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Rice Football 2020: Owls in the NFL – Preseason Update

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Rice Football is well represented on 2020 NFL rosters. Here’s where each of the NFL Owls stand prior to the beginning of the season.

There are former Rice football players scattered across the NFL. Stay tuned each week for their game results and notables from each player.

Week 1 schedule

Denver (Anderson, Callahan) vs Tennessee
Pittsburgh (Boswell, McDonald) vs New York Giants
Seattle (Willson) vs Atlanta
Cincinnati (Covington) vs Los Angeles Chargers
Detroit (Fox) vs Chicago
Houston (Gaines) vs Kansas City
Cleveland (Sendejo) vs Baltimore

Offense

Calvin Anderson – OT, Broncos

Anderson signed with the Broncos midway through last season but never saw game action. He’s back on the roster this year and listed as the backup to Garett Bolles at left tackle on the team’s first official depth chart.

Vance McDonald – TE, Steelers

McDonald is entering his fourth season in Pittsburgh, the longest stint he’s had with any one team since entering the league in 2013. His 38 receptions last year were the second-most in his career, but his 273 receiving yards were below his the 610 he posted the season prior. With Big Ben back, McDonald’s impact on the offense should tick back upward.

Luke Willson – TE, Seahawks

Willson was brought back to Seattle for his blocking ability. He’s an excellent addition to protect quarterback Russell Wilson with the ability to slip out and catch a few passes as well. He caught eight balls in eight games with the Seahawks last season while grading out as Pro Football Focus’ 13th best pass-blocking tight end.

Defense

Bryce Callahan – CB, Broncos

Callahan missed the entire 2019 season with injuries but is back and ready to see his first snaps as a Denver Bronco despite signing with the team November of 2019. He had six pass breakups and two interceptions in each of his last two seasons with the Bears, encompassing a total of 25 games.

Christian Covington – DL, Bengals

Covington signed with the Broncos this offseason as a free agent but didn’t spend much time in the Mile High City. He was traded to Cincinnati in the final days of training camp, reuniting him with fellow Owl James Casey, the Bengals tight ends coach. Covington is coming off a productive season in Dallas with six starts, one sack and a career-best 28 tackles.

Phillip Gaines – CB, Texans

Gaines appeared in five games with the Texans last season after joining the team following brief stints with the Bills and Browns. An ankle injury ended his season prematurely and could impact his availability for the start of the 2020 season. He practiced over the weekend after missing some time the week prior.

Andrew Sendejo – Saf, Browns

Sendejo spent time with the Vikings and the Eagles last season, totaling four passes defended, three interceptions and 45 total tackles. He won the starting free safety job during camp and projects to start alongside Karl Joseph in the defensive backfield for Cleveland this year.

Special Teams

Chris Boswell – K, Steelers

Boswell connected on 28-of-28 extra points last season and 29-of-31 field goals. He was perfect from inside 40-yards. He entered 2020 with a career field goal percentage of 87 percent.

Jack Fox – P, Lions

Fox beat out Auburn grad Arryn Siposs for the starting punting job in Detroit this offseason. When he takes the field on Sunday he’ll play in his very first regular season game after seeing some preseason action with the Chiefs last year.

More Owls in the NFL

From practice squads to current free agents, there are others 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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Rice Football: What’s going on with the Owls’ 2020 schedule?

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The future of the 2020 Rice Football season remains unclear. Here’s the latest on the Owls and the outlook for their schedule.

There has been a lot of buzz this weekend about the future of the 2020 Rice Football season, specifically the Owls’ October 3 game against Marshall.

When the news of Rice delaying practice came out on Sunday I told subscribers there was a high likelihood Rice would not be playing that game as scheduled. If Rice isn’t practicing, they’re not going to play football in four weeks’ time. That game, as well as the game against UAB, would be postponed.

On Monday evening, reports surfaced that Rice had indeed postponed their games against Marshall and UAB. In all likelihood, we’ll get to that scenario. And I can understand the angst in Hungtington, WV and Birmingham, AL. I believe both games will be postponed. It just hasn’t happened yet.

Per a source, Rice has not made any official changes to their 8-game schedule. The Owls will make an official decision on those games in the coming days.

Listen: The Roost Podcast – C-USA Preview

The “best case scenario” would be for Rice to postpone games against Marshall and UAB and slot one of those two teams into a game on Dec. 5, a weekend originally reserved for the conference championship game, but already noted as being flexible. UAB would be the preference there, allowing Rice to round out a complete West Division schedule. The Championship game would be played on Dec. 12.

The “worst case scenario” would be a complete cancelation of those games and the 2020 Rice football season. I do not believe Rice would have afforded themselves the opportunity to play football this fall after their scheduled bye week if there wasn’t a distinct possibility they could return to the field.

The method with which they’ve chosen to push back the decision is what seems to have drawn the most scorn. This weekend would have been an appropriate time to make a go or no-go decision on the season, but that can was kicked further down the road. We’ll see where it settles in a few more days.

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Conference USA Football 2020: Week 1 C-USA Roundup

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Conference USA Football kicked off its 2020 season this weekend. Here’s the latest from the six teams in action in Week 1.

Team Week 1 Result Week 2
Charlotte — OFF —  — at App State
FAU — OFF —  — — OFF —
FIU — OFF —  — — OFF —
LA Tech — OFF —  — at Baylor
Marshall vs EKU W, 59-0 — OFF —
MTSU at Army L, 42-0 — OFF —
North Texas vs HBU W, 57-31 — OFF —
Rice — OFF —  — — OFF —
Southern Miss vs South Alabama L, 32-21 — OFF —
UAB vs Central Arkansas W, 45-35  at Miami
UTEP vs SFA W, 24-14 at Texas
UTSA — OFF —  — at Texas St
WKU — OFF —  — at Louisville

Notable Week 1 results – Standings

Southern Miss reminded us why we love/hate this marvelous sport

The emotional rollercoaster that was this offseason took fans through every stage of hope and despair. Eventually, when kickoff had finally arrived, most had reached a place of optimism. After months of uncertainty, football was finally here! It took less than 15 minutes of game time before Southern Miss fans were calling for a coaching change. The Golden Eagles would go on to lose to South Alabama despite being double-digit home favorites. Ouch. Welcome back, college football.

Reigning West champs look wobbly

UAB beat FCS Central Arkansas by 10 points, but the Blazers and the Bears were neck and neck through a good portion of the game. The UAB offense veered back and forth between its ups and downs, spotting UCA great field goal position, from which they capitalized. A win is a win, but UAB had better get all their rust off during practice this week before taking on Miami in Week 2.

UTEP wins!

Dana Dimel’s program is at the point where any victory is a meaningful one, even if it comes in comeback fashion against an FCS team at home. The Miners trailed Stephen F. Austin early but rallied behind the legs of Deion Hankins and the arm of Gavin Hardison to outscore their opponents 21-0 after falling behind 14-3 early in the second quarter. And hey, anything would have been better than Middle Tennessee’s disastrous outing against Army. Sheesh.

Week 2 storylines

On Deck

After sitting out Week 1 four Conference USA teams will kick off their 2020 seasons in Week 2. Oddly enough, all four begin on the road. Charlotte visits Appalachian State, Lousiana Tech takes on Baylor, UTSA travels to Texas State and WKU plays at Lousiville. The two matchups against Power 5 teams could prove to be the most interesting.

Strange scheduling

Old Dominion made waves when they became the first Conference USA team to opt-out of the 2020 season entirely. The Monarchs won’t play any games this fall, but they’ll have played as many games in the first two weeks as FIU, FAU and Rice, all of which have open dates during Week 1 and Week 2 after their originally scheduled contests were postponed.

C-USA three-peat

FIU put a feather in C-USA’s collective cap last season when the Panthers knocked off Miami. LA Tech gave the conference an encore performance, shutting out the Hurricanes 14-0 in the Independence Bowl. Should UAB topple The U next weekend, Conference USA will be able to claim three consecutive victories over one of the ACC’s most storied programs.

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BREAKING: Jack Fox to be Detroit Lions starting punter

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Former Rice football punter Jack Fox has won his first pro punting job, beating out competitor Aaron Siposs to become the Detroit Lions punter.

It’s been a remarkable journey for former Rice Football punter Jack Fox. From high school football in Missouri to college ball in Texas, Fox has moved around the country and back again hoping for one of 32 coveted NFL jobs. After years of striving, those dreams have come true, Jack Fox has won the starting punting job for the Detroit Lions per Dave Birkett.

The Lions will likely cut punter competitor Aaron Siposs this week as part of their end of camp roster cuts. The team will have to trim down their roster to 53 prior to their season-opening game against the Bears of Sunday, Sept. 13. When Fox takes the field on that day, he’ll punt in a regular season game for the first time in his career.

Prior to settling in with the Lions, Fox signed with Kansas City following the 2019 NFL Draft as an undrafted free agent. He was cut from the Chiefs’ practice squad and drafted by an XFL team before ultimately signing a futures deal with the Lions and entering their punting competition.

Fox spent this offseason training with current and former NFL specialists. In spite of the challenges of working out without a gym in the midst of a pandemic, he found a way to continue to push himself to improve. While with Detriot, he’ll likely handle kickoffs and holds for field goals, as well as his duties as the team’s primary punter.

Check out our recent interview with newly minted Lions punter Jack Fox who jumping on The Roost Podcast in late August to talk about the competition and his offseason. The interview begins at 22:34. He breaks down what it’s like to battle for a job in training camp, what he’s learned during the offseason and more.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 49 – College Football returns and C-USA Odds

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Actual college football happened this week. Carter and Matthew breakdown the impact of Austin Peay vs Central Arkansas and discuss C-USA title odds.

We’re a month away from Rice football’s 2020 debut, but college football has officially begun. Austin Peay and Central Arkansas kicked off the fall season last week in a game that might have more impact on the rest of the sport as a whole than it would in other years.

Carter and Matthew examine the circumstances surrounding what was an extremely unusual game and what ripple effects could impact Rice, Conference USA and the national landscape of the sport.

You can always find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 49.

Episode 49 Notes

  • Housekeeping — Schedule news and other updates are coming fast and furious. Make sure you hit the button and subscribe on Patreon so you don’t miss what’s happening behind the scenes. As always, thanks to all of you who have followed the show on Twitter and left a review on iTunes. It’s quick, but it makes a difference.

Become a Patron!

  • College Football is back
    • COVID-19 impacts first game of the season between Austin Peay and Central Arkansas
    • Could Austin Peay’s missing players be a sign of things to come?
    • Two very different schedules highlight what is destined to be a strange season
  • Conference USA odds and Rice outlook
    • Oddsmakers are split on the Owls. What are realistic expectations for the team in this truncated season?
    • Can this team reach the Conference USA Championship game?
    • How do we evaluate this season?

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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