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Can Scott Pera elevate Rice Basketball? November Q&A

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With football season winding down, Rice basketball was atop your questions for this month’s Q&A, specifically current head coach Scott Pera.

It’s been a tough start for Rice basketball this season, its seventh under the leadership of head coach Scott Pera. The Owls are 1-5 and have yet to finish within 10 points of a D1 team in five tries. Granted, the schedule has been grueling, but nevertheless, frustrations are understandable. This month’s Q&A focuses on Pera’s time at South Main and what’s next for him and the program.

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Q: Is Scott Pera on the hot seat? Should he fired if he has a losing record this year?

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Dominque Ennis, Rice Women’s Basketball drown TSU with threes

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Rice women’s basketball and Dominque Ennis exploded from long range, drowning Texas Southern in threes en route to a lopsided victory.

Rice women’s basketball returned home on Wednesday night in search of a bounce-back win following a disappointing road showing against SFA on Saturday. The Owls fell behind early against Texas Southern 6-2 but quickly composed themselves and fired back, tying the game a few minutes into the first quarter before amping up the intensity even further.

A 14-0 Rice run put the home team in front by double-digits. Texas Southern cut their deficit down to four in the second frame, but Destiny Jackson wasn’t going to allow it to slip any further. She scored 10 of the teams’ 12 points in the final five minutes of the half, propelling the Rice advantage back to 10 points at the half.

Texas Southern opened the third quarter with a free throw to get within nine, but that’s the closest the visitors would come for the remainder of the game. Dominque Ennis caught fire from long range and her teammates continued to get her open looks with the basketball.

Ennis’ career night helped spurt runs of 14-0, 9-0, 16-4 and 11-2. The lead ballooned past 20 midway through the third and Ennis and company just kept pouring it on. Back-to-back threes from Maya Bokunewicz put the Owls ahead by 30, ensuring a comfortable home win, the 700th victory in program history.

“It’s about us. This is an ‘us’ game. We wanted to be playing the best basketball we could be playing today,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said. “It wasn’t about what Texas Southern was doing or what the score was on the scoreboard.”

Final Box | Rice 74 – Texas Southern 44

What They’re Saying

“If feels good to get back in the win column. It feels good to be back at home. I thought we came out with a lot of energy and we saw a lot of energy for the majority of the game. And that’s the team that I know that we can be. That’s the team that we’re working to be every night. When we can play fast and when we can share the basketball the way we did, I think we have a really, really, really good team.” – Head coach Lindsay Edmonds

Key takeaway | Have a day, Dom

On a night without Malia Fisher, Rice women’s basketball was going to need someone else to step up. In some ways the phrase, “step up”, is an overused sports colloquialism, a trope coaches, broadcasters and writers alike lean on to suggest the necessity for a collective effort in the face of adversity.

Seldom does the conveyor really believe that one person will truly rise up and take the burden upon themselves. But that’s exactly what Ennis did on Wednesday night.

Ennis scored a career-high 25 points, connecting on a career-best six three-pointers. Tack on five assists, five boards and four steals and you have one of the most impressive stretches of basketball anyone in this program has produced so far this season.

“I think Dom’s capable of that every night,” Edmonds said. “I feel like Dom’s had a great summer. I feel like her overall confidence in the game has grown so much since last season and so it was kind of like, waiting for it. I think she’s had very solid games this season but this was definitely the breakout game of the season and what our expectations are of what she’s capable of. Very proud of her.”

Up Next: at Texas A&M Corpus Christi (Sat. Dec 2)


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The Roost Podcast | Ep 169 – Rice Football is bowl bound!

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Rice football clinched bowl eligibility, downing the Owls from FAU to secure their sixth win of the season and allow us all to exhale.

The first play was scary, but Rice football responded well and found a way to make sure they scored at least one more point than the visiting Owls to secure back-t0-back bowl trips. The home Owls ground out a win in a game in which they felt like the much better team throughout. We talk through the win and try to make sense of some of the oddities along the way.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 169.

Episode Notes

DCTF

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.

Homefield

We’re thrilled to partner with Homefield Apparel, the premier proprietor of college football clothing. First-time buyers can use the code ROOST for 15% off their order. The Owls hoodie is a personal favorite. So is the brand new Luv-Ya-Owls shirt. Shop the Rice collection or pick up something else (or both)!

Homefield

Patreon

Get exclusive insight on Patreon. Be the first to get the inside scoop on what’s going on with Rice football and stick around for even further analysis. That includes practice updates, analysis and more. Your support matters and makes The Roost better.

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Recapping Rice Football vs FAU

  • AJ Padgett and the Rice offense did just enough
  • The offense is functional, but made a few costly mistakes
  • Just get the ball to Luke McCaffrey and Dean Connors
  • The defense played incredibly well, aside from the first play
  • Rice is going bowling, possibly somewhere tropical?
  • Six wins mattered for this team, and we’re glad they got there

Where can you find us?

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.ri


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Rice Football 2023: NFL Owls Week 12 Roundup

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Rice Football is well represented on 2023 NFL rosters. Here’s the latest from the NFL Owls in action in Week 12.

There are former Rice football players scattered across the NFL. Stay tuned each week for their game results and notables from each player.

Team NFL Owl(s) This Week Result Next Week
Denver Broncos Elijah Garcia (DL) vs Browns W, 29-12 at Texans
Detroit Lions Jack Fox (P) vs Packers (Thr) L, 29-22 at Saints
Indianapolis Colts Kylen Granson (TE) vs Bucs W, 27-20 at Titans
Los Angeles Rams Austin Trammell (WR) at Chargers (SNF) W, 37-14 vs Browns
New England Patriots Calvin Anderson (OL) at Giants L, 10-7 vs Chargers
Pittsburgh Steelers Chris Boswell (PK) at Bengals W, 16-10 vs Cardinals
Seattle Seahawks Myles Adams (DL) vs 49ers (Thr) L, 31-13 vs Cowboys
Tampa Bay Bucs Nick Leverett (OL) at Colts L, 27-20 vs Panthers

Offense

Calvin Anderson – OT, Patriots

Anderson was active but did not play in the Patriots’ Week 12 game against the Giants.

Kylen Granson – TE, Colts

Granson saw a season-high six targets and posted a season-best four receptions on Sunday, accounting for 39 yards in the Colts’ victory over the Bucs.

Nick Leverett – OT, Buccaneers

Leverett was active but did not play in the Bucs’ Week 12 game against the Colts.

Austin Trammell – WR, Rams

Trammell saw only a handful of offensive snaps for the Rams on Sunday, making his contributions instead of special teams, where he returned two punts for 22 total yards.

Defense

Myles Adams – DL, Seahawks

Adams was active for the Seahawks’ Thanksgiving Day game against the 49ers, his first time being active since Week 7. He stepped right into a prominent role on special teams, playing a season-high eight snaps with that unit.

Elijah Garcia – DL, Broncos

Garcia was inactive for the Broncos’ Week 12 game against the Browns.

Special Teams

Jack Fox – P, Lions

Fox punted twice on Thanksgiving Day for 83 yards, with a long of 45 and one of his two balls downed inside the 20.

Chris Boswell – K, Steelers

Boswell did what he does on Sunday, delivering another perfect performance from the field. He drove through all three of his field goal tries and a lone extra point attempt, personally contributing 10 points to a 16-10 victory over the Bengals.

More Owls in the NFL

From practice squads to current free agents, there are other Owls on the cusp of returning to active rosters. Find more detail on current contractual agreements and former Rice football players waiting for their next opportunity here.


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AAC Football 2023: Week 13 Roundup

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AAC Football was back in action this weekend. Here’s the latest from the teams on the gridiron in Week 12.

Team Record  This Week Result Up Next
Charlotte 3-9 (2-6) at USF L, 48-14  —
ECU 2-10 (1-7) vs Tulsa L, 29-27  —
FAU 4-8 (2-6) at Rice L, 24-21  —
Memphis 9-3 (6-2) at Temple (Fri) W, 45-21 Bowl
Navy 5-6 (4-4) at SMU L, 59-14 vs Army
North Texas 5-7 (3-5) vs UAB W, 45-42  —
Rice 6-6 (4-4) vs FAU W, 24-21 Bowl
SMU 10-2 (8-0) vs Navy W, 59-14 at Tulane (AAC Championship)
Temple 3-9 (1-7) vs Memphis (Fri) L, 45-21  —
Tulane 11-1 (8-0) vs UTSA (Fri) W, 29-16 vs SMU (AAC Championship)
Tulsa 4-8 (2-6) at ECU W, 29-27  —
UAB 4-8 (3-5) at North Texas L, 45-42  —
USF 6-6 (4-4) vs Charlotte W, 48-14 Bowl
UTSA 8-4 (7-1) at Tulane (Fri) L, 29-16 Bowl

Notable Results and Storylines // (Standings)

Conference Championship Game Set

SMU and Tulane will meet in the AAC Championship Game next weekend at Yulman Stadium after both teams posted resounding victories in the final weekend of regular season play. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, their win came with a great cost. Starting quarterback Preston Stone had to be carted off the field with an injury and presumably will not be available for the championship game,

Bowl Trip Secured

Rice football hadn’t been to bowl games in consecutive seasons since 2013-2014 until Mike Bloomgren accomplished the feat this season, clinching back-to-back bowl trips for his team with a win over FAU at home. USF also punched it’s postseason ticket on the final week of the regular season, taking down Charlotte.

Where the Media Went Wrong

The Media correctly tabbed the top four finishers in the preseason, albeit in a slightly different order with SMU (preseason No. 3) edging UTSA (preseason No. 2) out for the championship game berth. Having Temple, Tulsa and Charlotte in the bottom five proved to be correct as well.

The biggest surprises? Rice and USF. Picked to finish 12th, the Owls will finish sixth in the league, seven spots higher than projected. USF was the preseason No. 13 team. They’ll finish fifth in Alex Golesh’s first season at the helm. Their rise coincides with the falls of FAU and ECU, who were tabbed fifth and sixth only to finish 10th and 14th, respectively.


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