The source for Rice sports news

Rice Football: Can Owls go bowling with five wins? — November Patreon Q&A

By

Rice football had its eyes set on a bowl berth. Six wins was the assumed path to get there, but could they get in with less? It’s possible.

There were a lot of good questions that came in during this month’s mailbag ask. Several of those were answers throughout the month in practice updates, podcasts and various other updates. A few more were so good that we’ll get to those soon, promise! First, the most time-sensitive question. What’s the path to a bowl game for Rice football? Do they have to get to six wins? Or could they make it with five? We tackle that in this month’s Patreon Q&A.

Want to get your questions answered? Subscribe on Patreon for our monthly mailbag.

Subscriber content.<br /> Please login to see the full post or visit our Patreon page.

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.

Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

The Roost Podcast | Ep 134 Rice Football vs UTSA Recap

By

Rice football would soon forget a soggy, sad loss to UTSA, but rain or shy, The Roost Podcast is here to break down the entire affair.

For the third time this season, Rice football had its starting quarterback knocked out of a game in the first half. For the third time this season, Rice lost that game. Wiley Green has the misfortune of fulfilling that statistic twice, then time on Senior Day against Conference USA juggernaut UTSA. The Owls lost and have one game remaining in the regular season. What do we make about the program right now?

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 134.

Episode Notes

Housekeeping

  • Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on your platform of choice. Every little bit helps.
  • Please support us 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.
    Become a Patron!

Rice Football vs UTSA game recap

  • Another scout team quarterback makes his Rice football debut
  • Making sense of the offense, regardless of who is under center
  • Owls post an unbelievably bad rushing performance
  • Defense holds off Harris through the air, but how much is true progress?
  • How much fault can be assigned to injuries? How much to coaching?
  • What does Rice football need to do to reach a bowl game?

Where can you find us?

Download and subscribe to The Roost Podcast on any of your favorite podcast providers. The show is available on iTunes, GooglePlay, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and PodBean. Please consider leaving a review wherever you listen.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Football 2022 Game Preview: North Texas

By

Rice football closes out the regular season against North Texas still in search of win number six. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

North Texas was on bye last weekend. Rice football might have wished they were. The Owls were rocked on Senior Day, losing their starting quarterback to injury for the second week in a row. Now they’re headed to Denton, still in search of their sixth win to clinch bowl eligibility for the first time since 2014. Here’s everything you need to know about this week’s game.

Kickoff time | 1:00 PM CT
Venue | Apogee Stadium – Denton, TX
TV | ESPN+ (Viewing Guide)
Radio | Sports Map 94.1 (FM) / Stretch Internet (Online)

Audio / Visual Preview

We’ll preview Rice football vs North Texas on this week’s episode of the Blue and Gray Preview Show, streaming live on Wednesday at Noon on the Rice Athletics YouTube channel. Look for a recap of the game on the site afterward as well as on The Roost Podcast, which should be released early next week. Find us on the podcast page or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. (And consider leaving us a 5-star review while you’re at it.)

Sizing up the contenders

North Texas still has a great chance to make the Conference USA Championship Game. By virtue of their win over Western Kentucky earlier this year, they would make the title game with a victory on Saturday or with a Florida Atlantic loss to Western Kentucky. On the other side, Rice wants to secure a bowl trip. Both sides have plenty to play for in this one

Series History

All Time | North Texas leads, 7-5
Last Five | North Texas leads, 4-1
Last Meeting | Home 2021, North Texas won 30-24

Get the Inside Scoop

Get access to practice reports, analysis and special features during the week when you subscribe to our Starting Lineup Tier on Patreon today. If you want updates on how Rice football plans to attack this week’s opponent, position battles, standouts, injuries and more, this is your go-to source. Don’t miss out! Join now!

Become a Patron!

Rice Football Stat Notables

Passing | McMahon – 160/266 (60.2 percent), 2102 yards, 18 TD, 14 INT
Rushing | Montgomery – 75 carries, 449 yards (6.0 yards per carry), 0 TD / Otoviano – 51 carries, 297 yards (5.8 yards per carry), 1 TD
Receiving | Rozner – 39 receptions, 806 yards (20.7 yds/rec), 9 TDs / McCaffrey – 51 receptions, 656 yards (12.9 yds/rec), 6 TD / Esdale – 34 receptions, 392 yards (11.5 yds/rec), 0 TD
Tackles | Conti – 63 / Morrison – 58 / Taylor – 50
Pass Breakups | Dunbar – 7  / Taylor – 6 / Fresch – 5
Interceptions | Taylor, Morrison – 2 / Nyakwol, Chamberlain, Fresch, Narcisse – 1

North Texas Stat Notables

Passing | Aune – 185/321 (57.6 percent), 2912 yards, 29 TD, 11 INT
Rushing | Adeyi – 86 carries, 696 yards (8.0 yards per carry), 4 TD / Adaway III – 118 carries, 583 yards (4.9 ypc), 5 TD
Receiving | Burns – 34 receptions, 628 yards (18.5 yards per reception), 1 TD / Shorter – 19 receptions, 505 yards (26.6 yds/rec), 8 TD
Tackles | Davis – 105 / Nixon III – 74 / Richards  – 67
Pass Breakups | Texada – 15 / Gaddie – 10 / Wilson – 5
Interceptions | Texada – 3 / Wilson – 2 / Whitlock, Wood – 1

North Texas X-Factor | Be aggressive

Rice football is the most turnover-prone team in Conference USA and they don’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Extra possessions tend to result in more points and against a team like the Owls that have struggled to be consistent on that side of the ball, it spells opportunity. If North Texas attacks on defense and forces the issues, Rice has shown to make mistakes.

That could result in some big plays for the Owls when the Mean Green decide to take those risks, but entering into a potential shootout against this Rice team would likely just open the door for more turnover opportunities.

It doesn’t have to be reckless, but anything North Texas can do to confuse whoever Rice has a quarterback or punch out a ball when a ball carrier keeps it too far away could prove to be differential. Short fields continue to burn the Owls and there’s no reason to believe they’ve proven immune to this issue in a week’s time.

Rice X-Factor | Make the Mean Green throw

North Texas is 6-5 this season, but there’s been a consistent pattern in their wins: they don’t throw the football. In four of their six wins, North Texas has attempted fewer than 30 passes, completing 16 passes or fewer. They’ve won two pass-happy games (vs FIU, at WKU) both of which were blowouts in which North Texas could do whatever they wanted to on offense.

On the other side of the coin, the difference is stark. North Texas averaged 35 attempts in their five losses this year (vs 27 attempts in their wins). They complete 50.1 percent of their passes in losses vs 63.8 percent of their passes in wins.

North Texas wants to run the football. That’s going to be Plan A. The teams that get them off-script usually win. That’s exactly what the Owls need to do.

Injury Report (Subscribers only)

Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?

One Final Thing

On the bowl front, Rice is in with a win. However, there’s still a possibility Rice goes bowling with a loss. Stay tuned for more on how that would work later in the week. As for this game, a win is still well within reach.

The last two losses have two common threads for Rice football. First, they’ve been plated with a platoon at quarterback with the expected starter knocked out of the game before halftime. Second, they’ve been against two of the top three teams in the conference standings. The latter won’t change this coming week — North Texas is currently tied with Western Kentucky in the standings — but Rice will probably (knock on wood) get a quarterback through a complete game… right?

Whether it’s McMahon, Green, or someone else, building an offense around one guy and letting him execute it has worked this season for Rice more often than it’s not. In games in which Rice has not had its starting quarterback leave with an injury, the Owls are 5-3. They’re 0-3 when they lose their starter.

Ideally, it’s McMahon back under center next weekend. But even if it’s not, riding one arm through a full four quarters will give this team a better shot. As for who that is? That’s still to be determined.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Conference USA Football 2022: Week 12 Roundup

By

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

Team Week 12 Result Up Next
Charlotte vs LA Tech W, 26-21  —
FAU at MTSU L, 49-21 vs WKU
FIU at UTEP L, 40-6 vs MTSU
LA Tech at Charlotte L, 26-21 vs UAB
MTSU vs FAU W, 49-21 at FIU
North Texas — OFF —  — vs Rice
Rice vs UTSA L, 41-7 at North Texas
UAB at LSU at LA Tech
UTEP vs FIU W, 40-6 at UTSA
UTSA at Rice W, 41-7 vs UTEP
WKU at Auburn L, 41-17 at FAU

Notable Week 12 results – Standings

Home field secured

On a dreary day in Houston, the sun was shining on UTSA and quarterback Frank Harris. The Roadrunners dispatched of the Owls in quick order, securing the host duties for the upcoming Conference USA Football Championship Game where they’ll play either North Texas or Western Kentucky in two weeks time.

Let’s go bowling

While UTSA was working to clinch home field, other Conference USA squads were trying to make sure they had another game to play, too. Middle Tennesse became the fourth C-USA squad to clinch bowl eligibility so far this season, crushing Florida Atlantic to pick up win number six.

Uh Oh, Owls

It wasn’t just the Rice Owls who fell flat, the Florida Atlantic Owls were equally embarrassed. FAU was thoroughly outplayed by Middle Tennessee, pushing them into a do-or-die situation next weekend. Both Owls would like a mulligan for this week’s fiascoes, but that’s not going to happen.

Looking ahead – Key storylines

Who’s joining UTSA?

Both Western Kentucky and North Texas sit tied in second place in the Conference USA standings with identical 5-2 records, but only one of them will get to make the trip. North Texas plays Rice, still searching for their elusive sixth win, while Western Kentucky faces an FAU squad in the same boat. North Texas holds the tiebreaker, so the Mean Green need a win and a WKU loss to get in.

Who else is still playing?

Florida Atlantic, Rice, UAB and UTEP all enter the final week of the regular season one-win shy of the six wins needed to secure bowl eligibility. The Blazers will be home favorites against the visiting Louisiana Tech Bulldogs but the other three teams will be underdogs, with Rice and UTEP both playing away from home. How many make it through?

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Basketball closes strong, dispatches Western Michigan at home

By

Rice basketball caught fire late, taking down Western Michigan to stay perfect at the Owl Invitational with one game still to play.

A day after a furious second half explosion to take down Georgia Southern, Rice basketball faced an early test against Western Michigan in their second game of the Owl Invitation at Tudor Fieldhouse. Travis Evee opened the scoring with a three-pointer, but Western Michigan would spend the majority of the first half in front, leading by as many as eight points.

The lead would never stretch farther than that. Cam Sheffield hit a couple of baskets to get Rice back into the game. The two sides traded blows for a few more minutes before Rice closed the half on an 8-0 run in the final 28 seconds, with Quincy Olivari leveling the score with a triple of his own at the buzzer.

More: Rice Basketball Season Preview

Rice would jump out in front by four on a three from Travis Evee shortly after the break, but the lead would be short-lived. Western Michigan rallied, this time stretching their advantage to nine points at the midpoint of the half. The Owls would lead again until the clock went under 3:00 and Olivari drained another three-ball to put the home team up by one.

From then, Travis Evee put on a clinic at the charity stripe, knocking down his free throws and sending Rice home with a win.

Player Spotlight | Travis Evee

Rice basketball had a few big performances that helped propel them to a win on Saturday, but it was the clutch shooting of Evee down the stretch that stole the show. He was 10-of-12 from the line on the afternoon, finishing a pristine 9-of-9 in the final three minutes, making it impossible for Western Michigan to mount a comeback. He just didn’t miss, including a three-pointer interspersed between the free throws to put the gam out of reach for good.

Final Box | Rice 96 – WMU 88

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice basketball is two games into the Owl Invitational. They’ll finish on Monday against Houston Christian. After that, the Owls have another home game on deck, this time against Prairie View A&M on Nov. 30.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts