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Rice Football 2019: Owls in the NFL Week 2 Update

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The duo of Rice football alums suited up for the Pittsburg Steelers had a stellar Week 2, leading the way in this weeks’ NFL Owls update.

There are currently seven former Rice football players on NFL rosters. Stay tuned each week for their game results and notables from each player.

Week 2 results

Falcons 24 – Eagles 20 (Sendejo)
Cowboys 31 (Covington) – Redskins 21
Bears 16 – Broncos 14 (Callahan)
Seahawks 28 (Ellerbee) – Steelers 26 (Boswell, McDonald)
Texans 13 (Gaines) – Jaguars 12

Chris Boswell, K, Steelers

Boswell was perfect from the field on Sunday, converting two field goals (a long of 41 yards) and two extra points. The Steelers visit the 49ers in Week 3.

Bryce Callahan, CB, Broncos

After being listed as questionable to play entering Sunday, Callahan was declared inactive for the Broncos game with the Bears. The Broncos visit the Packers in Week 3.

Christian Covington, DE, Cowboys

Covington did not register any stats in the Cowboys’ defeat of the Redskins. The Cowboys host the Dolphins in Week 3.

Emmanuel Ellerbee, LB, Seahawks

Ellerbee did not register any stats in the Seahawks’ defeat of the Steelers. The Seahawks host the Saints in Week 3.

Vance McDonald, TE, Steelers

McDonald had a big day for the black and yellow, hauling in two touchdowns and a team-leading seven receptions. He finished with 38 receiving yards. The Steelers visit the 49ers in Week 3.

Andrew Sendejo, Saf, Eagles

Sendejo had three tackles (one for a loss) on Sunday Night Football. He had Philadelphia’s lone sack of the night. The Eagles host the Lions in Week 3.

Phillip Gaines, CB, Texans

Signed this week, Gaines did not register any stats in the Texans’ victory over the Jaguars. The Texans visit the Chargers in Week 3.

More Owls in the NFL

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.

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Conference USA Football 2019: Week 3 C-USA roundup

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Rice football was one Conference USA Football team unable to best a top-tier foe, with Marshall downing Ohio serving as the conference’s signature win.

Team Week 3 Result Week 4
Charlotte vs UMass W, 52-17 at No. 1 Clemson
FAU at Ball St W, 41-31 vs Wagner
FIU vs New Hampshire W. 30-17 at Louisiana Tech
LaTech at Bowling Green W, 35-7 vs FIU
Marshall vs Ohio W, 33-31 — OFF —
MTSU vs Duke L, 41-18 — OFF —
North Texas at Cal L, 23-17 vs UTSA
ODU — OFF — — OFF — at No. 25 Virginia
Rice vs No. 12 Texas L, 48-13 vs Baylor
Southern Miss at Troy W, 47-42 at No. 2 Alabama
UAB — OFF — — OFF — vs South Alabama
UTEP — OFF — — OFF — vs Nevada
UTSA vs Army L, 31-13 at North Texas
WKU vs Louisville L, 38-21 — OFF —

Notable Week 3 results

No Texas-sized upset in Houston

Rice was able to hang tight with their first two non-conference opponents but fell behind early and couldn’t muster a comeback until it was too late. The Owls were overcome by the athleticism of a Top 15 Texas team and return to Rice Stadium next week for a game against another impressive Big 12 offense, Baylor.

Big bounce back for big green

Marshall lost their mojo on the blue turf of Boise State last week but didn’t have much time to feel sorry for themselves with Ohio on their way to town. The offense kicked back into gear and the Thundering Herd hung on for one of Conference USA’s most impressive nonconference victories to date.

Hello Mr. Watkins

Quez Watkins made his season debut on Saturday night against Troy and had quite the coming out party. Watkins scored twice in the second half, with the second coming from 64-yards out and punting Southern Miss up two scores in the final minutes. He finished with seven catches for 209 yards (29.9 yards per reception) and the pair of receiving scores.

Week 4 storylines

So close to conference play

Week 5 marks the beginning of the first big weekend of Conference USA conference games which means we’re officially in the “tune up” portion of non-conference play. That would be the case, except for the three teams with off weeks and two members who visit No. 1 Clemson and No. 2 Alabama, respectively.

Early conference test

While the bulk of the conference will wait for next weekend, Louisiana Tech and FIU serve as the sneak peak for what is to come in conference play. Both teams have failed to pass their nonconference assessments with flying colors, meaning they’ll have to put together a nice audition this coming weekend to prove to themselves they’re still contenders in the conference race.

Old upset brewing?

Virginia is better than Virginia Tech was last season when the Monarchs upended the Hokies in one of the most thrilling upsets of last season. Old Dominion will be on the road for this contest with fewer weapons than they had at their disposal a season ago. But weird things happen, especially in college football and Old Dominion has been at the center of such an upset in recent history.

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Rice Football: Texas overwhelms Owls in lopsided affair

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Rice football couldn’t get things going on either side of the ball as the Owls fell in a one-sided game to the Texas Longhorns at NRG Stadium.

It was a tough night in Houston for the Rice Owls. Texas controlled the game against the hometown team from start to finish, thwarting the Owls every bright spot with a painful counterpunch of their own. After two “moral victories” this defeat stung a little bit more than the previous two. There will be plenty more to dissect in the coming days, for now, a few immediate reactions:

1. Offense comes out flat

Whether it was the absence of starting quarterback Wiley Green or the overt athleticism of the Texas front, Rice got nothing going on the offensive side of the ball. Rice went into halftime with 56 total yards of offense. The Owls ground game, their staple which kept them in a one-score contest against Army, was limited to 35 yards on 13 carries (2.7 yards per attempt).

The first down efforts bring into question something for which the Owls have yet to identify an answer: what do you do when you can’t run the ball? Against Wake Forest the Owls tested the waters threw the air and found moderate success. They didn’t try to attack the Longhorn secondary like they’d opened things up against Wake Forest, both times with backup Tom Stewart at the offensive controls.

The bright spot was a 45-yard bomb from Stewart to Trammell midway through the third quarter. The play was Trammell’s longest reception of his career. Rice wasn’t able to capitalize with points on the drive, a missed opportunity.

The offensive metrics weren’t good.

  1. 266 total yards
  2. 12 complete passess
  3. 2.8 yards per carry
  4. 5-of-13 on third down

This was a night where the Owls’ offense would gladly take a mulligan.

2. Pass rush woes

Good quarterbacks with time to throw are a bad combination for a defense. Rice found themselves in that uncomfortable situation throughout their Saturday tilt with Texas. The Owls tried a fair amount of things — different looks, stunts, extra rushers — the Texas offensive line held.

Ehlinger’s second touchdown pass of the day highlighted this struggle. You can count six different Owls around the pocket. Then Ehlinger unloads his big arm and sails a bomb over the head of Prudy Calderon, into the waiting arm of Jake Smith for a 53-yard touchdown.

Rice didn’t register any sacks against Army, understandable given the extremely few passing opportunities. The Owls were shutout in the sack department again in their second game against Wake Forest. It took 12 quarters, but Blaze Alldredge broke through with the Owls first sack of the season, taking down Texas backup Casey Thompson in the fourth quarter.

By and large, the front seven has been exceptional against the run. They just need to find a way to get to the quarterback more than once every three games.

3. Making them work for it on the ground

For as much as the struggled to generate a pass rush, the Rice front seven played the run well against an extremely talented Texas offensive line. Keaontay Ingram’s 26-yard fourth down touchdown run in the second quarter was well blocked and could have been mitigated had their not been a missed tackle in the secondary by Andrew Bird.

The talent discrepancy between the Owls and the Longhorns was clear when Texas through the ball. It wasn’t as apparent when they tried to run. Ingram’s touchdown was the longest Longhorn run of the night.

Film Room | Breaking down the Owls’ fourth down stop against Army

The grind of the game resulted in a smattering of 10-12 yard carries in the second half, inflating what started off a sub-three yards per carry allowed metric to 4.8 yards per carry by the end of the game.

When Texas tried to run up the middle, they didn’t get very far. The edge held well, too. Texas isn’t known for their power running, but the level to which the Owls were able to win on the line of scrimmage and clog rush lanes was impressive. That bodes extremely well for conference play.

4. Not there yet

In a season full of optimistic losses, this game didn’t feel nearly as rosy. Rice was competitive against Army and Wake Forest. They weren’t against Texas. The Longhorns were better on all phases and the results on the field showed that. Rice has a long way to go before they’re ready to go toe to toe with Texas, but that’s okay.

Rice knew how challenging the nonconference schedule was before the season started. An 0-3 start matches where most projections had the Owls at this point. If anything, one could argue the team is punching over their belt given how close they’ve come to winning any of these first three games.

There’s no rest for the weary. Rice will return to action next week against a Baylor squad that outscored SFA and UTSA by a combined score of 119-31. The Owls’ coaching staff will be back to the drawing board, tasked with correcting the offensive struggles and defensive breakdowns over the next week.

Beating Texas isn’t the measuring stick for this team, not yet. Let’s not throw out the positives from the first few weeks of the season because Rice lost to a team ranked inside the Top 15. Last year’s Conference USA Champs, UAB, trailed Texas A&M 34-7 after three quarters, and their season ended up being a tremendous success. The year is young. And hey, the Owls are winning in the classroom.

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College Football Upsets: The anatomy of the successful underdog

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College football upsets highlight every fall Saturday, but not all are created equal. How do the biggest underdogs pull off the most improbable wins?

When Rice football meets Texas on the gridiron on Saturday there won’t be anyone in the stadium unaware of the chasm separating the two teams. Texas, although soured by a close loss to LSU a week prior, is still a Top 15 team with College Football Playoff aspirations. Rice is looking for their first win of the season and their first win over the Longhorns since 1994. The biggest college football upsets always start out with equally insurmountable odds.

Some would call an upset of this magnitude all but impossible. And that’s mostly true — team’s separated by such a talent gap rarely play close games, let alone upset-worthy contests.

But it happens. Every single year.

Every season the college football world is stunned when an “unbeatable” national brand falls to an underdog, a team who seemingly came out of nowhere to stun the nation. The thing is, if Rice can do the unthinkable and beat Texas, they won’t even be the first distant longshot to pull off an upset of that caliber this season.

Starting with Georgia State’s shocker against Tennessee in Week 1 and stretching back to Appalachain State’s wild win over No. 5 Michigan in 2007, I’ve detailed the who and the how behind some of college football’s biggest upsets in recent memory with the help of media members who know these games well. If Rice football wants to be next on the list, these are the blueprints to follow.

2019 | Georgia State over Tennessee

Scott Watkins, 247 Sports


Scott Watkins primarily covers Troy, a program familiar with big-time upsets. The Trojans famously knocked off Ed Orgeron and LSU at Tiger Stadium in 2017. Meaning to ask him about that thrilling upset, Watkins mentioned another piece he’d put together shortly before the 2019 season — one detailing what needed to happen for lowly Georgia State to knock off the Tennessee Volunteers. Not only did his prediction come true, but the details of how it would need to happen were spot on.

Watkins called for staying strong in the trenches, sticking to the team’s own strengths rather than resorting to gadget plays, winning the turnover battle, surviving the Tennessee surge and winning on special teams. Entering the fourth quarter, Georgia State had done each of those. Tennessee led 23-21, but the Panthers were right in the thick of the fight.

Then the dam broke. Georgia State exploded for 17 points in seven minutes. Tra Barnett and Dan Ellington had touchdown runs. Brandon Wright delivered the dagger, a 48-yard field goal with 2:37 to play.

Scott’s biggest takeaways

“Georgia State needs to find success in all five categories in order to call down lightning in Neyland on Saturday. That may seem a daunting task for a young program coming off of a two-win season, but this is college football and the Sun Belt has certainly seen crazier.”

2007 | Appalachian State upsets No. 5 Michigan, 34-32

Zach Bigalke, Saturday Blitz

Perhaps the biggest upset in college football history almost never happened. Appalachian State didn’t have Michigan scheduled until February 2007, claiming an open spot in the Wolverines schedule after their original opponent had backed out. App State was coming off back-to-back FCS National Championships, but the talent gap was so wide that sportsbooks didn’t publish a betting line, expecting Michigan to win with ease.

Not only did App State hang with Michigan, they pushed the home team to the brink. In the end, it all came down to a 37-yard field goal attempt for Wolverines’ kicker Jason Gingell. What happened next has become one of the most iconic moments in underdog history:

Zach says the incredible finish was no fluke. “[Corey] Lynch and Jerome Touchstone had worked regularly on a play they called the Furman Block. With the two lining up wide of Jake Long, Touchstone drew Michigan blocker Shawn Crable out of the play, freeing Lynch for a free run on the kicker. On the final kick, it worked so well and Lynch had such a clear path that he almost overran the kick as it hit him in the stomach.”

You don’t see many Top 10 teams scheduling FCS champs nowadays, making the setup for an upset of this caliber almost unrepeatable. But it does give testament to one unwavering tenant of this sport: anything can happen on any given Saturday.

Zach’s biggest takeaways

“App State came into this contest with supreme motivation while their opponents largely thought their counterparts were walkovers. (That is almost certainly a given in pretty much all upset situations.) While the AP stated before the game that they ‘aren’t expected to be anything more than sacrificial lambs’, the Mountaineers did not harbor that expectation for themselves.”

2013 | UCF upsets No. 8 Louisville, 38-35

Eric Henry, Underdog Dynasty

Led by Teddy Bridgewater, the undefeated Louisville Cardinals seemed on a collision course with Florida State in the ACC. UCF was 5-1 at the time, but Blake Bortles and company wasn’t expected to be able to go toe to toe with Bridgewater or future NFL wideouts Eli Rogers and DeVante Parker.

Louisville marched out to a 28-7 underscored by a defensive touchdown midway through the third quarter, putting the underdog on the ropes. Then the rally started.

As Eric Henry recalls it, “the recipe for their comeback was equal parts their own doing as much as it was Louisville taking their foot off of the gas.” Staked to a three-touchdown lead with seven minutes to play in the third quarter, Louisville relaxed.

UCF kept fighting. The Knights outscored the Cardinals 31-7 over the final 22 minutes, capped off with a two-yard touchdown pass from Bortles to Jeff Godfery in the final minute.

Eric’s biggest takeaways

“The thing that stands out to me vividly is just how quickly the Louisville crowd was taken out of the game by the time the 4th [quarter] started which is a huge factor when trying to pull off the upset on the road.”

2016 | Houston upsets No. 3 Oklahoma, 33-23

Sam, Scott and Holman Podcast

The stakes of the Houston Cougars’ 2016 season opener against No. 3 Oklahoma could not have been any higher. Houston was being mentioned as a possible dark horse to reach the College Football Playoff. Far from a Cinderella, the odds still slanted significantly away from this Group of 5 program set to square off with Baker Mayfield.

As good as Houston quarterback Greg Ward Jr. was in this game (23/40 for 321 yards and two passing touchdowns) the Cougars were able to trade punches with Oklahoma into the second half thanks to a deeper-than-expected roster.

It was speedster Brandon Wilson, not Ward, who broke the game open midway through the third quarter. He returned a missed field goal by Sooners’ kicker Austin Seibert 100 yards for a touchdown. The kick would have given Oklahoma a 20-19 lead. Instead, the favorite trailed 26-17.

More: Sam joins The Roost Podcast to discuss more on the Cougs’ big upset

As Sam put it, Wilson was one of a collective of unheralded guys “outperforming their recruiting rankings, but with the underdog mentality.” The nobodys had become somebody’s. “This is what every Group of 5 school fan base wants, but rarely gets even at resource-rich schools like the University of Houston.”

Staked to that two-score lead, Houston would hold Oklahoma to a lone fourth-quarter touchdown, never being threatened after the huge special team’s play thrust them into the driver’s seat.

Sam’s biggest takeaways

“The 2012-14 Houston recruiting classes would produce 17 players who went on to either be on an NFL roster or be named to multiple all-conference teams. That’s incredible when you consider none of those 17 players were rated higher than a 3-star by any recruiting service. Most of those players were still on the Cougar roster in 2016, guys like Greg Ward Jr, Tyus Bowser, Matthew Adams, Steven Dunbar, Brandon Wilson and Steven Taylor. ”

2018 | UCF upsets No. 7 Auburn, 34-27

Eric Henry, Underdog Dynasty


This UCF upset had very different circumstances than the 2013 game. Rather than falling behind and having to rally, UCF kept things close with Auburn in the Peach Bowl. Auburn led 3-0 after the first quarter; that was a statement in itself.

From there, UCF was on an even-enough footing to mount a counter assault. Following a strip-sack of Jarrett Stidham by the UCF defense, McKenzie Milton’s second quarter touchdown run gave UCF a jolt of energy.

Eric reiterated, “Score quickly”. UCF had three scoring drives in that second quarter. Two of them lasted less than one minute, the third took just over three minutes off the clock. Suddenly, a narrow Auburn lead turned into a 13-3 halftime deficit, officially placing the SEC favorite on upset alert.

The teams traded blows in the second half. With UCF keeping the margin within a touchdown the entire time. Then the Knights lowered the hammer. Chequan Burkett nabbed a pass from Stidham near midfield and returned it for a touchdown, pushing the UCF advantage to 34-20 with 5:56 remaining in regulation.

Eric’s biggest takeaways

“You need some type of big-play. Something that says to the favorite that you can play on their level.”

2018 | Old Dominion upsets No. 13 Virginia Tech, 49-35

Ed Miller, Virginia Pilot

An innocuous home-and-home series took a turn for the worse for Virginia Tech when starting quarterback Justin Jackson went down with an injury. The game was dead even through the first half and stayed close through the third quarter, with Old Dominion trailing 28-21 entering the fourth.

Merely staying with the No. 13 Hokies was impressive, and Old Dominion had done so by not overthinking their plan of attack. Wide receivers Travis Fulgham and Jonathan Duhart would each finish the year with more than 1,000 yards. They were the focal point of the Monarchs’ attack. Fulgham caught nine passes for 188 yards and a score. Duhart grabbed nine of his own for 142 yards and three touchdowns.

Duhart’s final touchdown of the game broke a 35-35 tie with five minutes to play. Running back Jeremy Cox finished the Hokies with a 40-yard score in the final two minutes to salt away the win.

Ed’s biggest takeways

“In ODU’s case, they found something that worked and stuck with it. Namely they were able to exploit match-ups on the outside in the passing game. ODU was also playing at home, which certainly helped. They had an older team – with 21 seniors. I think in some cases an underdog with experience can beat a more talented squad that might be younger.”

So how does an underdog pull an upset?

As evidenced by even these select few games, no upset is created equal. The differences between the Georgia State’s and UCF’s of the world couldn’t be any more readily apparent. But both were able to achieve their goals.

There’s something to be said for the mental fortitude of each of these teams. They clearly didn’t believe their games were unwinnable, more so, they continued to fight when faced with deficits that lasted even into the fourth quarter. They knew that any close game could turn on its head in an instant. These games did.

Momentum changing plays, particularly on special teams, were huge — look no further than Houston’s 100-yard missed field goal return or App State’s game-winning field goal block.

All of that is predicated on having enough talent on the roster to stay in the game. Rice has proven they’re much better than they were a year ago. Are they talented enough to keep pace with Texas? We’ll just have to wait and see. I can tell you this, there’s not a single person on South Main who believes the Owls can’t do this.

Rice football knows its identity. They know the formula to keep a talented opponent on the ropes. All that’s left is to execute, get a few breaks, and hang on. If they can do that, the 2019 Owls can add their name to this illustrious list of underdogs.

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The Roost Podcast | Episode 7 – 2019 Rice Football Wake Recap, Texas Preview

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Following a breakdown of Rice Football game against Wake Forest, Carter and Matthew look ahead at the Texas game and talk upsets with a special guest.

Rice Football is two weeks into the 2019 season. What have we learned about this team and what questions still remain? You can find all the previous musings on the podcast page.

In Episode 7, Carter and Matthew discuss the ramifications of the Wake Forest defeat and a few positive takeaways from the game. Then they look ahead, previewing the Owls’ Week 3 game at NRG Stadium against Texas on Sep. 14 at 7:00 pm.

Give a listen to Episode 7 below.

Episode 7 Notes

  • News and notes — The pick’em challenge is gaining steam, but we haven’t had a perfect week from anyone … yet. Don’t miss your chance to play along and compete for some end of season prizes.
  • Breaking down the Wake Forest game — Starting with the quarterback position and working all the way to the secondary, there was a lot to work through from the Owls’ second Friday night affair. What happened to the running game? After giving up 41 points, should we be concerned or encouraged by the play of the Rice secondary?
  • The formula for a Texas-sized upset — Sam, from the Scott and Holman Podcast visits and talked about the Houston Cougars’ 2016 upset of Top 10 Oklahoma. What did the Cougars do on that day (with Tom Herman at the helm) that enabled them to shock the college football world and knock off the Sooners? Can the Owls take away some key learnings?
  • Previewing the Texas game — The LSU game provided some meaningful data points about the Longhorns current team. Rice should have a few key areas of advantage, but there’s no doubt this will be the Owls’ toughest tests yet. How does potential starting quarterback Tom Stewart fit into the mix?

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.

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