Getty Jeff Monken and Army begin their quest for a third-straight double-digit season when they take on Rice in the 2019 season opener Friday.
In a Week 1 matchup on Friday night, Rice and Army do battle for the first time since the Black Knights utterly dominated the Owls in 2017 to the tune of a 49-12 victory.
The game is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. ET and will be televised on CBS Sports Network. If you don’t have cable or don’t have that channel, you can watch a live stream of the game on your computer, phone, Roku, Fire TV Stick or other streaming device via one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
CBS Sports Network is one of the 100-plus live TV channels included in the main FuboTV bundle, which is largely tailored towards sports.
You can start a free seven-day trial of FuboTV right here, and you can then watch a live stream of Rice vs Army on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, or other supported device via the FuboTV app.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV comes with 30 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as a 72-hour look-back feature, which will allow you to watch the game on-demand within three days of its conclusion, even if you don’t record it.
Hulu With Live TV comes with Hulu’s extensive on-demand library of TV shows and movies and 60-plus live TV channels, including CBS Sports Network.
You can sign up for Hulu with Live TV right here, and you can then watch a live stream of Rice vs Army on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Echo Show, or other streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch live, Hulu With Live TV comes with 50 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as the option to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of space and the ability to fast-forward through commercials.
YouTube TV comes with 70-plus live TV channels, including CBS Sports Network.
You can sign up for YouTube TV right here, and you can then watch a live stream of Rice vs Army on your computer via the YouTube website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or other compatible streaming device via the YouTube app.
If you can’t watch live, YouTube TV comes with included DVR.
Rice vs Army Preview
While Rice is coming off a pair of abysmal seasons, there are finally reasons for optimism in Houston. Returning talent at nearly every position, Rice has a good chance to drastically improve on last season’s 2-11 record. Though they do face a daunting schedule with games against Texas and Baylor lined up before entering conference play.
Despite returning tons of talent, Rice needs to see that talent take a sizeable step forward this season in order to do any good. While most of the skill positions underperformed last season, inconsistent play at quarterback seemed to be the biggest issue for Rice last season. Wiley Green is set to take over the reins this season and looked solid in his limited showing last season. Consistent play from Green should go a long ways towards helping to alleviate some pressure from the rushing attack – helping to establish the brand of play head coach Mike Bloomgren is looking to install.
While the Owls may not make the jump to a winning record this season, getting their young talent some valuable experience against quality Power-5 opponents should help tremendously with the growth of the program moving forward. That said, this doesn’t do a whole ton in helping them match up with Army.
Reborn under head coach Jeff Monken, Army is coming off an extremely impressive 11-2 campaign while bringing back signal-caller Kelvin Hopkins – a 1,000-yard rusher last season. Army relies heavily on their rushing attack and that shouldn’t be any different in 2019. Don’t be surprised to see Hopkins uncork a few deep balls over the course of the season to keep defenses honest but expect to see more of the same from a tried and true method for the Black Knights.
Defensively, Army returns a ton of talent to the secondary and defensive line despite losing some depth at linebacker. While they need young talent to step up and fill the void left from some departures, the returning talent should help ease the transition and it isn’t unrealistic to think Army’s defense rolls on without much of a hiccup. They face a strong test in week two against Michigan but the Black Knights should be more than up to the task against Rice.
Expect Army to set the tone early with their patented rushing attack and quality defensive play as they roll to a fairly comfortable wire to wire win against the Owls.