do you feel this is mainly due to fading MTSU? i know Rice likes to play physical on offense and primarily run the ball, but they lost their top 2 backs from last season. also, their starting QB this year didn't have great numbers last year. they do have 2 solid WR's and return some experience on defense but their DL doesn't generate much pass rush
with the line up to -4 it's making me feel uneasy about backing them in their 1st game no matter how bad MTSU's defense is (and boy is it bad)