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Rice Football: Owls fall to UAB in delayed downpour

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Rice Football traded blows with UAB before the offense dried up under heavy rains as the Owls fell to the Blazers in a sloppy night.

Rain and lightning turned a promising start into a drawn-out, waterlogged affair on Saturday night in Birmingham. The Owls put together a strong first half but couldn’t overcome the elements, falling to UAB on a dreary night at Legion Field. UAB won by the final score 35-20 a few minutes past midnight. Here are a few takeaways from the game.

1. Throw the first punch. Check.

Playing with the lead is always a good thing, but it’s especially important if you want to run an offense predicated on grinding out games. Controlling the clock and running the football don’t complement comeback attempts well. That’s why it’s a good thing to have a smart running back and great blocking to set up plays like this:

Rice struck first against Louisiana Tech and never trailed in regulation. The encore performance against UAB included a shutout pitched by the Rice defense through the first quarter before UAB eventually equalized the score. Rice threw punches with UAB for a while before the Blazers pulled away in the second half.

2. Opening things up on offense

Rice snapped the ball in a five wide formation twice in the first quarter, including the very first play of the game. Wiley Green went downfield on the first play, looking for Bradley Rozner who drew a flag for defensive holding. The Owls converted the second five wide play on a post to Jake Bailey before it was called back on a hold by Rice.

Neither play will show up in the box score because of the penalties, but both were a clear indication Rice is willing to open up the offense and try some new things.

It wasn’t just new formations; Rice noticeably took more shots downfield than they had in previous weeks. Green was actively scanning further than the line of scrimmage and he connected on a few throws that traveled vertically down the field, rather than trusting his receivers to do most of the work after the catch.

Green had a season-high 161 yards passing, two touchdowns and somewhere around 100 yards of pass interference penalties along the way.

3. Secondary shows some leaks

UAB running back Spencer Brown left the ball after the first drive of the game. Not only was Brown a critical piece to the Blazers offense, he became the school’s all-time leading rusher this season. Without him in the game the Blazers took to the air, finding plenty of early success.

Quarterback Tyler Johnston connected on touchdown passes of 46-, 36- and 57-yards in the first half. UAB’s longest score driving lasted 2:41.

This wasn’t the first team to test Rice deep. Wake Forest took shots, so did Baylor. Rice had given up a few deep balls, but the secondary seemed nowhere near as suspect as it did last season when the Owls surrendered an average of 2.5 pass plays of 30 yards per game allowed. Entering the UAB game Rice had given up eight such plays, an average 1.6 per contest, a mark that sits roughly in the middle of C-USA.

Even with the imperfect pass defense, the Owls hung around. George Nyakwol registered the Owls’ first interception of the season in the closing minutes of the first half. Treshawn Chamberlain added to the total with a third quarter pick.

4. Loud and clear

An emphasis on downfield passing wasn’t the only noticeable change with the Rice offense on Saturday. The Owls played an aggressive brand of football. Even when Rice didn’t complete their passes down the field they forced UAB into uncomfortable situations. The opposing secondary was littered with flags all night for defensive holding and pass interference.

A few other decisions stood out. Trailing by seven in the second quarter, Rice went for it on fourth and 10 from the UAB 36 yard line. Not only did they get it, they finished the drive with Green’s first touchdown of the season — an endzone jump ball to Brad Rozner.

In like fashion, Rice rolled the dice before the halftime whistle. After getting possession of the ball with 90 seconds to play, Rice chose to push down the field rather than run off the final seconds. The Owls made it to midfield and did not score, but the decision not to neal the ball was a tone-setter for what this offense could become.

5. Messy, messy, messy

UAB didn’t play a perfect game by any means. Multiple turnovers and flags all over the defensive secondary made it a relatively sloppy night for the home team. Then the rain — which somehow managed to stay away for nearly the entirety of the hour and a half lightning delay — began to come down in buckets.

Conveniently for the Blazers, Mother Nature opened the heavens around the time the home team had scored their second touchdown of the third quarter. Trailing by two scores, The Rice offense never got back in sync. Tom Stewart, inserted for his running ability, put the ball on the deck.

Including two rain-induced fumbles, the Owls tallied a season-high four giveaways. Rice also committed six penalties for 65 yards. That was bad, but not early as careless as UAB’s 167 yards of penalties. You can’t write a loss off based on weather, but there’s no doubt the rain played a significant factor in the second half of this game.

Rice football has played too well over the past month to not have any wins to show for themselves. A lengthy weather delay and sudden pouring rain made this most recent defeat a soggy one. There’s a lot of hurt in the Owls’ locker room right now making this the perfect time for an off week and a cooling off period.

We’re not taking a break

Rice football has the week off, but there will still be content going up on the site and on the podcast. A portion of next week’s episode is up for y’all to decide. Carter and I are going to work through some of your questions in a mailbag segment. We’ll cover everything from the UAB game to midseason thoughts and beyond.

Leave a question in the comments here or on the podcast post, shoot it to us on Twiter or email it to [email protected].

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Rice Football: Behind enemy lines with UAB expert Evan Dudley

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UAB is the next team up on the 2019 Rice football schedule. To get to know a bit more about the Blazers we go behind enemy lines with Evan Dudley of AL.com.

Rice Football is still looking for its first win of the season and figures to have another big test this weekend on the road against UAB. To get the inside scoop, we talked with Evan Dudley of AL.com.

Q. How does the 2019 team compare to the one that won last season’s 2018 C-USA Championship? Are expectations in Birmingham still set on another title?

Evan – It’s still very much a work in progress.

The Blazers have demonstrated proficiency in the passing game – despite Tyler Johnston having his worst game as UAB’s starter with four picks against Western Kentucky – but are still working out the kinks in the rushing attack.

The offensive line play has been pristine when it comes to pass blocking and decent in run blocking this season, but there are some concerns with senior center Lee Dufour after sitting out the last game with an undisclosed injury. UAB head coach Bill Clark said in his weekly press conference that they’re “hopeful to get (Dufour) back soon” so it may be a game-time decision relative to the matchup with Rice.

Defensively, the Blazers are right back where they were last season and lead the conference in three of the four major defense categories. Those ranks also translate nationally with the Blazers ranking 23rd in passing yards allowed (186.5 ypg), 15th in scoring defense (15.5 ppg) and 12th in both rushing (79.8 ypg) and total defense (266.3 ypg).

More: The Roost Podcast – LA Tech review and UAB preview

Additionally, UAB ranks 18th in tackles for loss per game (7.8), 12th in third-down defense (27.3 percent) and eighth in sacks per game (3.75).

Although the Blazers dropped their conference opener to the Hilltoppers, their conference title defense is still very much alive. After everything that has transpired that past two seasons, fan expectations are high – relative to repeating as league champions – but tempered.

Q. Spencer Brown is a talented running back, but he’s been relatively quiet this season. What needs to happen for him to have a breakout game?

Evan – Brown’s lack of production isn’t from a lack of trying as the junior running back averages 19.5 carries per game, even with the Blazers becoming a more proficient downfield passing team this season.

As far as what needs to happen for Brown to have a breakout game, the obvious answer is more consistency in run blocking from the offensive line. The commitment to that part of the offense is present but there’s an absence in rhythm that the Blazers have been accustomed the past two seasons.

As the offensive line becomes a more cohesive unit, the chances of Brown returning to his full dominant form increase exponentially.

Q. The Blazers lead C-USA in scoring defense. Can UAB maintain their impressive defensive start?

Evan – Short answer. Yes.

This defensive unit may be more talented than the last two editions and has yet to hit its peak this season. The Blazers have allowed no more than 20 points in any game this season and were even impressive in the loss to Western Kentucky in giving up only six points off four turnovers.

As long as the offense can get back on track with consistent scoring possessions, UAB will have no trouble keeping its defense fresh and aggressive throughout games.

Q. Who is one player on offense and defense Rice football fans need to know?

Evan – There are obvious names on offense like Spencer Brown, Tyler Johnston, Myron Mitchell, Kendall Parham and Austin Watkins, but look past the main attractions and you’ll find Markus Grossman.

The redshirt junior is the fourth leading receiver for the Blazers but with only six catches for 52 yards. However, five of his six receptions have come on third down with Grossman converting four for a first down and coming up a yard shy of the other. Such success on third down has easily earned him clutch status among a talented group of wideouts.

Garrett Marino is the alpha dog of the defense but it would be wise to be aware of linebacker Noah Wilder. A Gardner-Webb transfer, Wilder had an impressive fall camp resulting in a starting spot alongside Kris Moll in the middle where he currently leads the team with 25 total tackles.

Q. What does UAB absolutely have to do to beat Rice on Saturday?

Evan – Simple. Don’t turn the ball over.

Turnovers kept the Blazers from extending a close lead in the season opener against Alabama State and led to the loss in Bowling Green. When winning he turnover battle, UAB is as dangerous team as any in the league.

However, I expect a challenge from a Rice team that has showed obvious improvement in Year 2 under Mike Bloomgren. Both teams are built on physicality and the Owls have embraced their “Intellectual Brutality.” I don’t expect Rice to succumb to another lopsided shutout this time around.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep. 10 – 2019 LA Tech Recap, UAB Preview

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Carter and Matthew work through the Louisiana Tech loss before transitioning to a preview of the UAB. Owls fans have reason for hope after a tough loss.

The Rice football offense came out fast, but went away quietly in the second half against Louisiana Tech. In Episode 10 Carter and Matthew talk further about why the Owls remain committed to the concept of Intellectual Brutality and what we should take away from the overtime defeat. Then they transition to the upcoming game against UAB. You can always find previous episodes on the podcast page.

Saturday’s game against UAB kicks off at Legion Field on Oct. 5 at 6:00 pm. Check out the written preview for more information and the film room study for a deeper dive on the Blazers.

Give a listen to Episode 10 below.

Episode 10 Notes

  • News and notes — With next week marking the midpoint of the season, we’re going to do a Q&A portion in next week’s show. Leave a question in the comments, on twitter (@TheRoostPod) or send us an email at [email protected].
  • Player updates — Wiley Green is the QB1 and Chris Barnes will assume both punting and kicking duties.
  • Breaking down the Louisiana Tech game — The good and the bad from both sides of the ball in what was a frustrating loss to Louisiana Tech. A few standout players get shoutouts and we take a look at what sort of things Rice has to clean up if they’re going to win a conference game soon.
  • Previewing the UAB game — Tyler Johnston and Spencer Brown are names to know for the Blazers who are relatively young on both sides of the ball. Despite being defending Conference USA Champs, UAB might actually be a better matchup for Rice than Louisiana Tech was last week.

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 Film Room: LA Tech review and UAB preview

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The Week 5 edition of the Rice Football film room centers on Rice’s overtime loss to Louisiana Tech and their upcoming Week 6 opponent, UAB.

Hey y’all, Carter here, and welcome back the Rice Football Film Room. This week, we’ll take a quick look back at the heartbreaker against Louisiana Tech, before moving on to a couple plays from UAB quarterback Tyler Johnston III to get an idea of what the Owls will face in my hometown of Birmingham this week.

LA Tech

How the Rice Offense Should Look!

Rice’s offense, unfortunately, couldn’t get the job done Saturday night despite a stellar effort from the defense. That seems to be a theme this season. Still, in the first two drives we saw an extended glimpse of what the staff wants this offense to look like, and they were extremely effective in executing on those drives. Let’s take a look at Aston Walter’s first touchdown run.

Rice Football

Setup

We’re less than five minutes into the first quarter, and Rice has marched the ball downfield to the LA Tech 16-yard line on its opening drive. The Owls are in 22 personnel, with both Jaeger Bull and Jordan Myers on the left side of the line, Wiley Green under center, and FB Brendan Suckley and Walter in the I formation. LA Tech has three down linemen, three more guys walked up to the line, and four other guys in or close to the box to match Rice’s heavy personnel.

The Play

It’s a power toss, with Suckley kicking out the edge defender and RG Shea Baker pulling to lead the way for Walter. The OL do their jobs well. LG Nick Leverett does get driven back, but he stays engaged long enough to keep his man from blowing up the play (it’s not how you start a block—it’s how you finish it!). Suckley seals his man outside, Bull drives his two yards deep, Myers redirects his inside, and the gap is there for Baker to lead Walter through.

Amusingly, the LB that would’ve been Baker’s responsibility gets caught in the wash, and he never ends up having to block anyone at all. Bull’s man eventually manages to disengage, but only after he’s several yards downfield. At that point, Walter has built up too much speed for him to make the tackle. It’s a touchdown for Rice.

Great run blocking doesn’t mean every defender gets pancaked, especially when there are as many bodies involved as there are on this play. A lot of times it’s just about everybody doing their job just long enough to give the ballcarrier a chance to make the play. If Rice’s linemen, fullbacks, and tight ends can have the level of execution play in and play out that they did on these first two drives, they’ll be tough for C-USA teams to stop.

UAB

UAB’s defense has led the way for them so far, with the Blazers in the top 15 in the country in both total and scoring defense thus far. Those measures aren’t opponent- or tempo-adjusted (UAB hasn’t played any Power 5 opponents so far as compared to Rice’s three), but it’s safe to say they’re playing well on that side of the ball. The offense has lagged behind some—RB Spencer Brown (19.5 carries a game) and QB Tyler Johnston III (10.5 carries a game) are averaging a combined 3.4 yards per carry.

The Blazers use that ground game to set up aggressive play-action shots from Johnston. They’re at the best when he’s executing those, as he did in their 35-3 victory over South Alabama, when he threw for 313 yards and 3 TDs. But if he’s not on his game, that aggression can backfire, as it did in his 4-INT performance in their 20-13 loss to WKU last week. Let’s take a look at a play from each game to show the good and the bad for Johnston.

You Win Some . . .

Rice Football

Setup

It’s early in the first quarter against South Alabama (no score yet), and UAB has the ball 1st and 10 on their own 33. UAB’s in 12 personnel, with an inline TE to the boundary and an H-back, the RB, and two receivers to the field. USA’s in nickel personnel, showing a split safety look.

The Play

It’s a play-action rollout, cutting the field in half for Johnston. As the camera pans to Johnston, we lose sight of the receivers and DBs, but UAB looks to be running some form of the smash concept, with the outside receiver’s underneath route drawing the corner in to let the inside receiver Kendall Parham isolate on a safety with his corner route. This is exactly what happens, and Parham beats the safety cleanly. Johnston hits him over the top, and it’s a long touchdown for UAB.

Notice that Johnston hesitates a bit before throwing the ball once he finishes his rollout, but he drives the ball well enough that Parham only has to slow a little bit to catch it. The safety almost catches him afterwards, but Parham slips through his diving tackle attempt. It didn’t hurt Johnston here, but that hesitation can be costly for quarterbacks, as we’ll see in the next clip.

. . . You Lose Some

Rice football, film room

Setup

We’re about halfway through the 1st quarter of what will eventually be a tight loss for UAB. The Blazers have the ball 1st and 10 at about their own 38, up 3-0. They’re in 11 personnel, with two receivers to the field and a single receiver, the back, and an H-back to the boundary. WKU’s in nickel personnel with a split safety look.

The Play

It’s play action again, and Johnston is looking to hit the post route by the #2 receiver (the slot) to the field side. WKU drops into what looks to be Cover 4, commonly known as Quarters. It’s a 4-deep, 3-under look which is a very common way of defending spread offenses (which most college football offenses are now, of course) in today’s game. It’s predicated on having safeties who can read their keys quickly and flow downhill against the run, while also being athletic enough to play man on vertical routes by the inside receivers.

Here, the outside receivers release vertically, so the corners play man on them. The safeties read the releases of the No. 2 receivers (the slot and the H-back). If they go vertical up the seams, the safeties have them in man. The slot does so, so the free safety bails deep to stay over the top of his route. The H-back stays in to block, so the strong safety stays put and reads the QB. Meanwhile, the nickelback and the SAM (strongside) linebacker head to their zones in the flats. The MIKE, No. 36 Kyle Bailey, sinks back into the shallow middle (the “middle hook”) zone.

More: Why Intellectual Brutality remains a staple of the Rice offense

Johnston wants the slot receiver on the post route. Neither of the safeties have really bit on the play action and there are no, so he needs to throw it in front of the sinking free safety, but away from the strong safety, who’s read his eyes and is breaking hard underneath the route. Bailey, the MLB, takes a few steps forward on the run action, and I think that’s what keys Johnston to make the pass. Here’s what he sees as he reaches the end of his dropback.

Decision time

Rice Football, film room

The slot hasn’t made his cut yet, but the ball has to come out now. This is what we mean when we talk about throwing with anticipation. A great QB has to know when the ball needs to get to a receiver and trust that his guy will be there when it does. If Johnstown throws now and is accurate, the ball will get to his receiver right after he’s broken toward the middle of the field, with space to run away from the FS, who is still sinking to keep from getting beat. Neither the MIKE nor the SS will have time to get under the throw before it arrives.

But Johnston hesitates at the top of his drop, and that makes the difference. Bailey, who does a great job of recovering, has time to drop back into his zone and turn his eyes back to the QB in time to snag the ball.. Additionally, the SS has had time to break under the throw and probably would have made the pick if Bailey hadn’t. If Johnston releases the ball on time, he has space to fit this throw in. As it is, the receiver is essentially triple-covered by the time the ball arrives. It’s the first of four picks on the day for UAB’s QB.

More: Check out the game preview for Rice vs UAB

Now, I don’t mean to pick on Johnston here. Even very very talented QBs can take a long time to develop the skill to make anticipatory throws—Oklahoma QB Jalen Hurts, who’s putting up superhuman stats so far this year, struggled to get the ball out on time during his first two years at Alabama. And UAB’s offense has him making very aggressive throws, which means that his INT numbers are going to be higher than they would in a safer system.

My point though, is I think Rice football has a really good shot of nabbing their first interception (maybe more) on Saturday. If the Owls’ DBs can be in tight coverage as they have most of the year, UAB’s aggressive throws and Johnston’s slow trigger will give them some opportunities to turn the ball over and maybe spark some life into their offense as well.

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Rice Football: Owls all in on Intellectual Brutality

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The Rice football offense hasn’t lived up to expectations yet in 2019, but Mike Bloomgren and his staff still believe they’re close to a breakthrough.

Mike Bloomgren isn’t one to shy away from conflict. An offensive line guru at heart, the second-year head coach has gone all in on the concept of Intellectual Brutality. At its core, the mantra relies on being tougher than the opponent in every respect, mentally and physically.

On defense, Rice is going to be relentless. They’re going to hit and hit some more. Coaches at schools the team played last season credited the Owls’ with that much, calling the Owls one of the most physical opponents they faced all season. Year 1 contained more growing pains than many on South Main would have hoped for, but the defensive effort was there even if the pieces weren’t fully in place.

This year the pieces on defense are there, and Rice has stormed out of the gates with zeal on that side of the ball. The Owls held C-USA’s top-scoring offense, Louisana Tech, to 17 points in regulation, but lost the game in overtime.

While the defense has been superb, the offense has drawn criticism. Committed to pounding the rock in the truest sense of the word, there is no trickeration or scheming. The Owls don’t beat around the bush. They come after their opponents with calculated aggression. But those calculations haven’t fully synced up just yet.

Close, but not close enough

If operated to perfection, the Rice offense works. Senior offensive lineman Brian Chaffin, who played with Bloomgren while the two were at Stanford, said the proof was evident in the Owls’ first two series. “I think the first quarter of the game we really shows what we can be,” he said, “We can go in big personnel… We can move the ball with the pass and we can get into goal line and get grimy, put everyone in the box and put them in a telephone booth and score touchdowns.”

For Chaffin, it’s not pie-in-the-sky optimism. He’s seen it happen in real life. At it’s best, Stanford averaged 37.8 points per game during the 2015 season with Bloomgren calling the shots. The jersey colors are different, but the scheme is more or less the same.

On their first two drives last Saturday the Owls racked up a combined 111 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 6.9 yards per play. Things were looking as good as they have on that side of the ball this season.

When it’s wasn’t working, though, you saw a team that was held to three points in their final 10 drives in regulation.

In the team’s first meeting since that loss, Bloomgren iterated the plays where the Owls fell short. “I showed them 16 clips,” he said, “If any one of them goes the other way, we win the ballgame.”

Missed blocks. Poor coverage. Dropped passes. Wrong decisions. The list of woulda-coulda-shoulda is long after such a heartbreaking defeat. The scoring woes, understandably, stick out. As Bloomgren saw it, “We knew it was a very winnable game. We knew we put ourselves in position to [win] and we know we shot ourselves in the foot.”

It starts up front

Precision is the bedrock of this offense. Offensive line coach Joe Ashfield, another Rice football leader who was with Bloomgren in Palo Alto, can point to the specific moments where his unit had breakdowns.

Ashfield called the Louisiana Tech game “as physical a game that we’ve had since I’ve been here.” He was proud of how his guys handled the pass rush and commended the entire unit on their ferocious blocking in the running game. But he did note there were a few plays where four of the five linemen did the right thing while the fifth man didn’t. Those were the plays, he said, were “really frustrating.”

The offense is complicated, featuring a playbook significantly thicker than most of the teams Rice will face on a given Saturday. The responsibilities put on starting quarterback Wiley Green and each offensive player are large. The opportunities for pitfalls will always be there, making the margin for error slim. For a team that prides itself on being disciplined, that’s one frontier they haven’t mastered.

What happens next?

It seems Rice football has two choices. They can push for perfection — eliminating the errors while remaining committed to their scheme. Or they can pivot to something new.

Reflecting on his unit’s respectable, but not quite perfect outing, Ashfield remained confident. “That last step, the smallest step to take, is the hardest step,” he said, “I just don’t know how long it’s going to take to overcome it. So you just keep working.”

At this point, the Owls feel they’ve come too far to do anything else. There’s no magic bullet, but early returns indicate the team might be closer than their winless record currently indicates.

“You can’t get any closer than that,” Bloomgren mused following the most recent loss. Acknowledging his team needs to learn how to win. “We’ve got to find a way and I really believe that when we break through, it will be habit forming.”

More: Rice Football game preview for Week 6 vs UAB

There’s no better time than the present. Rice takes on defending Conference USA champion UAB this coming weekend. The Blazers blanked the Owls 42-0 last year and haven’t lost a home game since their program was reinstated in 2017. A win, regardless the circumstances, would be loud.

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