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Rice Football 2021: Texas presser quotes, practice notes and depth chart

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Rice football hits the road again this weekend to face Texas. Here’s what Mike Bloomgren had to say about it, injury updates and practice notes.

This is the first of a couple of updates coming this week as Rice football prepares to take on Texas. We’ll include updates from head coach Mike Bloomgren’s midweek press conference, then dig further into the details on the depth chart and what the team looks like on the field headed into the weekend.

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While some attention was given to Texas, much of this week’s discussion revolved around the Houston game. Bloomgren was able to shed greater clarity on what went wrong and offer some comments on how the Owls plan to fix those issues. Practice notes are lighter with the hurricane throwing a wrench in the typical schedule. Expect a deeper breakdown on that front later in the week. First, the quotes:

Press Conference Quotes

“We just think he gives our team the best opportunity to be succesful, not only today, but going forward. There’s thing that he brings to the position and to the team that are diferent. The ability to affect the game with his legs. The ability to keep plays alive. When he’s comfortable and stands in there and throws or when he’s on the move, he’s got a super strong arm. But the ability to keep plays going and do things with his legs are really the reasons right now.” – Mike Bloomgren on the decision to start Luke McCaffrey at QB

“Going back to the commonality of the opponent, I think it should be very encouraging to our guys to watch what we did against Arkansas and and watch [Texas against Arkansas], and know that we can go stand toe to toe with these guys. If we just stick to our fundamentals, listen to our coaches and play our butts off, we’ll have a chance to stand toe to toe in front of these guys, get the game to the fourth quarter and hopefully find a way to win that thing.” – Mike Bloomgren on the common opponent with Texas

“I think when you go into and yoilook at the schedule and you get to play those old South West Conference teams, I think a lot of our fan base was excited. I think they’d like us to beat a couple of them, and certainly we would like that as well. But you look back at the history of this game and how many times it’s been played, it’s a great rivalry. Now, it’s been a little bit of a one sided rivalry, right? I think the last win we have in this program is 1994, but we’ve done a lot of firsts in the last three years and we’d sure like to find a way to earn this victory. And our guys are going to work our butts off to try and make that our reality.” – Mike Bloomgren on rekindling the rivalry with Texas, SWC opponents

“We have grown so much. Being here for four years, I’ve seen a lot of downs and those downs have been really hard. I think we’re on the trajectory of going up and on Saturday that obviously was not showing our progress, but we’re on the way there.”  – Shea Baker on the growth in the program since Rice last played Texas in 2019

“We felt like we’ve played good corners but not full games, and that’s not good enough. Anytime that the offense gets the ball, we can’t let them score, it’s as simple as that, especially not in the red zone. We haven’t been good enough in the red zone. We given up too many points, which I know will get corrected. I believe in it. I believe in our scheme, our players. Not not the way we wanted to start our season defensively, but we have 10 more games.” – Antonio Montero on the play of the defense

Depth Chart

The Rice football depth chart was updated following the Houston game. The primary changes were injury related.

Depth Chart Changes and injuries

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Rice Baseball: 2021 MLB Owls update – Sep 11

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The 2021 MLB season is underway and Rice baseball alums are busy on the mound and at the plate. Here’s the latest from the MLB Owls from this week.

Glen Otto – Texas Rangers

Otto was handed his first big league loss this week, allowing eight runs on eight hits in 3.1 innings against the Oakland A’s. The tough outing inflated his ERA from below 2.00 to 6.92. He struck out five.

Through September 11, Otto has a 6.92 ERA with a 1.231 WHIP. He’s averaging 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings.

Brock Holt – Texas Rangers

Holt is scheduled to begin a rehab stint at AAA Round Rock on Sunday. He’s been on the COVID-19/Injured List since August 23.

Through September 11, Holt is hitting .208 with 14 extra-base hits, 22 walks and 40 strikeouts. His OPS is .580 and he’s collected 19 RBI.

Tyler Duffey – Minnesota Twins

This was one of Duffey’s busiest weeks of the 2021 season. He appeared in four games, recording one save, one hold and a win. He allowed just one hit over 4.0 innings pitched with four strikeouts, allowing no walks and no runs.

Through September 11, Duffey has a 3.27 ERA with a 1.357 WHIP. He’s averaging 8.4 strikeouts per nine innings.

Lucas Luetge – New York Yankees

Luetge appeared in three games this week, working across multiple innings on two separate occasions. He allowed three hits, struck out three batters and walked three, but was charged with just one run in 3.2 innings of work.

Through September 11, Luetge has a 2.84 ERA with a 1.140 WHIP. He’s averaging 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings.

J.T. Chargois – Tampa Bay Rays

Chargois also saw three appearances this week, but struggled in his latter two outings. He was charged with a blown save against the Red Sox on Wednesday, allowing a go-ahead home run to Hunter Renfroe.

Through September 11, Chargois has a 2.54 ERA with a 1.065 WHIP. He’s averaging 8.0 strikeouts per nine innings.

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Rice football: Owls must put Bayou Bucket loss behind them, quickly

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Nothing went right for Rice football in a frustrating loss to Houston in the Bayou Bucket. Where do the Owls go from here?

“We can’t go out there and do what we just did,” Rice football defensive tackle Elijah Garcia said, point-blank following a particularly discouraging loss to crosstown rival, Houston. “It hurt. It was embarrassing. We just got to do better.”

From a defensive perspective, it seems plausible that better days are indeed ahead. Rice allowed 18.8 points per game last year in a schedule limited to five conference opponents. Through two games in 2021, Rice has allowed 41 points per game with largely the same personnel, with a few parts and pieces swapped out via injury or transfer. Surely, the defense will revert closer to that standard once the schedule eases up.

But the offense, that’s a tougher sell. To borrow a word from Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren in the aftermath of Saturday’s loss, this team looked a lot like its head coach felt: “shellshocked”.

That’s how Bloomgren opened his brief comments with the media following the loss. And that’s how this team looked in the first quarter of a game that — on paper — was more favorable to the Owls’ chances of winning than their previous contest. Except Rice managed to hang with their Week 1 SEC opponent, Arkansas, well into the fourth quarter. The Houston game felt like it might be out of reach in the first 15 minutes of regulation.

More: Takeaways from disappointing Rice football loss to Houston

Rice football has now played 86 minutes and 16 seconds of game time since Wiley Green hit August Pitre on a wide-open 44-yard bomb to open the third quarter against Arkansas. They have seven total points to show for it. Rice averaged 23.4 points per game last season. They’re down to 14 points per game in 2021, a small sample, but still a noticeable reduction.

“I thought we would be able to fight them tooth and nail,” Bloomgren said in disbelief. “That’s not the way it went.”

The Owls have seven days to pick up the pieces and ready themselves for a road trip to Austin where they’ll face Texas, a team they’ve beaten once since 1965. They last topped the Longhorns in 1994, before every member of the current Rice roster was alive.

A rough start was always possible, given how strenuous the schedule seemed to be. Two games in, those worries have turned into reality. Rice won’t play Arkansas, Houston and Texas every week, but they’ll have to deal with the repercussions of a brutal opening stretch. There’s no better time than the present.

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Conference USA Football 2021: Week 2 C-USA Roundup

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Conference USA Football was back in action this weekend. Here’s the latest from the teams on the gridiron in Week 2.

Team Week 2 Result Week 3
Charlotte vs Gardner-Webb W, 38-10 at Georgia St
FAU vs Georgia Southern W, 38-6 vs Fordham
FIU vs Texas St. L, 23-17 (OT) at Texas Tech
LA Tech vs SE Louisiana W, 45-42 vs SMU
Marshall vs NC Central W, 44-10 vs East Carolina
MTSU at Virginia Tech L, 35-14 at UTSA
North Texas at SMU L, 35-12 vs UAB
Old Dominion vs Hampton W, 47-7 at Liberty
Rice vs Houston L, 44-7 at Texas
Southern Miss vs Grambling W, 37-0 vs Troy
UAB at Georgia L,  56-7 at North Texas
UTEP at Boise St. L, 54-13 — OFF —
UTSA vs Lamar W, 54-0 vs MTSU
WKU at Army  L, 38-35 — OFF —

Notable Week 2 results – Standings

Non-conference nonsense

In Week 1, the Texas Longhorns handled Louisiana with ease and Rice came within one quarter of upsetting Arkansas. At the same time, Houston collapses against a Texas Tech team that nearly lost to SFA in Week 2. How then, did Arkansas pummel Texas and Rice get overwhelmed by Houston in their second games? Because this is college football and nothing makes sense.

Second-week snoozers

The seven Conference USA teams that won in Week 2 did so against non-FBS teams. For the most part, those victories were uneventful, save for a too-close-for-comfort escape by Louisiana Tech over in-state foe Southeast Louisiana, who never trailed by more than 10 points at any time in the contest.

Zapped

Western Kentucky quarterback Bailey Zappe lit up the boxscore, but it was too little, too late against Army on Saturday. The Black Knights jumped out to a 21-7 lead in the first quarter, putting the Hilltoppers in come-back mode early. Zappe went on to throw for 435 yards and three scores, but it was too big of a mounting for even him to overcome.

Looking ahead – Key storylines

Let the (conference) games begin

The first Conference USA matchups of the season start next week. Middle Tennessee visits 2-0 UTSA in San Antonio while North Texas hosts UAB in a battle of two programs coming off a Week 2 losss. There’s plenty of season still to be played, but the winners of those matchups can put themselves in favorable position right out of the chute.

More opportunities for marquee wins

FIU and Rice both draw Power 5 opponents this week and Louisiana Tech gets perennial AAC power, SMU. Each of those non-conference foes has struggled early in the season, with Texas coming off a Week 2 loss and neither SMU or Texas Tech looking too mighty following more harrowing wins of their own.

Sneaky, tricky games

Marshall would do well to keep one eye open when they prep for a home contest against East Carolina. The Pirates gave South Carolina a scare in Week 2 and were able to put up some points against Appalachain State the week prior. After consecutive snoozers against Navy and NC Central, this contest might take a bit more focus.

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Rice Football: Houston onslaught dooms Owls to disappointing 0-2 start

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The Houston Cougars threw the first punch, battering Rice Football early and keeping the Owls out of sync from the start.

The pressure was on from the start when Rice football took on Houston in the battle for the Bayou Bucket on Saturday. The usually stalwart Rice defense took their licks early before settling into a groove. The offense did them no favors, staying away from the scoreboard until the final minute of the first half.

Clearly flustered early, Rice didn’t truly get their bearings set until the start of the second quarter. At that point, the butterflies had subsided, but the Houston offense had made its mark. Trailing 17-0 in the early minutes of the game, the Owls had dug a hole too deep.

Rice football falls to 0-2 on the season with a trip to Austin to play Texas looming. There’s been a lot of good mixed in, but the sour taste that turned up late in the Arkansas game remains in the mouths of the Rice faithful.

Although it was hard to envision at halftime in Week 1, the start to the 2021 season has been rather disappointing with Houston delivering a final gut punch with a walk-off pick-six on the final play.

The Roost Podcast: Stay tuned for the game recap this week 

Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Owls stutter out of the gate

The beginnings of this rivalry game felt very one-sided, and that was true before the Rice deficit reached three scores. Houston pressed the ball down the field, finding holes in the Rice secondary and moving the ball well.

The Rice defense, usually chomping at the bit to make their presence felt swiftly, played rather loose. The typical early aggression was missing, and Houston capitalized. Rice entered the game having held 15 consecutive opponents scoreless on their first possession. Houston snapped that streak before anyone on either side broke a sweat.

Consecutive three-and-outs, followed by a Luke McCaffrey interception did nothing to help the slow defensive start. Perhaps it was nerves, or simply misfires, but McCaffrey put two balls on the hands of his receivers, one on each of the first two drives, but neither Zane Knipe or Jack Bradley was able to hang on. The entire unit just wasn’t in sync.

The Roost Podcast: Stay tuned for the game recap this week 

In a big moment, neither side of the ball was ready. Rice left the first quarter trailing 17-0. After running nine plays, they’d gained just 30 yards. Against Arkansas, Rice caught a lot of bad breaks, but they never looked unprepared. That wasn’t the case against Houston. By the time the second quarter rolled around, the defense looked fully engaged, but the early deficit would prove problematic.

Not winning in the trenches

Much was made of how Rice played for the majority of the game against Arkansas last week. Head coach Mike Bloomgren himself acknowledge that for three quarters, it didn’t look like a Conference USA team squaring off with an SEC foe. That was before the heat, injuries and several self-inflicted wounds turned the fourth quarter into a rout.

One week later, Rice looked like the fourth-quarter-against-Arkansas team in the trenches. The offensive line was bullied around from the beginning, constantly putting McCaffrey under duress. The line did open up holes for the Rice running backs from time to time, but the totality of the performance was decisively underwhelming.

On Saturday against Houston, it looked like Rice was fighting an SEC (or perhaps a Big XII) versus Conference USA fight. For a team that prides itself on toughness, on intellectual brutality, it was not an inspiring performance up front.

McCaffrey was sacked four times. Rice averaged 2.2 yards per carry before garbage time, and that number bumped up to 3.5 per attempt by the final whistle. Rice was hardly able to get anything going through the air or on the ground all night long, and the offensive line was carry a large portion of that responsibility.

McCaffrey isn’t the silver bullet, but he can be a difference-maker

When the news that McCaffrey was transferring to Rice football broke this summer, the anticipation was palpable. After churning through quarterbacks, from the transfer portal and the back ends of the roster, Rice was finally going to have a bonafide quarterback and one with more raw talent than perhaps any that had set foot on campus in a decade or more.

With one game as a starter under his belt, it’s abundantly clear that while McCaffrey might grow to become the Owls’ ace in the hole, he’s not going to be able to do it all on his own. Like 99 percent of other collegiate passers, he’s going to need some help.

McCaffrey’s second interception of the day looked like a clear misread. He went short and his receiver did not break off his route. Who made the mistake is unclear, but it’s something that should be ironed out over time. That’s exactly the kind of play the coaching staff had their concerns about when they opted to start Wiley Green against Arkansas rather than someone of McCaffrey’s skillset. Granted, knowing the scheme and executing it are different things, but it’s a factor nonetheless.

McCaffrey and the offense did settle down in the second quarter. He led Rice on an 11-play, 81-yard touchdown drive to close out the half, showcasing what made him special on multiple occasions, keeping this play alive:

Before finishing with a beautiful roll out touchdown to Jordan Myers:

The flashes of what could be are evident. As he matures and better understands the scheme, the Owls’ offense should continue to rise with him. Hopefully, that comes before conference play, just three weeks from now.

Digging deeper

Every week we’ll have a stat, storyline or key learning from the game reserved for our subscribers.

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