Next up for Rice Football: a home matchup against Tulane. 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 North Texas game and looked ahead at their upcoming matchup with Tulane.
Roost Podcast: What We Learned — Rice Football vs North Texas
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
Gael will be our starting quarterback. I think everybody knows that now. My thoughts on his performance. It was a game two performance. Coming out of the gates, game one, it’s usually easier on an athlete. People quite don’t know what to expect. And so then, game two, especially after you have a day that is like none other in game one maybe the expectations were maybe a little unreal for Gael. I think he did a lot of good things. I thought he made some good decisions in our option game. I think the part that separated him from Week 1 to Week 2 for him, he wasn’t as clean with the football as we need to be. The ball was on the ground a couple times…
He’s a very quick learner. Once again, I thought he did a lot of good things. I thought he put us in a lot of good situations and I think his best is ahead of him. It really is. – Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on new starting quarterback Gael Ochoa
Bayes is a young football player who was in the mix all year, but now is a guy who’s a starter for us. Some guys got banged up, [he] got an opportunity and yeah, he’s earned that role. He’s won that role, is what I like to say, and it’s with his play. His greatest gift is his motor. He’s got a relentless motor. It’s a motor I have to calm down at times of practice, but that’s not a bad thing.– Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on defensive lineman Brayden Bayes
I think both programs come in really hungry and needing of a win, us and them. They’re in a place they’re not used to being in. We’re in a place I don’t want to be and I don’t like being in. I think that makes them dangerous. They’re a team that beat Memphis. And we all know what kind of program Memphis is and where they are right now. And they’re a program that didn’t meet their expectations last week. That makes it a little difficult to prepare for. So, what you do in these moments, you prepare for the very best team, and that’s the team that beat Memphis. And that team is really talented. That team has a lot of athletes that can run. They’re long and they have a lot of weapons on offense. It’s an exciting week for two teams that really want a win. – Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on the upcoming matchup with Tulane
I think it was just a product of my preparation, like we stated in the past; Coach Abel and Coach Porter, they do a really good job at giving us those looks in practice throughout the week. So just going out on the field and finally getting the opportunity, it’s great. I just feel super blessed that I get the opportunity to toss it around, especially in an offense like this. It’s definitely fun. I’ll say that just connecting all those passes. It’s a to feel like no other. – Quarterback Gael Ochoa on his success as a passer against North Texas
I’ve become more confident now that I’ve gotten to play a few more games as a starter, and the biggest thing that I’ve learned is that as long as I can do my job, it makes the jobs for all the other guys on the field a lot easier, and it’s also allowed me to build a bigger bond with them now that I’m on the field with the starters more. Just by doing my job, that’s really the only thing that my teammates can ask of me. And if I make a mistake, they let me know, and I fix it, and I don’t do it again. And that’s how we can succeed. – Defensive lineman Brayden Bays on his growing comfort with the first team defense
Press Conference
Depth Chart
Depth Chart Notes
There were no changes to the official depth chart this week, but, of course, that piece of paper still lists Gael Ochoa as QB2, something head coach Scott Abell himself refuted during his Tuesday availability. This should serve as a reminder to stay tuned for our practice notes this week, available on Thursday for those subscribed to our Starting Lineup Tier on Patreon.