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2022-2023 Rice Basketball Season Preview

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It’s been a slow build for Rice basketball. Will the 2022-2023 season be the time when it all comes together and the Owls truly take flight?

Rice basketball head coach Scott Pera knows there’s no silver bullet. He’s coached a lot of basketball to this point and was honest in his preseason assessment of the 2022-2023 team and what he felt the program needed to do to take another step in the right direction.

“You can’t take huge jumps. It’s really hard to improve a lot in certain areas,” he said. “We’ve got to be a little better defensively. We’ve got to be a little bit better offensively. We’ve got to shoot the ball from the free throw line a little better.”

Little by little, Pera theorized, those gradual improvements stack up to meaningful change.

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Last minute rally lifts Rice Football past UTEP for big win

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Rice Football delivers the wining score in the final moments, dashing past UTEP to secure a much-needed win at home.

Thursday’s nationally televised game against all the makings of a bowl-elimination bout between Rice football and the UTEP Miners. The Owls had had the upper hand in the series, particularly at home, winning nine of 12 in Houston. On Thursday night, Rice added one more important victory to the tally. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Withstand the first punch

On the first play from scrimmage, UTEP quarterback Gavin Hardison tried to thread a ball through a mass of blue and gray-clad defenders. Gabriel Taylor was nearly there to meet it, but was unable to make the one-handed stab to force a quick turnover. Instead, UTEP recovered and marched quickly down the field, going 78-yards in 3:13, deflating a defense in need of that instant jolt of confidence.

Down 7-0, Rice was forced to settle for a field goal on their first offensive possession as quarterback TJ McMahon was sacked on third and short inside the redzone. When Rice kicked the ball back to UTEP down by four, it felt like the rubber was about to meet the road. Was UTEP’s early touchdown — just their second touchdown in the first quarter this year — a fluke? Or would the defense figure it out?

The defense responded with a quick three-and-out and their second sack of the day. Then they found their groove. They got pressure. They forced three-and-outs (four on the day). Trey Schuman snuffed out a reverse for a loss of yards. The defense responded to a fumbled punt return with a stop and a 51-yard field goal try after the offense fizzled inside their own five-yard line. For the first time in weeks, they looked good. Not great. But good.

To say the Rice defense was “back” would be overly generous, but the unit that took the field on Thursday night looked a heck of a lot more like the one the Owls have gotten used to seeing in recent years. If they can find a way to get off the field on third down, they might just be dangerous.

Return of the big play

On the other side of the ball, the offense responded in kind. Rice had four pass plays of 15+ yards in four quarters against Charlotte last weekend. They reached that total just three minutes into the second quarter against UTEP and continued to gain yards in chunks. Bradley Rozner reached the century mark for the fifth time this season.

The Owls ended the game with 502 total yards and a slew of big plays. There were eight pass plays of 15+ yards and five run plays of 10+ yards. The offense was legitimately explosive.

What made the performance particularly compelling was the sheer quantity of contributors. Rozner, Luke McCaffrey, Isaiah Esdale, Kobie Campbell and Jack Bradley each had critical catches that extended drives or scored points. Cam Montgomery, Juma Otviano, TJ McMahon and McCaffrey each made big plays on the ground. Uriah West had his first touchdown as an Owl. Eveything just seemed to come together.

And then… the dagger!

The steady emergence of TJ McMahon

When McMahon took the field against UTEP for his eighth consecutive start, he reached a place no quarterback had gone before under Bloomgren at Rice. The previous record for consecutive starts (seven) was held by Shawn Stankavage, who led the way in the first seven games of Bloomgren’s tenure at South Main in 2018 before being injured.

McMahon already led all Rice quarterbacks under Bloomgren in passing touchdowns entering this game. He added two more to up his Rice total to 20. He also leads all of Bloomgren’s passers in interceptions, including an inexplicable additional tipped-pass pick against UTEP, a recurring nightmare that Rice fans can’t seem to escape.

After the Charlotte loss, McMahon said his job this week was “to make sure this game doesn’t beat us twice.” He did that tonight, leading his team down the field with regularity with a bit more of a boost from the running game than he’d had in recent weeks.

It’s been clearly established for several weeks now that Rice had its guy. As McMahon continues to progress, the hope for the future builds.

Breathing room

Two weeks ago, Rice football was 4-3. Being a game above .500 and two wins away from securing bowl eligibility was a breath of fresh air for the Owls, who have fought through their fair share of hardships to get to that point.

That was two weeks ago, and it feels like the program has been through a much more circuitous journey than one could have imagined in just a fortnight’s worth of time. Splitting a two-game homestand against Charlotte and UTEP was disappointing, considering the success Rice football has had to this point. But even still, the Owls have earned three chances to clinch a bowl berth.

The Roost Podcast: Stay tuned for the game recap this week – Rice Football vs UTEP

It’s not time to start booking tickets to spend Christmas in Hawaii or the holiday season in the Bahamas quite yet. But the situation is objectively more positive than it could have been had Rice not found a way to win this football game, and win it in the manner they did. The Owls have been far from perfect this year, but they have been resilient.

Following a loss, Rice football is 4-0 this season. And now instead of being forced to grapple with the real possibility of their one-time storybook season ending in a nightmare, Rice has hope again. Hope can be a dangerous this at times, but right now, it’s exactly what the Owls need. That, and one more win down the stretch. But they’ll focus on that final W tomorrow.

Digging deeper

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When in doubt, be clutch

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Rice Football 2022: UTEP Game Week Practice Report

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Rice football hosts UTEP this weekend in a Thursday night affair in need of a bounce-back win. Here’s what we learned from practice this week.

No longer undefeated at home this season, Rice football completes a brief two-game homestand in search of win number five, facing the UTEP Miners. Both teams need this game in their quest for bowl eligibility. To get that victory, Rice has some improvements they’ll need to make.

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This week’s roundup focuses in on specific adjustments both sides of the ball are making following the Charlotte loss and the ever-evolving injury front.

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.

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Rice Football 2022: NFL Owls Week 8 Roundup

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Rice Football is well represented on 2022 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 Calvin Anderson (OL) at Jaguars W, 21-17 — OFF —
Detroit Lions Jack Fox (P) vs Dolphins L, 31-27 vs Packers
Indianapolis Colts Kylen Granson (TE) vs Commanders L, 17-16 at Patriots
LA Chargers Bryce Callahan (DB)
Christian Covington (DL)		 — BYE —  — at Falcons
Pittsburgh Steelers Chris Boswell (PK) at Eagles L, 35-13 — OFF —
Seattle Seahawks Myles Adams (DL) vs Giants W, 27-13 at Cardinals
Tampa Bay Bucs Nick Leverett (OL) vs Ravens L, 27-22 vs LA Rams

Offense

Calvin Anderson – OT, Broncos

Anderson got his second start of the season this week, playing every offensive snap for the first time this season. The Broncos are 1-0 when he plays every down on offense.

Kylen Gransen – TE, Colts

Gransen was targeted three times on Sunday, catching all three passes for 11 yards. He’s caught at least one pass in each of the Colts’ eight games this year.

Nick Leverett – OT, Buccaneers

After getting in the game last week against the Panthers, Leverett earned his first start of the season against the Ravens, playing every offensive snap.

Defense

Myles Adams – DL, Seahawks

Adams was inactive this week for the Seahawks’ game against the Giants.

Bryce Callahan – CB, Chargers

The Chargers were on bye this week.

Christian Covington – DL, Chargers

The Chargers were on bye this week.

Special Teams

Jack Fox – P, Lions

Fox was only called upon twice on Sunday, booming two monster kicks. His longest blast went 60 yards while the short of the two only traveled 55 yards down the field.

Chris Boswell – K, Steelers

Boswell was ruled out for the Steelers’ Week 8  game with a groin injury and did not play.

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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Rice Football 2022: UTEP presser quotes and depth chart

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Rice football hosts UTEP 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 pair of players met with the media for their customary weekly availability. They recapped the Charlotte loss and looked at the week ahead, detailing what they’re expecting to see when UTEP takes the field.

More: Rice Football – Blue and Gray Preview Show

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

“Obviously, we’re coming off a disappointing loss on Saturday versus Charlotte. My hat’s off to their staff and players for coming together and playing the way they did. They played their butts off. Unfortunately, the game didn’t go the way we planned. I thought we got outcoached. I thought we got outplayed and out-physicalled, which are things that we never want to be a part of. I told our team that we’ve got to stay together and we’ve got to move forward. One of the bonuses of a Thursday night game is that you don’t have time to sulk. We were back to meetings and practice last night. The time for licking your wounds is behind us. It’s in the rearview mirror as we move forward.” – Mike Bloomgren on the Charlotte loss

“This game will be a battle. I don’t have any doubt about that. I know how Dana (Dimel) coaches. I know the toughness that he instills in his team and I expect it to be a very, very physical game like it always is between these two teams. You look at them on offense, they are going to run the ball. They are going to run the ball. They are going to run the ball, and then they are going to play-action pass. On defense, I think their defensive coordinator, Bradley Dale Peveto, does a great job.” – Mike Bloomgren on UTEP  

“Kids are so resilient. It’s not that they’re not hurting, it’s just that, when you’ve got to do a med check at 10 a.m., yesterday, and then you’ve got to do a lift at 3:30, then you’ve got dinner at 5:15 and then you have meetings, nobody had time. As coaches we started watching film at 6 p.m. We put the Charlotte game largely to bed. Then we came in at 8 a.m. and we put the plan together all day yesterday. So coaches really didn’t have time to breathe, sleep or pout. That’s probably a good thing because that was not our best performance.”” – Mike Bloomgren on the short week

“Its been like two and a half, three months since I’ve been able to be on the football field so just having the opportunity to practice today is huge for me, huge to be with the guys again, because it’s different when you’re in lockdown compared to when you’re on the field practicing, being in that environment. So I’m really excited to be back and being able to catch footballs. ” – Wide receiver Cedric Patterson on returning to practice 

“It’s definitely not our brand of football and we were even saying during the game that we need to fix this. I feel like everyhting that was on thing is fixable, and that’s the good thing behind it, it’s nothing that we can’t do or nothing that is beyond what we’re capabable of. We just gotta make that necessary change. We’ve got to understand that last week probably wasnt our best perfomrance, but it’s not our last performance. We know that we’ve done better and we can do better.” – Rush end Joshua Pearcy on the defensive effort against Charlotte

Depth Chart

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Depth Chart Notes

There is only one singular change on the depth chart this week, but it’s a significant one. Wide receiver Cedric Patterson, who has been out with an injury suffered early in fall camp, is back on the two-deep.

Patterson was available to take questions from the media on Monday and is expected to be back on the practice field this week, trending towards playing on Saturday. Technically listed as the No. 2 X receiver behind Bradley Rozner, we’ll have more on where Patterson lines up and how he might be used in our practice notes later in the week (available to our subscribers).

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