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2019 Forward Ben Moffat commits to Owls

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Head Coach Scott Pera and Rice basketball have picked up a commitment from 2019 forward Ben Moffat, a priority walk-on from Wichita Falls, Tx.

The football season is quickly approaching but that hasn’t given Rice basketball head coach Scott Pera any time to rest. The Owls have only recently returned from a tour of Spain in which they won three exhibition games, including a victory over NBA star Ricky Rubio. It didn’t take Pera long after coming back to the states to start adding to his 2019 recruiting class.

Ben Moffatt, a 6-foot-8 forward from Rider High School in Wichita Falls, Tx announced his decision in favor of the Owls on Twitter on Tuesday evening.

https://twitter.com/ben__moffat/status/1032036393692934148

Moffat asserted the decision to commit to Rice was “an easy choice” to make. He pointed at the stellar academic reputation combined with a supportive community. “The coaches stress the importance of being involved with the Rice fans and the campus community,” Moffat said. He’s ready to join that community and willing to work hard for his spot on the court.

Rather than playing under an athletic scholarship, Moffat will be a priority walk-on for the Owls next season. That’s a challenge he’s ready to face. “Every player has to work hard,” Moffat explained, “but as a  walk-on, I’ll need to work harder than anybody else. I need to be the first one at practice and the last one to leave, and that’s something I’m prepared to do.

Last season Moffat averaged 8.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks. He has his eyes set on improving each of those numbers his senior year before joining the Owls in 2019. Hopefully alongside a recruiting class that has several spots still to be filled before the class is complete.

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2018 FIU Panthers Season Preview

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Rice football dropped a close game to Florida International in Houston last season. Can they rebound with a win over the Panthers on the road in 2018?

Florida International is coming off one of the most successful seasons in school history. The Panthers tied a school-best eight wins in 2017 under the leadership of new head coach Butch Davis. Davis has now had eight wins in four consecutive seasons.

Once the head man at Miami and later North Carolina, Davis brought a career 64.8 winning percentage to FIU. That average, when applied to an entire season, comes out to roughly to eight wins per year. That was more or less the standard for Davis before he landed at FIU. He has two sub-.500 seasons in his head coaching career.

Eight wins won’t be enough at most Power 5 schools, but FIU welcomes the improvement. The Panthers were 4-1 in one-score games a year ago, including a 17-10 win over Rice in Houston.

The 2018 FIU squad has a lot of similar pieces. Here’s how the Panthers stack up this season.

Offense

FIU finished in the middle of the pack in Conference USA in terms of total offense averaging 25.6 points per game. The bulk of their 41 total touchdowns were generated by dual-threat quarterback Alex McGough, who leaves the school No. 2 in all-time passing yardage.

McGough threw for a personal best 2,798 passing yards last season, adding 17 touchdowns through the air and five more on the ground. Additional losses for the Panthers are star wide receiver Thomas Owens and starting running back Alex Gardner. Both players were yardage and touchdown leaders at their respective positions.

Although they have several holes to fill, the bulk of the depth returns in 2018. FIU brings back four receivers who caught 20 or more passes last year led Austin Maloney.

The Panthers are equally equipped on the ground. Napoleon Maxwell and Shawndarrius Phillips combined for 185 carries, 972 rushing yards and nine touchdowns last season. They’ll be able to split the rushing duties behind one of the most experienced offensive lines in college football. The Panthers return every starter up front led by All-CUSA guard Jordan Budwig.

If sophomore quarterback James Morgan, a transfer from Bowling Green, can be effective this unit will be one of the better squads in Conference USA.

Defense

The FIU defense doesn’t enter 2018 in as good of a position as the offense. The top four and seven of the top nine leading tacklers are not returning this year, leaving fairly significant questions at every level of the defense.

The biggest unknown lies in the defensive backfield. FIU finished 13th in CUSA against the pass last season, allowing a staggering 65.3 completion percentage. Not a single player who registered an interception for FIU returns and the only meaningful addition is Rutgers grad transfer Kiy Hester at free safety. Hester registered three picks for the Scarlet Knights.

An improved pass rush might be the best recipe for improvement on the back line and that’s something that could be possible this season. An infusion of talent is inbound in the form of Georgia Tech transfer Jordan Wood and 4-star JUCO defensive tackle Tayland Humphrey. The talent was impressive enough that last year’s leader along the defensive line, Fermin Silva has been freed up to play linebacker.

Silva will pair up with returning starter Sage Lewis. Those two finished first and third on the team in quarterback hurries last season and combined for seven tackles for a loss and 12 sacks.

Schedule

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5 Days: Owls remain a perfect 5-0 against Alabama and Auburn

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Rice football is undefeated against two of the most successful program in the history of college football, the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Auburn Tigers.

The SEC gets an abundance of respect for their year in and year out dominance. The Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers have won six out of the last nine national titles. That’s an impressive feat, but there is one thing neither of those schools has yet to accomplish – beat Rice.

This isn’t a half-truth and Rice hasn’t survived the SEC juggernauts by avoiding them entirely. The Owls have played Alabama three times and Auburn twice, with all five games ending in Rice victories.

Rice first played Alabama in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day 1954. The Crimson Tide had climbed as high as No. 5 in the polls that season, but Rice set them packing, emphatically. After allowing a first quarter touchdown, the Owls outscored the Tide 28-0 over the final three quarters. Dicky Moegle was the star, ripping off a pair of long touchdown runs of 79-yards and 95-yards, respectively.

The remainder of the meetings with both SEC foes came in regular season affairs. Rice beat Alabama again the following season in 1955 by a score of 20-0 and again in 1956, 20-13. All-time. Rice has outscored Alabama 68-19. Not many schools hold an advantage that significant in any margin against a team with such a storied history.

Auburn didn’t’ fair much better against Rice. Their pair of games came in back-to-back seasons. In 1937 the Owls won 13-7 before winning again in 1938 by a score of 14-0.

Rice has perfect records over 23 institutions. The inclusion of programs like the Virginia Military Institute, Centenary and Hardin Simmons on that list isn’t surprising. A perfect record against Alabama and Auburn and Colorado, Georgia, Washington and West Virginia for good measure) is a sweet slice of history for Rice football.

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2018 UTSA Roadrunners Season Preview

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Rice football will break a deadlock in their all-time series with UTSA in 2018. The Owls and Roadrunners have picked up three wins apiece in their first six matchups.

UTSA enters their seventh season with a D1 football team in 2018 and its third under head coach Frank Wilson. The Roadrunners have been moderately successful in their short time with a football program, averaging a hair shy of six wins per season.

Wilson guided his program to a 6-5 finish last season but the Roadrunners sat at home during bowl season. UTSA was one of only a handful of six-win teams that didn’t go bowling, an unfortunate set of circumstances for a program still seeking its first-ever bowl win.

After one season in the WAC, UTSA joined Conference USA where they began an annual game with Rice. The Owls and Roadrunners have met six times on the gridiron with the series tied 3-3. UTSA won in 2017, can they repeat on the road in 2018?

Offense

The biggest question facing the Roadrunners in 2018 revolves around the starting quarterback position. Dalton Strum (5,768 career passing yards) leaves San Antonio with a gaping hole to fill at quarterback and not a lot of options behind him.

Graduate transfer DJ Gillens, JUCO transfer Cordale Grundy and true freshman Jordan Weeks comprise a three-man competition to be the next signal caller. None offer any form of meaningful experience and any of them could have the job come midseason.

The offensive line has three starters to replace and the Roadrunners will be without their top three receiving options. That will put the weight of the offense on the shoulders of junior running back Jalen Rhodes. The 5-foot-9, 200-pound tailback from Rowlett, Texas was the most productive back last season, averaging 4.9 yards per carry on 134 carries, gaining 690 yards and scoring five touchdowns.

UTSA finished third in Conference USA in rushing offense, averaging 184.6 yards per game on the ground. They were able to accomplish that despite finishing 10th in rush attempts and 13th in total touchdowns. It didn’t take volume for the Roadrunners to find success on the ground in 2017, making an increased workload for Rhodes troublesome for UTSA’s opponents.

The receiving corps remains a shot in the dark. Freshman Tykee Ogle-Kellog will be in the mix, as will upperclassmen wideouts Treyvion Shannon and Greg Campbell Jr. Whoever steps up over the start of the season will earn himself the lion’s share of opportunities through the air.

Defense

UTSA was one of the better defenses in Conference USA a year ago. So good, that even Nick Saban took notice. The head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide swooped in to hire Pete Doling, the Roadrunners’ defensive coordinator as the co-defensive coordinator in Tuscaloosa. Filling in behind him will be linebackers coach Jason Rollins. 2018 will be his first year as a defensive coordinator in his coaching career.

On the field, this unit loses Marcus Davenport, a first-round pick of the New Orleans Saints this offseason, but should still be plenty deep in 2018. Filling in behind Davenport are Kevin Strong and Solomon Wise. Neither of those players holds a candle to Davenport’s dominance, but the combination should be enough to keep the pressure on the passer in his stead.

Backing up the new edge rushers is a linebacker unit that also has a major hole to fill. 2017 leading tackler La’Kel Bass is gone, but a fully healthy Josiah Tauaefa could make for an even better piece for UTSA to build around. Tauaefa set the school record with 115 tackles in 2016 and player sparing last season as he battled with injuries.

The secondary won’t have many new faces this year, but several role players will be asked to do more than they’ve done before this season. Corner Stanley Dye Jr. and Clayton Johnson are both upperclassmen, but the duo combined for just 10 tackles last season. Sophomore Javontavius Mosley will also be in the mix.

Schedule

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2018 Preseason Giveaway

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Who doesn’t love free stuff? Give us a follow on Twitter and enter to win this slick shirt!

 

 

 

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