Getty QB Grant Wells of the Marshall Thundering Herd
The Rice Owls (1-2) head to Joan C. Edwards Stadium this Saturday to take on the Marshall Thundering Herd (7-0) in a big Conference USA showdown.
Note: Heavy may earn an affiliate commission if you sign up via a link on this page
The game (Noon ET start time) won’t be on regular TV anywhere, but anyone in the US can watch Rice vs Marshall live on ESPN+ right here:
ESPN+ is the digital streaming service from ESPN that has live college football (select AAC, Big 12, Conference USA and Sun Belt games) and dozens of other sports, every 30-for-30 documentary, and additional original content (both video and written) all for $5.99 per month.
Or, if you also want Disney+ and Hulu, you can get all three for $12.99 per month, which works out to about 31 percent savings:
Get the ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu Bundle
Once signed up for ESPN+, you can watch Rice vs Marshall live on the ESPN app on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet.
You can also watch on your computer via ESPN.com.
Rice vs Marshall Preview
Both of these teams have seen little action over the last month due to numerous cancelations and issues related to COVID-19. The Thundering Herd haven’t played in two weeks, while the Owls had one game the entire month of November. Thus, it will be no surprise if both teams come out a little rusty in this one.
The Owls are averaging 27 points a game, and are led on offense by quarterback Mike Collins, who has 10 touchdowns and an interception through three games. Collins is averaging 267 yards passing per contest, which is first among all Conference USA quarterbacks.
Rice last played North Texas on November 21, losing 27-17. Collins went 23-34 for 327 yards and two touchdowns in the loss, and he played well despite getting sacked a whopping seven times.
“We didn’t do a very good job protecting him, and he still wanted the ball in his hands,” Rice coach Mike Bloomgren said after the loss. “He didn’t cower or ask us to call runs. He wanted the ball in his hand, he wanted to win the game, and that’s the mindset of a champion. That’s what we want around us. Even when it’s not going well and he’s getting hit, he wanted the ball. We’ve got to get all 22 completely there, to have belief we can do this and trust each other. Then we’ll be fine.”
Rice hasn’t won since late October when it took down Southern Miss in a 30-6 route. Despite the uneven records and games played, however, don’t expect Marshall to rest on its laurels. “They’ve played everybody tough, to be honest,” Marshall head coach Doc Holliday said. “No. 1, they’ve got a bunch of kids that love to play. You watch them play — they play extremely hard.”
The Thundering Herd last played against Middle Tennessee State, and Marshall quarterback Grant Wells had the best game of the season, throwing for 336 yards and five touchdowns in a 42-14 victory.
Wells led an efficient Marshall attack that ran 75 plays and amassed 520 total yards of offense in the win. The team had seven penalties for 75 yards in the victory, however, so they’ll need to clean that sloppiness up if they want to secure a spot in the Conference USA championship, which is the primary goal.
Marshall leads the all-time series against Rice, 5-2.