Next up for Rice football, the Armed Forces Bowl against Texas State. Here’s what head coach Scott Abell had to say about the matchup and a few depth chart notes.
Head coach Scott Abell and a set of players met with the media for their customary weekly availability. They previewed the Armed Forces Bowl game and discussed the Owls’ upcoming matchup with Texas State.
We touch on those items, then dig into the Rice football depth chart and what the team looks like heading into the weekend. First, the quotes:
Press Conference Quotes
I think, kind of two parts. The first, you’ve got time. Being January 2, that’s a late bowl game so that afforded us some time… And then it gives you a chance to take a look at things you knew you were going to do once you got to spring football, especially in Year 1. There’s so much we can learn from this season. So many takeaways. You just take notes all year. – Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on the benefits of a bowl game
As it sits now, we have a roster of 93 heading to our bowl game, which I’m incredibly proud of. We finished the season at 103. We’re down from 105 — two young men that were no longer with the program for different reasons — and some of those ten that aren’t a part of the count, now. Some of those are fifth year who are at the end of their careers. They’re graduated. They’re starting their real life. They’ve chosen that their football careers are over. There are a handful of guys that have made announcements to go into the portal and those guys are not participating in the game at this point and I don’t anticipate that changing. – Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on the state of the roster and the Transfer Portal
You saw a couple young defensive lineman playing more at the end of the year… I also think they’ll probably be some younger skill guys, maybe offensively that you’ll see show up in the perimeter game that maybe have been waiting for their opportunity or this is the moment now that they get some extra prep. Without mentioning any specific names, I think those are some areas you can look at to see maybe some new names called, some new numbers show up – Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on young players who could be more involved
I’m looking at it like how we looked at it going into the Louisiana week. We got that whole break going up to it. Watching extra film, trying to get some tendencies on the guys, resting out bodies. I think the break is a good thing for us. – Running back Quinton Jackson on how the team is approaching the bowl game
It was good to recover the body, get healthy. Guys were beat up. I mean, it’s awesome to be back out here, but I’m pretty sure a lot of guys on defense were itching to get back out here. We got a bad taste in our mouth from USF. We’d like to get back out there against Texas State. – Linebacker Ty Morris on how the team is approaching the bowl game
Full Press Conference
Depth Chart
An updated depth chart is expected to be provided at a later date. For the time being, stay tuned for this week’s practice report, available to those subscribed to our Starting Lineup Tier on Patreon. That will be published on Friday and has further details on players who have opted out of the game and how the Owls’ might adjust their gameplan, accordingly.
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