HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- A Rice Stadium maintenance crew was hard at work Monday, making sure the scoreboard was fully functional heading into the Owls' season opener Friday.
It is a smart move considering Rice will play host to Southern Methodist in a matchup of two of Conference USA's best offenses and worst defenses.
The Owls and Mustangs will kick off the 2008 season Friday at 8 p.m. (ESPN).
"You know, they're out there working on it right now," Owls Coach David Bailiff said with a Texas-sized chuckle Monday during the C-USA weekly coaches teleconference. "There actually is a crane out there. I think they're giving it a test run.
"It has a chance to be a great football game. I think it's one where you'll see both teams playing hard. A good one to watch."
Rice averaged 404 total yards and 31.4 points but allowed 510.8 total yards and 42.9 points per game last year. SMU averaged 423.4 total yards and 28.3 points per game but allowed 498.7 total yards and 39.8 points per game.
"Whenever I have entered into these types of games, it seems like they always end up 10-3 or something," said Mustangs Coach June Jones, the offensive mastermind who turned Hawaii into a Bowl Championship Series participant with his run-and-shoot offense. "You always think they are going to be a big shootout, but sometimes it doesn't work out that way."
Texas-El Paso will visit Buffalo on Thursday at 7 p.m. to open the C-USA season. Other season-opening games involving Conference USA teams are scheduled Saturday:
East Carolina will face Virginia Tech at noon (ESPN) in Charlotte, N.C.; Tulsa will visit Alabama-Birmingham at 4 p.m.; Marshall will play host to Illinois State at 4:30 p.m. (WOWK in Charleston-Huntington, WVNS in Beckley-Bluefield and WBOY in Clarksburg); Central Florida will welcome South Carolina State to Orlando at 6 p.m.; Memphis will visit Mississippi at 6 p.m. Houston will play host to Southern (La.) at 7 p.m. and Southern Mississippi will welcome Louisiana-Lafayette to Hattiesburg at 7 p.m.
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EAST CAROLINA will follow its neutral-field season opener against 17th-ranked Virginia Tech with a home game versus eighth-ranked West Virginia.
Pirates Coach Skip Holtz realizes his team will be the underdog in both games, but he doesn't mind.
"Sometimes," he said, "the fear of getting your tail beat is an unbelievable motivator."
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IT APPEARS Central Florida will use a running back-by-committee approach to replace Kevin Smith, who left for the NFL after he ran for 2,567 yards and 29 touchdowns on 450 carries last season.
Oh, and none of the candidates has any college experience.
Redshirt freshman Ronnie Weaver is the frontrunner for the starting job, followed by true freshmen Brynn Harvey, Latavius Murray and Brandon Davis.
"I'm going to possibly play all four of them in each and every game," UCF Coach George O'Leary said. "They all bring something a little bit different to the table."
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A PAIR of Conference USA head coaches -- Larry Fedora of Southern Miss and Kevin Sumlin of Houston -- will make debuts Saturday.
It has been a whirlwind transition for the former Big 12 Conference offensive coordinators -- Fedora was at Oklahoma State; Sumlin was at Oklahoma.
"It has been hectic," Fedora said. "I look back now and wonder where my vacation went because it doesn't seem like there's still enough time to get all of the things done that we want to get done."
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TULSA RETURNS a trio of 1,000-yard receivers -- senior Brennan Marion (1,244), sophomore Trae Johnson (1,088) and sophomore Charles Clay (1,024) -- and a 1,000-yard rusher -- senior Tarrion Adams (1,225).
UAB must figure out a way to stop that foursome in Saturday's season opener.
"Without a doubt, they have got probably the best skill people in our conference at receiver and running back," Blazers Coach Neil Callaway said.
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SPEAKING OF Tulsa, Golden Hurricane Coach Todd Graham said his team wants to be "the No. 1 non-BCS team in the country."
"We want to do what Boise (State) and Hawaii did," Graham said.
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WHEN UTEP visits Buffalo this week, the highlight of the trip might be Niagara Falls.
Thanks to Bulls Coach Turner Gill, Buffalo isn't the perennial patsy it once was.
"We probably would have been favored against them had we played them two or three years ago," Miners Coach Mike Price said. "Now we're underdogs."
Contact sports writer Jacob Messer at jacobmes...@dailymail.com or 304-348-1712. His blog is at blogs.dailymail.com/marshall.
