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Rice Football 2024 Game Preview: UConn

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Rice football hits the road this week to take on UConn. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

UConn (4-3) saw a three-game home wining streak snapped this weekend in a one-score loss to Wake Forest. They’ll play host to a Rice football squad still reeling from a missed opportunity in New Orleans in which the Owls were tied with the Green Wave in the fourth quarter but were unable to finish the game. Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup between Rice and UConn.

Kickoff time | 2:30 PM CT 
Venue | Pratt & Whitney Stadium – East Hartford, CT
TV | CBS SN (Viewing Guide)
Radio | Varsity Radio App (Online)

Audio / Visual Preview

We’ll preview Rice football vs UConn on this week’s episode of the Blue and Gray Preview Show, kicking off live on Wednesday on the Rice Athletics YouTube channel.

Update: The Rice Football Blue and Gray Preview Show has been canceled this week because of scheduling conflicts. We’ll be back next week.

Look for a recap of the game on the site afterward as well as on The Roost Podcast, which should be released early next week.

Sizing up the contenders

If Rice football wants to make a bowl game, it’s hard to envision a path to six wins that doesn’t include the Owls winning this game. They still have Navy and Memphis on the schedule after this and haven’t yet played South Florida which could have quarterback Byrum Brown back at some point before they meet up in the season finale. 

UConn is hunting for a bowl berth, too, something they achieved in Year One under Jim more in 2022 but not in either of the previous two seasons. The Huskies have more wiggle room than the Owls do should they lose this game, but getting one win away with four more to go would be reassuring for UConn which ends the season with a road trip to UMass.

Series History

All Time | UConn leads, 1-0
Last Five | UConn leads, 1-0
Last Meeting | Home 2023, UConn won 38-31

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Rice Football Stat Notables

Passing | Warner – 160/263 (60.8 percent), 1573 yards, 10 TD, 9 INT
Rushing | Connors – 74 carries, 472 yards (6.4 yards per carry), 6 TD / Atkins – 24 carries, 158 yards (6.6 yards per carry), 2 TD
Receiving | Sykes – 38 receptions, 452 yards (11.9 yds/rec), 3 TD / Campbell – 21 receptions, 250 yards (11.9 yds/rec), 1 TD / Connors – 41 receptions, 282 yards (6.9 yds/rec), 1 TD
Tackles | Morris – 37, Fresch – 35, Taylor – 34
Pass Breakups | Fresch/Ahoi – 5, Taylor -2 
Interceptions | Flowers/Williams/Mutombo – 1

UConn Stat Notables

Passing | Fagnano – 57/98 (58.2 percent), 999 yards, 11 TD, 3 INT
Rushing | Robinson – 59 carries, 433 yards (7.3 yards per carry), 4 TD / Edwards – 71 carries, 346 yards (4.9 yards per carry), 3 TD
Receiving | Bell – 25 receptions, 534 yards (21.4 yds/rec), 4 TD / Sheffield – 29 receptions, 312 yards (10.8 yds/rec), 2 TD / Gathings – 18 receptions, 174 yards (9.7 yds/rec), 1 TD
Tackles | McDonald – 63, Faumuina-Brown – 54, Dixon-Williams – 32
Pass Breakups | McClean/Barton – 3, McDonald/Faumuina-Brown/Brinson – 2
Interceptions | Five tied with one each

UConn X-Factor | Hit some big plays

UConn, yes UConn, ranks in the Top 10 in the nation in offensive plays from scrimmage of 40+ yards. Widen that scope to plays of 30+ yards or more and this is still a Top 12 team, nationally. The Huskies have been an explosive play factory and it’s helped spur them to some of their biggest wins and keep them in the hunt against a couple of Power Conference opponents, too.

Rice has been vulnerable to the big play this season and more than once escaped it against Tulane than to some dropped passes by Green Wave receivers. Forcing the Owls to play catch up has been the best recipe for success against Rice this season. That’s a formula UConn should be able to replicate if they can get things going with a big play or two early.

Rice X-Factor | Don’t lose the turnover battle

Rice football turned the ball over five times against Tulane and (predictably) lost the game. Yet the crazy reality of that contest was that the game was still winnable with Rice trailing by three in the turnover battle and wasn’t until a backbreaking defensive touchdown scored by Tulane with two minutes left in the game that things were really ever out of reach.

Rice is 2-1 in games this season in which they’ve been at least neutral in turnover margin. Had a last-second field goal against Charlotte gone in instead of out, Rice could very well be sitting at 3-0 in games in which they don’t turn the ball over against their opponents and winless when they do. 

Rice is -2 or worse in that measure in every game they’ve lost this season except the Charlotte game. If they could just hang onto the football and maybe, just maybe, force a turnover or two themselves they should have enough just to win one. 

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One Final Thing

All that’s left to play for this season is a third straight bowl appearance. While admittedly underwhelming considering the expectations this team had before the season, such an accomplishment would in itself be a rarity for this program. It’s a cause worth seeking, no matter how far it deviates from prior aspirations. This isn’t the NFL. You can’t tank for a better draft pick. If you can find a way to win, you gotta win.

There will be plenty of time to adjudicate blame and decipher the failures that have started to accumulate during a frustrating 2024 campaign. But this collection of players and coaches still has something to play for and they’re going to play five more games, regardless of how the first seven have transpired. 

UConn has yet to lose to a non-Power conference team this season. Their only losses came at the hands of Maryland, Duke and Wake Forest, two of which were one-score games. A win over the Huskies would mean something to this team. Hopefully, they can find a way to get it done and buy themselves some hope for one more week. 

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AAC Football 2024: Week 8 Roundup

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AAC Football was back in action this weekend. Here’s the latest from the teams on the gridiron this week.

Team Record  This Week Result Up Next
Army 7-0 (6-0) vs ECU W, 45-28 — OFF —
Charlotte 3-3 (2-1) at Navy L, 51-17 at Memphis
ECU 3-4 (1-2) at Army L, 45-28 vs Temple
FAU 2-3 (0-3) at UTSA L, 38-24 — OFF —
Memphis 6-1 (2-1) vs North Texas W, 52-44 vs Charlotte
Navy 6-0 (4-0) vs Charlotte W, 51-17 vs Notre Dame
North Texas 5-2 (2-1) at Memphis L, 52-44 vs Tulane
Rice 2-5 (1-3) at Tulane L, 24-10 at UConn
Temple 2-5 (1-2) vs Tulsa W, 20-10 at ECU
Tulane 5-2 (3-0) vs Rice W, 24-10 at North Texas
Tulsa 2-5 (0-3) at Temple L, 20-10 vs UTSA
UAB 1-6 (0-4) at USF L, 35-25 — OFF —
USF 3-4 (1-2) vs UAB W, 35-25 — OFF —
UTSA 3-4 (1-2) vs FAU W, 38-24 at Tulsa

Notable Results and Storylines // (Standings)

Memphis holds on

For a team that did not trail from the midpoint of the second quarter onward, it sure felt like Memphis escaped with a win on Saturday evening against North Texas. The Tigers corralled a late on-side attempt and still had to pick off a pass in the endzone with time expiring to close out a win over the Mean Green. Memphis is 6-1, but they haven’t really appeared like the sort of AAC juggernaut many had expected them to be prior to the season.

Tulane survives

Three touchdown favorites, Tulane didn’t expect to find themselves locked in a tied ballgame in the fourth quarter with Rice football. The Owls had their chance, but five turnovers, one of which led to another Tulane defensive touchdown, quelled any real thoughts of an upset. The Green Wave won, and that’s all that will matter down the road.

49ers not for real

One of the more surprising starts to conference play came from Charlotte, who found themselves in the upper third of the conference standings after a 2-0 start in league play which includes victories over Rice and East Carolina, neither of which is a true contender. When faced with a Navy squad with real tenacity on both sides of the ball, Charlotte wilted. Not a surprise, but one less pretender now adorns the top of the standings.

Looking ahead – Key storylines

CFB Playoff meets AAC

One of the marquee games of the upcoming weekend involves an AAC team, albeit not one that many would have expected entering the year. The undefeated Navy Midshipmen head to Metlife Stadium to take on a Notre Dame team that still has College Football Playoff aspirations. However, so does Navy. This one will be must-see TV.

Tulane get’s opposite test

Tulane was tested by the Rice defense a week ago and only escaped thanks to a woeful Rice offense who couldn’t hang on to the ball. Can the Green Wave handle the inverse in a North Texas team that can seemingly score at will but won’t play much defense of any kind?

Save your (post) season

UTSA clearly isn’t going to be challenging for a conference championship this season, but the Roadrunners are still alive for the postseason as they prepare for a road trip to a dismal Tulsa squad. That game takes on adding importance with UTSA’s win over FAU keeping them alive and on a path for a bowl berth. The schedule gets tough down the road, making this a must-win game for the Roadrunners if they want to go bowling.



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Five turnovers doom Rice Football in road loss to Tulane

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Rice Football traded blows with a heavily favored Tulane squad at home before a series of back-breaking turnovers ruined the Owls’ upset bid.

Tied in the fourth quarter, Rice football still managed to lose by multiple scores to an unyielding Tulane team which took advantage of seemingly every mistake the Owls made. Those miscues were, unfortunately, far too many to overcome as Rice fell to 2-5 on the season and 1-3 in AAC play. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game, starting with those stated objectives:

Defense leads the way

In a perfect world, you’d build a super team. The offense would score 100 points a game. The defense wouldn’t allow any. Special teams would ensure a smooth transition back and forth. Voila.

But as any Rice football fan is well aware at this point, we don’t live in that perfect world. And since we don’t the Owls must wrestle with the reality of three phases of football all playing at different levels of competency and consistency. One thing has become abundantly clear is the defense is going to set the tone for the Owls moving forward.

Following a first-drive punt by the offense — which hasn’t scored on its first possession against an FBS opponent this season — the defense quickly engineered a three-and-out, nearly putting points on the board themselves on this crushing sack from Ty Morris on the goal line.

The defense allowed a field goal on a short field following a Rice turnover, but held star Tulane quarterback Darian Mensah to zero passing yards in the first quarter. Mensah wasn’t going to be blanked for a full four quarters, but the redshirt freshman quarterback looked much more like a youngster than the poised distributor who had diced up AAC defenses thus far.

“That’s winning football, what our defense did,” head coach Mike Bloomgren summarized. “The only thing we can ask of our defense to better is create some turnovers. That’s something that we’re emphasizing, it’s something that we’re just not getting done right now and we have to, very simply, to be the team that we want to be. But if we can play with that kind of effort, defensively, we can win a bunch of football games.”

Tulane wideout Mario Williams dropped two surefire touchdown receptions in this game, but sometimes the ball does bounce your way. Two fourth-down stops prove this showing wasn’t a fluke. This defense is very good. If they can take that next step and become truly elite, the shortcomings in other phases can be overcome.

The Green Wave scored 10 points off turnovers. When forced to drive the length of the field, Tulane only mustered 14 points. That should always be good enough to win a college football game. It has to be.

Turnover gremlins can’t be silenced

Turnovers kill. Entering Saturday Rice football had turned the ball over eight times in six games, a rate that put them smack dab in the middle of the AAC, but it sure didn’t feel that way. That’s partly because the Owls’ four turnovers gained are second from last in league play and tied for 120th in the nation. Only one program in America has fewer turnovers against FBS opponents than Rice does: UAB.

Warner’s interception and a fumble by Dean Connors following a long run spoiled an otherwise effective first half. Those mistakes aren’t any more or less excusable by what is (or isn’t) happening on the other side of the ball, but they are felt more deeply when the margins are close like they were on Saturday.

Despite being down two giveaways on the stat sheet, Rice football was absolutely in this game at halftime, trailing 10-7. If the Owls had been neutral in the turnover department it’s hard not to project a tied game at the break, if not swinging things all the way over toward a Rice lead.

Warner’s second INT in the redzone was the most egregious offensive mistake of the afternoon. A veteran quarterback has to understand the situation better and not leave that opportunity without points. Likewise, the Owls’ star position player can’t put the ball on the ground twice. Connors’ second fumble was returned for a touchdown, officially ending any hopes on an upset bid.

Connors fumbled once in his first 220 career carries as a Rice Owl before fumbling twice today. Some of the turnover problems are systemic. Some are variance. The sum total today was overwhelming.

If this team could just get back to neutral in the turnover department, whether by way of fewer offensive mistakes or more defensive help, they’d have a puncher’s chance in most of their games moving forward. Being allergic to such game-changing plays doesn’t make sense, but it’s been a reality at the program for years.

“It’s hard to think you’re gonna win a game with a 5-0 turnover margin,” Bloomgren admitted. “It just doesn’t happen in this game.”

Warner imperfect, but improved

It’s hard to comprehend the degree to which the level of quarterback play Rice football has gotten from EJ Warner has improved over the last two months. His debut against Sam Houston and subsequent rough outings against Houston and Army had most onlookers wondering if this really was the same guy who had led the AAC in passing in each of the last two seasons. He just didn’t look comfortable whatsoever and the offensive production reflected that unease.

The Charlotte game was the first sign of growth. Then it got better against UTSA and was good again on the road against Tulane on Saturday afternoon. Warner had already thrown for more than 100 yards and a touchdown. He started this game 8-for-10 with his only real mistake an interception thrown into traffic.

The pick, along with some less-than-stellar accuracy on throws deep down the field — where most college quarterbacks struggle — provide evidence that there’s more growth needed for Warner and the Rice offense to reach their ceiling. But to have reached a point in the season where the flaws in this offense and in Warner’s game can be nitpicked is, to some degree, stunning.

Warner finished the game 26-for-46 for 271 yards one touchdown and three interceptions. He’s thrown for more than 250 yards in three consecutive games after failing to reach that mark once in his first four with the Owls, including against FCS Texas Southern. Some well-designed offensive playcalling from Marques Tuiasosopo like this jumbo-formation touchdown to Elijah Mojarrow deserve some credit, too:

“He’s seeing things well, He’s delivering the ball well and giving us a real chance,” Bloomgren said, declining to absolve his quarterback of all blame for the turnover-plagued day but noting, probably correctly that Warner “played a whale of a football game” outside of those mistakes, at least one of which Bloomgren attributed to protection issues at first glance.

Warner has grown a lot over the span of seven weeks. If he’s got even a bit more progress in him, he’ll take one more step and clean up those crushing interceptions, one of which came on a garbage time heave. This offense could be punchy in the second half of the season. Needless to say, that development would be massive and might hinge on Warner’s health following an injury suffered on the Owls’ final offensive play.

Where to go from here

Losing to Tulane on the road in a highly competitive game would typically make for a respectable, albeit disappointing, result. One needs to look no further than the complete dismantling UAB underwent against that same Green Wave squad a game prior.

But given the year Rice football has had and just how winnable this contest was makes it hard to argue for that silver lining.

There are no moral victories; this game marked the fifth loss of the season, and the calendar still has yet to reach Halloween. We’re now forced to play the schedule game with a Rice team attempting to tightrope to their third consecutive bowl appearance.

At 2-5, Rice has to beat either Navy or Memphis, who own a combined one loss between them at the time of this writing. If Rice can do that — and that’s a high bar to clear in itself — the Owls can get to the postseason through a perfect run through their other three games: at UConn, at UAB and home against South Florida for the regular season finale.

This team has shown flashes of high-level play over the past three weeks. They have the talent to win a few more games. Whether or not they can win enough is the question at hand. If they are going to make the run they absolutely must take care of business against UConn.

Being at this point in the season which began with such high expectations is crushing, but there’s no rewriting the past now. There’s still a chance. Please, please, please beat UConn.

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Where’d the running game go?

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Rice Football: Behind enemy lines with a Tulane Insider

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Tulane is next up on the 2024 Rice football schedule so we’re going behind enemy lines with Green Waves’ insiders from The Uptown Update.

Our friends from The Uptown Update, a top-notch Tulane podcast were kind enough to stop by and answer a few questions about the upcoming matchup between Rice Football and Tulane. The answers below should shed some light on the Owls’ upcoming opponent.

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Rice Football 2024: Tulane Game Week Practice Report

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Rice football is getting clarity on some injuries and getting to work preparing for Tulane.  Here’s what we learned from the Owls at practice this week.

There were many players in and out of the lineup this week as the rigors of the physicality of the sport have made themselves present within the Rice football roster. This week, that meant a lot of good news including a couple of potential starters the Owls are trending toward having back on the field against Tulane.

However, head coach Mike Bloomgren did disclose an update regarding the trio of receivers the Owls expected to be their top three options entering fall camp: Landon Ransom, Rawson MacNeill and Thai Bowman.

“I don’t know that Landon [Ransom] or Rawson [MacNeill] will play this year,” Bloomgren told The Roost “I do expect Thai to [play].” How does that change the complexion of the receiving corps if two of the Owls’ frontline options are indeed expected to miss the entirety of the 2024 season? And about the other moving parts as the Owls ready for the Green Wave? Here’s where the team stands prior to the Tulane game this weekend.

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And then there were few

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