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UNT review and UTEP preview, press conference notes (10/30)

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Head coach Mike Bloomgren broken down Rice football‘s performance against North Texas and preview the UTEP game.

On learning how to start strong and finish games

We played well enough to win for about 47 minutes, but that’s not how long a football game is.

Our football team plays much better… when we get that early score. It carries over to all the other phases of our football team.

On Wiley Green‘s performance

He played a really solid game. He did a lot of things with his feet, he improvised on a couple and protected the ball to the best of his ability.

On the involvement of Juma Otoviano

It was not the intention for him to have 19 carries, but he ended up having a really hot hand. We saw him play physical. We saw him break tackles… He’s also somebody we know can be in that wildcat package, but he has the ability to throw the ball down the field as well. We could see more from Juma as this season continues.

On the play of Anthony Ekpe

Mason Fine is an outstanding quarterback and we hit him 10 times and sacked him three. Anthony Ekpe had those three sacks. I thought he was pretty unstoppable on some of those third downs. It was really exciting to see him dominate a game like that and I thought those hits paid dividends as the game went on.

On “Jack Fox doing Jack Fox things”

Jack Fox Had a career-long 76-yard punt against North Texas, averaging 47.3 yards on seven punts with five punts downed inside the 20.

For the fourth time this season he’s on the Ray Guy Award’s Eight List this week. We think he’s a deserving candidate of that award.

On the UTEP game and Homecoming

It’s a huge game for our football team, a huge game for our program and we’re working as such. We are attacking this week no different than we have other weeks. We’re putting in the work.

It’s our homecoming. We hope to have all our letterman and alumni back. We want our letterman to know how important they are to this program, so we hope they all come back and watch it and I hope we put on a show for them.

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Injury updates, healthy quarterbacks, practice notes (10/29)

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Rice football returned to the practice field with a few new faces in the mix on Monday. Here’s the latest from Mike Bloomgren and the Owls.

Quarterback depth chart

There seems to be a bit more clarity at the quarterback position. Wiley Green is the new starter. Behind him, Jackson Tyner saw reps with the second team and Parker Towns threw behind him.

Juma Otoviano and the wildcat package were effective against North Texas. He’ll be in the mix for some reps, but barring an injury, it doesn’t appear that Austin Trammell will see any snaps at quarterback.

Injury update

Wiley Green is healthy. After back-to-back weeks with a banged up signal caller that seemed worth mentioning here. Joining Green in the offensive backfield next week will be Emmanuel Esukpa, who should be 100 percent against UTEP after missing the last two games.

Two faces the Owls’ haven’t seen on the field yet this year were back in action on practice on Monday. Cornerback Isaiah Richardson participated in individual drills and continues to progress. He’s day to day, as is freshman wide receiver August Pitre. He did individual drills and is scheduled to participate in 7-on-7 drills tomorrow. Both these players are on track to available soon but haven’t been ruled in or out against UTEP quite yet.

Running back platoon in full effect

In addition to Esukpa at practice, there were plenty of mouths to feed in the backfield. Aston Walter, Nashon Ellerbee, Austin Walter and Otoviano all saw some touches during practice. They won’t be able to get each guy a ton of volume every week, but the backfield will have plenty of fresh legs whenever Esukpa or Austin Walter need a breather.

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This week in CUSA – Looking ahead at Week 10

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Rice football gave North Texas a scare, but dropped the road contest in Denton, Tx. How did the rest of the conference fare and what’s next for Conference USA football in Week 10?

Team Last Week Result This Week
Charlotte vs Southern Miss W, 20-17 at Tennessee
FAU vs LaTech L, 21-13 at FIU
FIU at WKU W, 38-17 vs FAU
LaTech at FAU W, 21-13 at Mississippi State
Marshall — OFF — — at Southern Miss
MTSU at ODU W, 51-17 vs WJU
North Texas vs Rice W, 41-17 — OFF —
ODU vs MTSU L, 51-17 — OFF —
Rice at North Texas L, 41-17 vs UTEP
Southern Miss at Charlotte L, 20-17 vs Marshall
UAB at UTEP W, 19-0 vs UTSA
UTEP vs UAB L, 19-0 at Rice
UTSA — OFF — — at UAB
WKU vs FIU L, 38-17 at MTSU

Notable Week 9 results

Rice came close

The process continues to churn for Rice football in 2018. The Owls have lost eight consecutive games, but each successive contest feels more and more winnable. Rice was tied 17-17 with North Texas with minutes to play in the third quarter before a late rally turned the game into a blowout. It’s only a matter of time before this team breaks through.

The Lane Kiffin hype train is off the tracks

When Lane Kiffin signed his 10-year contract last season people balked. How could Kiffin stay at FAU that long? Losing appears to be the answer. The former NFL and college coach has only dirtied his resume this year with a few high-profile losses and no shot at a conference title. Kiffin could very well turn it around, but at the moment he seems to be fighting an uphill battle.

Conference USA East is pretty good

Outside of a hapless Western Kentucky team and a woefully inconsistent ODU squad the rest of CUSA East is looking fairly competitive. Charlotte’s win over Southern Miss made for the fourth team in that division with three wins or more in conference play. The 49ers weren’t supposed to be here, and they’re two games better than FAU. Nothing makes sense, but that’s where we are.

Week 10 storylines

Who will rule the sunshine state?

FAU was projected to be the favorite in the East, instead, it’s FIU that sits atop the division at the midpoint of conference play. The two Florida schools meet in Week 10 with bragging rights on the line. A win against their in-state rivals would do wonders for the Panthers’ momentum.

Battle for the bottom

UTEP and Rice meet in Houston with last place in CUSA West on the line. Neither of these schools have a win in conference play and Rice’s only win came two months ago in Week 0. Both of these schools are in rebuilding mode, but proving progress is being made will be extremely important for both Mike Bloomgren and Dana Dimel.

SEC surprise?

There will be a handful of SEC matchups with CUSA teams in the month of November. Both Charlotte (at Tennesee) and Louisiana Tech (at Mississippi State) will get their crack at an upset in Week 10. Both teams have shown some punch this season, but a win over an SEC school would be a tall order. Nevertheless, that’s why they play the games.

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Owls’ need to turn three-quarter performance into full game

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Head coach Mike Bloomgen and Rice football were close for most of their loss to North Texas, right up until the fourth quarter.

Four. There are four quarters in a college football game. That’s what put head coach Mike Bloomgren’s analysis of the Owls’ play on Saturday into the proper context. “For three quarters I couldn’t have been prouder of how we played,” Bloomgren remarked following the loss. “We started off the game the way we wanted to,” he said, “but when the game is on the line… their guys made more plays than we did.”

That’s not the first time Bloomgren has sung that tune following a Rice loss this season. Hopefully, it is the last.

Remedying those woes is an objective shared by the Owls’ new starting quarterback, Wiley Green. “That fourth quarter is definitely something we gotta to work on,” Green said, “We just gotta learn how to finish. At the end of the day that’s what matters and that’s how you win football games.”

Winning football games is something Rice hasn’t done in eight consecutive tries. More often than not, this team shows progress. But they haven’t reached the point where they can overcome their own mistakes. As good as the Owls’ opponents have played of late, there’s been a steady undercurrent of Rice beating themselves. The coaching staff has seen it, too.

“From a mental standpoint, we’re not able to overcome those things,” Bloomgren admitted, “When we make a mistake or have something go against us like that we fold instead of poking out our chest and finding a way to get over it.”

Through all the bad, glimmers of hope still remain. On Saturday it was three quarters. Prior to that the Owls had been looking for a full half, or even a single touchdown at all. The effort is there. It’s the execution that’s lacking. Execution can be coached; effort can’t.

Bloomgren summarized his session with one reassuring comment, “As long as the coaches and the players are going to give everything they have to this program we’re going to find a way. The wins are going to come. We just gotta keep working.”

The Owls’ next game is against UTEP at home for Homecoming. There’s no better time to pick up their first conference win like the present.

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Rough fourth quarter spoils Owls strong start vs North Texas

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Rice football gave North Texas a scare coming close to an upset before stumbling in the fourth quarter. The Owls are getting closer, but couldn’t finish.

When the fourth quarter started Rice trailed North Texas 20-17. The coaches and the team don’t make much mention of being underdogs or favorites, but the oddsmakers tabbed the Owls as 30-point underdogs again the Mean Green.

This team wasn’t intimidated. They started fast and stayed in the ring for three full quarters until a rough fourth quarter turned this into a blowout. There were some missteps on both sides of the ball, but there wasn’t an extended stretch of time when it felt like this team was lost until a series of penalties and a sack-fumble put the game out of reach late in the fourth.

Rice could have won this game, but their record falls to 1-8. Here are a few immediate reactions:

1. Credit to where credit is due, the offense is improving

Rice was kept out of the endzone in successive games against UTSA and UAB. The poor offensive performances plus the injury to quarterback Shawn Stankavage‘s made the future of this unit seem bleak.

Rather than stick to “what had always worked” and clearly wasn’t working anymore, offensive coordinator Jerry Mack and head coach Mike Bloomgren went back to the drawing board. The results were impressive and impactful. Rice scored touchdowns on their opening drive against FIU and their opening drive against North Texas, each coming with a different quarterback at the helm of the offense.

A vastly different offense took the field in Denton, Tx on Saturday. Juma Otoviano was heavily involved as a wildcat quarterback. Wiley Green honed in on Austin Walter and Aaron Cephus in the passing game and the Owls moved up and down the field.

It looked like a different offense. The unit that put up a zero against UAB is long gone. The next step for this group is converting third downs and staying on the field. Rice was 3-for-14 on third down, making the amount of production they were able to achieve even more encouraging.

2. Fine under fire

Rice entered the game against North Texas dead last in the conference in sacks. The Owls have struggled to get any sort of consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks, leaving the secondary exposed. The defensive line knew they need to step up, and the results began to show up on Saturday.

Anthony Ekpe and Houston Robert both sacked Fine in the first quarter, but Robert’s was negated by an illegal substitution penalty. Ekpe picked up what should have been a drive-ending sack in the third quarter, but an unsportsmanlike penalty on the Owls kept the defense on the field. He emerged again in the same drive, sacking Fine and forcing a long field goal which North Texas missed.

Even when the Owls didn’t get there in time they made their presence felt in the offensive backfield. Fine was on the ground a lot and was well aware of the pressure coming from all sides. The Rice pass rush completely changed this game, something that hasn’t been said over the last several weeks.

3. Tackling and making plays in space is still an issue

There are several aspects of the defense that have shown tremendous improvement throughout the season. Unfortunately, the bottom line doesn’t reflect that progress largely because the Owls are still plagued by the big play.

North Texas’ first touchdown came from 68-yards out. Fine hit Rico Bussey Jr. in space and the receiver outsprinted the defense into the endzone. This team has been prone to surrendering the long ball, but Bussey’s catch and run wasn’t a home run. Rice had defenders behind the receiver, but multiple bad angles left them without a play on the football. He should have been knocked out in the redzone, instead, he scored.

The Owls have been susceptible to the big play on the ground too. Against North Texas, this came in the form of a 44-yard DeAndre Torrey scamper down the sideline. He was surrounded by a trio of Rice defenders, but nobody forced him out until he had rushed for a huge gain.

If those two big plays are taken off the board Rice could have been tied entering halftime, or perhaps even with a narrow lead. This defense cannot take any more meaningful strides if they don’t eliminate these kinds of plays.

4. New faces continue to make big impacts

Where to begin? The freshman were the difference makers on both sides of the ball against North Texas. On offense, Wiley Green threw for 204 yards, one touchdowns and didn’t throw any interceptions. He fumbled once, but also picked up a score with his legs. Juma Otoviano was critical early on, jump-starting the offense with 64 yards on 17 carries, many out of the wildcat formation.

On defense, Prudy Calderon and Trewshawn Chamberlain both forced fumbles. Calderon came up with a huge pass breakup in the endzone and was active all over the field. His insertion into the starting lineup has boosted the play of the entire defense and helped take away the over the top plays that burned the secondary often through the first month of the season.

5. Don’t beat yourself

Rice committed four penalties for 30 yard against FIU. They committed eight penalties for 99 yards against North Texas. Five of those penalties gave North Texas first downs, many coming on third downs when Rice had done enough to get off the field.

This team has made significant strides on the defensive side of the ball. Even though that’s the case, they’re not at the point where they can be handing out extra possessions and expecting the results to stay positive.

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