The last eight games in this series have gone Over. Look for that trend to continue. There were 77 points scored last season in Southern Mississippi's 43-34 road win.

Kwadra Griggs is back from a two-game suspension giving Southern Mississippi a pair of quarterbacks to torment a bad Rice defense as he joins Jack Abraham, who has moved the ball well but been hurt by turnovers. The Golden Eagles are averaging 37.5 points per game. They have experienced depth at wide receiver and facing a Rice defense that is among the bottom-20 in yards allowed and points surrendered at 38.7 per game.

Rice has yielded an average of 50.6 points in its last three games against Southern Mississippi.

Southern Mississippi has strong defensive numbers. But that's going against Jackson State and Louisiana Monroe. Rice has skill position talent, including quarterback Shawn Stankavage and running back Emmanuel Esukpa, who has topped 100 yards rushing twice in three games this season while averaging 5.4 yards a carry.