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Rice Football: Behind enemy lines with an SMU Insider

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SMU is next up on the 2023 Rice football schedule so we’re going behind enemy lines with Mustangs’ insider Billy Embody from On3.

Mustangs insider Billy Embody from On3 was kind enough to stop by and answer a few questions about the upcoming matchup between Rice Football and SMU. The answers below should shed some light on the Owls’ upcoming opponent.

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Rice Football 2023: SMU presser quotes and depth chart

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Rice football hosts SMU this week. Here’s what Mike Bloomgren had to say about the matchup at hand and a few depth chart notes.

Head coach Mike Bloomgren and a set of players met with the media for their customary weekly availability. They recapped the Tulane game and looked ahead at their upcoming matchup with SMU.

Listen Now: The Roost Pod – Breaking down Rice Football vs UConn

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

“Having watched the film, I really think what we talked about after the game was exactly right. I couldn’t be more proud of our response after halftime, the way we played in that third quarter. Unfortunately we dug ourselves a pretty big hole against the defending conference champs. We battled and battled and we came up short.”– Mike Bloomgren on the Tulane game

“They’re lighting up the scoreboard and they’re not allowing many points to be scored against them. That’s the thing that’s most evident right now. You look at their last couple games, I think they’ve given up 10 points and scored a ton. They’re a very talented, athletic group, really in all phases.” – Mike Bloomgren on SMU

“ I think it’s important more than ever to focus on us and the things that win football games and what that looks like going forward. That was the challenge to the team, understading how talented we are and how we have everything we need in this team meeting room. I still believe the Rice Owls are the only team that can beat the Rice Owls, and there’s a lot of comfort in that as we go out and work.” – Mike Bloomgren on his team’s mentality

“My grandfather played center for them back in the 70’s. My great-grandfather was part of their four-horseman with Doak Walker. I definitely have a lot of Ponies in my family and there was a lot of pressure for me when I was getting recruited to be a Pony, but that just makes this game more exciting. I’m trying to get my grandpa to come out to the game. He’ll be in the stands” – Tight end Jack Bradley on his family connections to the SMU program

“[SMU] was my first offer and then Rice came along and offered me and I committed to Rice. One of the first things that I said to my pops was that I wish we played SMU. Three or four years later, we finally got the chance so it’s time to ball.” – Safety Plae Wyatt on SMU

Depth Chart

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Depth Chart Notes

The injury to Josh Pearcy, who’s status is currently unknown for this coming weekend, provided an opportunity to update the depth chart along the defensive line. Demone Green is now listed as the backup rush end, behind Pearcy, after spending much of the season to this point backing up Coleman Coco at defensive end.

Additionally, Michael Larbie has pushed in front of Elroyal Morris at defensive tackle. Larbie had a big sack against Tulane this past weekend. Rounding out the changes was the promotion of Jordan Campbell onto the depth chart behind Coco. Campbell has been used as a situational pass rusher for a few weeks now and should continue to see some run.

How that group is utilized this weekend will depend, in large part, on the availability of Pearcy. We’ll have more updates on his status and other plans for Saturday on Thursday with our practice report, reserved for subscribers.

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Rice Football 2023: NFL Owls Week 8 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 8.

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) Week 8 Result Week 9
Denver Broncos Elijah Garcia (DL) vs Chiefs W, 24-9 vs Chiefs
Detroit Lions Jack Fox (P) vs Raiders W, 26-14 vs Raiders (MNF)
Indianapolis Colts Kylen Granson (TE) vs Saints L, 38-27 vs Saints
Los Angeles Rams Austin Trammell (WR) at Cowboys L, 43-20 vs Cowboys
New England Patriots Calvin Anderson (OL) vs Dolphins L, 31-17 at Dolphins
Pittsburgh Steelers Chris Boswell (PK) vs Jaguars L, 20-10 vs Jaguars
Seattle Seahawks Myles Adams (DL) vs Browns W, 24-20 vs Browns
Tampa Bay Bucs Nick Leverett (OL) at Bills L, 24-18 at Bills (TNF)

Offense

Calvin Anderson – OT, Patriots

Anderson was inactive for the Patriots’ Week 8 loss to the Dolphins.

Kylen Granson – TE, Colts

Granson was not activated from the concussion protocol this week and was inactive for the Colts’ Week 8 loss to the Saints.

Nick Leverett – OT, Buccaneers

Leverett has been active for back-to-back games for the first time this season, seeing action with the Bucs’ special teams unit again this week against the Bills.

Austin Trammell – WR, Rams

Trammel registered just one punt return this week against the Cowboys, a loss of five yards.

Defense

Myles Adams – DL, Seahawks

For the second straight game, Adams was limited to special teams duties and did not see any defensive snaps.

Elijah Garcia – DL, Broncos

Garcia was inactive for Week 8. He last played for the Broncos in Week 5 against the Jets.

Special Teams

Jack Fox – P, Lions

Fox was only called upon once on Monday Night Football, delivering a 48-yard blast.

Chris Boswell – K, Steelers

The boxscore will show Boswell responsible for his first missed field goal of the season on Sunday, but that miscue comes with an asterisk. Boswell drilled a 55-yarder at the end of the half, only for a penalty to nullify the kick and force him to try from 61 yards. He missed the second attempt. Outside of that long shot, Boswell made his other field goal and an extra point.

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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The Roost Podcast | Ep 165 – Tulane outlasts Rice Football

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Rice football ran out of time at home against Tulane, missing out on what would have been a tremendous upset by a few points and falling to 4-4 on the season.

It didn’t look like things would be that tight when Rice football fell behind 27-7 at halftime, but the Owls held Tulane to just three points in the second half, buying time for their offense to get things into gear and turn a would-be-blowout into a close game. Unfortunately, Rice came up short. What went wrong and what can they salvage moving forward? We break it down in this week’s show.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 165.

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

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Recapping Rice Football vs Tulane

  • Bend-but-don’t-break defense shows some gaps in the armor
  • Havoc plays almost make up for the tough start
  • JT Daniels remains really good at football
  • The offense wasn’t perfect, but remains a trustworthy unit
  • Special teams still needs to be better
  • There’s a big game coming up this weekend against SMU

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.

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AAC Football 2023: Week 9 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 9.

Team Record  This Week Result Up Next
Charlotte 2-6 (1-3) — BYE — L, 38-16 at Tulsa
ECU 1-7 (0-4) at UTSA L, 41-27 vs Tulane
FAU 4-4 (2-2)  — BYE — W, 38-16 at UAB
Memphis 6-2 (3-1) at North Texas W, 45-42 vs USF
Navy 3-4 (2-3)  — BYE —  — at Temple
North Texas 3-5 (1-3) vs Memphis L, 45-42 vs UTSA
Rice 4-4 (2-2) vs Tulane L, 30-28 vs SMU
SMU 6-2 (4-0) vs Tulsa W, 69-10 at Rice
Temple 2-6 (0-4)  — BYE —  — vs Navy
Tulane 7-1 (4-0) at Rice W, 30-28 at ECU
Tulsa 3-5 (1-3) at SMU L, 69-10 vs Charlotte
UAB 2-6 (1-3)  — BYE —  — vs FAU
USF 4-4 (2-2)  — BYE —  — at Memphis
UTSA 5-3 (4-0) vs ECU W, 41-27 at North Texas

Notable Results (Standings)

Memphis Meltdown Averted

Fans in Denton, TX got their money’s worth on Saturday afternoon. The Mean Green faithful that were bold enough to stick around after their team fell behind 31-10 were momentarily rewarded by a furious fourth-quarter comeback, spurred by 21 unanswered points on the arm of Chandler Rogers. It wouldn’t last, though. Memphis drove the length of the field in the final 46 seconds to snatch back the win.

Tulane hangs on

This one was another one-sided affair until it wasn’t. Tulane led 27-7 at halftime, but managed just three points in the second half as Rice football mounted a furious comeback. The Owls got within two points with 8:10 to play before the Mean Green killed the clock almost in its entirety before handing the ball back to the upset seekers with four seconds left. A Rice hook and ladder play fell woefully short.

Race to the bottom

Tulsa has now been outscored 110-20 over the past 12 days, falling to SMU this week 69-10 in a game that somehow managed to feel much worse. Meanwhile, Charlotte was thumped by FAU on Friday night. ECU and Temple remain the only winless conference teams, but Charlotte and Tulsa don’t look to be that much higher in the pecking order right now.

Looking ahead – Key storylines

Lone Star Showdown

There’s a lot at stake next weekend when SMU visits Rice for possibly the last time in a while before the Mustangs bolt for the AAC. SMU has conference championship aspirations. Rice would love to return to a bowl game, but they’ll probably need to find a way to win at least one more home game to do it. Rice ends the season at home against FAU.

C-USA Throwback Battle

For a while, UAB and FAU were the cream of the crop in Conference USA, trading conference titles and producing some of the best battles on the field in the conference’s previous iteration. This time the two meet as middle-tier members of the current AAC, both aiming to climb a bit higher after struggles early in the season. This one is for bragging rights, and then some.

Can the Roadrunners keep it going?

UTSA moved to 4-0 in conference play this weekend before heading to Denton to play a North Texas team that will score in bunches. For whatever reason, the Mean Green have given the Roadrunners fits in recent years. If UTSA really wants to be in the mix for a conference title, they’re going to have to find a way to preserve through that history and find a way to win on the road.

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