For the second straight season, Australia will be the sight of one of the first college football games of the year. Last year, California and Hawaii brought a thrilling style of football to the Down Under. This season, the Stanford Cardinal and Rice Owls will bring a much different version. The game will be played in Allianz Stadium, a traditional rugby venue that will be opening its doors to college football for the first time in its 30-year history this week.
This contest in Week 1 will go down Saturday, August 26, 2017, at 10 p.m. ET at Allianz Stadium in Sydney, Australia. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
Week 1 College Football Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Stanford -31
Rice +31
Over/Under 50.5
Odds Analysis
It says something about your program when 10-3 is considered somewhat of a disappointing season. Stanford dropped three conference games last season and that meant the Cardinal were out of the PAC-12 race by October. Like all good teams do, they rallied at the end of the year and finished with six straight wins. They went 6-6-1 ATS, but were fantastic away from home with a 5-1 ATS mark.
Rice didn’t get its first FBS win until the tail end of 2016. The offense improved by leaps and bounds over the course of the season and that led to the team covering its last three games by double digits. That includes a season-ending cover against these same Stanford Cardinal in 2016.
Last Meeting
Christian McCaffrey stole the show in his last game for Stanford. He racked up 227 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns against the Owls defense in a comfortable Stanford victory. Although the outcome was never in doubt, Rice got the cover as Stanford bled the clock and stopped competing after amassing a large enough lead in the third quarter.
Rice’s passing attack was dreadful in that game. Owls quarterbacks completed just 15 of 48 passes for 124 yards and weren’t able to move the ball until Stanford started to relent on defense. It was a dominant effort from the Cardinal and worth remembering coming into this game.
Player to Watch
Stanford’s season turned around after Keller Chryst took over the quarterbacking duties from Ryan Burns. Chryst only played sparingly in the first seven games of the season, but was sharp once he won the job.
The Cardinal offense had life under Chryst. He ended the season with 10 touchdowns against two interceptions and was an effective runner when called upon too.
However, the defenses that Chryst played over that stretch weren’t great, or even decent. Oregon, Cal, and Rice had three of the worst six defenses in the country and Arizona finished the season at 115th in the nation. The only two decent defenses he faced, Oregon State and North Carolina, held him to a combined 128 yards passing on 23 attempts. That’s not awe inspiring.
Chryst no longer has the luxury of McCaffrey to take the pressure off either. The offense will need him to play well in order to move the ball and it’s unclear whether or not he can.
Free ATS Pick
David Bailiff is one of the most underrated coaches in the game today. He is undisputedly the best coach in program history and will always have his Owls ready to play.
Although neither team plays next week in order to recover from the time difference, Stanford may already be planning for its next game. The Cardinal have to travel to USC on September 9 and need to be ready for that one.
There’s no doubt that Stanford is going to win this game. Rice is starting a freshman quarterback and even if Chryst struggles, Stanford’s defense will suffocate the Owls and grind out a win. This is too many points for the Cardinal to cover though. Stanford should be favored by a number in the mid-20s and don’t be surprised if the spread starts dropping around kickoff. Back Rice to cover the big number here.
College Football Odds: Cardinal 34, Owls 10
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