Next up for Rice football, a home game against Western Michigan. 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 recapped the Notre Dame game and looked ahead at their upcoming matchup with Western Michigan.
Roost Podcast: Rice Football vs Notre Dame Game Recap
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
They’re a very talented football team. And they’re very physical. We want to somewhat do the same things. They want to control the clock. They want to shorten in the game so we’ve got to make every possession count on offense, be incredibly clean. Defensively, we have to tackle well and we have to find a way to make them uncomfortable and that’s not always easy. – Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on Western Michigan
He’s a dual threat guy. Coming out of last season they utilized his legs quite a bit and I think most people would have said that’s the strength of this game. They are opening up more than they did last year. They’re bringing more balance than they were last year and he has the ability to hurt you with his arm. He’s an older quarterback in our world. He’s a veteran. He understands their system really well. He plays within their system that gives him a lot of opportunities to be successful. He doesn’t make mistakes. He protects the football; that’s crucial. They’ve done a great job of keeping him there and building around him. – Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on Western Michigan QB Broc Lowry
They play incredibly well defensively as a unit. Everybody knows where to fit. It’s not overly complicated and they play incredibly hard. That’s a skill… Playing with great effort’s a skill. When I watch them play against Michigan, I see a team that’s playing with incredible effort. That’s the first thing that jumps off film. – Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on the Western Michigan defense
We gotta take care of the football. It all starts right there. We can’t give the football away. We can’t turn it over. We gotta take care of the football on offense. Defensively, this is a similar formula each and every week. We’ve gotta tackle well. We have to find a way to make them uncomfortable, get them out of their rhythm. Those are the challenges that are in front of us.- Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on the Owls’ focus areas this week
They’re confident. Like Coach Abell said, MAC Champions, and then obviously everyone saw the game with Michigan. They’re a very confident group. They run around to the football very fast, and they’re very gap-sound. They know their defense very well, so we just need to be on our keys and play our best football and hopefully have a good day. – Offensive Lineman Nate Bledsoe on Western Michigan
Yeah, they’re scrappy. They’re very physical. They know what they’re doing. They’re gonna throw us some different looks in the run game, and so we just have to do a good job being surgical in our fits and continuing to fly around, be physical and just make hustle plays and out-physical them. That’s really the goal. – Linebacker Cooper King on Western Michigan
Press Conference
Depth Chart
Depth Chart Notes
Both slot Davis Lane and safety Michael Amey fell off the depth chart this week. That’s in line with what has become fairly standard practice for Abell in company when it comes to injuries, as both left the Notre Dame game and their status for the Western Michigan contest remains uncertain.
We’ll have more information on both players as to their potential game availability in this week’s practice report, available for those subscribed to our Starting Lineup Tier on Patreon.
The one non-injury adjustment is the insertion of Brayden Bays at defensive tackle, who bumps out Chris Clark from the two-deep.