Next up for Rice Football: a road trip to Fresno 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 recapped the Western Michigan game and looked ahead at their upcoming matchup with Fresno State.
Roost Podcast: Rice Football vs Western Michigan 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
We’re a lot closer and prepared to compete with the best teams in our arena than we’ve maybe been since I’ve been here. Since this season started, Western Michigan’s been mentioned as a possible group of six playoff contender. Last year, when we faced those groups, it was tough sledding for us. Not that it wasn’t tough Saturday; it was tough, but we had an opportunity to win that football game. – Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on what he learned from the team against Western Michigan
When you watch North Dakota State for all the years you’ve watched them, they hang their hat on being physical, running the football and playing good defense. And that’s exactly the recipe at Fresno, and that’s what he’s brought there. – Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on Fresno State’s identity
He’s a dual threat guy. He reminds you of what we saw last week. We gotta make him uncomfortable and get some pressure to him, we do. He’s a very good athlete in their system and when they use him like that, that becomes very concerning … I think he’s strong. I think he’s a big kid and I think he hurts you with his legs and his arm. – Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on Fresno State QB Jayden Mandal
They play a lot of good complementary football with their team. They turn the ball over. They get a lot of turnovers and tackle very well. They got a lot of good athletes back there and I think they rally to the ball really well. – Quarterback Jacurri Brown on the Fresno State defense
What we’re really trying to capitalize is turnovers. We forced the ball out a couple times last week. Unfortunately, we didn’t capitalize on those opportunities, but we’re making improvements. In the past two weeks before that we didn’t really cause those turnovers, and then we really made an emphasis in practice to take shots on balls and that translated to the game. Now we just have to finish those plays. – Linebacker Stone Combs on the defensive focus right now
Press Conference
Depth Chart
Depth Chart Notes
There were three minor changes to the official depth chart this week, none of which were injury-related, fortunately. At tight end, Will Swartz has claimed the starting spot over veteran James Falk. That’s not a surprise given the fact that Swartz has played in front of Falk for most of this season. Both will take a step back when Preston Zinter returns from injury. If there’s any new news on that front, it will be in this week’s practice report, available for those subscribed to our Starting Lineup Tier on Patreon.
Rush end Seth Clarke makes his first appearance on the two-deep. The talented true freshman played well in spurts against Western Michigan and continues to earn a bigger role on the Owls’ defense. The only other change is versatile defensive back Bailey Fletcher moving back to the safety room at Viper, opening up a corner spot for Zach Cody.