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Rice Football vs Prairie View A&M: 3 things to know

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Rice football opens their 2018 season against the Panthers of Prairie View A&M. Here are a few things to know before the game.

The 2018 season is finally here and the first objective for the new-look Owls is matching last season’s win total out of the gate. Rice holds a perfect 1-0 record all-time against PVAMU, defeating the Panthers 65-44 at Rice Stadium in 2016. Here are three important things to know about the Panthers before the game.

1. Not just another FCS squad

FCS teams typically represent a step down from their FBS counterparts. While it’s true the talent gap tends to be fairly wide, Rice would be well to respect their opponent – and in more than just a coach-speak fashion.

Prairie View is second in the SWAC in wins since 2007. That includes seven winning seasons including three-straight above .500 campaigns entering 2018. Their offense has been prolific. This year four different Panthers were named to the All-SWAC first or second team: running back Dawonya Tucker, offensive lineman Roderick Smith, wide receiver Markcus Hardy and tight end Zarrian Holcombe.

Yes, Rice has the edge in talent. But too many first-game jitters will give the Panthers a chance. FCS or not, this is not a team the Owls want to let hang around.

2. Make an educated guess

Like Rice, Prairie View A&M will also field a first-year head coach. Eric Dooley brings an impressive resume to his new post, most recently serving as the offensive coordinator at Grambling State. His time with Tigers was fruitful. Grambling ranked as high as fourth in the nation in scoring during his tenure, topping out at a jaw-dropping 65 touchdowns and averaging 470 yards per game in 2015.

But that was Grambling State, not Prairie View. It’s reasonable to assume that the Panthers will incorporate much of the same principles that made Dooley’s offenses so successful at Grambling, but the Owls don’t have any live-action evidence to back up that assumption. To some extent, Rice is flying blind. Thankfully, so is Prairie View.

3. Not-so-new Jalen Morton

Morton played sparingly at quarterback last season, attempting 17 passes. He was pushed out to wide receiver (three catches, 21 yards), thanks to the emergence of Neiko Hollins, who claimed the starting quarterback role midway through last season and did not let go. With Hollins out of the picture after transferring this summer, the door is open once again for Morton to take the reigns.

It was Morton who started for Panthers in their 2016 meeting with the Owls, the only other game between these two schools. He threw for 278 yards on 18-of-29 passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also picked up 47 yards on the ground, including a 39-yard touchdown run.

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Owls receiving corps greater than sum of its parts

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Rice football has a healthy dose of new faces in their wide receiving corps this year. Led by Aaron Cephus, a few other pass catchers have emerged.

Aaron Cephus is the lone name at the top of the box scores from the 2017 season. The then-freshman receiver hauled in 25 receptions for 622 yards. He’s a raw, big-bodied athlete with enormous potential. His 24.9 yards per reception led all of college football in 2017, but there’s more to Cephus than that one statistic – just like there’s more to the Rice receiving corps than that one player.

Rice football doesn’t return any other receivers, outside of Cephus, who had more than four receptions in 2017. That’s an almost incomprehensible amount of turnover, but the clean slate has opened up opportunities for several players on the roster, both old and new. If Rice is going to be successful this fall they’re going to need several of these players to step into meaningful roles.

The most likely player to emerge from that mix is sophomore wideout, Austin Trammell. Dubbed “Mr. Consistent” for his reliability and soft hands throughout camp, Trammell is one of, if not the most sure-handed player on this roster. Despite only registering four receptions for 51 yards last season, Trammell could be the early favorite to lead the Owls in receptions this year.

Trammell has spent a good amount of time out of the slot early on this fall, a place that he has excelled. His quick release and elusiveness across the middle should open up opportunities for the guys on the outside.

He’s already proven that he’s not the kind of inside man that can be covered by your average linebacker. The 5-foot-10 receiver has a quick twitch and attacks the ball over the middle, showing a certain amount of fearlessness that begs his quarterbacks to trust him with the ball in critical moments.

Head coach Mike Bloomgren couldn’t be more thrilled with the growth Trammell has shown this offseason, acknowledging that Trammell is “good at everything” and at the center of the Owls’ plans on offense this year.Rice Football

The third man who has separated himself from the pack was somewhat of a surprise this fall. True freshman Brendan Harmon is playing at too high of a level to not be on the field. That’s not just one man’s opinion.

When talking with Cephus about his strengths in the redzone Cephus turned the conversation to the talented freshman, lauding his “great ball skills” adding Harmon would “definitely be a threat” on the field this season. Trammell added to the praise, referring to Harmon as the missing piece on the outside, giving the Owls “every aspect of the passing game they need.”

More importantly, Bloomgren doubled down on both of those remarks. “He’s a redzone threat,” remarked Bloomgren of the 6-foot-5, 180-pound freshman after one of the Owls’ final practices of fall camp. “More than that,” he added, “he’s also proven he can run routes and be more physical than we thought he could be in year one. He’s going to play and he’s going to play a lot.”

Meanwhile, Harmon is humbling working on getting the ins and outs of this new offense covered. His focus this offseason has been simple: “I’ve just been trying to dedicate myself to learning the playbook so I can come in and make plays when it’s my turn,” he admitted, modestly. For Harmon, that turn might come sooner, rather than later.

He’s also proven he can run routes and be more physical than we thought he could be in year one. He’s going to play and he’s going to play a lot.Mike Bloomgren on freshman WR Brian Harmon

Those three, along with redshirt sophomore Rhett Cardwell and versatile running back and converted wide receiver Austin Walters moving into the slot out of the backfield, will be the primary wideouts this season. Cephus has the experience. Trammell has the hands. Harmon has the size. Each of them brings a unique set of skills to the field and all of them will be needed for this passing attack to improve from where it was a season ago.

So far, so good. “Everybody is doing their job,” relayed Cephus. And, as Bloomgren has stressed throughout his tenure so far, it’s all about the process. For the Rice wide receivers, the process is just beginning and soon enough it will be time to put all of those techniques and tools onto the field at game speed. Each man brings something a little different and, in this case, the sum of the whole looks to be better than the parts.

“I just want to do my best, make plays, and have fun,” summed up Harmon, excitedly before adding one all-important closing comment, “And get some wins.” It looks like the Owls might have enough weapons in their receiving corps to do just that.

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2019 Forward Ben Moffat commits to Owls

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Head Coach Scott Pera and Rice basketball have picked up a commitment from 2019 forward Ben Moffat, a priority walk-on from Wichita Falls, Tx.

The football season is quickly approaching but that hasn’t given Rice basketball head coach Scott Pera any time to rest. The Owls have only recently returned from a tour of Spain in which they won three exhibition games, including a victory over NBA star Ricky Rubio. It didn’t take Pera long after coming back to the states to start adding to his 2019 recruiting class.

Ben Moffatt, a 6-foot-8 forward from Rider High School in Wichita Falls, Tx announced his decision in favor of the Owls on Twitter on Tuesday evening.

https://twitter.com/ben__moffat/status/1032036393692934148

Moffat asserted the decision to commit to Rice was “an easy choice” to make. He pointed at the stellar academic reputation combined with a supportive community. “The coaches stress the importance of being involved with the Rice fans and the campus community,” Moffat said. He’s ready to join that community and willing to work hard for his spot on the court.

Rather than playing under an athletic scholarship, Moffat will be a priority walk-on for the Owls next season. That’s a challenge he’s ready to face. “Every player has to work hard,” Moffat explained, “but as a  walk-on, I’ll need to work harder than anybody else. I need to be the first one at practice and the last one to leave, and that’s something I’m prepared to do.

Last season Moffat averaged 8.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks. He has his eyes set on improving each of those numbers his senior year before joining the Owls in 2019. Hopefully alongside a recruiting class that has several spots still to be filled before the class is complete.

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2018 FIU Panthers Season Preview

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Rice football dropped a close game to Florida International in Houston last season. Can they rebound with a win over the Panthers on the road in 2018?

Florida International is coming off one of the most successful seasons in school history. The Panthers tied a school-best eight wins in 2017 under the leadership of new head coach Butch Davis. Davis has now had eight wins in four consecutive seasons.

Once the head man at Miami and later North Carolina, Davis brought a career 64.8 winning percentage to FIU. That average, when applied to an entire season, comes out to roughly to eight wins per year. That was more or less the standard for Davis before he landed at FIU. He has two sub-.500 seasons in his head coaching career.

Eight wins won’t be enough at most Power 5 schools, but FIU welcomes the improvement. The Panthers were 4-1 in one-score games a year ago, including a 17-10 win over Rice in Houston.

The 2018 FIU squad has a lot of similar pieces. Here’s how the Panthers stack up this season.

Offense

FIU finished in the middle of the pack in Conference USA in terms of total offense averaging 25.6 points per game. The bulk of their 41 total touchdowns were generated by dual-threat quarterback Alex McGough, who leaves the school No. 2 in all-time passing yardage.

McGough threw for a personal best 2,798 passing yards last season, adding 17 touchdowns through the air and five more on the ground. Additional losses for the Panthers are star wide receiver Thomas Owens and starting running back Alex Gardner. Both players were yardage and touchdown leaders at their respective positions.

Although they have several holes to fill, the bulk of the depth returns in 2018. FIU brings back four receivers who caught 20 or more passes last year led Austin Maloney.

The Panthers are equally equipped on the ground. Napoleon Maxwell and Shawndarrius Phillips combined for 185 carries, 972 rushing yards and nine touchdowns last season. They’ll be able to split the rushing duties behind one of the most experienced offensive lines in college football. The Panthers return every starter up front led by All-CUSA guard Jordan Budwig.

If sophomore quarterback James Morgan, a transfer from Bowling Green, can be effective this unit will be one of the better squads in Conference USA.

Defense

The FIU defense doesn’t enter 2018 in as good of a position as the offense. The top four and seven of the top nine leading tacklers are not returning this year, leaving fairly significant questions at every level of the defense.

The biggest unknown lies in the defensive backfield. FIU finished 13th in CUSA against the pass last season, allowing a staggering 65.3 completion percentage. Not a single player who registered an interception for FIU returns and the only meaningful addition is Rutgers grad transfer Kiy Hester at free safety. Hester registered three picks for the Scarlet Knights.

An improved pass rush might be the best recipe for improvement on the back line and that’s something that could be possible this season. An infusion of talent is inbound in the form of Georgia Tech transfer Jordan Wood and 4-star JUCO defensive tackle Tayland Humphrey. The talent was impressive enough that last year’s leader along the defensive line, Fermin Silva has been freed up to play linebacker.

Silva will pair up with returning starter Sage Lewis. Those two finished first and third on the team in quarterback hurries last season and combined for seven tackles for a loss and 12 sacks.

Schedule

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5 Days: Owls remain a perfect 5-0 against Alabama and Auburn

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Rice football is undefeated against two of the most successful program in the history of college football, the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Auburn Tigers.

The SEC gets an abundance of respect for their year in and year out dominance. The Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers have won six out of the last nine national titles. That’s an impressive feat, but there is one thing neither of those schools has yet to accomplish – beat Rice.

This isn’t a half-truth and Rice hasn’t survived the SEC juggernauts by avoiding them entirely. The Owls have played Alabama three times and Auburn twice, with all five games ending in Rice victories.

Rice first played Alabama in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day 1954. The Crimson Tide had climbed as high as No. 5 in the polls that season, but Rice set them packing, emphatically. After allowing a first quarter touchdown, the Owls outscored the Tide 28-0 over the final three quarters. Dicky Moegle was the star, ripping off a pair of long touchdown runs of 79-yards and 95-yards, respectively.

The remainder of the meetings with both SEC foes came in regular season affairs. Rice beat Alabama again the following season in 1955 by a score of 20-0 and again in 1956, 20-13. All-time. Rice has outscored Alabama 68-19. Not many schools hold an advantage that significant in any margin against a team with such a storied history.

Auburn didn’t’ fair much better against Rice. Their pair of games came in back-to-back seasons. In 1937 the Owls won 13-7 before winning again in 1938 by a score of 14-0.

Rice has perfect records over 23 institutions. The inclusion of programs like the Virginia Military Institute, Centenary and Hardin Simmons on that list isn’t surprising. A perfect record against Alabama and Auburn and Colorado, Georgia, Washington and West Virginia for good measure) is a sweet slice of history for Rice football.

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