2022 Week 1 Preview: Rice Owls @ USC Trojans

Rice Owls take on the USC Trojans in the season opener at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Rice head coach Mike Bloomgren is familiar with the Coliseum after working there as an assistant at Stanford from 2011-17.

Rice has lost each of its last three season openers. The Owls have won the last two games against FBS teams. They beat SMU 56-27 in 2008. This year's team is healthier with a lot of players returning from injury. They play USC at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It's the first time they've played against them in the season opener. Rice won last year against Arkansas. Their last game against Army was in 2019.

USC finished its 2021 season at 4-8, the worst record since 1991. Head coach Clay Helton was fired after a 42-28 jackhammering from Stanford in Week 2. The team is ranked No. 14 in the 2022 preseason AP Poll. New head coach Lincoln Riley is bringing his air raid offense from Oklahoma to the Pac-12.

Rice's offensive line is experienced and well-prepared. The team captain Shea Baker has played 2,784 snaps for the Owls. Isaac Klarkowski played 668 straight snaps before his injury. USC's defensive line features Tuli Tuipulotu. Rice's quarterback Wiley Green won the starting job in fall camp. He will use his newfound health and rich experience to churn out his best season yet. Cedric Patterson III, Bradley Rozner and Luke McCaffrey are the team's other receivers. They are all members of the same recruiting class.

USC signed a lot of players from the college football's transfer portal this summer. The arrival of offensive mastermind Lincoln Riley captivated players across the nation to relocate their college careers to Los Angeles. Caleb Williams, the starting quarterback at Oklahoma, is the most notable of the transfers. Brenden Rice (Colorado), Travis Dye (Oregon), and Austin Jones (Stanford) also transferred within the Pac-12 to Riley’s refurbished program. Jordan Addison, who ranked fourth nationally with 1,593 receiving yards in 2021, helped Pittsburgh to an ACC championship.

USC is one of the most difficult teams to project this season. The team went 4-8 last year, but this year it received a No. 14 AP Poll ranking. Rice has a good defensive team, however it needs to improve on its offense.