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Conference USA Football 2020: Week 4 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 4.

Team Week 4 Result Week 5
Charlotte vs Georgia state CANCELED at FAU
FAU vs USF CANCELED vs Charlotte
FIU at Liberty L, 36-34 — OFF —
LA Tech vs HBU W, 66-38 at BYU
Marshall — OFF —  — — OFF —
MTSU at UTSA L, 37-35 vs WKU
North Texas at Houston CANCELED vs USM
Rice — OFF —  — — OFF —
Southern Miss vs Tulane L, 66-24 at North Texas
UAB at S. Alabama W, 42-10 vs UTSA
UTEP at ULM W, 31-6 — OFF —
UTSA vs MTSU W, 37-35 at UAB
WKU — OFF —  — at MTSU

Notable Week 4 results – Standings

Blazers prove to be the team to beat in the West

UAB had the unenviable task of traveling to play a hot South Alabama team without starting quarterback Tyler Johnston. Not only did the Blazers rise to the occasion, backup Bryson Lucero slung the ball all over the yard, racking up 319 yards and two touchdowns. On the ground, Spencer Brown became the program leader in rushing touchdowns. The defense was stout, holding USA to 3-for-12 on third down. UAB looks every bit the contender many expected them to be.

Rice is back

After delaying their season multiple times, Rice football has returned to practice. The Owls began fall camp this week and are on schedule to open their 2020 season against Middle Tennessee on Oct. 24. The Owls currently have six games on their schedule.

THREE WIN UTEP

UTEP started out strong with a pair of wins over FCS schools, equally their win total over the past two seasons. Saturday the Miners further impressed, thumping Louisiana Monroe on the road. Gavin Hardison threw for 302 yards. Deion Hankins rushed for 118 yards and three scores. It wasn’t a perfect performance, but it was a big win for the UTEP program and head coach Dana Dimel.

Week 5 storylines

Third time’s the charm

Postponements have been a weekly occurrence in college football this year and it doesn’t seem like something that will be going away any time soon. The loss of games has been more impactful to some programs than others. FAU and Rice are the only active C-USA teams who haven’t played a game yet this season. FAU will try for their debut next week against Charlotte after losing potential openers against Georgia Southern and South Florida.

Roadrunner gut check

A 3-0 start has UTSA fans riding high. Given the circumstances, it certainly seems like Jeff Traylor has done a phenomenal job in his first few months in San Antonio. Week 5 will put that growth to the test as the Roadrunners visit the UAB Blazers. An upset there could turn a feel-good start into legitimate conference title aspirations.

Last tune-up for Louisiana Tech

Louisiana Tech overcame significant adversity to win their season-opening game against Southern Miss in the final seconds. After downing HBU this week, the Bulldogs get a challenging test in Week 5 against a BYU squad that was only recently added to the schedule. Showing clear improvement against the Cougars (and maybe settling on a QB1) could but them in a great place before returning to conference play.

 

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College Football and COVID-19: Mid September Roundup

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College football is back, but this season has been far from normal. Here’s a roundup of the key stories around the nation.

We’re almost a month into the 2020 college football season and it’s been one heck of a roller coaster ride. With all the twists and turns, it was time for a quick update on the impacts COVID-19 is having on the season.

If you want to look back at the up-and-down news cycle, you can check out the late-July edition of this update here, the early August edition here or the mid-August update here or are most recent update here.

Rice Football is back!

As first reported by The Roost, Rice football has returned to practice and is on track to play their first game on Oct. 24 against Middle Tennessee. The Owls were the last team in Conference USA that intends to play this season to start fall camp.

Cancelations are mounting

Through three weeks of football, roughly 75% of the games scheduled as of Week 1 had been played. With a cancelation rate trending toward 25%, the odds of any team completing a full schedule are slim. This weekend saw multiple games (Houston at Baylor, Florida Atlantic at Georgia Southern) postponed the day before kickoff.

Schedules are fluid

UTSA was finishing a football game on Saturday when they found out who they would be playing in Week 4. The Roadrunners were originally scheduled to play Memphis, but that game was lost because of positive tests in the Memphis program. No sooner had that game been canceled than did Conference USA slide in Middle Tennessee into the off date. So much for games needing to be scheduled years in advance.

The SEC starts up this weekend

The Big 12 and ACC have already played games in a staggered fashion. The SEC opted to return all at once with marquee games including Mike Leach’s debut against No. 6 LSU, Mo. 23 Kentucky at No. 8 Auburn, and No. 16 Tennessee at South Carolina.

The Big Ten is back … with its third schedule of the year 

After the rumblings of a return proved true, the Big Ten announced their return to play protocols and conference schedule this week. Nebraska, who had led the charge to get back on the field, opens with Ohio State and hosts Penn State later in the season too.

Pac-12 and Mountain West announced return plans of their own

Once the Big Ten announced they would play this fall, the Pac-12 quickly changed its tune. There are more hurdles to jump through in California and Oregon before the westernmost conference returns to action, but things seem to be trending that way. The league will resume play the weekend of Nov. 6. The Mountain West, after initially shutting things down with the Pac-12, will start their season on Oct. 24.

Conference USA is running out of quarterbacks

Injuries to Charlotte’s Chris Robison and UAB’s Tyler Johnston put an already precarious quarterback situation into further uncertainty. Jack Abraham at Southern Miss and Asher O’Hara at Middle Tennessee are now the only healthy returning starters in the conference. We discussed the new hierarchy of C-USA signal callers in this week’s podcast.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 53 – Breaking News: Rice Football is back

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An offseason of uncertainty came to an end this week. As first reported by The Roost, Rice Football has returned to practice for the first time this fall.

There were so many twists and turns to this offseason, but the light seems to have appeared at the end of the tunnel. Rice football returned to practice this week and is on schedule to play their first game on Oct. 24 against Middle Tennessee.

You can always find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 53.


Episode 53 Notes

  • Housekeeping — If you haven’t yet, grab a copy of the 2020 Rice Football season preview and subscribe on Patreon. You’ll get practice reports, recruiting news and the latest analysis and updates on all things relating to Rice Athletics.
    Become a Patron!

    Want to take a test drive first? We’ve unlocked a few posts for a limited time so you can get a feel for what to expect as a subscriber.

  • Rice Football is back — We discuss the breaking news and highlight a few key topics:
    • The Owls kicked off fall camp this week, officially beginning the preseason and putting an end to our Extended Offseason
    • A quick overview of the twists and turns over the last several months and what it took for Rice to get to this point
    • The likelihood of Rice playing out this season as scheduled and what potential impacts could be on the horizon, including a possible rescheduling of the postponed game against UAB

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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The Roost Podcast | Ep 52 – Conference USA Roundup with Eric Henry

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Eric Henry from Underdog Dynasty joins the show to recap early Conference USA football action and discuss major storylines in the conference.

Conference USA Football has had three weeks in the spotlight as the remainder of college football slowly works to return to the field. In that time we’ve seen coaches displaced, quarterbacks disappoint and a bevy of unexpected twists and turns. Eric Henry from Underdog Dynasty joins the show to discuss the biggest storylines in Conference USA and look ahead at what is to come.

You can always find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 52.

Episode 52 Notes

  • Housekeeping — Are you following us on Facebook? Head on over to our page and give us a like so you don’t miss any Rice sports or Conference USA news.
  • College football news
    • The latest on return to play plans in the Big Ten, Pac-12, Mountain West and others.
    • Could UMass barnstorm across the country as a short notice weekend replacement?
    • As cancelations continue, the likelihood of completing a full schedule is minimal at best.
  • Eric Henry joins the show to talk Conference USA Football including:
    • What to make of the first few weeks of action including hot starts from Marshall and UTSA
    • What’s gone wrong at Middle Tennessee?
    • The top three *ish quarterbacks in Conference USA
    • Conference title favorites at this point in the season
    • Key storylines to follow over the next few weeks

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.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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Rice Football: 2021 Wide Receiver MJ Singleton commits to Owls

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The 2021 Rice Football recruiting class has doubled down at wide receiver, adding Texas-native MJ Singleton to the fold.

Through the end of August, Rice Football had no wide receivers commitments in their 2021 recruiting class. Then Peyton Stevenson from Demopolis, Alabama made his pledge to the Owls. Not a week later, the Owls added another wideout to their class with the commitment of MJ Singleton from Lubbock, Tx.

Singleton committed to Rice over offers from Louisiana-Monroe, Incarnate Word and Abilene Christian. The Owls have been willing to call their shot on players they like. It was no mistake they were the first FBS school in Texas to offer and the quick turnaround on the commitment is further evidence the interest was mutual.

Singleton said Rice “made me feel welcomed.” He’s looking forward to taking advantage of all that Rice had to offer. He cited those chances as one of the reasons behind his decision. “The coaches made me feel wanted,” he said,”Also, Rice gives me many great opportunities for my future outside of football.

The addition of Singleton brings the Owls up to 13 commitments in the 2021 class, the fourth most in Conference USA. 247 Sports has Rice ranked as the No. 4 class in the conference at the time of Singleton’s commitment but has yet to dish assign rankings for him, Stevenson or safety commit Marcus Williams.

Premium: 2021 Rice Football Recruiting Offer and Commitment Tracker

Singleton is a different kind of receiver then the Owls’ other wideout commit, Stevenson. The newly added Texas native is a speedster. At 5-foot-9, 170 pounds, he’s going to fly off the line of scrimmage and force defensive backs to beat him in a foot race (and they probably won’t).

The high school track star is a trained sprinter. He’s going to get up and running in a hurry and give Rice even more speed to work with in the coming years. Wide receivers coach Mike Kershaw has been adamant about getting faster since he took over the job last year. So far, so good.

Singleton is fast, but he’s far from a one-trick pony. In addition to excelling with the ball in space, he’s confident when the ball is in the air and will fight for the football. He and Stevenson make a great combo at the position.

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