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Rice Women’s Basketball splits at Cancun Challenge

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Rice Women’s basketball split their two-game set at the Cancun Challenge, falling to BYU in the opener before blasting Vermont in the second game.

BYU 63, Rice 51

The Story

Rice got off to a strong start, opening up a 12-5 first quarter lead as BYU struggled to find its footing. The Cougars woke up and finished the half on a 26-10 run, opening up a gap the Owls would be unable to close. BYU would lead by as many as 17 points, comfortably holding on to the lead with the exception of a brief third quarter rally from Rice to get back within seven.

Rice 79, Vermont 57

The Story

Vermont jumped out to an early lead in this one but it was the Owls’ turn to turn up the intensity on offense. Rice rallied from a five-point first quarter deficit to take a six point lead at half. Then they opened the floodgates, exploding for a 16-0 run in the third quarter to bury the Catamounts. The Owls led by as many as 28 points, cruising to a big win to close out their trip to Cancun.

What We Learned

It was truly a tale of two games. In the opener against BYU, Rice women’s basketball endured their worst shooting performance of the season. They followed it up with their best shooting day from the floor. The contrast between these two games serves as a fitting reminder of the team’s volatility and the growth needed for the Owls to reach the level of a premier program.

At their best, Rice women’s basketball is capable of competing with many top teams. The key challenge now is finding consistency and building on those strong performances. While this may seem like nitpicking, it’s the standard that has been set by head coach Lindsay Edmonds, who continues to hold her program to high expectations.

“I’ve known all season that we were capable of hitting the three at a very high volume and just been waiting for it to happen,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said following the Vermont win. “For us to be able to come out here tonight after what happened last night and have the focus to put the ball in the hole, probably when we needed it the most.”

Last year’s AAC Tournament run was proof the version of the Owls that showed up against Vermont could show up four days in a row. The next step might be finding the version of this team that played against Houston and being that team every single day. Rice didn’t shoot the lights out in that game, but they played well. The defense was consistent and strong.

The defense has been solid. The shooting has ebbed and flowed. To some extent, that’s basketball, but the Owls would probably tell you they’ve left points on the court they should have knocked down.

If Rice can make that strong version of itself the floor. They’re going to be really hard to beat. They don’t need to be the team that smacked Vermont every day — although that’s always within the range of outcomes. They need to be the team that has less off days and consistently does the little things well. And then they get to add Malia Fisher back to the mix in the coming weeks.

That’s the recipe for success this season.

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Rice Football: Behind enemy lines with a USF Insider

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USF is next up on the 2024 Rice football schedule so we’re going behind enemy lines with Bulls’ insider Seth Varnadore from the Bay Area Examiner.

Bulls’ insider Seth Varnadore was kind enough to stop by and answer a few questions about the upcoming matchup between Rice Football and USF. The answers below should shed some light on the Owls’ upcoming opponent.

For those checking in for the first time, or those returning, a quick programming note. Special features like this are reserved for our subscribers. Have questions? You can get those answered in our monthly Q&As and get access to all practice notes, recruiting updates and features like this one when you subscribe on Patreon today.

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“I Know the Road Map”: Rice Football head coach Scott Abell makes strong debut

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Scott Abell has officially been named the next Rice Football head coach and while he’s new to the job, he doesn’t feel like he’s starting over.

Donning a cowboy hat for the first time, a gift from an enthusiastic supporter, newly appointed Rice football head coach Scott Abell never allowed his confident demeanor to waiver during his introductory press conference on Wednesday afternoon. While he’s new to the state, the Owls headman has an understanding of the program he’s inheriting. In his eyes, he’s seen this rodeo before.

“This is my strength. I’ve witnessed this,” he said. “I’ve walked this walk for seven years.”

Rice hired Abell from Davidson, a high-academic institution in North Carolina with a striking number of similarities to Rice. Like Rice, Davidson competes in what Abell called “a league that wasn’t like us,” in the midst of other institutions which didn’t face the same academic hurdles.

“He has a proven track record of success at multiple places where it has historically been difficult to win. He is a program builder who has established and maintained a winning culture at every step of his illustrious career,” Athletic Director Tommy McClelland said during his introductory remarks.

“This is my strength.
I’ve witnessed this.
I’ve walked this walk.”

Davidson, like Rice, had also been a place where it was historically hard to win. Both programs sit below .500 all-time in their football records. Abell left Davidson as the winningest coach in program history, pushing his winning clip past .600 with room to spare. He knows what it’s like to win at a place that’s hard to win.

And given those constraints, Abell’s operated under the assumption that places like that have to look at things from a different vantage point.

“You can’t do what everyone else does. You have to do something a little unique and you have to be specific about it,” he said. “And that’s really what we’ll bring here, offensively. It gets a lot of people involved. It’s exciting to watch. We typically score a lot of points. That’s not the goal. The goal is to win football games. And the offense will allow us to control aspects of the game that way.”

Roost Pod: Rice Football hires Scott Abell as its next head coach

Abell was speaking about his offensive scheme, a gun option system that draws influence from the triple option, zone read and run-pass option concepts that have grown and developed in the sport over time. It’s fast-paced, explosive and has allowed his teams to lead Division I in rushing “virtually every year,” a mark Abell quickly corrected to be six of the previous seven seasons.

His next task will be doing performing that resuscitation for Rice football. McClelland, the man who has tasked Abell with this work, has full confidence that Abell can indeed do it again.

“Winning is not easy. It does not matter where you are, it is hard,” McClelland said. “Winning consistently and at multiple places and at multiple levels is not a fluke.”

And so a new chapter in Rice football history begins. When Abell arrived at Davidson, the Wildcats hadn’t beaten a Division I opponent in almost five years. The cupboard isn’t quite that bare at South Main and thus, the expectations are elevated, albeit fairly reasonable.

Abell expects his team will “play high caliber football” in Year One. “I expect us to win football games. And as we get into the season we’re gonna challenge to compete at the top of our conference,” he said.”

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Those games are more than nine months away. First, Abell has to build a staff, sign a recruiting class and do so many other things to ensure Rice football begins his tenure on the right foot. The good news for Abell? He doesn’t feel like he’s starting from scratch.

“I know the roadmap. I’ve seen this happen,” Abell said. “We’ve been able to dream and accomplish things where really people didn’t think it was possible.”

“Knowing that I understood that road map. Understanding the uniqueness that comes with Rice football, where we fit in our conference. I just thought it was an ideal fit for Scott Abell.”

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Rice Football 2024: USF presser quotes and depth chart

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Next up for Rice football: South Florida. Here’s what interim head coach Pete Alamar had to say about the matchup and a few depth chart notes.

Interim head coach Pete Alamar and a set of players met with the media for their customary weekly availability. They recapped the UAB game and then looked ahead at their upcoming matchup with South Florida. Additionally, it was announced that defensive coordinator Brian Smith was named a finalist for the Broyles Award, given annually to the nation’s top assistant.

More: Rice Football to name Scott Abell 20th head coach

We touch on those items, then dig into the Rice football depth chart and what the team looks like heading into the weekend. First, the quotes:

Press Conference Quotes

This week’s Senior Day. Not only is the last home game, but it’s out last game. There’s going to be a large group of seniors who are going to play the last football that they’ll ever play in their life… This game is a great game but at some point the game tells you its time to put your helmet up and you don’t get the chance to do it again. – Interim head coach Pete Alamar on Senior Day

The last five weeks have been freaking awesome. I mean, it was a tough situation, you come in and replace a very good friend, but the opportunity to lead the guys that are in this program, to have a staff that has worked as hard as our staff, has been really cool. When you do something for 40 years, you build a lot of memories, but the last five weeks of memories will far outshine so many other ones. – Interim head coach Pete Alamar on his experience as interim head coach

Obviously there’s a lot surrounding, but here’s the thing. You gotta look at where we’re at. We’re the 2024 Rice Owls. Anything that’s going around right now has to do with the 2025 and beyond Rice Owls. We need to compartmentalize that and remember that it’s our family. We’re going to talk about that today and how to deal with that and handle that… We’re going to quiet the noise and just go play and we’re going to enjoy every minute of it. Because you only get so many shots. – Interim head coach Pete Alamar on the noise surrounding the program right now

Love the process because results come and go. You can get discouraged if you put in all the work and you might not get the result, but the process is where you find the joy and it’s where you build the memories. It’s where you build the brotherhood that you’re going to have for the rest of your life. It teaches you the necessary lessons that you have to learn like showing up every single day, working together for a cause. Enjoying the process, what goes into the winning, is going to help you in all aspects of life. – Linebacker Chike Anigbogu on his advice to future Owls

It’s not just another game. I mean, it’s the last football game you might ever play. [You have to] make sure that you leave it all out on the field, leaving nothing behind, but definitely not changing up your process. There’s a reason we’ve all gotten to this point that we’re out now and if you try and change things up that usually doesn’t go well, so just continue with what you do but realizing that this game means a lot to a lot of people.- Running back Dean Connors on Senior Day

Depth Chart

Depth Chart Notes

There were no changes to the two-deep this week. If you haven’t yet, this is a good reminder to subscribe on Patreon to get access to our notes later in the week pertaining to Saturday availability, the coaching search and more.

And in case you haven’t heard… Rice football has a new head coach! We broke the news here and reacted on the podcast here.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 193 – Rice Football hires Scott Abell

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Rice Football has a new head coach! The Owls went off the board a bit, nabbing Scott Abell from Davidson and bringing is gun option scheme to South Main.

It’s time for Rice football to zig while others zag. The Owls are hiring Scott Abell from Davidson who has extensive experience running a gun option scheme that has been near the tops of the nation in rushing success for the past several seasons. What will that look like at Rice and how do we feel about this hire? Spoiler alert: it’s an exciting swing we think is worth taking.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 193.

Episode Notes

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The Roost Podcast is now part of the Dave Campbell’s Republic of Football Podcast Network. You’ll still get the same content with the same hosts, but now under the DCTF banner.

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Rice Football hires Scott Abell

  • Discord members were in the know first, susbcribe today!
  • Who is Scott Abell and why is Rice hiring him?
  • Abell’s offensive scheme
  • Experience at Davidson and it’s comp to Rice football
  • Evaluating the hire and what it means for the trajectory of the program

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The Roost Podcast is part of the Dave Campbell’s Republic of Football Podcast Network. You can find this podcast and all of our partner podcasts on Apple, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.

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