MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The factor of the unknown will weigh heavily on Middle Tennessee's preparation on the gridiron this week.
 
After losing at home to North Texas, the Blue Raiders (1-5, 1-3) will make their first trip to Houston Saturday to take on Rice, which hasn't played a game yet this season.
 
"Obviously, this is a unique situation to be this late in the season and this being the first game Rice has played," MT head coach Rick Stockstill said. "There are so many unknowns right now … and it's even more telling that we need to worry about ourselves this week."
 
The Owls have had six games canceled this season due to COVID-19. They had to shut down their program in early September for several weeks due to positive tests, finally getting the OK to get back to practice Sept. 28.
 
Saturday's contest will be the third time this season MT will play a team in its season opener, adding to Army and Troy in the Raiders' first two games.
 
Not having even one game from 2020 to look at will undoubtedly make things tough from a preparation standpoint, not to mention the fact that Rice will have six Middle Tennessee games to watch. Adding to the difficulty is the fact that these aren't two opponents who know each other well. The first time the programs ever met on the football field was last season in Murfreesboro.
 
"We have to play a little more consistent than what we did last year against them," Stockstill said. "That's all we have to study. … They've been game planning us for the last six, seven eight weeks.
 
"We're going to see something we haven't planned for, just because it's their first game and they have six tapes on us."
 
Rice does bring back a few players from last year's matchup, which the Owls won 31-28. However, there's a new quarterback in town who'll likely start Saturday, throwing yet another wrench into MT's game planning.
 
TCU grad transfer Mike Collins, who started four games the last two years with the Horned Frogs, was announced as Rice's starting QB midway through fall camp. He's on his third team in his collegiate career after transferring to TCU from Penn in 2017.
 
"We've looked at him and watched him a little bit," Stockstill said. "We have to worry about ourselves and how we can get better, then adjust and handle any game time situations that we can change."
 
Since there's so much unknown about the Owls this season, Stockstill is preaching to his team to control what they can control and work on themselves this week.
 
That sentiment rings especially true for the Blue Raider defense, which gave up a program record 768 yards to North Texas last week.
 
"Our guys have a great attitude … and they fight their guts off," Stockstill said. "I have no issues with how hard they play and how hard they practice.
 
"The only way we're going to get out of it is to keep our head down, fight our guts out and try to get a win this week."
 
While they don't know exactly what to expect, the blue and white are eager for another chance to get into the win column.