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Rice Football lands former Stanford Fullback Reagan Williams as grad transfer

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Just like last year, Rice football went west to snag a grad transfer full back. This time earning a commitment from Stanford product Reagan Williams.

Grad transfer fullback Reagan Williams will transfer to Rice. He’ll join center Brian Chaffin, another Stanford transfer and a former teammate of Williams, both of which have followed their former coach to Rice. The duo made the decision together this spring. Williams’ paperwork went through this week, finalizing his 2019 plans.

Williams’ decision to head to South Main is a year removed from another grad-transfer fullback who made a significant impact for the Owls both on and off the field.

Gio Gentosi came to Rice from UCLA last season and quickly became an important leader on a young Rice team. Even though fullback isn’t a position most consider glamorous, Gentosi still managed a career year, capped off with a touchdown run in his final collegiate game. Williams hopes to follow in those footsteps.

The No. 3 fullback in the nation in the 2015 recruiting class, Williams drew interest from teams like Michigan, Boston College and Purdue before choosing Stanford. Like Gentosi, he wasn’t a focal point of the offense, but paved the way for the likes of Christian McCaffrey and Bryce Love during his three seasons playing for the Cardinal.

On the field, Williams can step in immediately and fill the void left by Gentosi. But what he provides off the field might be equally as important. Williams bought into the culture Mike Bloomgren was selling at Stanford, following Rice’s current coach to Palo Alto four years ago. Now he’s taking another step on the journey, committing once again to be a voice championing Bloomgren’s cause.

Williams never registered a carry at Stanford. Given how Bloomgren and offensive coordinator Jerry Mack have utilized the position so far, that’s something likely to change. Williams will see more action at Rice, something that could benefit both parties tremendously.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFcLE26F5pQ

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Rice Football: 5 predictions following end of spring practices

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With spring practices in the books, Rice football begins to look ahead at the 2019 season in earnest. Here are five predictions for the Owls this fall.

1. QB1 will be Wiley Green

Mike Bloomgren has options, but none of them look better than Wiley Green right now. The sophomore signal caller had a bit of a slow spring, but so did his offensive line and most of his pass catchers. As the offense progresses his natural talent will come through and he’ll be named the starting quarterback, quite possibly much sooner than Bloomgren made an official statement on the matter last season.

2. The tight ends double their production in 2019

Jordan Myers and Jaeger Bull combined for a pedestrian 20 receptions for 267 yards and two touchdowns last season. That was the totality of the production contributed from the tight end position, something which should change drastically this coming fall. A host of tight ends saw significant run this spring including fresh faces like Jonathan Sanchez, Brendan Suckley and Robert French. Those three, plus Myers and Bull simply must blow the top off last year’s numbers.

3. Blaze Alldredge leads the team in tackles

This one seems like a no-brainer. After watching the entire linebacking corps fly around the field this spring the favorites to lead the team in tackles have to be Antonio Montero and Blaze Alldredge. I flipped a coin.

4. At least one of the starting specialists aren’t on campus yet

The absence of Jack Fox and Haden Tobola was notable this spring. The kicking game got off to a slow start and remained inconsistent during spring ball. A few guys had a crack at the placekicking job, but not did enough to put themselves ahead of the pack. That bodes well for incoming kicker Zach Hoban, who blasted a 60-yard field goal from the star in Dallas Cowboy Stadium following an event this winter.

The starting punting job will be a battle between Chris Barnes and incoming TCU transfer Adam Nunez. Barnes has been solid this spring, and it’s no guarantee he gives up the job. Nunez wasn’t brought in to ride the pine, though. That’s a battle that will take place in fall camp.

5. Rice isn’t done with the Transfer Portal

Depth was a major hurdle for the Owls this spring. Practices were cut short because there weren’t enough guys able to go and those who were still moving around had been worked to the brink of exhaustion. The depth will get better when the bulk of the 2019 recruiting class arrives this summer, but there is still room for a capable veteran or two to balance out what is already an extremely young nucleus.

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Rice Football: Offense remains a work in progress after Spring Game

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The Rice football offense trudged through a slow spring, leaving plenty of questions after a dismal showing at the Blue and Gray Spring Game.

The defense was two steps ahead of the offense on the first day of spring practices in early March. By the time Rice finished the spring game in mid-April it looked like they’d gained another 10 steps, if not more. That set up the coaching staff with a predicament. Is the defense truly elite? Is the offense that bad? Or is the truth somewhere in between?

Head coach Mike Bloomgren was all smiles when he talked about the defensive side of the ball following the Spring Game, which the defense won 48-14. As he transitioned to discussing the offense, he offered a clarifying statement:

[Defense] is a destructive process by nature. You can have a Blaze Alldredge make a play when all 10 of his teammates fall down. On offense, you need all eleven [guys] to do their job to have a chance to make a play a success, and thus offense is a constructive process.

It’s hard to build something when the individual contributors aren’t on the same page. That’s what we saw during the spring game. Quarterbacks were missing their receivers. Receivers were failing to haul in catchable passes. The offensive line looked disoriented.

Senior running back Aston Walter described the situation as one in where, rather than acting instinctively,  “too many people are thinking about what they should do.” That sluggishness off the ball was why the offense as a whole only drove the length of the field for a touchdown twice, one of which was a 60+ yard bomb from quarterback Wiley Green to receiver Aaron Cephus.

Bloomgren said there are “no magic pills” to transition from the offensive struggles into a fully functioning unit, but he remains optimistic things will get sorted out by the fall. This doesn’t seem to be purely a talent issue. With the possible exception of an unproven stable of young running backs, the talent level across the offense is better this year than it was last spring. The issue is getting all that talent to work together.

Consistency, making plays and understanding the scheme will be the marching orders for this unit from now until the fall. That goes hand and hand with how Walter assessed the summation of the spring. “We’re just not confident,” he said, “not where coach [Bloomgren] wants us to be… We gotta keep working.”

More than once the coaching staff has stressed the team is significantly ahead of where they were at this time last year in terms of understanding the scheme and knowing the playbook. That hasn’t produced positive results yet, but there’s still plenty of time before Rice plays their first game against Army in August.

If the spring struggles truly stem from mental setbacks, a summer studying combined with a strong fall camp should be enough to work through the offensive woes. No, they’re not where they want to be, but that doesn’t mean they can’t get there.

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Rice Football Spring Game Takeaways

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The defense dominated from start to finish during the Rice football spring game, capping off a productive spring for the Owls on the gridiron.

Rather than feature two separate squads, the 2019 Rice football spring game was a battle between the offense and the defense. Modified scoring was put in place, but one didn’t require the scoreboard to notice the defense had the upper hand. The offense scored twice but was more or less held in check, finishing off the spring with one of their most impressive performances.

Here are a few immediate takeaways from the Owls’ spring exhibition:

Ari Broussard is going to be heavily involved in this offense

Broussard has been the story of the spring on the offensive side of the ball, and for good reason. The former walk on linebacker has been the most productive ball carrier for the Owls thus far and had another big day on Saturday. He led the team with 79 yards on the ground, averaging 4.9 yards per carry and scoring the only rushing touchdown.

Rice also showed off a split backfield look with Cam Montgomery and Broussard flanking the quarterback on either side. That’s not a look Rice showed very often last season. Broussard’s power complimented with the speed of the other backs might force the staff to inject more of that into the playbook this fall.

The defensive front seven was superb

The defensive line and linebackers have been two of the brightest groups this spring and they continued their dominance on Saturday. Outside of Broussard running through some bodies, there weren’t many missed tackles. Running up the middle was a no-go, regardless of who was in the backfield.

It wasn’t just a strong presence against the run which gave reason for optimism. Antonio Montero had an interception, as did Dasharm Newsome in the secondary as the quarterbacks were forced to throw with hands in their faces all afternoon. The defense picked up four sacks on the day. Corners weren’t left on islands to fend for themselves and the results were an overwhelming one-sided showing by the defense.

The receiving corps has work to do

The receiving corps did not have a good day. Rhett Cardwell led the team with three catches, but the unit as a whole could not hold on to the football. Aaron Cephus, Brendan Harmon, Austin Conrad, Chris Boudreaux had some frustrating drops. Although the number of players targeted was probably close to a dozen, only four receivers caught a pass.

Austin Trammel was sidelined this spring and several guys were in and out with minor injuries, giving just about every pass catcher time in the offense. This spring it’s looking like Trammel, Cephus and incoming JUCO receiver Bradley Rozner are going to be the trustworthy guys. This unit has work to do.

Moving the chains is a big concern

Drops, combined with the pressure from the defensive line set up a lot of third and long situations. The offense converted a few of those, but there were still more punts than scores. Effective offenses aim to reach third and manageable situations, ones that open up the playbook and create uncertainty for the defense. That wasn’t the case for the Rice offense at the spring game and it’s been an issue all spring.

The three quarterbacks combined to complete nine of 32 passes with one breakaway touchdown and two interceptions. As effective as Broussard was on the ground, this offense is going to need to become more balanced by the fall.

Cool postgame moment

Ari Broussard was told after the game he was going to be on scholarship. His reaction here:

 

 

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Rice Football Recruiting: Recapping the Owls’ status with a few key targets

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The 2020 Rice football recruiting class is picking up steam and the Owls might not be done adding to their numbers. Here are a few names to know.

It’s been a busy few weeks for the Rice football recruiting staff. Most notably was the hiring of former Houston assistant Alex Bown as the Owls’ Director of Recruiting and the promotion of James Burnett. The staff is already making waves, landing Fort Bend athlete Kobie Campbell this week as well as making significant headway on a few other key targets. Here are some names to keep a close eye on this spring.

Logan Kyle, WR – Tomball, Tx

The race is heating up for Tomball Memorial wideout Logan Kyle. All reports from his most recent visit to campus over the weekend were positive and there’s a belief the end could be in sight for his recruitment. At this point, the Rice and Vanderbilt lead the pack and the Owls feel good about their chances.

Sage Ennis, TE – Tallahassee, Florida

Rice finds themselves in a battle for another prized weekend visitor, too. Out of state tight end target Sage Ennis said his experience at Junior Day “couldn’t have went any better.” Barring an offer from in-town Florida State at some point down the road, Rice is sitting in good position for his commitment. Memphis is the key competitor is his recruitment.

Joseph Alexander, Connor Finucane and Brian Hibbard, OL – Baton Rouge, LA

Rice has two offensive linemen in the 2020 haul already and will look to add at least a few more before the class is complete. Three teammates from the same high school are drawing the Owls attention, all of which have been on campus in the last few weeks. Hibbard made his pledge over the weekend and the other two are trending in the right direction.

Other news and notes

The Noah Teliancich commitment to Lousiana came a bit out of left field. He had a great time at the visit and was in communication with those on the staff on his journey home. Less than 24 hours later he’d committed elsewhere. The motivation on his end is uncertain, but the abruptness of the decision suggests Rice could stick around if they choose to do so.

Rice is taking a shot on a few higher tiered recruits in this cycle, too. They know they won’t bat 1.000 on that front, but a focused effort on a few key guys could yield a big commitment or two. Drake Metcalf, a teammate of 2019 commit Jake Bailey is currently being courted by Stanford, Oregon and some other big names. Right now Rice has a foot in the door. If there’s a chance he leaves the west coast, the Owls are in as good of a position as they could be,

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