Prediction, Game Preview, and Betting Lines for Navy vs. Rice

Navy vs Rice: How to Watch and Game Preview

Date: Saturday, November 2, 2024
Game Time: 4:00 pm ET
Venue: Rice Stadium, Houston, TX
How to Watch: ESPN2
Teams: Rice (2-6), Navy (6-1)

This is the end of the season for Rice, but they are still in the running for a bowl spot.

It fired head coach Mike Bloomgren after a 2-6 start, but at this point, it was not really fair.

The team was having a hard time, but it also lost at Tulane and UConn, which was part of the problem because they were against the spread. It is now up to Pete Alamar to finish the season. He was the special teams coach.

The Owls did not have enough wins, though, to get to six. This week, they play Navy, then Memphis, and finally UAB and USF to close out the season.

On the other hand, Navy was slammed into reality last week when Notre Dame beat them 51–14. That was the first of five games that were played away from Annapolis. The only one that was played at home was against Tulane.

If they win that, they can win the AAC Championship.

Navy vs Rice: Who Will Win?

Is Rice able to stop the run? It is not great, but it is not terrible either.

That has not been the issue. It did not do much against Army—it gave up 288 yards, which is not terrible by Army standards—but the real problem is on its own side of the ball. Rice is not able to run at all.

Navy does not have a great defense, but it gets the ball off the field well enough. This offense is more controlled than the Midshipmen have had in years, with more passing than running. This makes the great ground attack less important.

For a while, rice should be annoying, but it can not keep track of time and makes too many mistakes. It will have the ball for some time.