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Rice Football Recruiting: 2023 OL Luke Needham commits to Owls

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The 2023 Rice Football recruiting class continues to pick up steam, adding another impact player up front in the form of offensive lineman Luke Needham.

The great week for Rice football recruiting has only continued to pick up steam. Fresh off several official visits and a spring game that saw dozens of recruits flock to South Main, Rice has added another new player to the fold. Germantown, TN offensive lineman Luke Needham has committed to the Owls.

Needham makes the second commitment announced this week and recent conversations indicate the Owls might have more waiting in the wings. For now, Needham joins fellow offensive lineman Nate Bledsoe and quarterback Chase Jenkins as the first three members of the 2023 Rice Football Recruiting class.

Needham seemed to first get noticed on the recruiting front last fall, pickup up his first offer from Western Michigan in November. Austin Peay, UT Martin and Murray State would follow in the early portions of the spring before Rice swooped in this April.

Needham attended the spring game and was offered that weekend. Shortly after leaving campus, Needham described Rice as being “part of [his] top choices.”  Not long after, he pulled the trigger and officially committed to the Owls. Among the reasons for his choice, Needham said he had a great time meeting with the coaches and staff and was very interested in the “incredible” education.

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Needham is a fun prospect to watch. He can line up on either side of the line, meeting an oncoming lineman in the trenches and turn his around on the spot. The 6-foot-5, 300-pound blocker can move bodies in the trenches and doesn’t allow much to get past him without delivering an emphatic blow first. His highlights feature play after play of him putting his opposing defender in the dirt.

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Rice Football Recruiting: 2023 OL Nate Bledsoe commits to Owls

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The 2023 Rice Football recruiting class added a big newcomer up front, securing a commitment from offensive lineman Nate Bledsoe.

What good is a quarterback without protection? A few weeks ago the 2023 Rice football recruiting class secured its signal-caller, picking up a commitment from Alief passer Chase Jenkins. Now they’ve got the first big body up front to keep their quarterback safe. Offensive lineman Nate Bledsoe has committed to the Owls.

Bledsoe chose Rice over more than a dozen other offers, ranging from AAC programs (Memphis, Tulane), Sun Belt schools (Appalachian State, Arkansas State) as well several Ivies and military academies.

For Bledsoe, the decision was pretty straightforward. “When you know, you know,” he said, adding that “exactly how he felt with Rice.” He praised the people and the coaching staff, noting the environment on campus was “second to none.”

Rice took two scholarship offensive lineman in their 2022 class, making Bledsoe the first of what is likely to be several more men in the trenches. The Owls hope he’ll be the next in a wave of several up-and-coming men in the trenches which currently includes players like Braedon Nutter and Ethan Onianwa, two underclassmen expected to start for the team this fall.

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Bledsoe is fairly quick on his feet for a man his size, something that jumps out quickly when you look through his highlights. His attitude backs it up. “I love to pull across the line and obliterate whatever is in front of me,” Bledsoe said, further reinforcing his commitment to play with, as he calls it, “ruthless tenacity.”

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Rice Football 2022: What we learned from the defense this spring

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It was a productive spring for the Rice Football defense. Here are five things we learned from the unit over the course of the six weeks of practice.

The defense started strong and carried its moment through more than a month during Rice football spring practices. A mix of up-and-coming stars-to-be joined up with several well-known veterans and combined to give the offense fits. Who stood out the most and what did we learn from this unit as a whole during the spring?

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Rice baseball: Sunday fireworks avert weekend sweep vs UTSA

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Rice Baseball salvaged a Sunday win against UTSA, snapping a nine-game C-USA losing streak as the back end of the season approaches.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball drops series 2-1

Rice baseball dropped a conference series for the third consecutive weekend, this time falling to UTSA 2–1 at Reckling Park. The Owls pitching staff was worn down throughout the weekend, but the Rice bats were able to answer with some power of their own in a runaway Sunday win. Here are a few takeaways from the weekend.

1. Ouch

Rice baseball gave up 36 runs in its three-game series with Texas earlier this season. At the time, that was largely excused as early-season jitters on an opening weekend against a college baseball superpower.

From there, the run totals against the Owls started to dissipate, albeit slowly. Lamar scored 26 runs in three games. Tech scored 20. UAB had 26 runs and FAU pushed across 22. Then UTSA came into Reckling and put up 31 runs, but somehow only managed to win two of the three contests.

Last Time Out: Rice baseball sweeps season series over SHSU with midweek win

UTSA is second in the conference in batting average, third in on-base percentage and fourth in slugging percentage. The Roadrunner bats have been just as lethal elsewhere. But it still stings a bit to give up an average north of 10 runs per game over the course of a weekend, regardless of how good the opponent is thought to be at the time.

2. All together now

Despite the first two one-sided results in favor of the visitors, Rice and UTSA each tallied 34 hits on the weekend with UTSA committing seven fielding errors to the Owls’ six. Part of the reason Rice came up short in the run column was the lack of synergy the lineup produced in the first two games, especially at the top where the bulk of the Owls’ offensive production has been produced so far this season.

On Friday, Jack Riedel and Aaron Smigelski went hitless while Nathan Becker and Austin Bulman managed a single apiece.

On Saturday it was Guy Garibay’s turn to go 0-for-5 from the field. Smigelski, directly behind him in the batting order, went 0-for-4.

It wasn’t until the Sunday finale the Rice bats started firing in unison. Garibay, Bulman, Smigelski and Becker each reached base at least four times. Pierce Gallo followed behind them with a four-hit, four-RBI day.

It’s unrealistic to expect that kind of production from an entire middle of the lineup day in and day out, but even an extra hit here and there would have helped the Owls extend innings and scratch across a few more runs. On Saturday UTSA outhit Rice 14-10 but won by 11 runs. That’s just too big of a gap. The offense left too many runs on the table.

3. Sundays are for closers

Ironically, Rice closer Matthew Linskey has his worst outing of the season, surrendering four runs in his lone inning of work. But it wouldn’t matter in the end, because the Rice lineup had given him a more the sufficient cushion with a crucial assist from a pair of Rice pitchers.

Thomas Burbank and Brandon Deskins held a lineup that had scored 24 runs in the first 18 innings of the series to two runs across seven frames. Honestly, it was stunning, in the most positive of ways. Rice doesn’t win the game without both men hurling tremendous games, allowing the Owls to race out to such a big lead.

On a weekend where good pitching performances were hard to find, that tandem shone bright and gets a well-deserved shout out here.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY | UTSA 9 – Rice 2

UTSA struck early, getting to Rice front liner Cooper Chandler with a four-spot in the second inning before ultimately scratching across two more against him before he left the game, trailing 6-2. Those two Rice runs came courtesy of a Guy Garibay double and would be the only meaningful offensive contribution from the Owls for the remainder of the evening.

The Roadrunners would tack on a few insurance runs in the eighth and ninth innings, rendering a productive 3.2 inning relief appearance from Garret Zaskoda too little, too late. UTSA went on to win 9-2

SATURDAY | UTSA 15 – Rice 4

An error-plagued third inning allowed Rice baseball to take a 3-1 lead against UTSA on Saturday, their first lead of the series. It would not last long. UTSA struck back with six runs in the next half inning, driving Rice starter Alex DeLeon from the game after the frame, but not before the damage had been done.

Trailing 7-3, Rice would never get closer. UTSA would score eight more runs as the Rice lineup went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position, stranding eight runners as any hopes of a rally dwindled by the inning. And that’s before taking into account a bizarre 45-minute delay to check the hat of pitcher Roel Garcia, which would prove fruitless.

SUNDAY | Rice 16 – UTSA 7

Aiming to avoid a sweep, Rice baseball responded on Sunday with one of their most impressive offensive outings of the entire season. The Owls struck for three in the first inning, adding two more in the third and two more in the fourth. Leading 7-3 after four, it felt like a missed opportunity to have only managed a 9-3 lead entering the eighth inning.

Podcast: Rice Owls’ Voice JP Heath talks baseball, basketball, broadcasting

With closer Matthew Linskey on the mound, that didn’t seem to matter, until he allowed an uncharacteristic four runs to put the game very much so back in the balance. Leading 9-7, the offense did the rest. Rice batted around in the eighth, scoring seven runs to put an exclamation point on a long-awaited conference win.

ON DECK | at Southern Miss (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Football Recruiting: DT Quent Titre commits to Owls

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The Rice football recruiting ranks added another weapon to the Owls’ defensive line, picking up a commitment from ACU grad transfer Quent Titre.

Much of spring practice around South Main was spent lauding the impressive performance of the defensive line. The young nucleus had their way with the offensive line in many of the early scrimmage sessions. Still, no matter how strong you think you might be, adding talent is a priority in this business. That’s why the 2022 Rice Football recruiting class has added another transfer along the defensive line in the form of Abilene Christian defensive tackle Quent Titre.

Titre was born in New York to parents from the Caribbean island of Dominica. He played his high school football at Ridge Point. Titre told The Roost getting closer to home played a key part in his decision, allowing his parents to come see him play more often.

Titre appeared in 33 games over the past four seasons with Abilene Christian. Last season he had four quarterback hurries, 1.5 tackles for a loss and one sack in nine games.

His addition might just give the Owls an abundance of riches along the front four. Blake Boenisch and Izeya Floyd earned special recognition for their strong spring performances and Joshua Pearcy and Kenneth Orji will be in the running among the best edge combos in the conference. And that’s before Trey Schuman and De’Braylon Carroll return to the field after missing the spring with injuries.

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Altogether, Titre’s addition could make (and probably should) make this one of the deepest, most talented fronts Rice football has fielded in quite some time. Titre says he hopes his experience will contribute to that end, saying he feels “that we can help each other grow” with so many good players in the room.

Titre’s commitment was part of a busy weekend for Rice football recruiting. Stay tuned for more to come on that front soon.

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