Stung Longhorns will bounce back against Rice

With more of his players now dotting the roster, some college football aficionados thought coach Charlie Strong's second Texas team would be somewhat better than his first.

But those beliefs proved to be false optimism — for the time being — as Notre Dame dismantled the youthful Longhorns 38-3 in humiliating fashion last week. Strong wasted little time in pushing the panic button, demoting offensive coordinator Shawn Watson to quarterbacks coach this week and handing the play-calling keys to first-year receivers coach Jay Norvell.

"We can't go through another season with a bad offense," Strong said in the wake of the Notre Dame disaster. "No, that cannot happen."

And while Texas' offense may show modest gains with the changing of the guard, the move is akin to switching the deck chairs on the Titanic. This is, at best, a .500 team in 2015. Contending for conference titles seems light years away, and flip-flopping a couple of nameplates on the coach's offices will not alter the inevitable outcome of another lost season for the Longhorns.

But this week's opponent, the Rice Owls, offers an opportunity for the Longhorns to flex their muscles and vent their frustrations on a nerdy, private institution known more for its SAT scores. Since 1965, Rice is 2-40 straight-up against Texas.

The Owls return nine starters from last season's 8-5 team. Rice returns just two starters in its defensive front seven, so it will not be mistaken for Notre Dame. Strong has said senior tailback Johnathan Gray needs to get more touches, and the Longhorns should be able to bully the Owls up front and run the ball effectively.

Strong realizes the stakes are high at a program such as Texas, where deep-pocketed alumni have grand expectations, big mouths and short fuses.

Outside of today's game, Texas probably will be favored by double digits one other time this season, on Nov. 7 at home against lowly Kansas.

The Longhorns need a win in the worst way, so look for them to steam Rice and cover the 14-point spread.

Four more plays for Saturday (home team in CAPS):

Louisiana State (-4) over MISSISSIPPI STATE — The Tigers have the distinct disadvantage of playing only five minutes of football before their season opener against McNeese State was halted after a total of four hours of weather delays.

Despite this Southeastern Conference West throwdown essentially representing its season opener, LSU's young, talented nucleus now has a year's worth of seasoning, and one would expect the quarterback tandem of Anthony Jennings and Brandon Harris to demonstrate marked improvement from last year's breaking-in process. Mississippi State boasts Heisman Trophy candidate Dak Prescott at quarterback and will be better later in the season once its new faces and influx of junior college players start gaining traction.

OHIO (+3) over Marshall — Marshall's 41-31 victory over Purdue is somewhat misleading as the Thundering Herd's Tiquan Lang returned two interceptions for touchdowns, including one on the game's opening play from scrimmage.

The game billed "The Battle for the Bell" is a hotly contested regional rivalry, and Ohio will be looking to make amends for last year's embarrassing 44-14 loss to Marshall. The underdog has covered seven of the past 10 meetings.

The Thundering Herd lost lots of key pieces from last year's 13-1 squad, including record-setting quarterback Rakeem Cato.

Massachusetts-COLORADO (Over 62½) — Last year's get-together produced a combined 79 points, 846 total yards and 53 first downs, and there's little reason to believe this matchup will not generate similar results.

Both teams return veteran quarterbacks (Massachusetts' Blake Frohnapfel and Colorado's Sefo Liufau), who have most of their offensive weapons back from one season ago. Frohnapfel, a lanky 6-foot-6-inch gunslinger, is ranked the No. 4 senior quarterback in the 2016 NFL Draft by draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. The Minutemen scored at least 31 points in seven of his 10 starts last year.

NEBRASKA (-27½) over South Alabama — The most shown highlight from college football's opening weekend was Brigham Young's game-winning Hail Mary from Tanner Mangum to Mitch Mathews on the final play of the Cougars' 33-28 victory over Nebraska.

First-year coach Mike Riley and his Cornhuskers surely have grown weary of seeing or hearing about the catch. Now, Nebraska gets to vent frustrations on a far inferior opponent in Sun Belt member South Alabama. The Jaguars return a total of five starters and have no regulars back on their defensive front seven.

Last week: 1-4 against the spread

— Paul Stone of VegasSportsAuthority.com is providing college football analysis for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.