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Jerry Mack stresses simplicity the key for the offense against UAB

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The Rice football offense has some growing up to do. After a strong start to the season, it’s back to square one against AUB in Week 7.

It’s time to move on. That’s how offensive coordinator Jerry Mack described the mindset of this team following the Owls’ frustrating offensive performance against UTSA last weekend. They sustained one scoring drive, ending in a Haden Tobola field goal. No touchdowns. No explosive runs. They registered one play of 20 or more yards.

There wasn’t any semblance of momentum on that side of the ball against the Roadrunners. Something that head coach Mike Bloomgren promised to address during the week. He vowed to figure out what this offense was going to be able to do well and lean on its strengths.

The biggest change to the gameplan against UAB won’t be new plays or schemes. There won’t be any sort of personnel overhaul or new identity established. It’s going to be all about getting back to the basics. It’s cliche, but making things as straightforward as possible is something this team needs right now.

Mack said the goal of the coaching staff this week was to “simplify some things and compartmentalize some things a little bit better.” He asserted the issues unearthed against UTSA were “a lot of it was just base fundamental stuff that we screwed up on”, things like “a guy not taking the right step or a guy not communicating the way he’s supposed to.”

In a word, the direction for the offense this week is minimization. Communication up front with the offensive line remains an issue, and if the Owls can’t translate basic things like that from the practice field to Saturdays they’ll continue to find themselves in problematic situations.

There’s no rocket science being applied to the offense on South Main this week. As Macks says, they’re simply working on “taking the right steps.” It’s the same process, but hopefully one that produces different results on Saturday.

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Mike Bloomgren previews UAB, press conference notes (10/9)

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Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren addressed the media on Tuesday, highlighting the Owls upcoming game against UAB on Saturday.

Mike Bloomgren had nothing but praise for the Owls’ upcoming opponent, UAB. The Blazers are 4-1 (2-0 CUSA) and enter the game tied for first place in the CUSA West. Rice sits at 1-5 (0-2) and is still looking for their first conference win. They’ll face a tough test against the Blazers, an opponent whom both the Owls and coach Bloomgren have a lot of familiarity.

On head coach Bill Clark:

They’ve got a great football team. I think what Bill Clark has done in resurrecting that program is phenomenal… I think he’s an unbelievable football coach.

On the amount of experience UAB has on both sides of the ball:

They have 27 seniors on their two-deep right now, older bigger guys that have some good experience. They are a great challenge for our guys up front.

On the UAB schemes and plan of attack

Bill Clark knows how he wants to win games. He wants to win games with an unbelievable defense swarming to the ball and then he’s going to pound the rock. He’s not going to mess it up on offense. They’ll still try to get their explosive plays and take their shots, but he’s going to make you stop the run. He’s going to make you bow your neck and stop the run or he’s going to keep pounding it.

The [defense is] playing like their hair is on fire. They’re No. 11 in America (in team defense) right between Utah and TCU… They play the game angry and they’re having fun playing the game right now.

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Owls defense looks to build on promising showing against UTSA

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Rice football is on to Week 7. The loss to UTSA was tough to swallow, but the Owls defense has plenty to be happy about moving forward.

Lost in the midst of a negative result for the Owls against UTSA was a defensive awakening. It’s true the Roadrunners don’t pack the same punch on that side of the ball as some of the others teams the Owls have faced so far. Still, the results speak for themselves.

The UTSA offense tallied 178 total yards, was 5-for-16 on third down, averaged 3.6 yards per carry and 2.0 yards per pass attempt. With the exception of a few short-field points, the Rice defense was nearly perfect, allowing one sustained scoring drive in 60 minutes, which ended in a field goal.

The UTSA offense ranks near the cellar of most metrics. The Rice defense needed to prove they could silence a mediocre unit, and they did.

Assessing the results

Defensive coordinator Brian Smith was pleased with how his unit played, but knows they have a lot of work left to do on both sides of the ball. Even with the step forward against UTSA, the defense was back to what Smith dubbed the fundamentals on Monday – tackling, running to the football, getting off of blocks and footwork.

According to Smith, there was no switch flipped before the game or any secret sauce. His defense just came out and played sound fundamental football. “Guys have been in position to make plays, but we haven’t made them. That was the biggest difference between this week and previous weeks. The guys in position to make the plays actually made the plays.”

One of those guys that made the biggest plays was redshirt junior cornerback Justin Bickham. He led the team with three pass breakups and was critical in the secondary’s first shutout of the season. Rice allowed 43 yards through the air and zero passing touchdowns. Bickham had a hand in that, swatting away and endzone target and locking down his side of the field.

“We put our corners in tough positions,” said Smith, “[The corners] are a key to the success of this defense. If they hold up outside if gives us the freedom to do a lot of different things up front to make us more successful.”

That success was evident, and it’s a building block for this unit moving forward. “At the end of the day, it’s all about winning and losing,” Smith concluded. “If we don’t win none of the other stats matter.” In one important sense, he’s right. This team and coaching staff will be judged on wins and losses. As for incremental progress, this unit took a significant step forward on Saturday.

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This week in CUSA – Looking ahead at Week 7

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Rice football fell at home to UTSA in Week 6. How did the rest of the conference fare and what’s next for Conference USA football in Week 7?

Team Last Week Result This Week
Charlotte — OFF —  — vs WKU
FAU vs ODU W, 52-33 — OFF —
FIU  — OFF —  — vs MTSU
LaTech vs UAB L, 28-7 at UTSA
Marshall vs MTSU L, 34-24 at ODU
MTSU at Marshall W, 34-24 at FIU
North Texas at UTEP W, 27-24 vs Southern Miss
ODU at FAU L, 52-33 vs Marshall
Rice vs UTSA L, 20-3 vs UAB
Southern Miss  — OFF —  — at UNT
UAB at LaTech W, 28-7 at Rice
UTEP vs UNT L, 27-24  — OFF —
UTSA at Rice W, 20-3 vs LaTech
WKU  — OFF —  — @ Charlotte

Notable Week 6 results

Wild, wild West

Even though the 2018 season is only six weeks old it’s already time to throw out the preseason predictions. North Texas looked to be unbeatable, but they were upset by Lousiana Tech at home in Week 5 and barely escaped upset against winless UTEP in Week 7. Tech turned around and lost to Middle Tennessee. Now UAB and UTSA sit atop CUSA West. Nothing makes sense anymore.

Should we buy into the Blazers?

Sitting at 4-1 (2-0 CUSA), the surprising UAB Blazers own the best record in the West. The defense has carried this team to wins over Charlotte and Louisiana Tech, both of which were held to just seven points. The defense has been so dominant that UAB  quarterback A.J. Erdely was able to complete 8-of-24 passes for 136 yards and the Blazers still won by three touchdowns.

Rice speechless after disappointing home result

The Rice Owls were home favorites against a UTSA squad that had struggled to produce any sort of consistent offense in 2018. The Owls defense was rock solid, but the offense never found any real momentum. That’s going to prompt some difficult conversations on South Main this week.

Week 7 storylines

Kings of the East

Middle Tennessee entered the year without much in the form of preseason accolades. They now stand alone with FIU as the only teams in CUSA East without a loss in conference play. A win over FIU in Week 7 would give them a massive lead in the division with tiebreakers over both FIU and FAU.

Sneaky Southern Miss?

Off this past week, Southern Miss remains very much alive in the West. The Eagles have a win over Rice under their belts and an opportunity to make a statement on the road against North Texas in Week 7. A win over Mean Green propels them into no worse than second place in the West.

A game with unexpected importance

Louisiana Tech and UTSA combined for four first-place votes in the preseason CUSA poll. Now both squads have legitimate shots at a divisional title. They can set themselves up nicely with a win on Saturday; the Roadrunners host the Bulldogs.

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Bloomgren says loss is “on me”, vows to get better

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Rice football fell 20-3 in a home game in which they were considered slight favorites. Head coach Mike Bloomgren took the defeat personally and vows that he and his team will get better.

There were no distractions or excuses offered at the Patterson Center late Saturday night. Head coach Mike Bloomgren calmly approached the podium and delivered an honest, contrite apology for the team’s struggles against UTSA. “I did everything I knew to do to jump-start an offense today that was struggling. Nothing worked,” admitted a frustrated Bloomgren, “Point the finger squarely at me. We will get it fixed.”

The variety of unique offensives looks, personnel packages and more were no accident. The shifting methods were intentional, they just didn’t work. Bloomgren was at a loss for what would have worked against the Roadrunners. “I tried [changing quarterbacks]. I tried to get hard-headed and just run it, but we couldn’t get first downs. We tried to throw the ball around a little bit. We tried going for it on fourth down more than I ever had in my life,” he said, lamenting the zero touchdowns scored by his offense.

Rice is fortunate to have a head coach that doesn’t hide behind anyone or anything. What Bloomgren said in the aftermath of one of the most puzzling losses of his brief tenure at Rice took courage. And he’s hellbent on not having to have another one of those conversations ever again. “I need to fix this,” he declared, “I will get it right.” There were many more words said, but the message was clear. “It’s on me.”

Bloomgren knew what he was doing when he made the decision to step away from Stanford and come to Rice. He knew the road was going to be difficult, but he always believed he had the experience and the tools to build something special at South Main. He’s not giving up, and if history is any indication, he’s got the offensive brilliance to salvage reasons for hope in the midst of a devastating offensive drought.

Defense gives a reason for optimism

One of those silver linings was an incredible performance by the Rice defense. After being gashed repeatedly through the air, the Owls tightened up, allowing 43 passing yards and zero touchdowns, both the best marks for this team in 2018. “If our defense will perform like that in this program we will win a lot of games here,” Bloomgren said, adding that the performance was ” a huge step for them and a huge step in our program.”

He credited the defense with playing with a “different kind of energy”, something that was abundantly clear. The message this week hinged on playing four complete quarters. The offense didn’t play one complete quarter, but the defense held their own from start to finish.

Once again, it’s time for this team to pick themselves off the mat and move on. Bloomgren is all about the process. It’s time to see if the process can continue to progress through a rough weekend which Owls fans are ready to forget. Bloomgren won’t forget, though. He’ll learn, and hopefully be more prepared for the future.

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