebreaker opportunities in the much more likely scenario that FAU or Marshall beats WKU and the Tops beat Rice, this game is crucial in that sense.
This week, WKU (5–4, 4–1 C-USA) takes on a hot then cold Rice (3–6, 2–3 C-USA) squad that has the quality one week to beat UAB and then in the next two loses in overtime to teams that will not factor in the Conference USA race at all. Once again, WKU faces a team that is starting a backup. However, in this case, backup Jake Constantine has shown enough to be a legitimate passer in this conference, along with being mobile enough to make a few plays with his legs on occasion. This is now the fourth backup quarterback in the last five weeks that WKU has faced. It seems like the stars have aligned for the Tops to make a run at a C-USA title. However, who stands in the way next? Rice, a team with a reputation for making inexplicable appearances as a really good football team against the best teams in the conference.
So let’s set the stage for WKU and Rice, shall we?
Location
Rice Stadium
Capacity: 47,000
A stadium with a ton of history, Rice Stadium is bland in name only, having hosted significant crowds when in the Southwestern Conference. Since that conference desintegrated, demand greatly diminished. However, Super Bowl VIII was hosted in this stadium as well as a famous John F. Kennedy Speech. You know, the one that challenged Americans to send a man in space in a decade? That one. Rice Stadium has hosted massive concerts, as well as hosted Houston Cougars football games as well as the Houston Oilers. Rice significantly modernized the stadium when it established the Brian Patterson Sports Performance Center in 2016 inside the stadium in the north end zone.
Time
Saturday, November 14, 2021 1 PM CST
Weather Forecast
A far cry from the chilly autumn weather that finally showed up in South Central, KY, Houston boasts perfect football weather in the mid 60s with the sun shining overhead. Temperatures should remain in the mid-60s throughout the game.
TV
ESPN+
Play-by-Play: David Saltzman Analyst: Taylor McHargue
Radio
Brett Williams (Play-by-Play), Terry Obee (Analyst), Jared Holland (Sideline)
Also, you can listen to the radio call anywhere in the world on the WKU Gameday App!
Gameday Information
WKU
WKU @ Rice Tyson Helton Preview
Rice
Around C-USA
C-USA Coaches Thoughts Around the League
Betting Lines from Sportsline.com
WKU -18.5
O/U 61.5
ESPN.com Match-up Predictor
WKU-89.7% chance to win
Current Records
WKU: 5–4 (4–1 C-USA)
Rice: 3–6 (2–3 C-USA)
Last Time Out…
WKU has now won four in a row, and it must feel nice beating a rival in MTSU. That being said, the Tops are still in the thick of the race for the East. If WKU twins its last three games, they will win the C-USA East Division. However, that is a difficult task. Rice beat UAB in October, one of the favorites in the West. Then the Tops draw FAU and Marshall to end the year.
Rice may have the uglier record, but this is a team that faced a brutal schedule, along with losing some close ball games of late. If Rice had found a way to score a few more times in their overtime losses against North Texas and Charlotte, their story may have been much different heading into this game. Now they are in pure desperation mode, hoping to simply make it to bowl eligibility and make a huge step forward for the program. But this team is plenty dangerous depending on which version of the Rice Owls shows up.
Coaches
Tyson Helton- 3rd Season- 19–15 (19–15 Overall)
Mike Bloomgren- 4th Season- 10–29 (10–29 Overall)
Series
2–0 WKU
Last Meeting
WKU has faced Rice twice, and the Hilltoppers were the heavy favorite in both games and proved to be the better team on those occasions. WKU last met Rice in Bowling Green in 2016, routing the Owls 46–14.
Relevant Reading
Conference USA Preseason Media Prediction
Injury Report
WKU
Out indefinitely: TE Joshua Simon (lower leg) is still listed as questionable despite reports that he may not return this season. He has now missed every game since coming up gimpy near the end of the UT-Martin game. After seeing him up close on the sideline vs. MTSU, he has a significant leg brace inside his sweatpants. It seemed like the shape of something that would be used with a severe sprain of a cruciate ligament (or tear) or a torn meniscus, according to Devin Stewart, former student trainer and lead host of RedOut Podcast. Impact: Significant
Rice
Out for Season: QB Wiley Green (leg)
Out indefinitely: Bradley Rozner (undisclosed)
Excitement Level — 4
If this wasn’t (nearly) a useless game, this would be higher. This is a chance for the Tops to get bowl eligible, and they’re chasing a championship. But WKU should wipe the floor with the Owls. To explain why this is fairly useless, if WKU beats Marshall and FAU, the Tops will absolutely win the East Division of Conference USA. However, if the guys in the locker room look at it as pointless, that is a poor approach. This game could still affect tiebreakers and win totals in the event that the Toppers lose to either FAU or Marshall.
Other than bowl eligibility, this is a fairly emotionless matchup against an opposite division opponent late in the year and this game affects very little. However, Tops, this is the chance to keep momentum, make it five in a row, and just keep rolling. Tops take on the Owls at 1 PM CST. Don’t miss it on ESPN+ and the Big Red Radio Network!
Go Tops!
We’ll be providing live coverage and reaction. If you made it to Houston, please send us your best pictures from campus, tailgating, and in-game via Twitter at @TheTowelRackWKU or on our Facebook page and we’ll share.