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Rice Football: Disappointed Owls ready to turn the page

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Rice football found itself on the wrong side of history in the Lending Tree Bowl against Southern Miss. Now they’re ready to turn the page.

Nobody in the Rice football locker room had envisioned participating in what Mike Bloomgren aptly dubbed “the Frank Gore show” on a chilly December night in Mobile, AL. The last team to make it into the postseason was rewarded with a spot in college football history, albeit one they’d rather not be linked to. In some ways, though, it’s a fitting in-between that’s representative of who this team was this season.

“There are a lotta guys in that locker room that are in shambles,” head coach Mike Bloomgren said after the game. “They’re incredibly invested in what we’re doing and they wanted to find a way to win this game, but we didn’t get it done.”

The failure drops the Owls to 5-8. It’s their most wins since 2014, yet somehow symbolizes the floor of expectations moving forward. Senior defensive end Ikenna Enechukwu, who likely played in his last game as an Owl, forcing a fumble and being credited with a sack, said as much in his comments following the game.

More: Takeaways from Rice football loss to Southern Miss

“I want this to the bare minimum for them,” he said. “The bare minimum should be those six wins and they should be aiming for that conference championship, even if it’s in the AAC. I feel like they can do it.”

In a sense, Enechukwu knew that being in Mobile as a five-win team required a stroke of luck. Rice didn’t get much luck on Saturday evening, whether from their own efforts, a set of dubious officials or anyone else. The results were what they were. Now the next step is figuring out how to be on the right side of history next year and beyond.

There is hope on that front. Freshman quarterback AJ Padgett completed 19-of-37 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns against Southern Miss, just his second career start. Luke McCaffrey, who led the Owls in receptions, was a go-to target for Padgett after missing essentially the last three games. Joshua Pearcy had a sack.

Joining Enechukwu, Gabe Taylor and Izeya Floyd each forced fumbles. The offense finished with two turnovers of their own, the final one occurring on the arm of backup quarterback Shawqi Itraish in the final minutes. Still, it was only the third time this season Rice had finished with a positive turnover differential. And most of those playmakers are set to return.

And then there’s Padgett, who transformed himself from a fourth-stringer to starter in the span of a few weeks. Whether he’s given the shot to start next season or not, he wasn’t afraid to echo the sentiments of Enechukwu and Bloomgren when they turned their eyes to the future,

“[Going bowling] should 100 percent be the standard. If that’s not the standard, then what is? We should approach a season with the attitude that we want to win a bowl game. We want to win conference. We want to beat everybody we play,” he declared. “I don’t really think there’s any other mindset to approach a season with or you’re just going out there to lose and that’s not what I’m about. I’m a ballplayer. I go out there to win.”

Rice didn’t win on Saturday. Everyone is crushed by that. Now they’re tasked with getting their house in order for 2023 to ensure that a loss like that — bowl game or otherwise — isn’t a part of their future again.

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Rice Women’s Basketball pulls away from Sam Houston to stay perfect

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It was a close game at Tudor Fieldhouse until Rice women’s basketball pulled away in the fourth quarter to secure their ninth straight win.

Whether it was the early morning tip time or something else, Rice women’s basketball got off to a sluggish start in the first quarter in their final nonconference game. The Owls shot 28.6 percent from the floor in the opening frame but managed to keep the game close with their defense, trailing 15-10 when the second quarter began.

Sam Houston extended their lead to seven points on the first bucket of the second quarter, then Destiny Jackson took over for the Owls. She scored four consecutive buckets, vaporizing the deficit and turning it into the first Rice lead of the day.

While Rice was able to right the ship and make things interesting, Sam Houston wouldn’t go away. Neither team led by more than three points from the midpoint of Jackson’s second-quarter run (8:30 on the clock) til the 1:32-minute mark of the third quarter, a span of nearly 10 minutes of court time.

When the Owls’ shots started falling, though, they didn’t stop. A close game became a route in a matter of minutes. Rice hit four three-pointers to close out the third quarter, then did most of their fourth quarter damage inside, opening up a 13-point lead after the final media timeout and coasting to their ninth consecutive victory, completing a perfect run through non-conference play.

Spotlight | Katelyn Crosthwait

Crosthwait has become a reliable deep threat for Rice women’s basketball, making at least one three-pointer in eight of nine games and making three or more triples in six games so far. Altogether she’s shooting 41.4 percent from three, the best mark on the team.

It was Crosthwait’s third quarter contributions that helped open the game up and turned a close game into a multi-score advantage headed to the fourth quarter. In addition to her 14 points, which tied a season high, she also added four rebounds and an assist.

Final Box | Rice 68 – SHSU 57

Up Next | Full Schedule

The next time Rice women’s basketball hits the court they’ll be headed for conference play. After wrapping up its nonconference schedule, Rice will next play games against Middle Tennessee (Tues, Dec. 20), Western Kentucky (Thur, Dec. 29), and UTEP (Sat, Dec. 31).

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Rice Football 2022: USM Insider gives his take on the Golden Eagles

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Rice Football is bowling against Southern Miss. Golden Eagles’ insider Jamie Arrington of To the Top Talk fills us in on what to expect in this game.

Golden Eagles’ insider Jamie Arrington was kind enough to stop by and answer a few questions about the upcoming Lending Tree Bowl matchup between Rice Football and Southern Miss. The answers below should shed some light on the Owls’ upcoming opponent.

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Rice Basketball rolls past North American

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Rice basketball bounced back from a tough road loss at Texas with a comfortable beatdown of North American at Tudor Fieldhouse.

If there was an emotional hangover from the overtime loss at Texas on Monday, no one on the court for Rice basketball on Wednesday morning showed any signs of it. Days after the near-miss, Rice emptied its bench on it’s home court against a less talented team, coasting to a landslide victory to stay undefeated at Tudor Fieldhouse this year.

North American led just once in the entire game courtesy of a modest six-point run around the first media timeout of the first half. That 10-9 advantage for the visitors lasted for less than a minute. Cam Sheffield knocked down a three to spark a 9-0 Rice run and the Owls had the breathing room they needed to keep their opponents at bay.

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The two sides who trade buckets for a while, then Rice added an 8-0 run in the final minutes before the halftime buzzer. Up by 15 at the break thanks to a layup by Travis Evee, the Owls continued to pour it on.

Rice basketball opened the second half on a staggering 34-12 run. From that point onward, the game was essentially decided. 16 different Owls saw action.

Player Spotlight | Andrew Akuchie

Quincy Olivari went off for 20+ points, again, but it was the 10-point game of freshman Andrew Akuchie that stood out. It was his first double-digit scoring effort of his young Rice career and another reminder the depth on this team is continuing to strengthen, Akuchie might not be a starter just yet, but he’s a capable young player with plenty of upside.

A 10-point, 4-rebound outing just a few games into his Rice career is another positive step in his growth that was extremely encouraging to see.

Final Box | Rice 92 – North American 54

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice basketball has two more games in their current homestand. They’ll play another on Saturday against Northwestern State before taking on Jarvis Christian in their final non-conference game of the season. All three of those games are scheduled to be streamed on CUSAtv.

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Rice Football Recruiting: Official Visit weekend hits high note

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Rice football recruiting season is in full swing. With 20 official visits on campus over the weekend, there’s a lot going on.

Things have been somewhat quiet on the Rice football recruiting front over the end of the regular season. A few offers have gone out, but the Owls were waiting with anticipation for the Transfer Portal to open and calendars to free up for official visits. Both coincided this past week and fireworks ensued at South Main.

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In the boat

First and foremost, there have been four new members of the 2023 Rice football recruiting class who have announced commitments this past week. Safety Jabaria Ellison was first, soon followed by fellow high school commit Ashton Ojiaku and then the Owls’ first pair of transfer portal additions, both along the defensive line.

JUCO product Jordan Campbell and Colgate transfer Coleman Coco are on board. And that might not be the last of the noise. The labors of this weekend are expected to produce more fruit before the Early Signing Period begins next Wednesday. There are at least two additional commitments forthcoming.

What’s next?

Because of the fluid number of scholarships amid transfers in and out, nailing down an exact number of scholarships is challenging at this stage of the game, particularly with so few announced departures at this point — more on that in a minute — propping that number upward.

For the time being, it’s safe to say the Owls’ primary strategy is going as planned. Rice loaded up on high school targets in the spring and summer, selectively adding in a few key pieces here and there where they were able to flip targets from elsewhere (Dalean Alexander from Air Force, Justin Williams from Louisiana).

Next up, the portal. Look toward last year as a blueprint for what Rice wants to do in the portal. Add depth at key positions with a deep rotation (defensive line, offensive line, wide receiver) and cherry-pick potential starters at positions of need. Last year that looked like Chris Conti at linebacker, Gavin Reinwald at tight end, a few specailists and a slew of wideouts.

Given the fluctuations at the quarterback position, it might behoove the Owls to look at the growing market of signal callers to see if there’s a fit. It’s worth noting Rice has had its best production at the position under Bloomgren from transfers (Mike Collins, Tom Stewart, TJ McMahon). That said, the staff is really high on current high school commit Chase Jenkins, so adding a transfer there isn’t necessarily a must.

Transfer Portal tango

There’s one interesting twist Rice is experiencing with the portal this season that they haven’t in years past, namely where it falls on the calendar and what the team is doing this December. The prime portal season now overlaps bowl season for the Owls, setting up an interesting situation for potential outgoing players.

To that end, Rice has only seen three players announce they would be entering the portal thus far with the potential for other departures once the Owls’ postseason is done. That would logistically leave them with time to find a new home before the early signing period ends, or afterward if they don’t latch on anywhere initially.

Right now, linebackers Aidan Siano and Garrett Braden have announced their intentions to transfer as well as safety Treshawn Chamberlain. The twist? All three were at practice this week and preparing for the Owls’ bowl game against Southern Miss. Like he has all season, Chamberlain is slated to start and there doesn’t appear to be any changes to the depth chart despite his publicly announced intentions.

Whether this becomes the norm going forward might depend on several factors. The bowl game occurring before the early signing period is certainly an unusual quirk based in large part because the signing period is later this year than in prior seasons. Still, it remains uncharted territory. For now, they’re all set to play and then move on.

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