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Rice Football 2020: Owls in the NFL Divisional Round Update

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The last remaining Rice football alums have been eliminated from the NFL Playoffs. Here’s a rundown of all the NFL Owls who played in the Divisional Round.

There are former Rice football players scattered across the NFL. Stay tuned each week for their game results and notables from each player.

Divisional Round Results

49ers 27 – Vikings 26 (Sendejo)
Titans 28 – Ravens 12
Chiefs 51 – Texans 31 (Gaines)
Packers 28 – Seahawks 23 (Ellerbee, Willson)

Andrew Sendejo, Saf, Vikings

Sendejo was active in a Vikings secondary that didn’t have many opportunities to shine. 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo attempted just 19 passes on Saturday, the longest going for 22 yards. San Francisco had four times as many rushing attempts (47) as completions (11). Sendejo had three tackles in the loss.

Emmanuel Ellerbee, LB, Seahawks

Ellerbee was placed injured reserve prior to the start of the season. He did not appear in any games with the Seahawks this year and wasn’t on the field for Seattle’s playoff run which ended in the Divisional Round.

Luke Willson, TE, Seahawks

Willson’s season came to an end on Sunday night in a close loss the Packers. He caught the only ball thrown his way, an eight-yard reception. More notably, he registered the first carry of his six-year NFL career, gaining one yard.

Phillip Gaines, CB, Texans

Gaines was placed on injured reserve following an ankle injury suffered during the Texans’ Week 8 game against the Colts. He wasn’t available for the Texans playoff run. Instead, he had to watch a gut-wrenching come-from-behind victory by the Chiefs. After falling behind 24-0, Kansas City went on to score 41 unanswered points and win.

More Owls in the NFL

From practice squads to current free agents, there are others Owls on the cusp of returning to active rosters. Find more detail on current contractual agreements and former Rice football players waiting for their next opportunity here.

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Rice Basketball 2020: Furious rally falls short against FAU

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Rice Basketball overcame a 22-point deficit but faltered down the stretch, dropping their C-USA home opener to FAU to remain winless in conference play.

Five missed shots to start the game proved to be a bad omen for a Rice basketball team that has grown all too accustomed to playing from behind. Rice has faced double-digit deficits in each of its first two conference games. They were down by 11 in the first 10 minutes of their third C-USA contest.

Rice would trail by as many as 22 points after watching their nine-point halftime deficit balloon on a 15-2 FAU run to open the second half. It was at that point during the first media timeout of the second half that head coach Scott Pera stepped away from the huddle. The entire coaching staff stood aside while the team held an impromptu players-only meeting on the side of the court.

“This is their team. This is their program,” Pera said, “So if they get maybe punched in the mouth a little bit, they need to talk through it and be able to pull each other up together and hold each other accountable.”

Accountability sank in quickly. Over the span of the next half hour, Rice went on two big runs, whittling down the deficit to single digits before taking a 68-67 lead with 4:20 to play. This was the second time this season Rice had erased a 22-point deficit. The first came on the road against UC Santa Barbara. The Owls were able to hold on and win that game. They were less fortunate against FAU.

Guard Cornelius Taylor had a career-high 34 points, seven of which came after Rice had taken their brief lead. To come back from that far and not find a way to finish was heartbreaking for a young team still trying to find its way.

Pera didn’t mince words. “It hurts and you want to hurt. It’s gotta hurt. Because if it doesn’t hurt, then then it doesn’t matter enough,” he said, “I want them to feel it. I feel it, my staff feels it. We’re competitive people.”

Rice basketball has competed well this season but their consistency leaves much to be desired. The Owls have not been shooting well of late. When the shots aren’t falling, the defensive effort seems to loosen. Bad becomes worse just as quickly as good becomes better. Pera notices the same thing, citing a lack of maturity that is slowly being built over time. On nights like Thursday, that process is more painful to swallow.

Final Stats

Player of the game – Drew Peterson

The development of Drew Peterson has been a bright spot this season. “I just feel really comfortable out there,” he said, crediting his growth to the belief his teammates have in him and the work he put in during the offseason. The results have been encouraging. He led the team on Thursday with 15 points, despite shooting just 5-of-14 from the field and 1-of-7 from three. He was a bit more erratic with the ball than he needs to be, but his willingness to push his teammates helped jump-start two important Rice rallies.

Up Next

Rice hosts Western Kentucky on Saturday. The Hilltoppers entered conference play 8-3. The Owls last faced WKU in the Conference USA Tournament, beating them in a tightly contested game, 64-57.

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2020 Rice Football schedule released: Opponents and dates finalized

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The 2020 Rice Football schedule has been set. Now we have the dates and the opponents the Owls will face in the season ahead.

Broadcast information will slowly be released as we get closer to the season. Right now it’s probably safe to assume the Owls will have games on a variety of ESPN properties, the NFL Network and CBS Sports Network, just like last season. For now, here’s what we know about the 2020 Rice Football schedule.

Week 1   | Sat. Sep. 5 | at Houston
Week 2   | Sat. Sep. 12 | vs Army
Week 3   | Sat. Sep. 19 | vs LSU (at NRG Stadium)
Week 4   | Sat. Sep. 26 | vs Lamar
Week 5   | Sat. Oct. 3 | at Marshall
Week 6   | Sat. Oct. 10 | vs UAB
Week 7   | Sat. Oct. 17 | BYE
Week 8   | Sat. Oct. 24 | vs MTSU
Week 9   | Sat. Oct. 31 | at Southern Miss
Week 10 | Sat. Nov. 7 | vs UTSA
Week 11 | Sat. Nov. 14 | at Louisiana Tech
Week 12 | Sat. Nov. 21 | at North Texas
Week 13 | Sat. Nov. 28 | vs UTEP

Early Thoughts

Last year Rice opened the season with a pair of Friday night games. The Owls will stick to Saturdays for the duration of the 2020 campaign. This year that includes Halloween night — be sure to bring your Owl costumes to Hattiesburg.

Most notably, Rice won’t have nearly as rigorous of a nonconference schedule as they did in 2019. Their 2019 opponents included Army, Wake Forest, Texas and Big 12 runner up Baylor. 2020 Features Houston, Army, LSU and Lamar. Swapping out two Power 5 teams for a cross-town rival and an FCS squad is huge, particularly in the context of postseason expectations. All four teams could be breaking in brand new starting quarterbacks. The best part? All four games are in Houston.

On the Conference-USA front, things set up extremely well. Rice gets to of their presumably tougher opponents right out of the gate, Marshall and UAB. After the Week 7 bye, Rice only plays two teams who finished better than .500 last season, Southern Miss and Lousiana Tech. The Rice defense, which returns the vast majority of its contributors, held both of those explosive offenses at bay.

More: 2019 Rice Football Season superlatives

Three of the other four games after the bye are at home, the other is against a North Texas team replacing Mason Fine and a large chunk of their coaching staff.

It’s early, but this doesn’t look like a murder’s row. For the most part, the 2020 Rice football schedule looks very manageable.

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Detroit Lions sign punter Jack Fox to futures contract

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Following the end of the regular season, former Rice football punter Jack Fox has signed a futures contract with the NFL’s Detroit Lions

Former Rice football punter Jack Fox has been swept up into the churn of NFL life. After going undrafted, Fox signed a free agent deal with the Kansas City Chiefs and was cut prior to the regular season. He was on and off the Chiefs’ practice squad during the season, eventually being signed to the practice squad by the Detroit Lions.

It looks like Fox will be in Detroit for at least a little while longer. At the end of the regular season, Fox agreed to a futures contract with the Lions.

What is a futures contract?

NFL teams don’t practice between the end of the season and training camp, thus eliminating the need for practice squad players. Even though they weren’t on the official roster, teams still want to make sure they can keep many of those players in the fold for the upcoming season when the rosters expand from 55 players to 90. And thus futures contracts were born.

Essentially a futures contract is a low-cost commitment between the player and the team to keep a player from signing elsewhere during the offseason. Futures contracts take effect at the start of the new league year (Mar. 18, 2020 at 4:00 p.m. ET).

What’s next for Fox?

It’s unlikely Detroit would have brought Fox in if they didn’t intend to give him a shot to compete for a spot on the active roster next season. The Lions’ current punter Sam Martin is eligible for free agency, leaving a potential opening at the position. Detroit also signed free agent Matt Wile who appeared briefly for the Falcons this season and was the full-time punter for the Vikings in 2018, averaging 45.2 yards per punt.

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Rice Football 2020: Owls in the NFL Wildcard Round Update

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Four Rice football alums are moving on in the NFL Playoffs. Here’s a rundown of all the NFL Owls still in the Super Bowl hunt after the Wildcard Round.

There are former Rice football players scattered across the NFL. Stay tuned each week for their game results and notables from each player.

Wildcard Round Results

OT | Texans 22 (Gaines) – Bills 19
Titans 20 – Patriots 13
Vikings 26 (Sendejo) – Saints 20
Seahawks 17 (Ellerbee, Willson) – Eagles 9

Owls out of the playoffs

Broncos – Anderson, Callahan
Cowboys – Covington
Steelers – Boswell, McDonald

Andrew Sendejo, Saf, Vikings

Sendejo played a role in limiting Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints, holding them below 21 points for the first time since Week 10. The stout performance was enough to upset New Orleans at home. He had three tackles and a pass defended, marking the third time since joining the Vikings he’s registered multiple tackles.

Emmanuel Ellerbee, LB, Seahawks

Ellerbee was placed injured reserve prior to the start of the season. He did not appear in any games with the Seahawks this year and won’t be on the field for Seattle’s playoff run.

Luke Willson, TE, Seahawks

Willson was active against the Eagles but did not catch a pass. His experience as a blocker continues to be his ticket onto the field. The Seahawks heavily targeted their wide receivers on Sunday with Jacob Hollister registering the only two catches from the tight end position.

Phillip Gaines, CB, Texans

Gaines was placed on injured reserve following an ankle injury suffered during the Texans’ Week 8 game against the Colts. He won’t be available for Houston’s playoff run.

More Owls in the NFL

From practice squads to current free agents, there are others Owls on the cusp of returning to active rosters. Find more detail on current contractual agreements and former Rice football players waiting for their next opportunity here.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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