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The Roost Podcast | Ep 192 – Where does Rice Football fit with Shehan Jeyarajah

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Rather than dwell on the Memphis game we welcome Shehan Jeyarajah of CBS Sports to discuss where Rice football fits in the college football world right now.

As Rice football embarks on a head coaching search — the latest on that front is right here — it felt appropriate to step back from the game to game realities and look big picture. To do that, we brought back longtime friend of the show Shehan Jeyarajah of CBS Sports. We picked his brain on the state of the sport, where Rice fits in that bigger picture and what kind of coach makes the most sense for the Owls moving forward.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 192.

Episode Notes

DCTF

The Roost Podcast is now part of the Dave Campbell’s Republic of Football Podcast Network. You’ll still get the same content with the same hosts, but now under the DCTF banner.

Homefield

We’re thrilled to partner with Homefield Apparel, the premier proprietor of college football clothing. First-time buyers can use the code ROOST for 15% off their order. The Owls hoodie is a personal favorite as is the Luv-Ya-Owls shirt. Make sure you check out the brand-new sailor hat (pictured below) as you shop the Rice collection or pick up something else (or both)!

Homefield

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Where does Rice Football fit with Shehan Jeyarajah

  • The state of college football right now
  • The case for optimism in the Group of Five
  • Who should Rice football hire as its next head coach?
  • How good is the AAC, really?
  • Army, Tulane and the College Football Playoff

Where can you find us?

The Roost Podcast is part of the Dave Campbell’s Republic of Football Podcast Network. You can find this podcast and all of our partner podcasts on Apple, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.

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

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Rice Football Head Coaching Search: Names to Know

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Rice Football is in the market for a new head football coach. Here are a few names to scratch off and a few that make the most sense for the Owls.

Whenever there’s a head coaching change, candidate lists pop up all over the internet. It’s part of the gig. Every outlet has its natural bents and sources and that drives who gets included in each respective allotment. But as is often the case with these things, no real list exists. At least, not a that moment.

I’m certain Rice Athletic Director Tommy McClelland did not go into the decision to fire Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren blindly. There were probably some potential names or descriptors on his mind, but most importantly, the decision to move on from Bloomgren opened the door for McClelland to align his criteria with a pool of interested parties. A search is underway. And now that a search is underway, a real list exists.

So, after letting the dust settle from the initial shock and doing some due diligence, here’s what I can share about who Rice Football won’t be hiring and a few names and candidate profiles who might be in the mix.

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Smothering defense lifts Rice Basketball past Louisiana Monroe

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A historic defensive effort powered Rice Basketball past Louisiana Monroe, who barely reached 50 points in a losing effort.

Defense took center stage at Tudor Fieldhouse on Tuesday evening. Rice basketball and the visiting Louisiana Monroe Warhawks started the game a combined 5-for-27 by the second media timeout, an underwhelming 19 percent from the floor. Regression would find both teams eventually and the shots began to fall, but it wouldn’t be a banner night for either side when it came to scoring the basketball.

“We want it to be characteristic of our program that defense is at the forefront of what we do without compromising on how we want to play on offense,” head coach Rob Lanier said. “But sometimes when you’re establishing that, one thing winds up taking priority and the offense has to catch up with that because if you really get good at keep getting the ball back then what you do with it matters.”

Because of those low margins, the game was close throughout. A three from Alem Huseinovic in the final seconds of the first half gave Rice basketball a seven-point advantage, the largest lead for either side before the break. In fact, Huseinovic’s 11 points doubled up everyone else on the court. No other player had more than five points when the halftime buzzer sounded. It was just going to be that kind of game: tough and physical.

More: Rice Basketball 2024-2025 Season Preview

Rice’s effort began to shine through in earnest once the second half began. Louisiana Monroe missed their first two shots. Rice missed their first. Then Jimmy Oladokun Jr. made a leaping play on the baseline to corral a loose ball and deflect it off the leg of a Louisiana Monroe defender. That allowed Rice to maintain possession, setting Huseinovic up for a crucial three and propelling the Owls to an 11-point advantage.

That it was Oladokun was fitting to the culture this team is trying to build. Laner said postgame that Oladokun was in the lineup because he’d earned a greater role in practice this week and with his contributions against Florida State following only seeing two minutes in the Owls’ opener against FIU.

Louisiana Monroe wasn’t going to go away that easily. On the strength of a 7-0 run, the Warhawks got back within three but couldn’t get any closer. The Owls mounted a defense stop and quickly created impactful transition points, converting not one, but two massive alley-oop dunks, the first by Andrew Akuchie and the next by Kellen Amos to put Rice in front by 12.

The high-flying plays were celebrated by the entire arena, including the Owls’ bench. No matter who was on the court — and Rice basketball played 14 players on Tuesday night — the energy was inescapable.

“As a group, you’re starting to see a group of guys that are really pulling for one another and just putting the team first,” Lanier said. “We’ve got an acronym, INAM. It simply means ‘it’s not about me’ and we want them to live that as teammates. We want them to believe in that. And that is how you establish a defensive culture and it’s how you establish a real winning program culture. It’s starting to take effect. We’re just at the beginning and we haven’t had enough adversity to know if it really is who we are just yet.

Final Box | Rice 66, FSU 50

What They’re Saying

Key takeaway | Defense

Through the early days of the 2024-2025 Rice basketball season, Lanier has used words like “scattered” and out of rhythm when referring to the Owls’ scoring efforts. He’s attributed much of that inefficiency to the learning curve of players learning his offense and how they fit together things that should, in theory, get better over time as the team begins to accrue more court time together.

Lanier ran through a list of talented shooters he remains confident in like Trey Patterson and Denver Anglin, former top 100 recruits who had career highs today after seeing lighter usage early this season. He touted Jacob Darr’s offensive game, too. But all of the offensive praise came with this important caveat: “He’s a really good offensive player. He doesn’t get to do what he wants to do until he does what I want him to do.”

While the Owls wait for the offense, the defense has emphatically arrived. Pitted against a more traditional opponent which doesn’t switch or play as exotic of a scheme as either of their first two opponents, Rice flat-out suffocated Louisiana Monroe. The 50 points scored by Louisiana Monroe was the lowest total Rice basketball has allowed against a D1 team since February 11, 2012 (SMU).

“Ever since Rob Lanier came and took over the head coaching job he’s been very intense on defense, he’s been very minded on defense as his priority,” Alem Huseinovic, who led the team with 15 points said. “All summer, preseason, into the season now, that’s really what we focus on. We want to change the narrative here at Rice and I think we did a really good job tonight.”

On three separate occasions, Louisiana Monroe missed six or more consecutive shots including eight straight misses following their opening bucket to start the game.

Up Next: vs Northwestern State (Sat, Nov. 16)



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Rice Women’s Basketball posts strong win over South Alabama

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Rice Women’s Basketball snagged the lead early and never let up, controlling their win over South Alabama from start to finish on Monday night.

South Alabama led for the briefest of moments at Tudor Fieldhouse on Monday night, edging in front of Rice women’s basketball in the early moments by a 7-6 score that wouldn’t last for much longer. Hailey Adams gave Rice the lead soon afterward on a layup and the Owls’ advantage would only grow from there.

Rice got the lead up to eight points at the end of the first quarter on a three from Aniah Alexis. Then in grew to 13 points on a free from Jazzy Owens-Barnett to close out the second frame. Staked to a double-digit lead, Rice doubled down, growing their advantage to as many as 19 points in the third quarter on a five-point spurt from Aniah Alexis.

More: Rice Women’s Basketball 2024-2025 Season Preview

South Alabama’s late rally proved not enough. The Jaguars hit a pair of threes early in the fourth quarter to get the margin back to 10, but Rice had an immediate answer of their own. Victoria Flores hit a three then scored on a fastbreak layup on the next possession to restore a healthy margin. Flores, Adams and Shelby Hayes combined to score all 21 of the Owls’ points in the final period, slamming the door on South Alabama to secure a second consecutive Rice women’s basketball win.

What They’re Saying

“It’s great to stack back-to-back wins. I’m really proud of our team’s effort. I always think we are at our best when we have multiple in double figures. Tonight, we were able to get five in double figures. I feel like [Klaczek] really ignited us tonight and gave us that spark that we needed and that spark that she can provide and spark that she’s done for this team so many times. She started it, and everyone kind of followed suit. I was also very pleased with our defensive willpower. We put our foot down and forced 21 turnovers and had 11 steals, so that was very good for us. Overall, really happy with the win, stacking back-to-back wins, and ready for more.” – Rice Women’s Basketball head coach Lindsay Edmonds

Final Box | Rice 76, South Alabama 58

Key takeaway | No Fuss

Building leads is nothing new for Rice women’s basketball. Under head coach Lindsay Edmonds te Owls have always been able to throw the first punch. It’s sustaining that advantage through four quarters that has been the next step this squad needs to take to go from good to great and achieve the lofty aspirations they’ve set on themselves for this season. Monday’s victory over South Alabama showcased just that.

It wasn’t a perfect finish — South Alabama did cut the lead in half — but when you’ve grown the margin to 19, there’s some room to absorb imperfections and still win comfortably. By the midpoint of the fourth quarter, this one was never in doubt and that’s exactly what Rice needed to get from this opening homestand, a comfortable win.



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Rice Football 2024: NFL Owls Week 10 Roundup

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Rice Football is well represented on 2024 NFL rosters. Here’s the latest from the NFL Owls in action in Week 10.

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) This Week Result Next Week
Detroit Lions Jack Fox (P) at Texans (SNF) W, 26-23 vs Jaguars
Indianapolis Colts Kylen Granson (TE) vs Bills L, 30-20 at Jets
Jacksonville Jaguars Austin Trammell (WR) vs Vikings L, 28-23 vs Lions
Pittsburgh Steelers Chris Boswell (PK)
Calvin Anderson (OL)		 at Commanders W, 28-27 vs Ravens
Seattle Seahawks Myles Adams (DL) — BYE — at 49ers
Washington Commanders Luke McCaffrey (WR) vs Steelers L, 28-7 at Eagles (TNF)

Offense

Calvin Anderson – OL, Steelers

Anderson came in for one offensive snap in the Steelers’ Week 10 win over the Washington Commanders. He’s now seen action in four of six games since signing with the team prior to Week 4.

Luke McCaffrey – WR, Commanders

McCaffrey was targeted three times against the Steelers, hauling in one pass for 23 yards.

Kylen Granson – TE, Colts

Granson caught two passes against the Bills in Week 10, a season-high for him in a single game this year. He accounted for 15 receiving yards in the process.

Austin Trammell – WR, Jaguars

Trammell was active but did not play in the Jaguars’ Week 10 loss to the Vikings.

Defense

Myles Adams – DL, Seahawks

Adams was inactive for the Seahawks Week 10 game against the Rams. He’s been active for three of the Seahawks’ 10 games so far this year.

Special Teams

Jack Fox – P, Lions

Fox punted four times against the Texans, averaging 47 yards per punt with a long of 60 yards. He put one ball inside the 20.

Chris Boswell – K, Steelers

Boswell wasn’t asked to try a field goal in Week 10, but he did make all four of his extra points, including what would end up being the game-winning try in a one-point win. Boswell has made 23-of-24 field goals this season.

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 details on current contractual agreements and former Rice football players waiting for their next opportunity here.



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