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Rice Football 2021: NFL Owls Week 17 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 17.

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 17 Result Week 18
LA Chargers Christian Covington (DL) vs Denver W, 34-13 at Las Vegas (SNF)
Denver Calvin Anderson (OL)
Bryce Callahan (CB)		 at Los Angeles Chargers L, 34-13 vs Kansas City
Pittsburgh Chris Boswell (PK) vs Cleveland (MNF) W, 26-14 at Baltimore
Detroit Jack Fox (P) at Seattle L, 51-29 vs Green Bay
Tampa Bay Nick Leverett (OL) at New York Jets W, 28-24 vs Carolina
Indianapolis Andrew Sendejo (Saf) vs Las Vegas L, 23-20 at Jacksonville
Falcons Austin Trammell (WR) vs Buffalo L, 29-15 vs Saints
New York Jets Austin Walter (RB) vs Tampa Bay L, 28-24 at Buffalo

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 did not play in their Week 17 game against the Chargers.

Nick Leverett – OT, Buccaneers

Leverett was active but did not play in the Bucs’ Week 17 win over the Jets. He’s seen action in two games this season, most recently in Week 16 against the Panthers.

Austin Trammell – WR, Falcons

Trammell was active for the first time in his NFL career on Saturday and saw brief action for the Falcons on special teams.

Austin Watler – RB, Jets

Walter saw the most action of his NFL career on Sunday, toting the rock 14 times for 49 yards in relief of Michael Carter, who was injured early in the game. The 14 carries represented two more than he’d tallied in his previous outings combined this season.

Defense

Bryce Callahan – CB, Broncos

Callahan missed the Broncos’ Week 17 game after being placed on the COVID-19 IR, one of a dozen Broncos who ended up on the list. Callahan had only played in two contests since returning from a previous IR stint, although that absence was injury-related.

Christian Covington – DL, Chargers

Covington’s usage has pinballed back and forth this season and this weekend was no different. A week removed from a career-high 10 tackles, he played just 32 percent of the team’s defensive snaps, accruing three tackles and one tackle for a loss.

Andrew Sendejo – S, Colts

Sendejo has missed the Colts’ Week 17 game after being placed on the COVID 19 list. He’d missed their prior game with a concussion.

Special Teams

Jack Fox – P, Lions

Fox punted three times against the Seahawks, including a long punt of 57 yards. He ranks second in the league in punt average, trailing only the Raiders’ AJ Cole.

Chris Boswell – K, Steelers

Boswell was perfect on Monday Night Football. In what was reported by many to be Big Ben’s last regular season home game, Boswell converted 4-of-4 field goals, including a long of 50 yards. He also pushed through two extra points, accounting for 14 of the team’s 26 points on his own.

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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Conference USA Basketball 2022: New Year, Non-Conference Roundup

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Conference USA Basketball is just beginning conference play. Here’s where each of the teams stands entering the New Year.

Team Preseason Pick KenPom ’21-’22 Record
Charlotte 7 209 8-5
FAU 9 206 7-6
FIU 13 243 9-4
LA Tech 2 79 11-3
Marshall 4 155 7-7
MTSU 14 200 9-4
North Texas 6 74 8-3
Old Dominion 5 189 6-8
Rice 8 185 7-5
Southern Miss 12 286 3-9
UAB 1 48 12-3
UTEP 10 178 7-6
UTSA 11 306 7-6
WKU 3 106 8-6
Kenpom rankings and standings as of 1/2/2022

Key Storylines

Frontrunners living up to expectation

Louisiana Tech and UAB were the only teams to receive any first-place votes in the league’s preseason poll. While much of the remainder of the conference was a mixed bag, it seemed almost certain that these two squads would be good. So far, that appears to be the case. Both narrowly missed on a handful of Power 5 marquee wins, but they enter conference play relatively unscathed and clear favorites to cut down the nets in Frisco.

True contenders?

That next tier of teams is where things get interesting. North Texas had high hopes following their NCAA Tournament run last season, but the Mean Green did have to do some reloading. They started conference play with a bang, demolishing Rice. They could play a factor in the conference title race if that team shows up night after night.

Western Kentucky and perhaps Marshall might be the only other dark horses remaining. KenPom doesn’t have any other C-USA schools in the top 175 right now. That middle tier featuring teams like rice, Charlotte and MTSU could make for good parity down the stretch.

Make or break

The most telling storyline over the next few weeks could be which teams play themselves out of the hunt early. Southern Miss wasn’t projected to be very good this year. At 3-9 entering conference play, they join Old Dominion as the only two teams that failed to reach C-USA play with at least a .500 non-conference record.

UTSA, UTEP, Rice and FAU all seem like teams that could go either way depending on the night. That could make the next several weekends important for seeding purposes down the line.

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Rice Basketball: Owls ice cold in C-USA opening loss to UNT

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The men’s Rice basketball squad opened conference play on Saturday while the women were delayed. Here’s what we learned from the men’s loss.

Rice Basketball

Rice basketball wasn’t in sync in their return from COVID-19 postponements, falling to North Texas on the road in their first conference game.

Things got off to an innocent enough start for Rice Basketball at the Super Pit on New Year’s Day. The Owls traded baskets with the North Texas Mean Green early and trailed by one-point following a layup from Carl Pierre with 10:52 to go in the first half. Rice would go almost six minutes of game time before their next field goal.

As the Rice offense wilted, North Texas caught fire. The Mean Green went on a 24-6 run from that point onward turning a close game into a blowout before Rice could get their bearings straight. Rice collectively shot a dismal 31.8 percent from the field and made just three of 14 attempts from three.

What they’re saying

“I thought our guys came out and defended well. They executed the game plan defensively. I thought our communication defensively was really good. We just couldn’t get a rebound. (North Texas) is a very good team. They are on their home court. They are tough and well-coached. They played better and deserved to win.”  – Scott Pera on the team’s performance 

Key takeaway

Poor shooting nights happen and we’ve seen enough from this team to know a 21.4 percent outing from deep isn’t likely to become a frequent occurrence. But it wasn’t just bad shooting that turned a tough game into a rout. Rice was gashed on the glass from start to finish.

North Texas outrebounded Rice 56-30. They edged Rice in offensive rebounds 28 to nine. Rice had nine second-chance points. North Texas had 23. The Mean Green shot 39.2 percent from the field — a subpar shooting night — but they made it for it with their aggression on the boards. The shooting will bounce back. Rice absolutely must do something to ensure the rebounding improves with it

Up Next: vs Middle Tennessee – Thursday, Jan. 6 at 7:00 p.m.

Rice Women's Basketball

Rice women’s basketball has yet to begin conference play. Their New Year’s Day contest against North Texas was postponed.

While the men were able to get back to the court on Saturday, the women were unable to open their conference schedule as had been previously scheduled. We detailed more of the unique challenges facing Lindsay Edmond’s club in our December Subscriber Q&A.

Up Next: at Middle Tennessee – Thursday, Jan. 6 at 6:00 p.m.

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Rice Basketball navigates COVID-19 — December 2021 Patreon Q&A

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Both Rice basketball programs have missed multiple games because of COVID-19 issues. Is there an end in sight?

It’s been a quiet month on the court for Rice basketball. COVID-19 issues within both the men’s and women’s programs have forced both squads to cancel multiple games. Is there an end in sight? What’s next for both teams? We’ll provide some updates below.

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Rice Football 2021 Team MVP: Jake Bailey

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The glue guy for a revamped offensive attack, Jake Bailey’s consistency and big-play ability led to him being named our 2021 Rice Football Team MVP.

There are countless ways to determine what “most valuable player” actually means. Raw numbers tell one story. Anecdotes and narrative can tell another. Then there’s that feeling on one’s gut. The kind one gets when you just know that one particular player contributes more to his team than one can distill down into one statistic or any singular storyline. For Rice football in 2021, the answer to all of those questions was Jake Bailey.

In modern football, MVP honors seemingly always default to quarterbacks. Rice had four different signal-callers appear in crucial moments this season. Wiley Green won the biggest game. Jake Constantine won the most. Luke McCaffrey and TJ McMahon accounted for perhaps the most improbable comeback.

But the only unifying factor among those four passers was the constant churn. In large part because of injuries, no one player in that room consistently put the team on his back every single week and found ways to will them to victories. Jake Bailey did.

Despite being knocked out of the UTEP game in the second half and missing the finale against Louisiana Tech entirely, Bailey still led all Rice pass-catchers in receiving yardage. He scored twice and had on remarkable endzone grab that would have been a touchdown called back by a questionable penalty. The raw numbers were good, really good.

When those catches game were perhaps even more important. Bailey led all Rice players in third-down receptions (17) and third-down receiving yards (209). He caught five passes on fourth down. All five moved the sticks, including a diving 36-yard stretch on a scramble from Constantine to help Rice mount a fourth-quarter comeback bid.

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It probably shouldn’t be surprising Bailey became the focal point of the Rice offense. Head coach Mike Bloomgren noted Bailey was “becoming somebody the quarterbacks trust completely” in the early portions of fall camp, adding that Bailey was the kind of player that was always “finding a way to get open.”

There was a period of time when the Jake-to-Jake connection between Constantine and Bailey was the most productive dynamic on the entire roster. With Constantine at the controls and the pocket wavering, he’d often roll out and immediately fix his eyes on Bailey, who was seemingly always ready to make a play and move the sticks.

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That almost innate connection is part of what Bailey so effective on the gridiron. “It was never scripted,” Bailey said of one such schoolyard play. “There’s no formula for it, but it’s always great when it can work out and be something big.”

Big might be the perfect word to describe the size at which Bailey played. Standing 5-foot-10, there were only five players on the roster with a listed height shorter than Bailey. Yet Bailey never let that stop him. If anything, his stature aided his quickness and made him just that more difficult to bring down in the open field.

Bailey is one of the most dynamic playmakers Rice football has at its disposal, and the talented wideout still has two more seasons of eligibility remaining. As a redshirt sophomore, he’s taken home our Rice Football Team MVP honors. The rise of Jake Bailey might only be beginning. Those are some lofty expectations, but Bailey says he’s ready to embrace them.

“When there’s pressure in the situation that means you’re doing something important. That means you’re doing something where people have to look at you, expect from you. It’s always a great place to be. I think pressure is a privilege,” he said. Here’s to seeing where that pressure leads him in 2022 and beyond.

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