Same prospect goes for the Owls, who, after Saturday's game, will close out their season with three out of their last four games at home.

But as for Saturday's outcome, it's anybody's guess, as the betting parlors have established the Herd as nine-point favorites, but with the up-and-down nature of play by both teams, and with their respective suspect defenses, it could just be that the last team with their hands on the ball wins the game in a score-fest.

Like the Owls, the Thundering Herd relies mainly on its passing attack for offensive production, averaging 281.4yards per game through the air, while being held to only 115 yards per game rushing.

Against Southern Miss, quarterback Bernard Morris threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns, but also suffered three interceptions and was sacked twice. Morris has been a bright spot for the Herd, completing 64.1 percent of his passes for 1,876 yards and 13 touchdowns, as against eight interceptions. But he's had nagging problems with turf toe and thus possesses durability issues.

On the receiving end, MU is getting strong production from sophomore tight end Cody Slate and junior wideout Darius Passmore. Slate ranks among the top pass-catching tight ends in the nation with 39 catches for 535 yards and five touchdowns. The sophomore from Chipley, Fla., is averaging 76.4 yards receiving per game and has scored touchdowns in three straight and five of the last six games.

"He's a really good player," MU head coach Mark Snyder said. "He needs a lot more touches. We need to address that. What's amazing are the things other coaches ask about him after we finish playing them."

Passmore, too, has given Marshall a deep threat option out wide. The speedster has 38 catches for 521 yards and five touchdowns to his credit.

Darius Marshall (no blood relation to the university) leads all Herd rushers with 411 yards in seven games, for an average of 57.1 yards per game.

Rice head coach David Bailiff is convinced his injury-depleted defense will have its hands full come Saturday afternoon. "You really can't believe they're 0-7," he said of this week’s opponent. "You watch them offensively and they move the ball. They've got a great quarterback. He's very athletic. He's very dangerous. They've been in some close ones too. Even last night they rallied back there at home to make that a tight ball game. Southern Miss scored late where it didn't look like it was, but they put some points on the board in a hurry."

Defensive leaders for the Herd including C. J. Spillman, a junior defensive back fro Louisville, Ky., who leads the team with 72 tackles thus far on the season. Up front, Maurice Kitchens, a junior linebacker from Roanoke, Va., has come down with 58 total tackles and an interception.

Marshall has been plagued with injuries, especially on the defensive side of the ball this season. The Herd lost 2006 C-USA defensive player of the year Albert McClellan in camp to a knee injury and has had as many as six defensive starters out due to injury.

Like Coach Bailiff, Marshall head coach Mark Snyder has found it necessary, because of the rash of injuries, to play more freshman than he would have preferred. In fact, the Thundering Herd has only seven seniors who are seeing significant action, while more than a dozen freshmen are seeing time.

Marshall has played a total of 13 freshmen so far this season, including redshirts. The five true freshman who are seeing playing time include Corey Hart (LB), Johnny Jones (DL), Darius Marshall (RB), Shane Moore (DL), and D.J. Wingate (DB).

It’s Homecoming Weekend for MU and the stadium is expected to be at near capacity despite the Herd’s winless record. Interestingly, Marshall grads have been recognizing a "homecoming" football game for perhaps as long as any university in the country, going back to its first on Nov. 28, 1895. Newspaper accounts of the game against Kingsbury High School, that ended in a 0-0 tie, refer to the game and mention "coming home" weekend with activities surrounding it.

The Thundering Herd has won 14 straight homecoming contests with the last homecoming losscoming at the hands of Appalachian State (37-34) in 1992.

MU Coach Snyder, who’s a Marshall alum himself, seemed fired up about the potential excitement level for this week’s game.

"Obviously, we have a lot of alums coming back," he said Monday. "It's exciting for me being an alum. It's a chance for all of us to see people who made a difference in our lives when we were in college. It should be an exciting weekend."

"We are playing a very good Rice team," he added. "They are putting up a lot of points. I just watched the Houston game before I went to my quarterback meeting. It was 56-48. That is crazy. We're going to have to bring our "A" game."