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Rice Football: Owls focused on winning first season opener since 2015

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Rice football hasn’t won a season opener since 2015. Besting FCS foe Prarie View A&M in 2018 should provide the Owls with an early chance to build momentum.

It’s been three seasons since Rice football won their opening game. Perhaps not coincidentally three years ago was the last time Rice came anywhere close to a postseason appearance, finishing 5-7 in 2015 and just missing out on a bowl invitation.

Getting within striking distance of a bowl game should be the goal for year one of the Mike Bloomgren era. Winning the first game of his tenure is an important piece of that roadmap. The Owls open the 2018 season against Prarie View A&M at Rice Stadium. Not only will the Owls be heavy favorites in that game, it’ll be one of only two games this season that feel like “gimmes”, at least out of the gate.

Rice’s other likely opportunity for a victory will come Nov. 3 when they host UTEP who failed to win a single game last season. The quest for four more additional wins on top of that will be challenging and the margin for error will be slim to none. That makes defeated the Prarie View Panthers on Aug. 25 all the more important.

Despite the Panthers proximity to Houston, the two have only met on the gridiron once before. Rice defeated Prairie View 65-44 in 2016, one of three wins in David Bailiff’s penultimate campaign. Prarie View won’t go out without a fight, but the Owls should be able to take care of business if they’re able to neutralize quarterback Neiko Hollins who through for 1,853 yards and 21 touchdowns last season.

A loss in the opener, especially to an FCS squad, would be an inauspicious beginning for a coaching regime that, up to this point, has shown plenty of promise. Rice should handle PVAMU rather easily, setting up the Owls for what looks to be a promising year under their new head coach.

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2019 Kicker Zach Hoban commits to Owls

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Rice Football picked up a commitment from Zach Hoban (West Orange, New Jersey), their first specialist of the 2019 class.

More: Complete list of 2019 Rice football commits after the early signing period

The 2019 class continues to grow. Over the span of a few weeks, the Owls have climbed the recruiting ranks. After lingering at the bottom of Conference USA they own the No. 7 class in the conference and the No. 93 class in the nation thanks to their most recent addition, kicker Zack Hoban from West Orange, New Jersey.

Hoban is the second out-of-state commitment for the Owls this cycle. He joins fellow New Englander Garrett Braden. Hoban made his announcement on Twitter:

A punter and kicker in high school, Hoban first earned the attention of the Rice staff when he won the field goal competition at the Owls’ camp in early June. His strong leg earned him an offer which later turned into a commitment. Hoban picked Rice over an offer to kick at Army.

In 2017 Hoban connected on 7-of-11 field goals and 27-of-28 point-after tries. His long of the season was a 42-yarder. He also handled kickoffs and punt duty while in high school. Whether its placekicking or punting, Hoban will have an opportunity to get on the field early at Rice.

The Owls leading kicker from last season, Will Harrison, attempted four field goals last season and made two of them. That’s a small sample size. He’ll have one more year to earn the spot, but will be short on eligibility by the time Hoban gets to campus for the 2019 season. The same is true for the rest of the kicking competition – both Jack Fox and Haden Tobola will be seniors this coming season.

There’s a bit more depth at punter. Fox handled the punting duties last season, but Rice has two other punters on the roster: Nick McQuarry and Chris Barnes. Hoban could be in the mix there as well.

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3 Freshman that could break out in 2018

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Rice football finally has their entire 2018 signing class on campus. Which of the new Owls stands to make the most significant contributions in year one?

The coaching staff is in the midst of Freshman Enhancement Week, the first gathering of the entire 2018 class under the same roof. The incoming Owls will participate in orientation and a variety of sessions designed to equip them to excel both in the classroom and on the field.

Coach Mike Bloomgren will get his first look at the freshman during condition drills this week. Although the rest of the team doesn’t report until camp on July 26, he’ll already be making notes on which players he’s going to lean on the most of the gate. Here are three freshmen that could be in line for big seasons in 2018.

1. Cameron Valentine

The highest-rated recruit in Bloomgren’s first class, Cameron Valentine has big shoes to fill off the edge. Rice didn’t get a ton of pressure off the edge in 2017, and the top four sack leaders among defensive ends last season are no longer on the roster. Whether Bloomgren likes it or not, he’s going to have to rotate a lot of youth through the edge this season. That’s not news to him, though. Bloomgren signed three defensive ends in the 2018 class, headlined by Valentine.

Valentine turned down an offer from Texas Tech to hold down the edge at Rice. He finished his high school career in Richmond, Tx with 21 sacks and 236 career tackles. The 6-foot-3, 245-pound end will only be more imposing after a few more weeks in the weight room with the Rice staff. Of all the players in this class, Valentine has the best chance to start on Aug. 25 against Prarie View A&M.

2. Prudy Calderon

Classified as a 3-star athlete and a top-300 player in the state of Texas, Prudy Calderon will be a versatile weapon for the Owls right away. He was recruited as a defensive back and will most likely begin at safety. A two-way player in high school, Calderon also racked up 3,039 all-purpose yards as the starting quarterback at San Marcos High School.

The District 15-6A Offensive MVP in 2017, Calderon will try his luck on the other side of the ball in college. He had success there in high school as well, registering four interceptions and 160 tackles in two seasons. His height, 5-foot-11, is the only concern with putting him out wide, but he could see time in a variety of spots during preseason practices.

3. Brendan Harmon

You can’t teach size. Rice’s top receiving threat last season was Aaron Cephus, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound freshman. Players like Cephus present matchup problems for the defense, and adding a second big-bodied pass catcher on the other side will be huge for the offense in 2018. That’s where Brendan Harmon comes in.

Harmon is 6-foot-5, 180 pounds. The All Saints Episcopal High School product from Fort Worth Texas reeled in 67 balls for 1,311 yards and 18 touchdowns as a senior. If he can recreate even a portion of that production at Rice this fall he’ll be in line to be one of the best pass-catching options this fall. Stacking him up alongside Cephus in the redzone makes the Owls better at the goal line, even if the ball isn’t thrown his way.

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Anthony Rendon red-hot with Washington Nationals

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Rice baseball product Anthony Rendon is currently mashing his way through the MLB, riding one of the hottest streaks of his professional career.

Anthony Rendon earned the Howser Trophy when he was named National Player of the Year with the Owls in 2010. He later went on to be a first-round pick of the Washington Nationals in 2011 and been a successful big leaguer ever since. Currently in his sixth season in the bigs, Rendon is having one of the best stretches of his career.

A career .280 hitter with a decent amount of pop, Rendon has had a two-week stretch to remember. Beginning on June 17 against the Blue Jays, Rendon currently carries a nine-game hitting streak in which he’s been red-hot. He’s hit three home runs, six doubles and driven in seven RBI. Over the course of the nine games, Rendon is slashing .438/.471/.875. That’s an astounding 1.346 OPS. There are few hitters in the MLB seeing the baseball as well as he is right now.

Despite Rendon’s successes, the Nationals haven’t fared well. They’ve gone just 3-6 against the Blue Jays, Yankees, Orioles, Phillies and Rays in that stretch. The Yankees are a real World Series contender, but the rest of those clubs shouldn’t be able to keep up with the Nats’ firepower at the plate or arms on the mound. Regardless of the outcome, Rendon has done his part.

As of the latest update, Rendon wasn’t in the top-5 of the National League All-Star voting recipients at third base. He trails the Rockies’ Nolan Arendo, the Cubs’ Kris Bryant, the Braves’ Johan Camargo, the Reds’ Eugenio Suarez and the Dodgers’ Justin Turner. Perhaps an electrifying finish to the first half will be enough to change the minds of enough voters to earn Rendon his first All Star selection of his career.

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Owls add three players to roster

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Rice football announced the addition of three transfers to their program: offensive lineman Andrew Mike, fullback Giovanni Gentosi and linebacker Blaze Alldredge.

Head coach Mike Bloomgren announced three additions to the Rice Football program on Monday. Joining the Owls in 2018 will be graduate transfers Andrew Mike (offensive line, Florida) and Giovanni Gentosi (fulback, UCLA) as well as JUCO transfer Blaze Alldredge (linebacker, Los Angeles Pierce College). All three are scheduled to join the team in time for summer training camp on July 26.

The two grad transfers, Mike and Gentosi, will aid Bloomgren significantly in his pursuit to add toughness and size up front. And he’s getting a lot more than warm bodies. Both Mike and Gentosi played meaningful roles on Power 5 teams last fall.

Mike should slide into the offensive line rotation immediately whereas Gentosi could fill a few different roles. Although he began his collegiate career as an offensive lineman he saw time at fullback and tight end last season. Where he’ll play in the fall could be determined, at least in part, by how the rest of the offense looks during practice.

Both Mike and Alldredge had previously announced their intentions to transfer to Rice. The announcement of Gentosi’s decision was made public for the first time on Monday. Adding a second grad transfer from a program of UCLA’s caliber is meaningful on two fronts. First, Rice needs depth to content in Conference USA. Second, and more importantly, Bloomgren has convinced mutiple quality players to finish their careers at Rice and help him build the future of what is still a fledgling program.

Mike will wear No. 74. Gentosi will wear No. 45. Alldredge will wear No. 55.

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