Rice football staff and players share their comments prior to the team’s longest road trip of the 2018 season to play Hawaii.
Mike Bloomgren kicked things off with some positive comments on the team’s performance against Houston last Saturday. Following the Prairie View game he mentioned several times the team needed to make a big jump if they were going to be able to go toe-to-toe with Houston.
Bloomgren thought the team responded well. “I think you saw [the jump] all over the field,” he said, “Our passing offense really came to play. We had some big plays down the field.” He went on to add that he thinks the team is “going the right direction” and they “have to keep making incremental progress.”
As for the Hawaii game, the team will arrive in time for some unique experiences, including a tour of Pearl Harbor prior to locking in to game mode on Friday afternoon. Bloomgren stressed that this trip would be both a cultural and education experience as well as a business trip.
Preparation for this game has gone all the way to what snacks the players will get on the plane and how to keep the team hydrated over the long flight.
Joining Bloomgren at the podium were Graysen Schantz and Austin Trammell. Schantz first called attention to the improvements the team needs to see in the pass rush. “We got to get after the quarterback,” he said before declared “It starts with us.”
Trammell’s comments were brief, but the resounding theme of his message can be summed up in one statement: “I want to win.” Trammell add that he doesn’t care how that happens, whether its ball thrown in his direction or a commitment to the ground game. That’s yet another sign that this team is fully bought in to the culture Mike Bloomgren has been working to instill.
