The Owls (2-5, 1-3 C-USA) enter having lost two straight and four of five. On Saturday Rice was thumped by Tulsa 38-20. And the Owls now have a bit of a quarterback controversy. Starter Taylor McHargue struggled against Tulsa, throwing two interceptions and fumbling in Rice's first three possessions, leading to a 17-0 deficit for the Owls. Backup quarterback Nick Fanuzzi was 20 of 37 passing for 234 yards and a TD after replacing McHargue. Rice coach David Bailiff says he won’t announce which QB starts until kickoff of Thursday night’s Bayou Bucket game at Robertson Stadium. In four Conference USA games this season, McHargue has seven turnovers (four interceptions and three fumbles).

The Cougars (7-0, 3-0), the only ranked team in the conference, have no QB questions whatsoever. Case Keenum became the FBS’ career leader in total offense on Saturday, throwing for 376 yards and tying his career high with six touchdown passes as Houston beat Marshall 63-28.  Keenum eclipsed former Hawaii QB Tim Chang's career total offense record of 16,910 yards in the first quarter. Keenum needs 802 passing yards to move ahead of Chang's record (17,072; the total offense number is lower because of sacks, etc.) and five TD passes to eclipse the mark (134) set by Texas Tech's Graham Harrell.

Houston has the nation’s top offense, averaging 606.1 yards and 49.1 points per game. Rice is near the bottom of FBS in defense, allowing 32.6 ppg and 472.4 ypg. Two years ago Houston won this matchup 73-14 but last year Rice pulled a 34-31 upset that ended up costing the Cougars a bowl trip. The teams have split the last four games.

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