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FACTS & STATS: Site: Rice Stadium (70,000) -- Houston, Texas. Television: None. Home Record: Tulane 1-5, Rice 3-1. Away Record: Tulane 1-4, Rice 0-6. Neutral Record: Tulane 0-0, Rice 0-0. Conference Record: Tulane 1-6, Rice 2-4. Series Record: Rice leads, 17-15-1.

GAME NOTES: The Rice Owls will close out the home portion of their schedule when they welcome the Tulane Green Wave to Houston this Saturday afternoon for a Conference USA clash.

Since starting the year 2-1, Tulane has dropped eight straight games, including last week's 73-17 rout at the hands of nationally-ranked Houston. In fact, only one of the Green Wave's losses during the eight-game skid has been by single digits, and that was more than a month ago. This bout also marks their final conference game of the year, as the Green Wave will close out their season at Hawaii next weekend.

Rice has also fallen on hard times of late, with losses in four of its last five contests. Most recently, the Owls were on the wrong end of a 28-6 final at Northwestern last weekend, and they also allowed 73 points in a loss at Houston two weeks prior to that. The Owls head to SMU next weekend to finish out the season.

Tulane was a 54-49 winner in last year's shootout with the Owls in New Orleans. Rice owns a slim 17-15-1 edge in the all-time series.

The Green Wave enter this tilt ranked 94th nationally in total offense (349.8 ypg) and 96th in scoring (22.2 ppg). Over the last five games, they have averaged less than 16 points per game. Against Houston last Thursday, the offense simply could not keep up with the Cougars' torrid scoring pace. Orleans Darkwa managed 123 rushing yards and two TDs in the loss, but most of that damage came well after the outcome was all but official. Ryan Griffin completed only 19-of-43 passes for 137 yards and an interception, his longest completion covering 14 yards. For the game, Tulane converted only 10-of-23 third downs. On the season, Griffin is completing just 57.5 percent of his passes and is averaging 203 passing yards per contest. He has thrown 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Darkwa has been a solid complement out of the backfield, averaging 70.5 rushing yards per tilt to go along with 11 touchdowns. However, despite his yardage totals last Thursday, his impact on the game hardly registered as UH was content to cede a few rushing yards while protecting a big lead.

Defensively, the Green Wave certainly left Thursday's game with lots of areas for improvement. After keeping Houston off the scoreboard in the first quarter, the Cougars broke the game open with five touchdowns in the second, three of which covered more than 50 yards. UH running back Charles Sims gashed the Tulane defense for 199 rushing yards in the first half alone, and the Cougars finished with a remarkable 735 yards of total offense for the game, with four rushing touchdowns and four passing TDs. Yet, despite putting 73 points on the board, the Cougars had only 25 minutes of possession time, compared to 35 minutes for Tulane. UH also scored on all three of its trips to the red zone, which has been a major problem area for the Green Wave defense all year long. Opponents have scored on a remarkable 50-of-51 red-zone opportunities, including 37 touchdowns. One of the few playmakers on this unit is junior linebacker Trent Mackey, the nation's third-leading tackler with 136 stops (12.36 per game). Junior cornerback Ryan Travis has registered four of the team's 10 interceptions on the season, while defensive linemen Dezman Moses and Julius Warmsley have combined for 12 of the team's 22 sacks.

The Owls offense was able to move the ball between the twenties last week against Northwestern, but they were unable to punch it into the end zone until the final minutes. Tyler Smith's nine-yard touchdown run with just over four minutes to play helped Rice avoid its first shutout loss in 132 games. Smith finished with 84 yards on 21 carries, and he also paced the team with four catches for 21 yards. Nick Fanuzzi wasn't able to get anything going with the passing game, completing only 13-of-25 passes for 92 yards and an interception. It was a stark contrast from his previous outing against UTEP, when he was 30-of-43 for 405 yards and three TDs. In six games this season, Fanuzzi is completing 56.5 percent of his passes for an average of 146.5 passing yards per contest, with five touchdowns and one interception. On the ground, Smith churns out 68.3 yards per tilt.

Defensively, Rice is led by sophomore linebacker Cameron Nwosu, who ranks fifth in the conference with 9.4 tackles per game. While Nwosu has been a consistent force in stopping the run, the Owls also have a few solid weapons against the pass. Senior defensive end Scott Solomon is tied for fourth in the conference with 6.5 sacks and seventh with 10.5 tackles for loss. In the defensive backfield, freshman cornerback Bryce Callahan has emerged as a big- time playmaker. Callahan picked off his sixth pass of the season last week, most in the nation among freshmen. Junior Corey Frazier also intercepted Northwestern quarterback Dan Persa, although the Wildcats' signal caller finished with 372 yards passing and four TDs in his return from injury. Sophomore Paul Porras (13) and senior Justin Allen (10) both reached double- digit tackles in the loss.

Neither of these teams is headed for the postseason, although neither wants to finish at the bottom of the C-USA standings. After getting torched last week by Houston's high-powered offense, the Green Wave face a much more manageable matchup here against Rice.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Tulane 24, Rice 16