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Rice Football: 2019 Defense flexed against C-USA’s best passers

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The Rice football defense took significant steps in the secondary last season and the numbers bear out the noticeable improvement on the back end.

The defense was the brightest spot for Rice football last season. That side of the ball has faced some attrition through injuries and transfers, but many of the same faces remaining.

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I’ve broken down the numbers for each of the C-USA quarterbacks the Owls faced last season. In doing so, I’ve separated yardage and touchdown averages in opponents’ other games (excluding Rice) and then comparing that to the production they had against the Owls.

Each opposing quarterback’s PFF ranking from last season (among all 130 FBS teams) is included for reference. Games in which Rice faired better than the average school each quarterback faced are highlighted in green.

The Breakdownown

Rice saw every kind of quarterback and every kind of offense in 2019. For the most part, the defensive staff was prepared for what their opponents were going to throw at them through the air. They allowed four C-USA quarterbacks to throw for 300 yards on them in 2018, including a 428-yard performance by Southern Miss’ passer Jack Abraham.

Only one C-USA quarterback reached 300 yards passing against Rice this year (Asher O’Hara) and that came in a furious comeback attempt. Even still, O’Hara barely eclipsed that mark while in come-back mode and needed a busted coverage 90-yard touchdown throw to the speedy Ty Lee to get there. Those yards count too, but when taken into context, it’s hard to be encouraged at the secondaries clear 180.

The UAB game was arguably their only truly “bad” outing against a Top 50 quarterback.  Allowing Tyler Johnston to toss up three long-ball touchdowns was inexcusable, even if the game was against the defending champs on the road.

Bottom Line

Seeing the Rice football secondary flex against the best C-USA can throw at them is good news. It’s much easier to look past low points (like the UTSA game) when there’s tangible proof this secondary with these players can be good enough to get the job done. Another year of experience with a mostly intact front-seven in front of them is a further reason for hope.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 56 – 2020 Rice Football Preview with JP Heath

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Rice Owls voice JP Heath returns to the show to discuss the upcoming Rice Football season and what it’s going to look like from his booth.

Returning for his second appearance on The Roost Podcast, Rice Owls voice JP Heath joins Carter and Matthew and shares his thoughts on the 2020 Rice Football Season. The trio talk through the biggest news from the previous week — the emergence of Mike Collins as the starting quarterback and the opt-out of wide receiver Bradley Rozner — as well as a few items near and dear to JP’s heart.

You can always find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 56.

Episode 56 Notes

  • Housekeeping — Don’t miss this opportunity to subscribe on Patreon. You’ll get practice reports, recruiting news and the latest analysis and updates on all things relating to Rice Athletics.
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  • Rice Football breaking news!
    • Mike Collins has been named the starting quarterback
    • Wide receiver Brad Rozner will not participate this season, instead choosing to opt out
  • Conference USA news and notes
    • UTSA salvages a “moral victory” against BYU
    • FAU has only played one more game than Rice
    • Louisiana Tech leads the West. FAU and Marshall lead the East
  • JP Heath joins the show and shares his thoughts on:
    • Rice football fall camp including standout freshmen, position groups of worry and the quarterback battle
    • What the broadcast is going to look like this fall, and what’s still up in the air
    • Mental Health week and his plan to raise awareness

What do you think?

Have an opinion you’d like to share on the Owls’ opponents and/or roster? Leave it in a review on iTunes or send us your thoughts on Twitter, or any of our other social accounts.

Where can you find us?

Download and subscribe to The Roost Podcast on any of your favorite podcast providers. The show is available on iTunes, GooglePlay, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and PodBean. Please consider leaving a review wherever you listen.

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Rice Football Recruiting: Offensive lineman John Long commits to Owls

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The 2021 Rice Football recruiting class has landed its second commitment in a week. Offensive lineman John Long has committed to the Owls.

Intellectual Brutality is at the core of the Rice football recruiting philosophy. The desire to win in the trenches led to the first commit of the 2021 class, offensive lineman Faaeanuu Pepe. Ethan Onianwa was the next offensive lineman to join the fold. The Owls added their third big man up front today with the commitment of Lampasas guard John Long.

Long commits to Rice football just three days removed from his first official offer. Long was offered on Oct. 11 and pulled the trigger soon after, committing on Oct. 14. He’s the second member of the 2021 class to commit within a week of receiving his offer from the Owls. Wide receiver Peyton Stevenson committed one week following his offer in mid-September.

Long chose Rice football over offers from UCF, Tulane and North Texas. Beating out a Conference USA peer and two prominent AAC programs is notable for the Owls who continue to raise their recruiting profile as they bring in waves of new talent with each successive recruiting class.

Premium: 2021 Rice Football Recruiting Offer and Commitment Tracker

Standing 6-foot-4 and weighing 300 pounds, Long looks the part of a people mover in the offensive trenches. He marks the 15th commitment in the 2021 Rice Football recruiting class, the third on the offensive line and the seventh offensive commit.

Long is a powerful off the line of scrimmage, capable of pushing defenders around. For a big guy, he’s fairly fleet of foot, pulling from the line and getting out in front as a lead blocker in space. He creates massive holes in the running game, something Rice running backs will appreciate when they have the opportunity to run behind his pads.

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Rice Football 2020: Owls get multiple starters back to practice this week

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Rice football has been hit hard by injuries prior to their season opener. Several of those players were back at practice this week.

Rice football is less than two weeks away from their first game of the 2020 season. The Owls remain on track to host Middle Tennessee on Oct. 24, with no fans. If you haven’t yet, check out some of the virtual offerings Rice has put together for the game. There should be a few more things in store this week.

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Perhaps the most notable happening in prior Rice football practices was the number of players who weren’t on the field. The injury bug hit Rice hard during fall camp. It’s already cost them the entire seasons of Cam Montgomery and Bradley Rozner. The Owls’ are still a ways from being fully healthy, but this week brought with it much more encouraging news.

First, Rice football is COVID-19 free after reporting one positive test on Oct. 3. They do not have any players unavailable because of positive tests or contact tracing right now. In non-COVID related news, we’ve seen a turn for the better with several key players who were on the field this week after missing time earlier in camp.

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What’s coming next?

I’ve got a few breakout freshmen that I’ll be sharing soon. It’s probably safe to say a few of them could play important roles this fall, especially if the Owls enter the season banged up. I have some more depth chart updates that I’ll work to have finalized following the third and final scrimmage on Saturday. Stay tuned for another update then, the last before we get to game week against Middle Tennessee.

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Conference USA Football: Championship game moved to Dec. 18

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The 2020 Conference USA Football championship game has been moved to Dec. 18, a two-week delay to allow the conference scheduling flexibility.

In an announcement that seemed several weeks in the making, the Conference USA football championship game will be delayed two weeks. The game was initially scheduled to take place on Dec. 5, but will now take place on Dec. 18. Per the league office, it will be televised at 6 p.m. CT and be hosted by the team with the highest league winning percentage.

In their release, Conference USA cited scheduling flexibility as a driving force for the change.

The shift of the Championship Game from its originally scheduled December 5th date will create two additional weeks to schedule games that were postponed due to COVID-19-related issues.  Dates and matchups for those re-scheduled games will be announced at a later date.

More: Week 6 Conference USA Football Roundup

It should be noted the conference opted to delay the game two weeks rather than one. This gives two additional weekends to play games. There have been multiple league games already postponed and one team, FAU, had already scheduled a game for Dec. 5 prior to the conference formally moving the championship game. The Owls are slated to take on Georgia Southern on that date, a makeup of a game postponed earlier in the year.

For Rice Football, this move allows for two additional weeks on the back end of the current schedule. I expect a rescheduling of the UAB to be among the Owls’ most pressing items, completing a full C-USA West schedule.

There’s also a chance the Bayou Bucket game against Houston is rescheduled later in the year. Houston is tentatively free on Dec. 5. One would assume conference games would be the priority, but if those are played as scheduled don’t rule an intra-city matchup between the Owls and Cougars this fall.

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