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It wasn’t perfect, but there was a lot to like from JoVoni Johnson’s first career start on Saturday against Marshall. One of four Rice football quarterbacks to see action this season, Johnson proved to be the most dynamic.
Here’s a closer look behind the numbers and a few reasons to be encouraged by what we saw from Johnson against Marshall.
A win on Homecoming against Marshall was something Rice football desperately needed to snap a grueling streak of losses. Like seemingly every other game this season, the game was close into the second half. When both teams looked up at the scoreboard at the start of the fourth quarter they saw a two-score game with plenty of time remaining.
This one ended the same way the others had to this point in the season, with Rice falling short on the scoreboard. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:
Things were pretty clear during the week that Wiley Green was not going to start this game, regardless of the health of quarterback Tom Stewart. After Stewart’s limited availability in practice, his status entering Saturday was very much so up in the air. As reported on Friday, that left JoVoni Johnson as the most likely alternative should Stewart be unable to go.
Stewart warmed up but it was Johnson who started the game and played all but one snap, leaving briefly for one play after getting the wind knocked out of him on a hit. The coaching staff raved about his athletic ability throughout fall camp and liked how he’d progress in recent weeks.
In his first outing as the Rice football starting quarterback, Johnson played well. As long as he was on the field, the offense had life. When Tom Stewart took over, the offense fizzled. He completed one of his nine passes, ending promising drives with nothing to show for it.
Limited possessions didn’t do anything to help the young quarterback find his rhythm, but the simplified scheme and some plus running lanes provide by the offensive line aided him in his first career start. After starting 8-of-9 passing for 77 yards, No. 3 went on to complete 10/17 passes for 97 yards and one touchdown. He added 65 yards rushing with his legs. Perhaps even more importantly, he committed no turnovers.
The Rice defense almost singlehandedly kept the team in the game last weekend against Southern Miss. The Eagles reached the redzone four times but only found the endzone once in those possessions. The same sort of pattern emerged early against Marshall. The Herd got into the redzone twice in the first quarter alone but left with just three points. For the game, they managed two touchdowns on four redzone possessions.
Linebacker Adrian Bickham was the star of the first Marshall redzone drive. One of three true freshmen to play in every game this season, Bickham reached up and knocked down the Justin Rohrwasser’s first field goal of the day.
A strategy of keeping the offense in front of them, which they’ve achieved more often than not this season, has lent itself to this sort of bend-but-don’t-break style of defense. At the very least, they’ve softened the blow of some of C-USA’s most powerful offenses, giving the Owls’ own offense a chance.
The mandate given to this team by the coaching staff has been constant all season: don’t turn the ball over on offense and don’t let the ball go over your head on defense.
The former has been the sticking point for the Owls this season. Several quarterbacks have been cycled through to fix the problem. The latest, Johnson, did not turn the ball over on Saturday. With that half of the mandate delivered finally delivered, the secondary struggled to hold up their end of the bargain.
Green was masterful through the air against the Owls. He completed 17-of-22 passes for 269 yards and one touchdown. He hit several long plays, including a 63-yard strike to Xavier Gaines who was tackled at the one-yard line, setting up a touchdown run from Brenden Knox. On the next possession, Green hit Talik Keaton over the top for a 19-yard score.
The secondary was able to clamp down in the second half, limiting Green’s effectiveness. But the points scored in the first half proved to be too many for the Owls’ own offense to overcome.
Marshall tight end Armani Levias and running back Brenden Knox were difference makers in this game. When the Herd needed a big play, one of those delivered time and time again. In fact, six different Marshall players had a play from scrimmage of 18-yards or more.
Reliable slot man Austin Trammell was the only non-quarterback to gain 18 yards on a single play for the Owls. Bradley Rozner came close, hauling in a 17-yard reception. But those are the two names we’ve come to expect to make plays from on offense this season.
Rice needs somebody else to step up. Johnson helped fill the void, picking up several first downs with his legs. Juma Otoviano had his best day running on the season but was held to 66 yards on the ground. With Johnson at the controls, the offense was better today, but its upside could rise dramatically if someone else can generate a few more chunk plays of their own.
Against Southern Miss, the Rice defense pitched a near-shutout through 59 minutes against one of the best offenses in Conference USA. On Saturday against Marshall, that same defense looked a step slow and far less consistent than they’d been to this point in the season. The offense looked promising, hindered by Johnson leaving the game twice in big moments.
That’s been the story of the 2019 Rice Football season in miniature. The defense wows while the offense goes quietly. Then when the offense has their moments, the defense is good, but not quite as proficient as we’ve come to expect. Special teams has ebbed and flowed, too.
If Rice puts its best product on the field, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t have at least one, if not multiple conference wins. To this point, the Owls’ worst enemy has been themselves. They know that but have thus far been unable to find the right combination of all three phases to win.
The law of averages would suggest that Rice will find that combination. With three games left, they’re running out of time.
It was another mixed bag for Rice football this past weekend against Southern Miss. The Owls looked fantastic on defense and woeful on offense. They’ll have plenty of work to do before their upcoming game, homecoming against Marshall. Carter and Matthew work through all of that in this week’s episode.
You can always find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, Give a listen to Episode 15 below.
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It’s been quite the year for Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon. The Rice baseball star has taken an already impressive MLB career to the next level. A first-time All-Star, Rendon went beyond those accolades, thrusting himself into the NL MVP conversation, taking his team to the World Series, and winning it.
After flashing leather throughout the series, it was Rendon who broke the scoring seal on Game 6 with his big bat. His seventh-inning home run effectively ended any hopes of a Houston Astros rally on that evening and kept the Nats alive for one more game. It was the latest marvel in a series full of fantastic plays both sides of the ball for Rendon. Here are a few highlights:
💪 There goes that man again. #MLBOwls pic.twitter.com/PBL9muHUj4
— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) October 27, 2019
Anthony Rendon putting his @RiceUniversity education to good use. #MLBOwls https://t.co/551mqrs327
— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) October 27, 2019
Death.
Taxes.
Anthony Rendon.#MLBOwls pic.twitter.com/byfTZiLv9K— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) October 30, 2019
Rendon + Baseball = Gone.pic.twitter.com/uYDrFdoqhj
— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) October 31, 2019
Rendon ends the postseason with 20 hits, seven doubles, three home runs and 14 RBI. His World Series numbers were equally impressive. He slashed .276/.344/.586 with two critical home runs. Every time the Nats needed a big play, Rendon delivered.
It wouldn’t take much to argue the Nationals wouldn’t be where they are right now without the brilliant efforts of Rendon. From start to finish, both in his Nationals’ career and his current season, Rendon has been a rockstar.
What’s next for Rendon? That remains to be seen. The do-it-all third baseman is set to become a very wealthy man soon. He has already reportedly turned down a deal from the Nationals that would have paid him $210 million over seven years. He’ll be a free agent this offseason with plenty of suitors. Where (and for how much money) he plays in 2020 will be up to him.
Offensive lineman Shea Baker and defensive end Kenneth Orji joined Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren at the podium on Tuesday. The trio made closing comments on the Southern Miss game and looked ahead to their Week 10 game against Marshall.
“We’ve made a few changes in terms of how we’re going to prepare. I don’t feel like we’re getting the message delivered to the players in the right way by some of our assistant coaches on offense. So we’re going to take away the game of telephone. Coach [Jerry] Mack is going to talk to the entire unit when he talks and they watch film together. He’s going to treat it very much like an NFL operation in that regard. We’re going to make sure that we are all singing out of the same hymnal because they are hearing one person deliver the message and that’s going to be Coach Mack.”
“We’re going to simplify this system so it won’t matter if somebody is experienced in the system. If they have the ability to help our football team now, we want to make sure we can give them that opportunity to be on the field. I look back at some of the quarterbacks we had at other places. They were Year Three in the system, and all this stuff was easy for them, and they would use their athletic ability as well. Right now, I’m afraid that we can paralyze some guys and their athletic ability could get stunted by having them think too much at the line of scrimmage… We’ll see how this goes this week. We’ve got a great plan in place. I talked to Coach Mack for a while last night and I really like where this plan is going.”
“Last week, Tom (Stewart) was taking all the reps with the ones. He ended up having a back issue during our walk-through and wasn’t able to play. Right now, he’s still working through it. If you’ve ever had one of those muscular things where your back locks up, I don’t know if anybody knows the exact timetable, but it’s getting better. He’s improving and we’re optimistic that we’ll have him for this weekend.”
“We’ve got some things that we’re going to kick around this week and give some people some opportunities. We’re going to do some things this week to simplify the offense so we can play a little bit faster and not let anything be limited by age or experience in the system right now. I believe in the West Coast offense. I believe that pounding the rock is the way we’ll win championships here. Right now, I’m not sure if that’s exactly our best way; just to go with someone that can get us to the right play because we’re not executing at a high enough level. So right now, we’re going to kick everything around.”
“It’s awesome. One of our big donors has actually become a friend of mine, it’s his 30th Homecoming. I know that there are going to be some great people [who] come back and come to watch us play. Hopefully, we can put on a great show for them and find a way to get a W for them to really help their celebration on Saturday.”
“I guess a good way to describe it is really frustrating because I know that we can do better. I know our potential to do better. And to have the inconsistency in drives, or to be performing really well one quarter and in one quarter, not performing well, it’s just it’s really frustrating because I believe so much in our system and our coaches and the brothers beside me that I know we can do better than what we’ve been doing.”
“Jumping into the starting lineup, the only difference for me was that my playing time doubled. It doubled my playing time so I had to be able to prepare for being on the field a whole lot longer and, pretty much, learning the system is something I’ve been used to doing.”