Next up for Rice football: Tulane. Here’s what Mike Bloomgren had to say about the matchup and a few depth chart notes.
Head coach Mike Bloomgren and a set of players met with the media for their customary weekly availability. They recapped the UTSA game and the bye week then looked ahead at their upcoming matchup with Tulane.
More: Game Preview: Rice Football vs Tulane
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 thought we showed up and played incredibly hard for the whole game. I still believe we have a lot of work to do to be the program we want to be, but we’re on the right track, and that’s a good thing” – Mike Bloomgren on the team’s performance agianst UTSA
“You thought with Michael Pratt going away, there would be a real drop off at the quarterback position and this redshirt quarterback is making the game look really easy… Darian Mensah is playing incredible football right now and he looks like anything but a freshman.” – Mike Bloomgren on Tulane quarterback Darian Mensah
“Enoch [Gota]’s a big part of our team, we’re just at a point now where we’ve got to go with who is hotter in practice because they’ve both had oportunities where they’ve come through big time for us in games and they’ve both had times where they didn’t get the job done in games. So as we continue to make it a meritocracy, we’re going to give Tim [Horn] another chance.” – Mike Bloomgren’s on the change at kicker
“I think it’s something that we can carry over from this past week, being able to stop the run early, not let them get going, not let them find the key plays that worked to attack us with.” – Linebacker Myron on the team’s approach against Tulane
“Tulane’s an amazing team. I think you look forward to those games… You see them and you’re like, ‘I can’t wait to play that game’. Playing these teams in a good environment like in their stadium is always something you look forward to” – Running back Dean Connors on playing Tulane
Depth Chart
Depth Chart Notes
The most notable change on the offensive depth chart this week was the reinsertion of John Long into the starting offensive line group. That’s something we’ll be monitoring during the week of practice. To see who the favorite to suit up for the Owls at that spot against Tulane, make sure you’re subscribed on Patreon and looking for practice notes later in the week.
On defense, Daveon Hook slides over from backing up Tyson Flowers at the free safety position to manning the viper spot. In a defense that relies on the flexibility of its players so much, particularly in the secondary, this reflects the desire to get the Owls’ best players on the field at all times. Practically, that won’t be too much different than how Rice football attacked this position in their game against UTSA. Additionally, DJ Arkansas returns to his backup spot in the linebacker room where he previously was left off the depth chart with an injury.
