Free Live Odds - Scores and Odds - Sports News - Sports Information - Live Scores - Sports Statistics - Sports Articles - Sports Standings - Live Scor

FACTS & STATS: Site: Rice Stadium (70,000) -- Houston, Texas. Television: CBSCSN. Home Record: Purdue 1-0, Rice 0-0. Away Record: Purdue 0-0, Rice 0-1. Neutral Record: Purdue 0-0, Rice 0-0. Conference Record: Purdue 0-0, Rice 0-0. Series Record: Purdue leads, 2-1.

GAME NOTES: Purdue will invade Houston this weekend against Rice, as the two teams clash in non-conference play for the first time since 1998.

Purdue needed a late rally to reach 1-0 a week ago at West Lafayette, winning 27-24 over Middle Tennessee, in a last-second thriller. The Boilermakers scored a touchdown in the final minute to go up by three, then blocked a potential game-tying field goal on the final play to preserve the win, which was the school's first come-from-behind win in the fourth quarter since a 20-17 victory over Northwestern last October. The Boilermakers were at their best when it counted most in the fourth quarter of the opener, putting together 10 of its 24 first downs, converting three of four third downs and scoring 17 points on the final three possessions.

Rice opened with Texas for the second consecutive year, and hung tough in Austin for two and a half quarters before being worn down 34-9 by the Longhorns. The Owls had a high energy start against their in-state opponent, but the opener was defined by a huge Texas offensive push in the second half, as well as Rice's inability to score touchdowns instead of field goals. The Owls, who return nearly every starter on both sides of the ball from 2010, are expected to be a threat in C-USA this year, but its non-conference schedule will continue to be strenuous. That starts with the Boilermakers this weekend, and includes a trip to Baylor at the end of the month and a trip to Northwestern in mid-November.

Purdue leads the all-time series 2-1, and eked out a 21-19 win at home against Rice in the last meeting at West Lafayette.

Purdue lost projected starting quarterback Rob Henry after the sophomore tore his ACL in the final week of fall camp. That forced head coach Danny Hope to insert junior Caleb TerBrush into his first collegiate start, let alone his first game against Middle Tennessee. There were growing pains, as TerBrush threw an interception and couldn't push Purdue over the top in the second and third quarter, when the games was there for the taking. But TerBrush was clutch, throwing the game winning 35-yard touchdown to Antavian Edison in the final minute. TerBrush finished 19-of-33 for 219 yards and two touchdowns, as the offense leaned heavily on the services of running back Ralph Bolden. The senior slasher was playing in his first game since 2009 after sitting out the 2010 campaign with a knee injury, and registered 120 yards on 17 carries for an offense that gained 420 yards on the day.

The offense was outgained as Middle Tennessee racked up 460 yards against the Purdue defense, which held the Blue Raiders to just 3.9 yards per carry on the ground, but allowed quarterback Logan Kilgore to slice the unit for 330 yards passing. The Purdue defense did have one takeaway (an interception returned for 34 yards) and held Middle Tennessee to 7-of-16 on third down, and were led by linebacker Joe Holland's 14 tackles and two pass breakups. Although the time of possession was nearly even on the day, Purdue struggled to keep Kilgore and company pinned down in poor field position at times, with the Blue Raiders stringing together 95-yard and 60-yard scoring drives in the second and fourth quarters, respectively.

Rice's offense put sophomore kicker Chris Boswell into position to hit three field goals, and at one point in the third quarter, Texas was only up 13-9. Rice missed a golden opportunity to put six on the board inside in the Texas ten-yard line in the third quarter, but the Longhorn defense held and forced a field goal. Sophomore quarterback Taylor McHargue (14-of-29, 79 yards) finished isn't a prolific quarterback yet, but Rice will still have to figure out how to score inside the red zone this season with the young signal quarterback. The Owls put up 224 yards of total offense, and running back Tyler Smith carried the ball 10 times for 67 yards, while Turner Petersen added 43 yards on seven carries. Last year's leading rusher, Sam McGuffie, only received one carry for four yards.

The Rice defense allowed 506 total yards to the Longhorns, and were simply worn down in the second half. Texas chewed up clock starting late in the third quarter, and put touchdown drives of 72, 99, and 94 yards together in the third and fourth quarter to drive the dagger home against the Owls. More pressure out of the front-seven will be needed, as the unit generated only two sacks and one hit on Texas quarterback Garrett Gilbert. Linebacker Cameron Nwosu led the Owls with 12 tackles.

TerBrush is the fifth Boilermaker quarterback to start in this calendar year, but he showed ability and poise in his first start and should be able to help Purdue stay competitive early on this season. Middle Tennessee's Kilgore was able to give Purdue's young secondary fits (all four starters departed following 2010 season) and while the back seven won't be tested as much by Rice's McHargue, the Boilermakers will have to account for a talented cast of Owls running backs. Progression will be key for TerBrush, and if he plays mistake free football and Purdue contains the run, they will have a shot. But if last weekend was any indication, it seems that Rice is a more dangerous football team, and has more veterans to go to war with. Look for McHargue to have a better game in the home opener and for the defense to avoid a second half implosion as it did against Texas.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Rice 21, Purdue 17