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Mortal Kombat, finishing strong and final thoughts on the 2018 season

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Rice football struggled through a difficult 2018 season, finally breaking through and ending the year on an all-important high note.

In seven of Rice Football’s first 12 games season they found themselves in a two-score game entering the fourth quarter. Excluding blowouts by Southern Miss, Wake Forest, UAB, and LSU Rice was in the game in the fourth quarter more often than they weren’t.

Just once this year did they take a lead into the final frame; they led Old Dominion 20-13 entering the fourth quarter, set up by one of Juma Otoviano‘s long touchdown runs. That touchdown proved to be the difference. In the final week of the regular season Mike Bloomgren’s team had found a way finish.

Bloomgren’s relief and excitement were expressed with an allusion to a classic, but an unexpected source of entertainment: Mortal Kombat.

Upon seeing the game once again within reach in the fourth quarter, Bloomgren couldn’t help but envision the video game in his mind. “You know when his head’s spinning and it’s like ‘finish him'”, Bloomgren recalled with anticipation, “Today we finished him. And you have to do that. You have to have that desire, that want to. You have to believe when you put up those four fingers in the fourth quarter that’s the way it’s going to go. Hey, we’re going to end this thing, together.”

And they did. When the clock hit 0:00 Rice had their first conference win under Mike Bloomgren. It took months to find the right formula, but they got it done. Now all they have to do is replicate it going forward in a new season, with some new players and new expectations.

This could be the new normal,” Bloomgren said wistfully before doubling down on his team’s performance in their final game of the season.”It’s the future of Rice football. It’s intellectual brutality. It’s pound the rock, control the clock and play great defense. And it’s everything we talk about on display today by everyone who touched the field for us. And it’s exciting.”

The difference between one win and two wins doesn’t mean a whole lot for boxscore scouts. There is plenty of progress to be made on that front at South Main. When this coaching staff, this team and the fanbase looks back at 2018 they’ll see the two wins and wish there were more. There will be, in time.

In their final Saturday before the offseason began this team learned how to finish. That alone is reason to believe the best is yet to come.

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3 Big questions entering the offseason

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Rice football proved they’re on the right track, closing out the 2018 season with a win. What questions remain entering a long offseason for the Owls?

1. Can the coaching staff produce back to back stud recruiting classes?

Mike Bloomgren couldn’t stop raving about the freshman class during fall camp prior to the season. He said the hit rate on these guys was tremendous and he wasn’t wrong. Wiley Green, Juma Otoviano, Cole Garcia, Antonio Montero, Prudy Calderon, Tyrae Thornton and several others played significant roles for this team in their first years of college ball.

The trajectory of this program will be set by how well Bloomgren and his staff build on that first successful class. If they can find a few more gems in the 2019 group they’ll take the talent level at Rice through a step change. More talent creates more competition which leads to better players and better results. The recruiting formula starts with talent.

Don’t mistake the need for a second strong class with a search for stars. Just because a signee or recruit doesn’t have the best grades on 247 or Rivals doesn’t mean he’s not the right fit for this system and this scheme. Trust the process. Through one abbreviated cycle the staff has proven they can find the guys they need.

2. What will the offensive line look like in Year 2 under Mike Bloomgren?

It took the Rice offensive line much longer to gel than anyone on the staff would have hoped. The constant flurry of changing parts and shaky play prompted the insertion of young players down the line, eventually solidifying into a starting five of Uzoma Osuji, Cole Garcia, Shea Baker, Joseph Dill and Sam Pierce.

Pierce and Dill won’t return next year and Osuji will see competition at the left tackle position from freshman Clay Servin who started while Osuji was out with injury. That leaves Garcia and Baker as two relatively sure-things in another mix of players and combinations.

The inconsistency of the offensive line was a major inhibitor to the offense in 2018. The way this unit gels in the spring and continues to develop this fall will be an important barometer for how quickly the offense can continue to progress in Year 2.

3. Who will be the playmakers on offense in 2019?

Entering the 2018 season Emmanuel Esukpa and Aaron Cephus were tabbed by most as the most likely playmakers on the offense. Both had their moments and were instrumental in the development of the offense throughout the year, but by the end of the season, there were different faces carrying the load.

Wiley Green, Austin Walter, Austin Trammell and Juma Otoviano became fixtures and various points of the season, ending the year as go-to players to a much greater degree than even some of the coaching staff might have expected.

Who steps up in 2019? It could be some of those same leaders. Green and Otoviano will both be sophomore and Trammell will be back for his junior season, too. But there are also players like Brendan Harmon, August Pitre and D’Angelo Ellis who saw their roles severely limited by injury as well as incoming recruits like running back Jawan King and wide receiver Zane Knipe. There are a lot of options. It will be interesting to see who emerges to move this offense forward.

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The Roost – Rice Football postseason survey

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The 2018 Rice football season is complete, and we need your help. Please consider leaving some feedback and let us improve our coverage.

Thank you to each of you that supported The Roost during our first full football season. It was a blast getting things going, but bigger and better things are in store for the future. In order to do that, we want your honest feedback. What did we get right, what did we get wrong and what do you want to see going forward?

 

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This week in CUSA – Looking ahead at Championship Week

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Rice football triumphed in their final game of the regular season, taking down Old Dominion at home. What’s next for Conference USA football in Week 14?

Team Last Week Result This Week
Charlotte at FAU W, 27-24 — OFF —
FAU vs Charlotte L, 27-24 — OFF —
FIU vs Marshall W, 28-25 — OFF —
LaTech vs WKU L, 15-30 — OFF —
Marshall at FIU W, 28-25 — OFF —
MTSU vs UAB W, 27-3 vs UAB
North Texas at UTSA W, 24-21 — OFF —
ODU at Rice L, 27-13 — OFF —
Rice vs ODU W, 27-13 — OFF —
Southern Miss at UTEP W, 39-7 — OFF —
UAB at MTSU L, 27-3 at MTSU
UTEP vs Southern Miss L, 39-7 — OFF —
UTSA vs North Texas L, 24-21 — OFF —
WKU at LaTech W, 30-15 — OFF —

Notable Week 13 results

Sweet victory

Rice broke an 11-game losing streak with an upset victory over Old Dominion on Saturday. After losing their starting quarterback (again) midway through the third quarter the Owls road the running game, featuring the seldom-used fullback to head coach Mike Bloomgren’s first-ever CUSA win.

Can we get a mulligan, or two?

FIU lost a close one to Marshall in Week 13, their second loss in CUSA play. An 8-4 overall record with losses to Indiana and Miami is nothing to be upset about, but the near-misses in conference play kept a surprisingly stout FIU team out of the conference title game. It was a good season for the Panthers, but it could have been better.

The gauntlet has been throw

The conference title game will be a rematch of a Week 13 game between UAB and MTSU. The Blue Raiders blasted the Blazers in Murfreesboro on Saturday and host the same squad next Saturday with the conference title on the line. UAB had looked unbeatable in recent weeks, can MTSU do it twice in a row?

Week 14 storylines

Recruiting season

For everyone other than UAB and MTSU the calendar has turned into recruiting season. The early signing period starts December 19 and runs through December 21. Most CUSA program will sign a significant amount of recruits, but space will be left open for a final push on National Signing Day in February.

Championship Week

8-4 MTSU hosts 9-3 UAB for the CUSA crown in Week 14. Neither team has ever appeared in the conference championship game, let alone win it. A win by the Blazers would secure their first double-digit win season in program history. MTSU could tie their school-best 10-win season with a win over UAB followed by a bowl victory.

Gone bowling

FAU and Southern Miss were the last teams on the bubble entering the final week of the regular season. Lane Kiffin’s team stumbled at home against Charlotte, keeping them at five wins and out of bowl eligibility. Southern Miss dispatched UTEP with ease, joining the ranks of seven bowl-eligible teams in CUSA.

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Gio Gentosi’s senior moment, a fullback’s fairy tale ending

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Rice football is one of the few teams in college football that still employs a fullback. That fullback made history in the Owls’ win over Old Dominion.

Fullback Gio Gentosi hadn’t scored a touchdown since he was in middle school. That’s why he handed away the football to an official without thinking following his six-yard touchdown run in the first quarter against Old Dominion. “I’ve been used to not scoring for so long,” said Gentosi, who notched his first career touchdown in his final game.

Score he did, capping off a banner day for himself and the Rice Owls. His team won the game, their first Conference USA victory under head coach Mike Bloomgren, and Gentosi played a meaningful role in the final outcome.

Gentosi had never touched the ball more than twice in any game of his college career prior to transferring to Rice from UCLA this summer. He had a personal best three carries and 31 yards against Wake Forest, including a long of 19 yards. Against Old Dominion, he had four carries for 11 yards, the aforementioned touchdown and a 10-yard return on a short kickoff.

The expression on Gentosi’s face as he met with the media following the game was one of pure wonder. “It’s been nine years playing tackle football, to finally have that experience was really special, and on Senior Day and it being my last game…” he trailed off with a smile. Watching him soak in that moment was surreal, a gentle reminder that as much stress and effort that is put into this game, it’s still a game.

In his last game, Gentosi rides out in style. Rice won, Gentosi scored and the locker room erupted in elation. “The stars aligned for this one,” he said, addressing his touchdown run. But perhaps, Gentosi’s struck luck was emblematic of a program that, too, was waiting for a breakthrough moment. Only time will tell if one man’s joy becomes a turning point for an entire team. Right now, though, things couldn’t look any better.

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