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Prudy Calderon shines bright in tough loss to Louisiana Tech

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Rice football dropped another close fourth quarter contest, but Prudy Calderon‘s ascension provides a reason for hope in the midst of defeat.

The Rice defense had generated four interceptions entering Saturday’s road contest with Louisiana Tech. Two of those picks came by way of freshman safety Prudy Calderon, who made his first start against FIU. He doubled his career interception mark against Louisiana Tech, picking off two passes, both on the goal line to thwart potential touchdowns.

His four interceptions to date mark one more than the Owls’ interception total as an entire defense in 2017. It’s also more interceptions than seven different FBS teams had so far this season entering Week 11.

The longer he stays on the field, the more takeaways this defense gets. His teammates and his coaches have recognized how well he’s playing and continue to espouse his praises every chance they get. “I’m really proud of what Prudy’s doing,” said head coach Mike Bloomgren, “We’re just scratching the surface of what he’s going to be. And that’s really exciting to me because he’s tackling well, seeing the game well and making those plays that come to him.”

The potential of Calderon is through the roof. His vision in the open field is innate and he’s only going to get better as he refines his game. For him, confidence has always been the biggest hurdle to clear. Once he realized he could hang with the talent on the other side of the field he started making plays — he hasn’t let up yet.

Quarterback Shawn Stankavage, who struggled with turnovers himself on Saturday, noted how important it was for the defense to be playing as well as they were. His first shoutout was handed directly to Calderon  — a short but honest evaluation: “Prudy played his butt off.”

Calderon registered two picks and one tackle against Louisiana Tech. He kept this team alive and did all he could to will them to victory. He’ll point to the coaching staff and his teammates for their strong performances on Saturday, but this team doesn’t take Louisiana Tech to the wire without a phenomenal day from the freshman safety, a star in the making.

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Shawn Stankavage is grateful to return to football

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Rice football has their starting quarterback back. After fearing the worst, Shawn Stankavage will return to the field against Louisiana Tech.

“I thought my career might be over.” That’s the grim reality Rice quarterback Shawn Stankavage was dealing with in his North Carolina home only a few weeks ago. After getting a second opinion and rehabbing vigorously, he’ll start once again for the Owls against Louisiana Tech on Saturday.

Stankavage views the second chance as a blessing, saying “sometimes when you lose something, you realize how much you miss it.” He realized he missed the gridiron, and his teammates have welcomed him back with open arms.

Through his first seven appearances with the Owls, Stankavage threw for 1,011 yards nine touchdowns and seven interceptions. He has not seen action since his injury against UAB, but doesn’t anticipate any rust as he readjusts to the offense.

Although he’s been unable to play, Stankavage has been actively involved in meetings and with the team on the practice field. He’s been in the huddle alongside Evan Marshman and Wiley Green as they took their turns at the starter’s job. He’ll slide back into the QB1 spot moving forward. Tyner will be the backup with Green available if necessary.

The offense has gone through quite the journey over the month Stankavage been unavailable. It’s started moving in the right direction once again thanks to big days from Austin Trammell and Aaron Cephus, but Stankavage remains confident the unit can and will get better. “There’s still more plays to be made,” he said, talking expectantly of what the on-field results could be as the unit grows.

Stankavage knows he’s not the missing piece that will turn this offense around overnight, but he understands where this team has been and he remains confident in the direction they’re going. The process without the desired result is frustrating, but one win is all it will take to reenergize this program. “When you win, people start believing,” Stankavage said. “We’re close.”

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Quarterback changes take center stage, practice notes (11/8)

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Rice football continues to work on the practice field as they prepare for Louisiana Tech in Week 11. Here are the latest news and notes.

The plan at quarterback behind Stankavage

True freshman quarterback Wiley Green has looked promising so far this season. The Owls’ former fifth stringer racked up 525 yards passing, four total touchdowns (one rushing) and four interceptions across three games. Green can only play in one more contest this year and preserve his redshirt — something Bloomgren indicated was important to the coaching staff during his Tuesday press conference.

Bloomgren is going to get that fourth game in at some point this season, the question is when will that be? If the situation arises where Rice has to turn to the bench late in a winnable game to Louisiana Tech we might see Green over fellow backup Jackson Tyner. Otherwise, Tyner is the probable No. 2 behind Stankavage this week. He took reps with the second team on Thursday. Green ran the scout unit.

D’Angelo Ellis is going to be a thing

The junior defensive back saw limited action as a member of the Owls’ offense in their game against UTEP. He registered one carry for three yards, playing as a wide receiver motioning out of the backfield. That was his first dose of game action this season and his involvement is only going to go up.

Ellis is quick and could provide a jolt to this offense. Him, alongside a guy like Austin Walter, can be spark plugs for a unit that all too often gets stuck. He has the potential to be that kind of big-play guy.

Get a good look at Jack Fox

It’s not often that you get transfixed in practice by special teams, but it’s worth taking every moment remaining to appreciate punter Jack Fox. His punts boomed effortlessly down the field with a subtle thump each time he launched the ball off his foot. He’s going to be playing on Sundays.

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Austin Trammell, the “blueprint” for Owls moving forward

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Sophomore Rice football wide receiver Austin Trammell has been a steady hand in a time of offensive turmoil for the Owls this season. Can he add to a career year?

Wide receiver Austin Trammell touched the ball 18 times, racking up 133 total yards as a true freshman last season. His sophomore performance has blown those numbers out of the water. Trammell’s most recent high point was a career game against UTEP in which he caught eight passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns.

From a role player to a superstar, Trammell’s humble, hard-working mentality exemplifies the kind of person and athlete Rice football needs to win. “Austin Trammell is absolutely the way I would build a football player, the way I want to build Rice football players. I would clone him and play him at center and left guard and right tackle if I could,” said head coach Mike Bloomgren about a player he dubbed “Mr. Consistent” earlier this season.

The team has experienced their highs and lows, so has Trammell. But how he has responded over the last month has been one of the brightest spots in a tough stretch for the Owls. Trammell says he “just had to refocus and come back to working hard every day.” That hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed, and it’s raised the level of this entire offense.

Austin Trammell is absolutely the way I would build a football player, the way I want to build Rice football players. I would clone him and play him at center and left guard and right tackle if I could

Rice was held out of the endzone against UTSA and UAB. In the three games that follow Trammell has amassed a team-high 23 receptions, 263 yards and two scores. His fight and effort are what this team needs. Bloomgren called him the “blueprint” of the type of players he wants to build his program around, doubling down by saying “we can win with Austin Trammell’s across the board.”

For now, they only have one Austin Trammell. He’s bought in and doing everything he can to bring people along with him. His effort and intensity continue to be instrumental in the psyche of the offense and should give Rice fans hope for the future. The Owls might not have had much success on the scoreboard yet, but they have one Austin Trammell, and he’s on a mission to flip that script.

 

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Youth movement continues, LaTech Press conference quotes (11/6)

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Rice football suffered a tough loss to UTEP in Week 10. Mike Bloomgren recaps the loss and looks forward to Louisiana Tech in Week 11.

On the rough start against UTEP

That’s absolutely something we have to get out of these kids minds – the soft attitude of letting one play affect the next. We’ve got to be able to move on to the next play. We’ve got to be mentally tough. We’ve got to understand what we can control in that moment, what’s important in that moment, and not what just happened.

On how the team has responded this week

We’re continuing to stress our process and demand that these guys do it our way. To these kid’s credit they came back in the building yesterday, they watched the film, they listened to me talk about the things that win football games… and then they went out on the practice field and worked.

On the health of starting quarterback Shawn Stankavage

Senior quarterback Shawn Stankavage, our day one starter, is going to be able to return from injury this week a lot faster than everybody thought.. we expect him to start [the rest of this] season. We’re excited to have Sean’s leadership and experience back in the huddle.

On the impact of the new redshirt rule on the program going forward

Some of these freshmen are playing 60-80 plays a game. It’s going to pay dividends, I know it is… the redshirt rule is awesome in that regard… I think going into spring ball knowing the tempo of what a college football game feels like instead of knowing what a practice feels like has so much value.

On Louisiana Tech’s star defensive end Jaylon Ferguson

Jaylon Ferguson is as good of a defensive end as I’ve seen in this conference… he’s how you would design a defensive end on the Madden video game. He’s going to be a great challenge for all of our tackles and backs and tight ends to get a chance to block.

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