Stanford Cardinal vs. Rice Owls Predictions, Picks, Odds, and NCAA Football Week One Betting Preview – August 26, 2017

Stanford Cardinal vs. Rice Owls Preview

Where: Allianz Stadium – Sydney, Australia

When: Saturday, August 26, 2017 – 10:00 PM ET

Line: Stanford Cardinal (-30.5) vs. Rice Owls (+30.5); total: 51.5 – view all NCAA Football odds and lines

TV Broadcast: ESPN

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Betting on the Stanford Cardinal (-30.5)

Christian McCaffrey may be long gone but Stanford head coach David Shaw is adamant that his side can cope this season without their star running back. It’s going to take a total team effort for the Cardinal to replace the numbers of McCaffrey who set a record with 3,864 all-purpose yards in 2015. He then rushed for 1,596 yards and scored 16 touchdowns last campaign.

Shaw is banking on Bryce Love to carry the scoring cudgels in McCaffrey’s absence. Love averaged 7.2 yards per carry the past two seasons behind McCaffrey. Love scored a touchdown and rushed for 100 yards in each of the two games that McCaffrey didn’t play last season (against Notre Dame and in the Sun Bowl).

Another guy who needs to step up for Stanford is Keller Chryst. The good news for Shaw is that his starting quarterback is fit and ready to go for Saturday’s opening game against Rice. As you may all remember, Chryst tore the ACL in his right knee last December. Chryst was 6-0 as a starter last season with 10 touchdowns and only one interception in those games so his return is a timely boost to the Cardinal offense. Chryst and co. will be licking their chops at the prospect of facing a Rice defense that was ranked 113th in the nation last year.

Betting on the Rice Owls (+30.5)

It’s going to take something remarkable for Rice to record an upset against Stanford. The last time these two sides met back in November, the Cardinal blasted the Owls, 41-17. Anything can happen Down Under, though, especially now that Rice won’t have to contend with Christian McCaffrey and Solomon Thomas who were drafted in the NFL by the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers, respectively.

Saturday’s showdown will mark the first football game Rice has played outside the USA in its more than 100-year history. For the Owls to come out on the winning end of this historic ballgame, they will need redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Glaesmann to stand tall. Much is expected from Glaesmann who beat out sophomore slingers Jackson Tyner and J.T. Granato for the starting role. He hasn’t taken a live snap, though, since he suited up for his Waco high school team two years back, so it will be interesting to see how Glaesmann fares against a powerhouse team such as Stanford.

Luckily for Glaesmann, the Owls O-line remains pretty much intact this season. That experience will be vital not only for Glaesmann but also for running back Sam Stewart who will step into the starting role after missing five games last season due to a torn ACL. Stewart still impressed even with that limited action, racking up 479 rushing yards and six touchdowns on just 75 carries.

Writer’s Prediction

Stanford wins but Rice (+30.5) covers.

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