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Conference USA Football Media Days: Live Blog

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Conference USA Media Days are underway in Frisco, Texas. Stay tuned here for all the latest news and updates on Rice football and CUSA.

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Monday

The coaches selections for the 2019 Conference USA Football All-Conference Team were released. In addition to 30 first-team selections, three players were recognized above the rest:

  • Offensive Player of the Year – North Texas QB Mason Fine
  • Defensive Player of the Year – FIU LB Sage Lewis
  • Special Teams Player of the Year – Charlotte kicker Jonathan Cruz

Tuesday

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The 2019 Conference USA Football Media Poll was released.

EAST DIVISION
1. Marshall (14)
2. FIU (9)
3. Florida Atlantic (3)
4. Middle Tennessee
5. WKU
6. Old Dominion
7. Charlotte

WEST DIVISION
1. North Texas (20)
2. Southern Miss (4)
3. Louisiana Tech
4. UAB (2)
5. UTSA
6. Rice
7. UTEP

Wednesday

Live stream available on ESPN3

Teams will bounce around from station to station today, spending time on the live stream and various media outlets from around the country including CBS Sports, NFL Network and Stadium.

12:05 pm – Rice is scheduled to be on the live stream from 2:15 to 2:30. They’re the second team on deck for today, starting with North Texas at 2:00 pm.

1:25 pm – Louisiana Tech head coach Skip Holtz on Rice – “It’s definitely going to be a change of pace for everyone with the offense Rice is running in this league… I know what that program is capable of. I have great respect for that program.”

2:42 pm – UTSA head coach Frank Wilson on Rice – “It’s always challenging any time you face someone with that physicality and they take on that persona that they’re going to punch you in the mouth.”

2:45 pm – Rice Football DT Myles Adams – “I feel like we’ve been rebuilding for some time now and it’s time to showcase what we’ve built.”

3:34 pm – North Texas head coach Seth Littrell – You’ve gotta be extremely disciplined on defense in order to stop [Rice’s] system… this is a diverse league… You’re going to see about everything. That’s what makes it fun though, you want to coach against these great guys and these systems. To be honest with you, you probably see more hybrid things in this league than you see in any league I’ve been in.”

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Rice Football: Don’t panic over Owls Preseason All-CUSA snubs

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Rice football didn’t land anyone on the Preseason Conference USA All-Conference team, but the Owls have plenty of young talent waiting in the wings.

The 2019 Conference USA Preseason Football All-Conference team was announced Monday. 12 of the conference’s 14 teams were represented. The two omissions? Old Dominion and Rice. On the surface, the lack of honorees was disconcerting, but it’s worth taking a breather and assessing where the Rice Football program is right now before getting too worried about preseason lists.

All-Conference teams, particularly those selected by the coaches, rely almost entirely on proven production. The vast majority of the time, that production has been seen first hand in conference games. End of season honorees have the benefit of a full slate of games to prove their abilities. That list could, and should, be more favorable for the Owls.

More: Athlon Sports and Phil Steele give Owls preseason honors

Rice doesn’t have many players who have been in Conference USA for long enough to warrant consideration. Of the upperclassmen projected to start for Rice this season, three have played enough snaps to earn a preseason look: wide receiver Austin Trammell, wide receiver Aaron Cephus and safety George Nyakwol.

The rest of the upperclassmen starters (find our complete three-deep depth chart projections in our 2019 Rice Football Season Preview) haven’t done enough at Rice to get themselves on the list. Players like Blaze Alldredge, Prudy Calderon, Treshawn Chamberlain and Juma Otoviano have the talent, but none have started a full season of college football yet. Few grad transfer earn recognition in lists like these.

Seniority and preseason lists go hand and hand. Of the 30 players honored, only Charlotte kicker  Jonathan Cruz is an underclassman. He made 17 of 22 field goal attempts last season.

Rice has some extremely talented players. They’re just young players. The youth movement in South Main is in its transitional stages. By the time the season is over, those freshmen and sophomores will have plenty of playing time under their belts. Let’s reassess the quality of the depth chart then.

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Rice Baseball Minor League Roundup: Matt Canterino makes pro debut

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Rice baseball products are making headlines in the minor leagues. Updates on the 2019 draftees and Owls currently in the pipeline.

2019 Draftees

Garrett Gayle

Gayle has appeared in four games for the Tri-City ValleyCats (Astros) following his 12th round selection in the 2019 MLB Draft. He has a 3.00 ERA over four games with eight strikeouts and five walks. His most recent outing came on July 11th, a three-inning save, the first save of his pro career.

Available Now: 2019 Rice Football Season Preview
Evan Kravetz

A fifth-round pick of the Reds this year, Kravetz has made one appearance so far this summer. He threw one scoreless inning in a start for the Greeneville Reds on June 22, retiring all three batters he faced without allowing a hit.

Matt Canterino

Canterino’s first action following his second-round selection by the Twins came on July 13 with the GCL Twins. He threw two innings, allowing one hit and one run with two strikeouts and a walk.

Other minor league notables

After spending 2018 in lower-A ball, Ford Proctor was promoted to single-A this season where he’s currently hitting .276 with the Bowling Green Hot Rods. He leads the team with 18 doubles and 48 runs scored.

Ricky Salinas was named Reds MiLB Player of the Month, and for good reason. Salinas started five games in June and finished with a jaw-dropping 1.03 ERA and a 0.911 WHIP. Opposing batter hit .181 during that span.

It was a good spring for Glenn Otto with the Tampa Tarpons (Yankees). He made seven appearances, all starts allowing more than two earned runs in just one outing. Among pitchers who made at least five starts, Otto was second on the team with a 2.87 ERA.

Tony Cingrani was pitching well in limited action with the Oklahoma City Dodgers. He posted a 2.45 ERA in eight appearances (one in with Rancho Cucamonga) before he had surgery to repair his labrum. He’ll miss the remainder of the season.

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Rice Football: Owls give new life to the fullback position

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Rice football is daring to be different, employing a fullback in their offense as many of their peers have long since done away with the position.

In modern college football, you’re more likely to see five wide receivers on the field than you are to see a fullback. Even the most spread open offenses rarely leave the quarterback alone in the backfield with the exception of a late-game hail mary or a particularly intriguing matchup against an opposing linebacker or defensive back.

At Rice, the fullback is more than just a novelty, it’s a core building block of the Owls’ offense. The fullback is responsible for knowing not just his blocking assignment, but how everyone in front of him is supposed to execute before he reaches the line of scrimmage. It’s a complicated task, one that few are groomed for in today’s game.

Those intricacies, combined with the Rice offense, making finding fullbacks a challenging task. Last season Rice went to the transfer wire, scooping up Giovanni Gentosi from UCLA. This season the new addition comes by way of Stanford, Bloomgren’s old stomping grounds. Reagan Williams traded Palo Alto for South Main for his final season of college ball.

The other players at the position, Brendan Suckley and Luke Armstrong, are learning the position for the first time. Suckley is a converted tight end. Armstrong is a converted offensive lineman. (Read more about each of the fullbacks will impact the offense this fall in our 2019 Rice Football Season Preview.)

Rice will be one of the few programs to recruit a fullback in 2020. The Owls currently have a commitment from Baton Rouge native Brian Hibbard. He should be the first of several fullbacks who make their way to Rice in the coming years. Rice is in the fullback business. And they’re just getting started.

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Rice Football: Owls draw toughest schedule in Conference USA

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The Rice football team has a rigorous schedule this fall, one more strenuous than any other team in Conference USA. Are the Owls up to the challenge?

It doesn’t take more than the eye test for an average fan to accurately assess the challenge looming in front of Rice football before it plays its first game of the 2019 season. The Owls schedule is daunting, highlighted by four potent non-conference opponents in the first four weeks of the regular season.

The full schedule and detailed previews of every team Rice will face this season is available in our 2019 Rice Football Preseason Preview. Those non-conference games, combined with a tough draw from Conference USA East featuring Marshall and Middle Tennessee, gives Rice an ignominious claim. The Owls own the hardest schedule in Conference USA — check out our CUSA Preview for more insight on each team.

ESPN’s Strength of Schedule metrics are reflective of that assumption:

  • Rice –  74
  • Middle Tennessee – 76
  • Southern Miss – 92
  • Old Dominion – 96
  • UTSA – 101
  • FAU – 104
  • Western Kentucky – 106
  • Charlotte – 110
  • Marshall – 115
  • Florida International – 120
  • UTEP – 122
  • North Texas – 125
  • Louisiana Tech – 126
  • UAB – 129

Three teams from the West Division have a top 100 strength of schedule and Rice is right at the top. But even those with similar strength of schedule marks are separated by a wide margin. Rice plays three Power 5 teams and Army. Southern Miss plays two (Alabama and Mississippi State) and UTSA plays one (Texas Tech).

More: Offseason transfers add up favorably for the Owls

After factoring in a game against Rice (2-11 last season), Middle Tennessee is the only other CUSA team in the same tier of difficulty. The Blue Raiders play Michigan, Duke and Iowa in non-conference play.

A hard road sets the Owls up with plenty of opportunities to make some noise, but it doesn’t guarantee the team anything. Rice has been tasked with continuing to make progress in Year 2 of a rebuild, regardless of opponent. Win or lose, Rice is going to be challenged every single week they take the field.

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