Texas Football: 3 reasons why the Longhorns will annihilate Rice

On the night of Sep. 18, new head coach Steve Sarkisian and Texas football are set to take on the Rice Owls at home to try and right the ship following a bad loss last weekend. Texas will take on Rice in the final non-conference game of the regular season slate. This is coming off the humbling loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks and head coach Sam Pittman last weekend.

Sark and the Longhorns fell short to Arkansas on the road on Sep. 11 by the final score of 40-21. It was one of the worst non-conference road losses in recent memory for the Longhorns. But this meeting with Rice presents Texas with a good opportunity to right the ship at the perfect time ahead of the start of Big 12 play.

Casey Thompson leading Texas football into home matchup vs. Rice

Texas carries a record of 1-1 into this meeting with Rice coming off the loss to Arkansas last weekend. The lone win for the Longhorns on the season thus far came over the No. 23 ranked Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns and head coach Billy Napier by the final score of 38-18 back on Sep. 4 at DKR.

Meanwhile, Rice comes into this game with a record of 0-2 following two straight losses to start the season to Arkansas and the Houston Cougars. Rice did not look good against Houston last weekend, to the tune of a 44-7 defeat.

Texas is a 26-point favorite over Rice on Sep. 18, with the over/under set at 52 points. And the ESPN matchup predictor (based on the Football Power Index) gives Texas nearly a 98 percent chance to beat Rice.

Here’s a look into three reasons why the Longhorns will decimate Rice on Sep. 18.