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Hey y’all, and welcome back to the Rice Football Film Room. This week we’ll be taking a look at a few plays that hopefully bode well for the future of Rice’s struggling offense.
In many ways, the beginning of the 2019-2020 Rice Women’s basketball season began just as last season had ended. It took less than five minutes of play before Nancy Mulkey had a block and Erica Ogwumike had a basket and bucket. A 2-0 Nicholls St lead evaporated quickly, with Rice outscoring the Colonels 17-6 throughout the remainder of the first quarter.
The Owls used their trademark suffocating defense to make their early double-digit lead feel insurmountable. They held Nicholls St to 27.8 percent shooting from the field in the first half. By half, they’d more than doubled up their opponent.
From there it was clockwork for the Owls, who had already turned quickly to their young bench. Freshmen Lauren Schwartz, Destiny Jackson, Katelyn Crosthwait, India Bellamy, Ashlee Austin and Arianna McCurry made their collegiate debuts, with Schwartz earning a starting nod. Every player on the roster saw action, 12 scored and 12 registered at least one rebound. Rice would go on to win by a final score of 71-41.
“We hoped that we could come out and get out to a good lead and make sure we got an opportunity to see everyone together in different lineups,” head coach Tina Langley said after the game.” It was good to have that opportunity today.”
Prior to the beginning of the season, Erica Ogwumike was named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award watch list which honors the best shooting guard in the nation. Nancy Mulkey was named to the Lisa Leslie Award watch list, honoring the best center. We knew those two stars were going to shine bright for Rice Women’s Basketball this season. What we didn’t know for sure, was who would step up to join them.
Sophomore guard Haylee Swayzee would like to throw her hat into the ring. Swayze was eighth on the team in minutes played last season, averaging 4.3 points per game with 22 three-pointers. She did much more than that in her first action of the 2019-2020 season. On Tuesday, she knocked down four shots from deep and led the team with 22 points.
“It was really fun,” Swayze said of her big night before pivoting to her supporting cast. “I think we’ve done a really good job of playing together as a team, we’ve really embraced our “Go Together” [motto] this year,”
If the Owls can add some outside shooting to their one-two punch on the interior, this is going to be a very scary team come March.
Rice Women’s Basketball gets one more home game before their first trip away from South Main. They host Arkansas Little Rock on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. It’ll be a double-header for Rice fans. The men play their home opener following the conclusion of the women’s contest at 3:30 p.m.
There are former Rice football players are scattered across the NFL. Stay tuned each week for their game results and notables from each player.
Broncos 24 (Anderson, Callahan) – Browns 19
Cowboys 37 (Covington) – Giants 16
Eagles 22 (Sendejo) – Bears 14
Seahawks 40 (Ellerbee, Willson) – Bucs 34 OT
Steelers 26 (Boswell, McDonald) – Colts 24
Texans 26 (Gaines) – Jaguars 3
Anderson is still awaiting his first game action with the Denver Broncos after being signed off the Jets practice squad. He was inactive for their Week 9 win over the Browns. The Broncos are on bye in Week 10.
Like his teammate, Callahan is awaiting his first 2019 snaps with the Broncos. He was also inactive on Sunday and hasn’t played since a foot injury he suffered with the Bears last season. The Broncos are on bye in Week 10.
Covington was active, but did not get into the game on Monday Night Football against the Giants. The Cowboys host the Vikings on Sunday Night Football in Week 10.
Sendejo had one tackle in the Eagles Week 9 win over the Bears. His tackle count is up to 25 on the year, his seventh consecutive year with 25 or more in a season. The Eagles are on bye in Week 10.
Ellerbee was placed injured reserve prior to the start of the season. The Seahawks visit the 49ers on Monday Night Football in Week 10.
Willson was targeted twice in the Seahawks’ Week 9 overtime win over the Seahawks. He hauled in both passes, the first for four yards and the second for 12 yards. The Seahawks visit the 49ers on Monday Night Football in Week 10.
Boswell rebounded from his first missed field goal of the season in Week 8 by going 4-for-4 against the Colts, including a 51-yard try and a 26-yard game-winner in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. He added two successful extra points as well. The Steelers host the Rams in Week 10.
After a few quiet weeks, McDonald burst through with a big showing in Week 9. His five receptions were the second-most on the team. He had 30 receiving yards and fought through a slew of defenders for the Steelers’ lone receiving touchdown of the day. The Steelers host the Rams in Week 10.
There go the #NFLOwls making plays. #GoOwls pic.twitter.com/Eaoc0VvZvE
— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) November 3, 2019
Gaines was placed on injured reserve following an ankle injury suffered during the Texans’ Week 8 game against the Colts. The Texans are on bye in Week 10.
From practice squads to current free agents, there are others 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.
At risk of stating the obvious, scholarships to play college football don’t grow on trees. There are limitations on how many can be handed out. There’s plenty of red tape when it comes to eligibility in genreal. For those reasons, most every locker room contains a mix of scholarship players and those paying their own way, commonly referred to as walk-ons.
Walk-ons can become scholarship players, but it takes work. They have to prove themselves, to the coaching staff and to their peers. Ari Broussard knows what that’s like. So do Matthew Sams and Brendan Suckley, Austin Conrad and Evan Marshman. Rice football true freshman Tre’shon Devones was one of the six former walk-ons to earn scholarships this year. And he found a way to expedite the process.
Broussard, who earned a scholarship in the spring, along with Sams, Suckley, Conrad and Marshman who earned scholarships this fall, spent at least a full year with the team prior to earning their scholarship. Two of those, Broussard and Suckley, changed positions before they found their niche. Devones earned his spot in three weeks.
The condensed timeline isn’t a knock on the former five, but rather offers a compelling case for Devones’ unique talents. Devones had offers from schools in the Pac-12, ACC, Big 12 and AAC programs but instead walked on without a scholarship at Rice. In many ways, he bet on himself.
“I knew coming in that I was going to work really hard,” Devones said. “So every chance that I got, I just tried to go my 100 percent, 110 percent at that.”
Devones had put in the work, but he had no idea the scholarship was coming. He found out during a team meeting after fall camp when his picture flashed up on the screen. “I had to tell my mom first,” he admitted, going on to praise the staff and his teammate for helping him get to the point where he was deemed worthy of a scholarship to play Rice Football.
His 110 percent put him on the field in the Owls’ season-opening game against Army. On that night, he registered his first collegiate tackle. He was a consistent special teams ace, filling in on defense several times over the weeks that followed. Before missing the Southern Miss game with the flu, Devones had been one of four true freshmen to play in every game this season.
Devones knows as well as anyone his role with Rice Football will be dependent on his ability and effort. That’s why he’s set an honest, straightforward goal for the 2019 season: “Be the best Tre’shon Devones I can be, that’s my goal every day.”
Coach Mike Bloomgren, who saw enough in the true freshman to put him on scholarship prior to the season, isn’t surprised. “It’s so earned,” Bloomgren said of Devones’ starting assignment. “It was earned incrementally the way we want it to be and every game opportunity has been good. I think we’re seeing the start of a great career in Tre’shon Devones… It’s really exciting.”
On Saturday against Marshall, Devones started his first college game. He registered his second pass break up, the second-most of any corner on the roster. The “best Tre’shon Devones” is already one of the better defenders on the team.
If that’s even a fraction of his ability, Rice football fans are going to want to take note of number 19. His best is still to come.
| Team | Week 10 | Result | Week 11 |
| Charlotte | vs MTSU | W, 34-20 | at UTEP |
| FAU | at WKU | W, 35-24 | vs FIU |
| FIU | vs Old Dominion | W, 24-17 | at FAU |
| LA Tech | — OFF — | — | vs North Texas |
| Marshall | at Rice | W, 20-7 | — OFF — |
| MTSU | at Charlotte | L, 34-20 | — OFF — |
| North Texas | vs UTEP | W, 52-26 | at Louisiana Tech |
| Old Dominion | at FIU | L, 24-17 | vs UTSA |
| Rice | vs Marshall | L, 20-7 | — OFF — |
| Southern Miss | — OFF — | — | vs UAB |
| UAB | at Tennessee | L, 30-7 | at Southern Miss |
| UTEP | at North Texas | W, 52-26 | vs Charlotte |
| UTSA | at Texas A&M | L, 45-14 | at Old Dominion |
| WKU | vs FAU | L, 35-24 | at Arkansas |
The Rice football offense showed signs of life under freshmen quarterback Jovoni Johnson, but untimely penalties and his injury stopped the Owls before they could ever get into a rhythm. One proficient half through the air was more than enough for Marshall to beat Rice on Saturday.
Three weeks ago, Western Kentucky was in the driver’s seat in the C-USA East. Losses to Marshall and FAU, the latter which came at home in Week 10, have not only put the dreams of winning the conference on hold, but severely dampened aspirations of playing in a bowl game this season. Sitting at 4-5 with a date against Arkansas next weekend, the Hilltoppers season might have just turned on a dime.
It’s been a bumpy ride for preseason offensive player of the year, Mason Fine. A grueling schedule and some injuries have kept Fine off his A-game. He threw for 300 yards three times in the Mean Green’s first seven-game, averaging 2.1 touchdowns over that span. In his last two games, he’s averaged 363 yards and SIX touchdowns per game. His seven touchdown outing against UTEP was marvelous.
It’s been a roller coaster of a season for Charlotte in 2019. After four straight losses, the 49ers have won their last two games, giving them four victories under their belt with three games to play. They still have Marshall on the schedule, but they also draw UTEP and Old Dominion, neither of which has won a conference game this year.
Florida Atlantic and FIU have had this coming weekend circled on the calendar since the season began. It’s been a bumpy ride for FIU, but the Panthers can clinch a bowl berth and knock FAU out of contention for the East with a win. Rivalry games always seem to live up to the hype. This should be a good one.
Louisiana Tech has a win over Southern Miss and a one-game lead in the race fo the West. Beating North Texas next weekend at home will keep them in the front of the pack, but perhaps an even more intriguing battle will be happening in Hattiesburg. The winner of Southern Miss vs UAB could thrust themselves back into the mix, particularly if the Blazers can win on the road as they have a date with Louisiana Tech later in November.