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Rice Football: 2021 Blue-Gray Spring Game Review

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Rice football spring practice wrapped up this week with the Blue-Gray Game. Final thoughts and takeaways from the last session of the spring.

What a difference a week can make. The last update came following the final scrimmage of the spring in which the defense dominated the offense from start to finish. The reversal came true on Friday night during the annual Rice Football Blue-Gray Spring Game. The offense went on to win 48-34, holding on to a commanding first-half lead.

The offense scored on five of their first seven drives, with Wiley Green and TJ McMahon each leading a pair of touchdown drives. Then the defense took charge, limited the offense to just three scoring plays over the final 12 drives, one of which came on a 65-yard touchdown bomb from McMahon to wideout Andrew Mason.

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For those that might have missed it, you can check out the initial depth chart reactions as well as the Week 1, Week 2, Week 3 and Week 4 practice notebooks. Not subscribed? The Roost will have you covered every step of the way this spring and beyond. Subscribers get access to all practice notes, recruiting updates and special features. Subscribe on Patreon and get access to it all today.

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Rice Basketball: Owls land commitment from UMass transfer Carl Pierre

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Rice basketball has added another impactful scoring threat, picking up a commitment from UMass grad transfer Carl Pierre.

The Transfer Portal was not kind to Rice basketball last spring. No sooner had the regular season ended than was head coach Scott Pera abruptly met with an exodus of outgoing players. Pera and Co. reloaded, taking the Owls further into the Conference USA Tournament than ever before under his watch.

Set on making a return trip and going further into March, Rice hopes to add the “finishing touch” to a strong corps. To this point, only graduate Payton Moore has elected to not return to South Main next season. He’ll look to play his final year of eligibility elsewhere. His absence opens up a roster spot that Rice will move to fill quickly with former UMass guard Carl Pierre.

Pierre is a former high school teammate of current Rice Owl, Travis Evee. Although the two went their separate ways for college, they both retained the propensity for scoring. Evee finished second (to teammate Quincy Olivari) in three-point field goal percentage among all C-USA shooters. Pierre shot 33.3 percent from three last season, a mark that would have put him fifth among all C-USA players last year. He’s 38.4 percent shooter from three in his career.

The Roost Podcast | Spring practice “Believe it or Not”

Pierre leaves UMass second all-time in career three-point field goals made. He started 99 straight games for the Minutemen and should slide right into a starting spot at Rice. Given his track record and the opportunities presented by the Rice offense, the Owls very well boast three of the best distance shooters in the entire league next season.

As things currently stand, Pierre would join a starting rotation that includes Olivari, Evee, Max Fielder and Quincy Olivari. If you like scoring, you’re in luck. There won’t be a more potent offense in Conference USA. The season can’t get here soon enough.

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Can Rice football field the No. 1 defense in 2021? All-American Q&A

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All-American Level subscribers on Patreon get access to a monthly Q&A with me. This update focuses on Rice football and its stalwart defense.

Q. The spring practice updates have only underscored how excited I am to see the Rice defense against non-Conference USA opponents in 2021. Can Rice shut down everyone else like they blanked Marshall?

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A. What defensive coordinator Brian Smith has accomplished with the Rice football defense is nothing short of amazing. He inherited one of the worst defenses in the FBS and elevated it to the No. 12 scoring defense in the nation last season.

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Rice Football 2021: Spring Practice Week 4 Notebook

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Rice Football has completed its final scrimmage prior to the Blue-Gray Spring Game. There was a ton to unpack from this week’s sessions.

The second of two spring scrimmages wrapped up last Friday. Rice football took the field for 12 drives then finished up with a few situational drills. The defense won the day in what head coach Mike Bloomgren dubbed “a defense-dominated scrimmage”, but the biggest gleanings might have come from what transpired on the other side of the ball.

There is a lot to discuss regarding the quarterback situation. From there we’ll touch on the offensive line a bit and some of the highlights from the skill players. Then, yes, we will bestow some well-deserved praise on the defense.

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For those that might have missed it, you can check out the initial depth chart reactions as well as the Week 1, Week 2 and Week 3 practice notebooks. Not subscribed? The Roost will have you covered every step of the way this spring and beyond. Subscribers get access to all practice notes, recruiting updates and special features. Subscribe on Patreon and get access to it all today.

The elephant in the room

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Rice Baseball 2021: Owls outhit by UTSA in series loss

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Rice baseball dropped three of four games in their opening series of Conference USA play. The Owls were outscored by UTSA 39-18.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Rice baseball loses series 3-1

1. When things go wrong, they go really, really wrong

Rice baseball sits at .500 on the season with 12 wins and 12 losses. Of the Owls’ 12 defeats, seven of them have come by four or more runs. Rice has allowed double-digit runs in a loss three times this season with all three instances occurring in the last two weeks.

It’s one thing to lose games. Even the best teams in the country will end the regular season with imperfect records. But to be blown out, failing to mount a rally at the plate or put out the fire on the mound, is concerning.

Whether it’s a leader that needs to rise to the occasion or a mechanical issue that needs to be worked out, losing like that multiple times in a short span is disheartening. Especially set alongside Tuesday’s encouraging win over Texas A&M.

2. Hats off to Holcomb

Through his first four outings, it looked like Mitchell Holcomb was not long for the Rice rotation. The transfer pitcher lasted more than four innings just once and fell behind. Then he went 7.2 scoreless against Norther Illinois and seven more innings of two-run ball against Southern.

His four-run, five-strikeout performance against UTSA might have just been okay, but in context, he and Roel Garcia were the only Rice starters that kept their team in games. With four-game weekends the new norm, Holcomb’s name isn’t leaving the lineup card any time soon.

3. Measuring stick series

Rice baseball picked to finish third in Conference USA West in the preseason. UTSA was picked to finish fifth. The Owls entered the weekend with the worst non-conference record of any team in the west, but seemed to be on the upswing over the last two weeks. That momentum came to a screeching halt this weekend.

Other than the miraculous walk off, Rice was outplayed in both phases this weekend. It’s hard to ascribe top-three divisional status to the Owls right now. Fortunately, they have time and they have another four-game weekend against this same UTSA team in a month. We’ll see whether or not Rice can regain their contender status by then.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY | UTSA 16 – Rice 4 (7 inn.)

The potent UTSA offense came out firing, with two home runs accounting for five runs in the first inning of the series opener. Down 5-0, Rice deserves some credit for their response. The Owls slugged two home runs of their own in the bottom half of the first inning, cutting the deficit to 5-4.

Starter Blake Brogdon didn’t fare any better in the second inning. Cristian Cienfuegos was rocked in the frame that followed. By the time the fourth inning was over, Rice trailed 16-4. The Owls’ managed 10 hits, but were run-ruled.

SATURDAY 1 | Rice 10 – UTSA 8 (7 inn.)

It was Rice who struck first in the second game, taking a 2-0 lead on a Guy Garibay long ball. Roel Garcia pitched four innings, leaving with a 3-2 lead. The tandem of Dalton Wood and Reed Gallant could not hold the lead. UTSA would rally back in the middle innings, taking a 5-3 which they extended to 8-3 in the top of the seventh.

Rice needed five to tie. Following a groundout by Braden Comeaux to start the inning, the Owls’ bats caught fire. Down to their final two outs, Austin Bulman delivered a three-run bomb to cut the deficit to two. Then, with two outs and the game on the line, Cade Edwards blasted the walk off home run.

SATURDAY 2 | UTSA 4 – Rice 1 (7 inn.)

UTSA scratched across two runs in the first in what was as close to a pitcher’s duel as these teams would see this weekend. Rice managed just two hits in the seven inning affair, including a Comeaux single that scored the Owls’ only run in the sixth.

Rice starter Mitchell Holcomb pitched a complete game, but his workmanlike effort was not enough to spark a Rice offense that seemed to have utilized all its magic in the furious comeback hours prior.

SUNDAY | UTSA 11 – Rice 3

Seeking a series split, Rice was greeted with a crooked number out of the gate. Another first inning home run from UTSA put Rice in an early hole. But the Owls would rally, cutting the deficit to 4-3 in the second inning. But starter Brandon Deskins couldn’t keep the bats at bay for much longer.

UTSA exploded for five more runs in the fourth and added two more against Drake Greenwood in the sixth. Overcome a massive gap again proved to large of a task. Rice did not score for the remainder of the game. The Owls were outscored on the weekend 39 to 18 in 30 innings.

ON DECK | Middle Tennessee (Thr-Sat, four games).

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