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Rice Football 2023: NFL Owls Week 13 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 13.

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) at Texans L, 22-17 at Chargers
Detroit Lions Jack Fox (P) at Saints W, 33-28 at Bears
Indianapolis Colts Kylen Granson (TE) at Titans W, 31-28 (OT) at Bengals
Los Angeles Rams Austin Trammell (WR) vs Browns W, 36-19 at Ravens
New England Patriots Calvin Anderson (OL) vs Chargers L, 6-0 at Steelers (TNF)
Pittsburgh Steelers Chris Boswell (PK) vs Cardinals L, 24-10 vs Patriots (TNF)
Seattle Seahawks Myles Adams (DL) vs Cowboys L, 41-35 at 49ers
Tampa Bay Bucs Nick Leverett (OL) vs Panthers W, 21-18 at Falcons

Offense

Calvin Anderson – OT, Patriots

Anderson was active but did not play in the Patriots’ Week 13 game against the Chargers.

Kylen Granson – TE, Colts

Granson was busy again on Sunday, hauling in three passes for 72 yards, a career high. He also added one rush for two yards.

Nick Leverett – OT, Buccaneers

Leverett got onto the field with the special teams unit again this week, his third time working with that phase this season.

Austin Trammell – WR, Rams

Trammell saw action on special teams again this week, returning one kick for eight yards and two punts for 15 yards.

Defense

Myles Adams – DL, Seahawks

Adams was inactive for the Seahawks’ Weel 13 game against the Cowboys.

Elijah Garcia – DL, Broncos

Garcia was inactive for the Broncos’ Week 13 game against the Texans.

Special Teams

Jack Fox – P, Lions

Fox punted five times on Sunday, averaging a booming 50.8 yards per punt including a long of 60 yards. The Lions needed every kick, narrowly edging out the saints by five points on the road.

Chris Boswell – K, Steelers

Boswell missed just his second field goal of the season on Sunday, this time from 45 yards. He made his other try and added an extra point. The Steelers lost by 10.

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: Bowl Notes, Championship Game

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SMU has won the 2023 AAC football championship. Now six teams venture on to bowl season, with the first game fast approaching.

Matchups have been announced for the bowl season following plenty of drama and chaos along the way. Here are the reported pairings as of early Sunday evening:

Team Opponent Bowl Time Date
UTSA Marshall Frisco 9:00 pm ET Dec. 19
USF Syracuse Boca Raton 8:00 pm ET Dec. 21
Rice Texas State SERVPRO First Responder’s Bowl 5:30 pm ET Dec. 26
Tulane Virginia Tech Military 2:00 pm ET Dec. 27
SMU* Boston College Fenway 11:00 am ET Dec. 28
Memphis Iowa State Liberty 3:30 pm ET Dec. 29
*Won Conference USA Football Championship Game

AAC Football Championship results – Standings

SMU handled Tulane rather comfortably on Friday night, securing the AAC Conference Championship in their final season in the league before departing for the ACC next year. What was even more impressive than the final score was how comfortable they looked with their backup quarterback leading the offense with Preston Stone sidelined.

New Year’s Six Drama

SMU was snubbed for the G5 spot in the New Year’s Six in favor of an undefeated Liberty team, a fate few would have anticipated for the American Champion, regardless of who took home the title. Commission Mike Aresco did not mince words in his rebuttal, calling the decision “disappointing”.

Here are his full comments:

Coaching Changes

So far, there has only been one coaching change in the AAC this offseason. Tulane’s Willie Fritz will reportedly be the next head coach at the University of Houston. Other than that, the remainder of the league’s coaches are set to return for another season. The league did have a large portion of first-year coaches this season, but even still, to only have one coaching change in a conference this big seems uncommon.

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Rice Football to play Texas State in SERVPRO First Responder’s Bowl

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Rice football is going bowling. The Owls have been tabbed to face Texas State in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl.

Rice Football returns to the postseason for the second time in as many years under head coach Mike Bloomgren. This time though, the Owls didn’t sneak in as a five-win team. Rice secured bowl eligibility with a sixth win in their regular season finale over Florida Atlantic, setting the stage for their next game which will come in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl against Texas State.

The SERVPRO First Responder Bowl is played on Saturday, December 26 at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Unversity Park, Texas. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

Head coach Mike Bloomgren issued this statement following the announcement:

“Our players cannot wait to get to Dallas and experience all the First Responder Bowl has to offer. After the Lending Tree Bowl last December, they came to work every day over the last year with the mindset to not only return to a bowl, but to come home as champions. That determination drove them to close the season with wins in our last two games to earn this opportunity and I know will continue as we prepare for Texas State.”

Rice and Texas State have met four times, but it’s been a while since the two Texas-based programs have played. Rice won the most recent game 38-28 in Houston in 1987.

Memphis defeated Utah State in last year’s SERVPRO First Responder Bowl. Air Force, Louisiana and Western Kentucky are the most recent winners since SERVPRO took over the sponsorship rights. The bowl had previously been played under the following names: Heart of Dallas Bowl and TicketCity Bowl.

Rice Football Bowl History

Rice has played in 13 bowl games in program history and holds a postseason record of 7-6. Rice went 3-1 in four bowl games under previous head coach David Bailiff and is 0-1 under Mike Bloomgren.

Season Bowl Opponent Result
1937 Cotton Bowl Classic Colorado W, 28–14
1946 Orange Bowl Tennessee W, 8–0
1949 Cotton Bowl Classic North Carolina W, 27–13
1953 Cotton Bowl Classic Alabama W, 28–6
1957 Cotton Bowl Classic Navy L, 7–20
1960 Sugar Bowl Ole Miss L, 6–14
1961 Bluebonnet Bowl Kansas L, 7–33
2006 New Orleans Bowl Troy L, 17–41
2008 Texas Bowl Western Michigan W, 38–14
2012 Armed Forces Bowl Air Force W, 33–14
2013 Liberty Bowl Mississippi State L, 7–44
2014 Hawaii Bowl Fresno State W, 30–6
2022 Lending Tree Bowl Southern Miss L, 38–24

Rice Football vs Texas State history

Season Location Result
1920 Houston, TX W, 48-0
1923 Houston, TX L, 19-16
1986 Houston, TX L, 31-6
1987 Houston, TX W, 38-28

Make sure you’re subscribed to The Roost on Patreon for breakdowns of the matchup, practice reports and more as the 2023 Rice Football season marches onward for a few more weeks.

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Rice Women’s Basketball rolls past TAMU-CC on the road

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Rice women’s basketball started fast and never let up, rolling past Texas A&M Corpus Christi on the road to improve to 5-3 on the season.

Before Texas A&M Corpus Christi had exhaled from the opening tip, Rice women’s basketball had a 9-0 lead. The visiting Owls wasted no time announcing their presence on the Islanders’ court, jumping out in front quickly thanks to the return of Malia Fisher and well-placed shots from Dominque Ennis and Shelby Hayes.

Staked to a near-double-digit lead, Rice expanded their cushion in the second quarter in which they shot 67 percent from the field including a trio of three-pointers. That lengthened the Owls’ advantage over the Islanders by a ten spot and sent Rice into halftime with a 56-28 advantage.

Both teams traded baskets after the break, but the result of the game was never really in doubt thanks to the Owls’ tremendous opening effort. Not only did Rice never trail in this game, they spent the majority of the second half with the game well out of reach. It was a dominant effort away from home and an extremely encouraging showing near the midway point of nonconference play.

Final Box | Rice 84 – Texas A&M Corpus Christi 56

Key takeaway | Winning away from home

The road had not been kind to Rice Women’s Basketball in this young season. The Owls sludged through a victory at Abilene Chrisitan in their first game away from Tudor Fieldhouse before dropping successive away contests, the first at TCU and the second at SFA.

This is a very similar team to the one that went undefeated in nonconference play a season ago, so the ability to win away from home is clearly there, but for whatever reason, it wasn’t clicking. Saturday’s performance against Texas A&M Corpus Christi served as a powerful reminder that the Owls still have what it takes to go into someone else’s gym and walk away with a win.

As cliched as it is, winning on the road is hard. The Owls were effective on offense, rebounded well and made their free throws. The defense was stingy, too. It wasn’t a perfect performance, but it was a respectable one and one that will be good enough to get the job done, more often than not.

Up Next: vs Gonzaga (Sat. Dec 9)

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Travis Evee makes history as Rice Basketball blasts UT Martin

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Rice basketball rebounded from a tough road trip with a lopsided home victory over UT Martin, capped off by a record-setting shot from Travis Evee.

Returning home from a disappointing road trip, Rice basketball reentered Tudor Field house in need of a jolt. It had been a minute since the Owls started a game with superb play on both sides of the court. They did just that in their homecoming after their recent road trip, roaring out to a 34-13 first half lead against UT Martin in just over 11 minutes of action.

Rice shot the ball incredibly well and defended with gusto. UT Martin converted just five of their first 17 shots from the field. Rice went 14-for-22. Everything was coming up Owls in a game that had all the makings of a romp.

The blowout was averted late in the first half when UT Martin was gifted too many open looks from three and converted four long range shots in the final nine minutes, slashing the sizable Rice advantage to 10 points at the break.

The lead shrunk to nine points in the opening moments of the second half before the Owls exploded with a 14-0 run to blow the game wide open. And if the 23-point advantage wasn’t enough, Travie Evee delivered the exclamation point with his 253th career three, a program record.

“It’s a heck of an accomplishment. Not only is he breaking it now, he’s about to put a lot of separation between him and whoever is going to try and beat him next,” head coach Scott Pera said. “It’s really cool.”

The bounce-back win won’t fix all woes, but it did provide this team with momentum and belief they desperately needed to be restored. Perhaps what happened in Vegas will stay in Vegas after all. This rejuvenated version of Rice basketball was decidedly more effective.

“Tonight was the first time Rice basketball played like we think we’re capable of,” Pera said with a sigh of relief. “I’m proud of the guys.”

Final Box | Rice 98 – UT Martin 78

What They’re Saying

“I thought for first time all year we executed the game plan defensive to the best of our ability and it made a huge difference… we played team defense. We rebounded. We held them to 40 percent shooting. They’re a very good team. They’re going to win 20 games. They’re going to compete for their league title. I’m just really proud of our guys” – Head coach Scott Pera

Key takeaway | Keep tinkering

Through seven games, Rice basketball has yet to settle into a consistent starting five. Considering how head coach Scott Pera has operated in the past, that’s somewhat unexpected. Part of the reason for the lack of consistency in the lineups has been a lack of production in the games. If the same five had been played at a high level, there would be no need for the changeups, instead the Owls press on.

Thursday’s newest wrinkle was the insertion of Alem Husenivoc into the starting lineup for his first start this season. He delivered with a season-high 11 points on a season-high 26 minutes played.

“Alem has done a terrific job of growing into a leader, being all about the right things. This was an easy decision actually, for me, because he is deserving of starting,” Pera said.

Whether Husenovic sticks in the starting five remains to be seen. Pera noted he challenges all of his guys to earn that spot and play well enough to keep it. No matter the rotation, though, Rice found something tonight that worked. With no set return date for forward Cam Sheffield, they’ll need to continue to find a way to gel with the pieces they do have on the court. Thursday was evidence the ceiling can be pretty high.

Up Next: vs Houston Christian – Dec. 2 (Sat.)

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