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Rice Football 2021: NFL Owls Week 14 Stats Update

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Rice Football is well represented on 2021 NFL rosters. Here’s the latest from the NFL Owls in action in Week 14.

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 14 Result Week 15
LA Chargers Christian Covington (DL) vs New York Giants W, 37-21 vs Kansas City (Thr)
Denver Calvin Anderson (OL)
Bryce Callahan (CB)		 vs Detroit W, 38-10 vs Cincinnati
Pittsburgh Chris Boswell (PK) at Minnesota (Thr) L, 36-28 vs Tennessee
Detroit Jack Fox (P) at Denver L, 38-10 vs Arizona
Tampa Bay Nick Leverett (OL) vs Buffalo W, 33-27 (OT) vs New Orleans (SNF)
Indianapolis Andrew Sendejo (Saf) — BYE —  —  vs New England (Sat)

Offense

Calvin Anderson – OT, Broncos

Anderson was placed on injured reserve following a leg injury suffered in the Broncos’ Week 13 loss to the Chiefs. He’ll be required to miss at least three games

Nick Leverett – OT, Buccaneers

Leverett did not see action against the Bills, but was active again for the second-straight week.

Defense

Bryce Callahan – CB, Broncos

Callahan was activated from IR on Saturday after a six-week stint following a knee injury suffered in Week 8. He did not play against the Lions.

Christian Covington – DL, Chargers

Covington picked up two tackles in Week 14  against the New York Giants.

Andrew Sendejo – S, Colts

Sendejo and the Colts were on bye in Week 14, the final week of byes among NFL teams this season. He’ll be back in action next week against the Patriots on Saturday.

Special Teams

Jack Fox – P, Lions

Fox was only used twice on Sunday but delivered when his number was called. He booted a 52-yard punt and a 54-yard punt in his lone pair of punts.

Chris Boswell – K, Steelers

Boswell missed his lone field goal attempt on Thursday Night Football against the Vikings, converting on a pair of extra points. Bowell’s miss came from 49-yards out.

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 Recruiting: Owls land kicker Tim Horn from Transfer Portal

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Former Washington kicker Tim Horn has committed to the Owls. He fills a major area of need for the 2022 Rice Football recruiting class.

The 2022 Rice football recruiting class had checked a lot of boxes entering the final weeks leading up to the Early Signing Period. The Owls had their quarterback, some trench bullies on the offensive and defensive side of the ball and several skill players. What they lacked entering mid-December, was a kicker.

Finding a kicker had understandably skyrocketed on the priority list as the fall progressed. The Owls had thought they’d had a multi-year solution set in stone, but reality hit hard. Rice made two field goals longer than 30 yards this season.

Not having tremendous range is one thing, but being bound to nothing more than chip shots is problematic. It simply won’t work if you want to consistently win college football games.

That’s when the Owls’ need connected with the right perspective solution. Coaching staffs were shaken up across the country as the regular season drew to an end and the Transfer Portal began to overflow with options. One of those potential fits was former Washington kicker Tim Horn, who announced his commitment to Rice on the eve of the Early Signing Period.

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Horn was the No. 6 ranked kicker in the 2019 class, per 247 Sports. He didn’t kick at Washington, sitting behind veteran kicker Peyton Henry for three seasons who made 52-of-66 career field goals for the Huskies. Henry was a fringe all-conference player during his time with Washington, making the All-Pac-12 Second Team in 2019. He was reliable. And that kept Horn off field goal duty.

Even though he wasn’t starting, Horn did find ways to contribute while at Washington. He handled kickoffs all three years he was in Seattle and attempted (and made three extra points).

Horn plans to enroll in January. That will give him the chance to work with the team throughout spring practices.

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Rice Football Recruiting: Latest notes headed into 2021 Early Signing Period

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The Early Signing Period opens this week. Here’s where the 2022 Rice Football recruiting class stands before pens officially meet paper.

Commits will soon become signees this week as the 2022 Rice Football recruiting class begins to solidify. This update will have more on how many players Rice expects to sign and a few names to watch on the Transfer Portal front.

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For those checking in for the first time, or those returning, a quick programming note. Recruiting updates are reserved for our subscribers. You can get those answered and get access to all practice notes, recruiting updates and special features like this one when you subscribe on Patreon today.

Subscribers will also have a live blog on Wednesday, as well as breakdowns of every position group. We’ll have reactions to any potential new names and commentary about the class as it continues to take shape. Once we’re through with the initial fireworks you’ll want to stay tuned for another episode of The Roost Podcast wrapping up the class, too. It’s going to be a busy week.

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Rice Football 2021 Defensive Newcomer of the Year: Jordan Dunbar

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After earning the starting job in fall camp, Jordan Dunbar proved to be one of the Owls’ most reliable defenders and an easy pick for 2021 Rice Football Defensive Newcomer of the Year.

Redshirt freshman corner Jordan Dunbar arrived on campus in 2020 but saw minimal action during his first season at South Main. He waited patiently, working to master his craft as he watched 2020 Rice Football Defensive Newcomer of the Year Miles Mccord patrol the sideline.

Dunbar’s name wasn’t listed on The Roost’s projected depth chart in the preseason, and that version went three levels deep. That iteration also included Tre’shon Devones and Jason White, both of which were injured and missed the season. Still, the relatively unassuming three-star signee from Iona Prep I’m New York was prepared to make a name for himself in Houston.

Regardless of who was ahead of him, Dunbar climbed, ascending past Andrew Bird and Lamont Narcisse until he reached what would eventually become a core three: Dunbar, McCord and Sean Fresch.

As Dunbar worked, eyeballs started to turn his way. They kept following him as coaches and players alike began to take notice of his development through a trying COVID year and into fall camp prior to the 2021 season. He might have been the most praised defensive player in fall camp and that glowing attention extended to the head coach himself.

“I think the whole [fall] camp, we’ve noticed how improved Jordan Dunbar is and how comfortable he is in this defense, and that’s been so fun for me to watch,” Bloomgren noted in the lead up to the season. “I don’t know if we have anybody in the program that’s grown more from one year to the next than Jordan Dunbar.”

When the season arrived, it was Dunbar’s turn to shine. And for as much respect as he received during the weeks prior to the season, the young cover man delivered. He was named the starter for the Rice football season opener against Arkansas and lined up opposite future first-round NFL Draft selection Treylon Burks. And Dunbar held his own.

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Fellow redshirt freshman Sean Fresch and Miles McCord battled it out for the other starting corner spot on the other side of the field, but Dunbar more or less was the first man to trot out onto the grass each and every Saturday.

From a scout team defensive back to CB1, Dunbar took advantage of his opportunity, leading all Owls’ in passes defended with seven in 12 games. His 29 tackles led all Rice corners. He wasn’t perfect, but for all the woes the Rice secondary battled throughout the year, Dunbar was one of the brightest spots.

In part because of the Owls’ coverage schemes as well as Dunbar’s own savvy, some of his best contributions are plays that didn’t make any highlight reels. His ability to take the outside receiver out of the play was superb. Few balls went over his head and when they did, he was usually sprinting stride for stride alongside its intended target, forcing receivers to make extremely difficult grabs.

Bloomgren again singled out Dunbar following the Owls’ Week 10 game against Charlotte, mentioning in his routine midweek press conference that Dunbar was among a select few players that might have “had their best performance in a Rice uniform.”

Dunbar took the comments in stride. “It means a lot to me because of how far I’ve come,” Dunbar said.”I’ve just had so much progression mentally and physically at this program. It means a lot to see your head coach give you a compliment like that.”

But that wasn’t quite the end of Dunbar’s humble acceptance of Bloomgren’s praise. His growth, and specifically the steps he believes he needs to take to continue to improve were at the forefront of his mind. He says he’s come a long way in his understanding of the scheme, learning how to watch film and refining the more mundane things like practice habits.

In some ways, he’s only scratched the surface of who he can be as a Rice football player. And that might be the best aspect Dunbar brings to the team right now. He’s a freshman starter hungry to grow. And the sky might just be his limit.

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Rice Football 2021 Offensive Newcomer of the Year: Cedric Patterson

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Cedric Patterson became a big-play machine for Rice football down the stretch, securing the award for 2021 Offensive Newcomer of the Year.

Two days after the Early Signing Period opened last December, Rice football added one last piece to its wintertime haul: Cedric Patterson. The New Mexico transfer and Crosby, Tx native was coming back to the Lone Star state after seeing sparing usage out West.

He entered what appeared to be a crowded Rice receiving room, somewhat tempering early expectations. The athletic profile was intriguing. The highlight plays were there. How quickly would Patterson be assimilated into the offense? That was the question at hand.

Patterson took full advantage of spring ball, doing all he could to master the complicated Rice offense. He was tucked behind the likes of Bradley Rozner, Jake Bailey and August Pitre on the depth chart, but he wasn’t going unnoticed. Rozner praised his speed during fall media days, calling Patterson “a vertical threat that can stop on a dime.” It turns out, Rozner was right.

After catching four passes in his first three games with Rice, Patterson took the top off the Texas Southern on a 73-yard bomb on the Owls’ first play from scrimmage. Patterson hadn’t recorded 73 yards in a collegiate game coming into that Saturday.

Patterson was oozing confidence following his breakout game. “I feel like everything’s starting to click now,” he said of the offense as a whole. “We’ve been learning and practicing and grinding in these first three weeks and now we’ve got everything in order. We’re finding our identity and who we are. The sky’s the limit.”

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There would be one more hiccup, but excluding a shutout on the road against UTSA and a mere 21-point outing against Western Kentucky, the Rice offense would amass at least 24 points in seven of their final nine games. And Patterson’s eruption against Texas Southern proved to just a sliver of the impact he would bring to the offense as the season progressed.

Patterson took a reverse 38-yards for a touchdown the following week against Southern Miss. He scored touchdowns in four of the Owls’ final five games, including the game-winning score against Louisiana Tech, his second trip to the endzone that afternoon. By season’s end, Patterson had more touchdowns than any Rice Owl not named Jordan Myers.

Through it all, he kept a quiet, humble demeanor as he worked to improve his game. It was in the days leading up to the finale against Louisiana Tech that he told the assembled media at a midweek press conference that he was “really trying to just know the playbook like I know my own name,” reasoning that “when you can go out there and play fast and play confidence, you’re pretty much unstoppable.”

Unstoppable. That’s what it started to feel like when Patterson hauled in a pass with grass in front of him. The speed was always evident, but his maturation as a student of the game who knew where he was supposed to be and how to best execute his responsibility on any given play began to set him apart.

When Jake Bailey went down against UTEP and Myers was banged up down the stretch, it was Patterson asked to be the guy who carried the passing game. And despite being tasked with catching passes from a myriad of different quarterbacks, Patterson was able to grab the proverbial baton and run with it.

Patterson embraced every moment. “We knew it was going to be on us,” he said of the receiving corps when the Owls entered the fourth quarter facing a double-digit deficit. “We don’t want it to be easy,” he continued. “We like it being exciting. It was fun, a test of our character, a test of our will. This is what we work for.”

As if it wasn’t obvious enough that Patterson welcomed the pressure. Patterson would close out his discussion of adversity like this: “We eat that for breakfast.”

Big moments. Big plays. All smiles. Cedric Patterson inked his name onto the Rice football depth chart and more than earned this year’s honors as the 2021 Rice Football Offensive Newcomer of the Year.

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