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Rice Football 2021: LA Tech presser quotes, updates and depth chart

November 24, 2021 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice football wraps up its 2021 season on Saturday against Louisiana Tech in a battle of 3-8 teams. Here’s what Mike Bloomgren had to say about the matchup, injury updates and depth chart notes.

Head coach Mike Bloomgren and a pair of players met with the media for their customary weekly availability. They recapped the UTEP loss and looked ahead at the week ahead, discussing how important the season finale against Louisiana Tech was as the Owls honor their seniors. We touch on those items, then dig into the Rice football depth chart and what the team looks like heading into the weekend.

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The depth chart did not change week over week, but who lines up at several spots this coming Saturday is in flux. Injuries to Jake Constantine and others leave us with lots to work though in this week’s updates. First, the quotes:

Press Conference Quotes

“I thought we came out fast and competed well, and overcame a lot of adversity in the first half. I thought we finished that (first) half in almost a perfect fashion, going down and scoring with a minute thirty, (UTEP) trying to get a two-minute drive going, Gabe Taylor forcing the turnover, and then two plays later, Ced Patterson finds himself in the end zone. That’s a 14-point swing in the game in the last 1:TO in the second quarter is a big-time way to go into the half. That’s exactly where we wanted to be, going up 21-14.

In the second half, there are a lot of things we have to fix. From finding a way to extend that lead on offense and putting more points on the board and putting the game in a different place and on defense, I don’t know, aside from the Texas game, if anyone has scored on them four straight drives like that and there are some things we have to get fixed there. We’re working towards that.” – Mike Bloomgren on the UTEP loss

“The thing that I love about this team, is how much they care. I love how they are competing and trying to get better and I know that they will. When we play well in all three phases of the game, I believe we can beat anyone on our schedule. There’s nobody in the locker room who is flippant about winning or losing in the locker room. They care a lot and they are going to try and find a way to go 1-0 this week.” – Mike Bloomgren on the locker room

“I’m very comfortable. I spend a lot of time in my playbook, a lot of notes writing down, going back through them every night. Trying to know it like the back of my hand. I know when you can go out there and play fast and play confident, you’re pretty much unstoppable. So I was really trying to just know the playbook like I know my own name.” – Wide receiver Cedric Patterson on his comfort level in the Rice offense 

“I know when I first came here as a freshman, these seniors took me in and like welcomed me in, really helping me, helping us help lead this team. They put in the same work that we all do every day and they’ve been here the longest. So I definitely look up to them, definitely want to win this game for them, definitely finishing out a win for their last game is going to mean the world for all of us because we all got the same love for these guys.” – Edge Joshua Pearcy on winning this game for the senior class 

Depth Chart

There are no official changes on the official Rice football depth chart heading into the Louisiana Tech game. However, there will be a few differences based largely on who is able to go on Saturday.

Rice Football

Next man up: quarterback edition?

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Filed Under: Archive, Football, Premium Tagged With: press conference notes, Rice Football

Rice Football 2021: NFL Owls Week 11 Stats Update

November 22, 2021 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice Football is well represented on 2021 NFL rosters. Here’s the latest from the NFL Owls in action in Week 11.

There are former Rice football players scattered across the NFL. Stay tuned each week for their game results and notables from each player.

Team NFL Owl(s) Week 11 Result Week 12
LA Chargers Christian Covington (DL) at Pittsburgh (SNF) W, 41-37 at Denver
Denver Calvin Anderson (OL)
Bryce Callahan (CB)
— OFF —  — vs LA Chargers
Pittsburgh Chris Boswell (PK) vs LA Chargers (SNF) L, 41-37 at Cincinnati
Detroit Jack Fox (P) vs Cleveland L, 13-10 vs Chicago
Tampa Bay Nick Leverett (OL) vs NY Giants (MNF) W, 30-10 at Indianapolis
Indianapolis Andrew Sendejo (Saf) at Buffalo W, 41-15 vs Tampa Bay

Offense

Calvin Anderson – OT, Broncos

Anderson and the Broncos were on bye in Week 11. He’s likely to get another start this week in place of Garrett Bowles.

Nick Leverett – OT, Buccaneers

Leverett was inactive for the Buccaneers’ Week 11 game against the New York Giants.

Defense

Bryce Callahan – CB, Broncos

Callahan remains on IR after a knee injury suffered in Week 8.

Christian Covington – DL, Chargers

Covington missed the Chargers’ Week 11 game against the Steelers after testing positive for COVID-19 this week.

Andrew Sendejo – S, Colts

Sendejo made three tackles in the Colts’ Week 11 victory over the Titans.

Special Teams

Jack Fox – P, Lions

Fox punted six times with a long of 61 yards in the Lions’ Week 11 loss to the Browns. He averaged 46.7 yards per punt and downed two inside the 20. He’s now kicked at least one punt of 55 yards or longer in nine of 10 games.

.@Lions P @MrJackFox reached his 100th-career #NFL punt today. He's averaged 49.0 gross yards and 43.9 net yards per punt through his first 100 attempts.

Both of these marks are the highest an NFL punter has had through 100-career punts.#OnePride pic.twitter.com/93VL1TdaDm

— Detroit Lions PR (@LionsPR) November 21, 2021

Chris Boswell – K, Steelers

Boswell was a perfect 3-for-3 on field goal tries and 4-for-4 on extra points in the Steelers’ Week 11 loss to the Chargers, including the go-ahead field goal with less than four minutes ahead in regulation before the Chargers regained the lead on a long Justin Herbert touchdown pass.

More Owls in the NFL

From practice squads to current free agents, there are other Owls on the cusp of returning to active rosters. Find more detail on current contractual agreements and former Rice football players waiting for their next opportunity here.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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Filed Under: Football Tagged With: NFL Owls, Rice Football

The Roost Podcast | Ep 101 – CUSA Review with Eric Henry

November 22, 2021 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice football lost to UTEP, but that was one of several interesting results across Conference USA. Eric Henry joins us to debrief a wild week and weird season.

The 2021 Conference USA football season is nearing its close. Some things have been as expected like the eventual clash of UAB and UTSA in the West. Others have come out of nowhere such as Old Dominion’s late-season surge toward bowl eligibility. Matthew is joined this week by Eric Henry of Underdog Dynasty to take stock of the season and look ahead at the final week of the year.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 101.

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Episode Notes

  • Housekeeping
    • Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on your platform of choice. Every little bit helps.
    • Check out the Blue and Gray Preview Show every Wednesday at Noon, hosted by Matthew and Rice radio broadcaster JP Heath on the Rice Athletics Youtube Channel
    • Please support us on Patreon. Be the first to get the inside scoop on what’s going on with Rice football and stick around for even further analysis. That includes updates from fall camp, practices and more.
      Become a Patron!
  • 2021 Conference USA Football Roundup
    • Butch Davis and the end of an era at FIU
    • Florida Atlantic’s struggles
    • North Texas’ recent hot streak
    • What’s at stake this weekend when Old Dominion hosts Charlotte
    • What’s next for UTSA?
    • UAB is going to be just fine
    • Marshall’s upswing
    • Can Western Kentucky earn a rematch with UTSA?
    • The state of Rice football

Where can you find us?

Download and subscribe to The Roost Podcast on any of your favorite podcast providers. The show is available on iTunes, GooglePlay, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and PodBean. Please consider leaving a review wherever you listen.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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Filed Under: Archive, Football, Podcast Tagged With: Conference USA, Conference USA football, podcast, Rice Football

Rice Football 2021 Game Preview: Louisiana Tech

November 21, 2021 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice football takes on Louisiana Tech in their 2021 season finale. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

The last week of the regular season will feature a battle of 3-8 teams in Houston. Rice football rides a four game losing streak into their home finale, dropping their most recent game to UTEP in El Paso last weekend. Louisiana Tech lost to quarterbackless Southern Miss last time out, who the Owls beat earlier in the season. Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup.

Kickoff time | 12:00 PM CT
Venue | Rice Stadium – Houston, TX
TV | ESPN+
Radio | Sports Map 94.1 (FM) / Stretch Internet (Online)

Audio / Visual Preview

We’ll preview Rice football vs Louisiana Tech on this week’s episode of the Blue and Gray Preview Show, streaming live on Wednesday at Noon on the Rice Athletics YouTube channel. You can also catch the recap of last week’s game on The Roost Podcast, which should be released shortly. Find us on the podcast page or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. (And consider leaving us a 5-star review while you’re at it.)

Sizing up the contenders

Even with a win, Louisiana Tech could do no matter than tie their worst season under Skip Holtz. He went 4-8 in his debut season with the Bulldogs in 2013 and has reached a bowl game in every season since. Frankly, reaching four games below .500 isn’t noticeably better than finishing five games below that mark.

Rice football is playing to reach that same 4-8 finish, but with slightly different optics. Four wins would be the most under Mike Bloomgren to date. When combined with a couple of overtime losses and a rigorous non-conference slate, it could be enough to buy him so goodwill. Every win counts at this point.

Series History

All Time | Louisiana Tech leads Rice, 9-4
Last Five | Louisiana Tech leads Rice, 5-0
Last Meeting | Home 2019, Louisiana Tech won 23-20 (OT)

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Rice Stat Notables

Passing | Constantine – 126/206 (61.2 percent), 1622 yards, 8 TD, 7 INT
Rushing | Broussard – 104 carries, 535 yards (5.1 yards per carry), 3 TD / Myers – 89 carries, 334 yards (3.8 yards per carry), 8 TD
Receiving | Bailey – 56 receptions, 714 yards (12.8 yds/rec), 2 TD / Patterson – 33 receptions, 490 yards (13.9 yds/rec), 4 TD
Tackles | Montero/Garcia – 60 / Smith – 57 / Pearcy – 53
Pass Breakups | Dunbar – 7, McCord/Smith – 5, Taylor/Fresch – 4
Interceptions |
Smith – 3, Nyakwol/Lockhart/Taylor – 2

Louisiana Tech Stat Notables

Passing | Allen – 50/77 (64.9 percent), 620 yards passing, 2 TD, 4 INT
Rushing | Williams – 175 carries, 750 yards (4.3 yards per carry), 8 TD / Garner – 54 carries, 216 yards (4.0 ypc), 3 TD
Receiving | Harris – 65 receptions, 693 yards (10.7 yards per reception), 5 TD / Harris – 35 receptions, 485 yards (13.9 yds/rec), 3 TD
Tackles | Grubbs – 91 / Baldwin – 88 / Buchanan – 47
Pass Breakups | Woods – 5, Grubbs/Baldwin – 4
Interceptions | Williamson/Cole – 2, Four others tied with one apiece

Louisiana Tech X-Factor | One-dimensional Rice

The Louisiana Tech defense hasn’t been particularly strong on any singular front this season. The Bulldogs own the No. 12 passing defense in the conference and the No. 10 rushing defense. Since their C-USA slate has arrived they’ve been a bit better through the air and much worse on the ground, but they’re not going to get confused for an upper-tier unit anytime soon. But maybe they don’t have to be.

Rice hasn’t shown the ability to consistently put up 30 points this season. Their most productive outings have come on days when they’ve been able to run the ball effectively and mix in the passing game. Forcing this team to rely entirely on one or the other has led to struggles. Injuries could further complicate this equation for the Owls, making the task that much more simplistic for the Bulldogs.

Take away the pass or take away the run. Then force Rice to beat you with one hand behind their back for 60 minutes. It’s not something they’ve shown the ability to do this season, especially not with a one-dimensional offensive attack.

Rice X-Factor |  Stop the pass

The Rice secondary has been the problem point for this team and it hasn’t just been the high volume aerial attacks that have found success. After a slow first half, UTEP found tremendous success through the air against Rice, and they did so at all three levels. Conversely, when Rice has been able to hang tough and play tight enough coverage, the defense has been able to get off the field.

Rice held Charlotte to 57 yards rushing. Western Kentucky rushed 25 times for only 93 yards. UTEP tallied 122 on the ground, but roughly half of that came on one long breakaway run. This defense is going to limit the run, if nothing else at least to the degree that it doesn’t cost them the game. The focal point should be the passing game, and more specifically, finding any way at all to slow that down.

Pick ‘Em Contest (Subscribers only)

Make sure you submit your entry for The Roost’s weekly pick’em challenge. There will be swag and prizes for the top finishers at the end of the season. Choose an answer to each of the six questions below and comment on this post on the Patreon page to enter. It’s that easy.

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Injury Report (Subscribers only)

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One Final Thing

Following an up-and-down start to conference play, it’s been a rough month for Rice football fans. This team hasn’t lived up to the expectations they set for themselves, and they’re well aware of that. Conversations to unearth why they fell short and deciding what needs to change so that they can continue climbing will be had in the offseason — and that’s only a few days away. For now, the task at hand is Louisiana Tech.

Sending the seniors off on a high note, after all they’ve done to get the program to this point, should be the focus of this week. Thanking those who have worked tirelessly for years to turn a 1-win team into a squad capable of knocking off an undefeated, ranked Marshall squad on the road and follow that up with a win over conference heavyweight UAB a season later has to the focus.

Enjoy this football game. Then we’ll get to the offseason. And we’ll be tired of the offseason almost as soon as it arrived.

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Filed Under: Archive, Football, Premium Tagged With: Antonio Montero, Ari Broussard, Cedric Patterson, Elijah Garcia, Gabe Taylor, Game preview, George Nyakwol, Jake Bailey, Jake Constantine, Jordan Dunbar, Jordan Myers, Kirk Lockhart, Miles Mccord, Naeem Smith, Rice Football

Conference USA Football 2021: Week 12 C-USA Roundup

November 20, 2021 By Matthew Bartlett

Conference USA Football was back in action this weekend. Here’s the latest from the teams on the gridiron in Week 12.

Team Week 12 Result Week 13
Charlotte vs Marshall L, 49-28 at Old Dominion
FAU at WKU L, 52-17 vs MTSU
FIU vs North Texas L, 49-7 at Southern Miss
LA Tech vs Southern Miss L, 35-19 at Rice
Marshall at Charlotte W, 49-28 vs WKU
MTSU vs Old Dominion L, 24-17 at FAU
North Texas at FIU W, 49-7 vs UTSA
Old Dominion at MTSU W, 24-17 vs Charlotte
Rice at UTEP L, 38-28 vs LA Tech
Southern Miss at LA Tech W, 35-19 vs FIU
UAB at UTSA L, 34-31 vs UTEP
UTEP vs Rice W, 38-28 at UAB
UTSA vs UAB W, 34-31 at North Texas
WKU vs FAU W, 52-17 at Marshall

Notable Week 12 results – Standings

It lived up to the hype

UAB and UTSA have been on a collision course for the C-USA West title since the season began. The meeting between these two C-USA heavyweights have been circled on the calendar for months, and boy, oh boy, did it deliver. UTSA quarterback Frank Harris found tight end Oscar Cardenas for the game-winning touchdown on the final play of the game. For the first time in three years, it’ll be UTSA rather than UAB repping the West in the Conference USA Championship Game.

Who needs a quarterback?

Southern Miss almost took UTSA by surprise last week when they debuted an offense centered around Frank Gore Jr. and the wildcat package. They stuck to that script against this week, this time having more than enough in the way of explosive plays to overcome Louisiana Tech and clinch their first C-USA win of the season.

Owls spiraling

It’s been a tough month to be an Owl. Both Rice and Florida Atlantic are winless in November, with FAU dropping its third straight game on Saturday and Rice falling for the fourth straight time. FAU had conference championship aspirations. Rice sought a bowl game. Both programs are returning to their roosts empty-handed.

Looking ahead – Key storylines

For the East

The West was decided in Week 12 when UTSA topped UAB. Now it’s time for the Roadrunners to learn who they’ll be playing in the conference title game. In what amounts to a semifinal on the other side of the bracket, Western Kentucky visits Marshall. Winner gets UTSA.

Miners on the move

UAB and UTEP enter the final week of the regular season with identical 7-4 records, but UAB holds a slight lead edge in the conference standings with a 5-2 record compared to the Miners at 4-3. Should UTEP find a way to pull off the upset, they’d finish second in the West, a tremendous accomplishment for a program seeking its first 8-win season for the first time since 2005, their first year in Conference USA.

Tale of two halves

Old Dominion took down an FCS team in its home opener, but otherwise lose the first six games against FBS teams. The Monarchs picked up their first FBS win against Louisiana Tech in late October and haven’t stopped since. ODU has won four in a row and needs one more win in their season finale against Charlotte to clinch bowl eligibility, an incredible opportunity after a 1-6 start.

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Filed Under: Archive, Football Tagged With: Conference USA, Conference USA football

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