Purdue @ Rice preview
Rice Stadium
THE STORY: Purdue and Rice are searching for confidence after less-than-stellar opening-week performances. The Boilermakers needed a 35-yard touchdown pass from Caleb TerBush to Antavian Edison with 49 seconds left to squeak out a 27-24 home win over Middle Tennessee. The Owls, meanwhile, hung with heavily favored Texas into the second half but totaled just 224 yards of offense in a 34-9 loss.
Purdue leads the all-time series 2-1, but these two schools haven’t met since the Boilermakers’ 21-19 victory in West Lafayette, Ind., in 1998.
TV: CBS Sports Network. Line: Purdue -1
ABOUT RICE (0-1): Rice has high hopes for quarterback Taylor McHargue, who led the team to a pair of victories to close the 2010 season, but the dual-threat sophomore struggled in the season-opening loss at Texas. McHargue averaged 2.7 yards per pass attempt and ran for 13 yards on five carries. The Owls, in search of their first bowl appearance since 2008, certainly aren’t helped by their schedule. With games against Texas, Purdue, Baylor and Northwestern, Rice is the only FBS program to play four non-conference opponents from BCS conferences.
ABOUT PURDUE (1-0): The Boilermakers haven’t started a season 2-0 since 2007, which was also the last time they made a bowl appearance. Coach Danny Hope thinks quarterback Robert Marve will see some action after recovering from a torn ACL, but TerBush will again get the start. Injuries have decimated Purdue’s quarterbacks recently, as TerBush became the fifth Boilermaker to start at quarterback in less than a calendar year. The junior threw for 219 yards and two touchdowns in the opener.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Purdue has dropped three straight road openers by an average of 10 points per game. The Boilermakers' last victory in a road opener was in 2007 at Toledo.
2. Rice is 1-5 in its last six home openers, including back-to-back losses to BCS schools by an average of 18 points.
3. The Owls are 5-15 all-time against the Big Ten and have lost six straight since a 40-34 win at Northwestern in 1997.
PREDICTION: Rice 23, Purdue 21. The Boilermakers survived a scare against a subpar opponent in week one, but won’t be so lucky this time around.