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Football: Owls name Mike Kershaw 10th assistant

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Mike Bloomgren has finalized the 2019 Rice football coaching staff, naming offensive assistant Mike Kershaw as his 10th assistant.

Rice football will promote from within. Mike Kershaw has been tabbed to complete the Owls’ 2019 coaching staff after serving as the team’s NFL liaison and offensive assistant during 2018. Prior to that, he worked as an assistant with Bloomgren at Delta State. He filled in briefly on the recruiting trail this winter, going as far as California as the team worked to finish their 2019 class.

His addition finalizes the Owls’ coaching staff, which had been one man short following Pete Lembo’s departure. Rather than fill his role directly, Kershaw will coach the wide receivers. That move will shift assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Jerry Mack from wide receivers to running backs. Drew Svoboda, who coached running backs in 2018, will shift full time to special teams.

The candidate pool for the final assistant spot was far-reaching, but the final list thinned out fairly quickly. Among the external candidates, former Rice tight end James Casey was in consideration before taking a job with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Continuity was something Bloomgren stressed throughout the entire process. If the best fit was an external candidate he was willing to go that route, but the ability to maintain the same message on special teams was a driving factor in the decision.  Rice skyrocketed from 114th to 17th in special team’s efficiency last season. Coach Svoboda, who already knows the vision and terminology which paved the way for the sizable improvement, should help make the transition as seamless as possible.

Kershaw won’t have to wait long to get his feet wet. Rice begins spring practices on March 4. The Owls will cap off the spring with the annual Blue-Grey Spring Game will be played at 11 a.m. CT on April 13.

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2020 Safety Plae Wyatt commits to Owls

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Rice football has their first commitment of the 2020 recruiting class, landing safety Plae Wyatt from Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas, Tx.

National Signing Day for the 2019 class isn’t that far in the rearview mirror. Weeks removed from signing their 2019 class, Rice football is already making progress on 2020. Rice got their next class off to a great start with a commitment from safety Plae Wyatt, the top safety on their board. Wyatt has been a priority for this class for a long time, something he says was evident in his entire recruitment.

“They took time out of their day to give me a tour and talk about football and life,” he said. “I could feel the love from the first time I stepped on campus.” The culture being built by Mike Bloomgren and his staff at South Main has been instrumental in bringing talented playmakers like Wyatt to campus. He’ll be one of three players from Bishop Lynch High School on the team when he gets to school.

Rice football is developing a nice pipeline to Bishop Lynch. The Owls landed Cole Garcia in 2017, Jack Bradley in 2019 and now Wyatt in 2020. Garcia was an anchor on the offensive line last year. Both Bradley and Wyatt project as impact pieces quickly once they arrive on campus.

The 5-foot-11, 194 pound Wyatt had offers from SMU and Yale at the time of his commitment to Rice. The Dallas native was drawing interest from Oklahoma State as well. Instead, the Cowboys and others will have to watch from afar with everyone else as Wyatt builds his future in Houston.

247 Sports ranks Wyatt as the No. 103 recruit in the state of Texas. That ranking which could rise if Wyatt caps off is high school career with a strong season as expected. He was first-team All-District and second-team All-State in 2018, playing two ways as a safety and wide receiver. He’ll stick on the defensive side of the ball for Rice, most likely at free safety, though he’s comfortable playing all the safety roles in the Owls’ defense.

Wyatt hopes to be the first of many. “I have to act like a recruiter now,” he said. “In a few years we’re going to be something special.” He’s not alone. That same mindset has begun to saturate South Main, and more recruits will follow. If he can encourage players of his caliber to follow, the Owls’ future will only get brighter from here.

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Baseball: Coach Matt Bragga undeterred by his toughest test yet

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Rice baseball had a rough start to the 2019 season, but head coach Matt Bragga is keeping the faith this team and this program can be something special.

It’s been a long time since 2003 for Rice baseball. The Owls would return to Omaha three times following their first College World Series title that remarkable season, most recently in 2008. But then things started to slow down at South Main. It came time to find the next leader who would carry what had become a mainstay program in college baseball back to the promised land.

That’s why Matt Bragga was hired. He was hired to bring another championship back to Houston.

And that’s why the first two weeks of the 2019 season have stung so much.

“It’s just not good enough. That’s a good team, but we shot ourselves in the foot multiple times over the course of the weekend as we did on Tuesday and Wednesday,” Bragga said following a three-game sweep at Reckling Park at the hands of UC Irvine. “We’re just not a good enough baseball team right now, and that’s my job as a coach to try to make us better and get as much out of these guys as we possibly can.”

More: Takeaways from Rice baseball’s home series loss to UC Irvine

In many respects, his summary is spot on. This is not a good enough baseball team right now.

On the mound, Rice pitchers are falling behind into less-than-favorable counts. They’re not being aggressive. At the plate the hitters are swinging at bad pitches, taking poor approaches with two strikes and failing to make adjustments at the plate over the course of a series. The defense, which has now accumulated 24 errors in eight games, needs to make more plays.

That list comes straight from the head man himself. Bragga meticulously spelled out the litany of issues following the third loss of the weekend to a UC Irvine team ranked in the Top 25 of some national polls. He summed it up with an all-encompassing decree, “we have to play better baseball.”

Rice baseball
Head Coach Matt Bragga introduced by AD Joe Karlgaard.

Perhaps he could take a page out of Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren’s book. Bloomgren came to South Main with a similar mandate: restore a winning tradition at Rice. What Bloomgren found out, and Bragga is currently experiencing, is the challenge of taking a program which had fallen on hard times back to relevancy is hard.

Following the football program’s loss to previously winless UTEP, Bloomgren remarked, somewhat in dismay, “I never thought I would be associated with a team that has had this little success.”

It’s hard to determine if that was the lowest low point of a challenging season on the gridiron, but there’s no denying the team Bloomgren’s unit finished the year on a high note, defeating Old Dominion in emphatic fashion. The inkings of a turnaround are finally present, but it took time. There are no shortcuts.

Hard, but not impossible

Bragga calls himself a straight shooter. He didn’t beat around the bush after his team fell to 2-6 on the season. “There’s more of a challenge [at Rice] than I probably envisioned,” he admitted. “But that’s okay. That’s why you coach, for challenges, and trying to overcome those challenges.”

Whether Bragga underestimated the challenge or not, his task hasn’t changed. His attitude remains unwavering. “I have belief in these guys,” he said confidently,” I think this could still be a really good team and I’m certainly not going to give up on them after eight games.” With at least 48 more to play in the 2019 season, Bragga will have plenty more opportunities to make that dream become a reality. Those aspirations will continue on to 2020 and beyond, too.

I have belief in these guys. I think this could still be a really good team and I’m certainly not going to give up on them after eight games.Matt Bragga

Baseball is hard. It’s a game built on failure and rooted in daily mental battles with oneself. There’s no doubt Rice baseball got punched in the mouth at the start of the 2019 season, but there’s also no reason to write off a strategic investment made by both the administration and by Bragga after two rough weeks, not yet.

Hope remains

As he walked off the field toward his office in the inner workings of Reckling Park, Bragga made one barely audible comment which resonated back out toward the field to scattered players and media standing on the dugout steps. “We’ll get it. I promise you, we’ll get it.”

Yes, it’s back to the drawing board for coach Bragga and the 2019 Rice baseball team. But this coach is a long way from throwing in the towel, and that’s why he’s here. Bragga was hired for more than two weeks of baseball. His legacy at Rice is only just beginning. Let’s allow him to play it out.

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Rice Baseball: All phases sputter as UC Irvine sweeps Owls at home

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Shaky pitching, fielding and offense resulted in Rice baseball being swept by UC Irvine, the first series sweep against the Owls under Matt Bragga.

There’s no doubt the Rice baseball team is experiencing some growing pains as the team adjusts to life under new head coach Matt Bragga. Getting the pitching, fielding and hitting in sync has been an issue for the squad through the first two weeks of non-conference play. The results on the field reflect the disjointed start as the Owls fell short in their weekend series against UC Irvine, dropping their overall record to 2-6.

UC Irvine edged Rice in the series three games to none. Here’s a rundown of the series with three final thoughts from the weekend.

FRIDAY | UC Irvine 11, Rice 5

Entering the weekend, Rice pitching had allowed two home runs all season. Owls’ ace Matt Canterino surpassed that mark in five innings, allowing three home runs, two UC Irvine second baseman Brendan Brooks. Even though they fell behind early, Rice battled back. In the home half of the fifth inning after Canterino was pulled, Rice squeezed the deficit back to one run.

Relief pitcher Jackson Tyner was instrumental in the Owls’ comeback bid. In 2.1 innings he stuck out five, walking one and allowing no hits. His secondary stuff had plenty of movement, keeping opposing hitters off balance for the duration of his outing.

Able to push a few more runs across throughout the game, Rice trailed 6-5 from the sixth inning to the ninth. With three outs separating Rice from a comeback bid, UC Irvine exploded for five runs. Instead of trying to mount a comeback from a one-run deficit, Rice found themselves trailing 11-5 in the final half inning. The Owls would give it a shot, but come up empty.

SATURDAY | UC Irvine 7, Rice 0

It wasn’t an offensive assault which forced the Owls to play behind on Saturday, it was a few big hits surrendered by some of their most reliable arms. TWo long balls, both surrendered by Rice starter Evan Kravetz, spotted UC Irvine to a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning.

The three-run lead would prove to be enough. Rice had a season-low four hits scattered across nine innings. Back-to-back inning-ending double plays, one in the third and the other in the fourth further dampened any comeback attempt. By the time the ninth inning rolled around, it was a 7-0 lead for the road team. That result would hold final as Rice was retired in order for the third time that day.

SUNDAY | UC Irvine 11, Rice 4

Things started off quiet at the plate for Rice on Sunday. UC Irvine scratched two runs in the first two innings on two hits against Jackson Parthasarathy. The dam broke in the sixth with UC Irving scoring five runs to open up a 9-0 lead over the home team.

Facing a significant deficit, the Rice bats woke up. Trei Cruz opened the inning with a home run to right center, his third of the season. A cavalcade of hits followed, vanquishing reliever Michael Frias from the inning after two outs. Rice would score four runs on five hits, cutting the deficit to 9-4.

Rice had another opportunity in the seventh, loading the bases with no outs. A double play and a strikeout ended the frame, thus snuffing out the chance to put another crooked number on the board. From there,  UC Irvine tacked on two more runs

TAKEAWAYS | UC Irvine wins series 3-0

1. EEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Errors, errors and more errors. The Owls fielding mishaps have haunted them throughout the young season. With the series against UC Irvine in the books, Rice has committed 24 errors over eight games, a pace of three errors per game.

There’s something to be said for early season jitters, of which Rice is no stranger. Rice committed 14 errors over their first eight games of last season (1.75 per game), going 3-5 over that span. Over the course of the 59-game season that rate fell to 1.22 errors per game — not stellar, but proof that a bad two weeks of baseball isn’t a season-ending curse.

The same goes for troubles at the plate. Rice has been charged with 11 wild pitches on the young season.

The 2019 squad has plenty of baseball still to play, but something needs to change in the midst of a busy several weeks. The Owls will play nine games in 12 days starting with a midweek contest against Prairie View A&M. There won’t be much practice time to speak of, making the need for a mental adjustment from several members of the team absolutely critical.

2. Situational hitting

In addition to the fielding concerns, Rice needs to work on their production at the plate in pivotal moments. Rice had 22 official at bats with at least one runner in scoring position against UC Irvine. They had two hits, both of which came on Sunday. It’s almost unthinkable Rice could find themselves with 11 such opportunities with their ace on the mound on a Friday night, score five runs and still lose, but it happened.

Trei Cruz is hitting .600 this season with runners in scoring position. That’s an incredible pace that leads the team by a significant margin. Bradley Gneiting is second-best in those situations hitting .333 and Brandt Frazier sports a .286 clip.

No other regular player is hitting better than .250. In fact, most are hitting well below .200 including Braden Comeaux (.083), Dominic DiCaprio (.167) and Antonio Cruz (.167). It’s early in the season, so those sample sizes are drastically too small to draw any meaningful conclusions from, but there’s no doubting the numbers are alarming.

3. Bright spots at the plate and on the mound

Trei Cruz was incredible during opening weekend, but it was readily apparent the Owls would need some other faces to step up at the plate to make this offense productive. Cruz didn’t have any 9-RBI games this weekend, affording plenty of opportunities for someone else to step up and spur on the Rice offense.

Comeaux had his best stretch of games this season, surpassing his four hits over the first five games with five base knocks in the three-game series with UC Irvine. Antonio Cruz hit his first collegiate home run. The rest of the offense was sparse, resulting in just nine runs scored by Rice over the weekend.

On the mound, Jackson Tyner stole the show. A two-sport athlete who played quarterback with the Rice football team in the fall, Tyner was dynamic out of the pen. He entered the game Friday night in relief of Canterino and shut UC Irvine down through 2.1 innings pitched, striking out five of the 10 batters he faced.

Brandon Deskins worked a scoreless inning in relief, as did Ben Schragger. Addison Moss made his season debut, throwing 1.2 innings while allowing two hits, two walks and striking out two on Sunday. His three runs allowed were all unearned by way of two fielding errors by Trei Cruz at shortstop.

ON DECK | vs Prairie View A&M (Wed), vs Texas State (Fri), vs Baylor (Sat), vs TCU (Sun)

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MBB: Owls erase 20-point deficit to knock off UTEP in the desert

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Rice basketball avenged a prior controversial road loss, rallying from a 20-point deficit to knock off UTEP on the road and setting themselves up well in CUSA pod play.

The continuously unpredictable Rice basketball season took another strange turn in the desert on Saturday night. Visiting UTEP for the first time since losing in controversial fashion in the final seconds earlier this season, Rice hoped they’d play to a much different result in the rematch.

Things couldn’t have looked much different. Rice trailed 37-20 at halftime and the hopes of a close finish seemed all but forgotten. The Miners’ lead would climb to 20 in the second half. Ako Adams would leave the game. Jack Williams fouled out. But when things looked bleakest, the Owls fought back.

The 20-point deficit turned into a 1-point Rice lead late in the second half. Trey Murphy missed what would have been the game-winner in the final seconds of regulation, sending the game to overtime. Chris Mullins had a chance to clinch it in overtime, but his shot missed.

In the second overtime, Rice didn’t need one more shot. Trey Murphy made a huge three-point shot to give the Owls the lead and Mullins did the rest, scoring the Owls final five points of the game from the free throw line. The same Rice team which looked exhausted in double overtime against Western Kentucky weeks ago looked as locked in late as they’d been all game.

The result was more than your average comeback. The 20-point difference was tied second-largest margin overcome by any Rice team in school history. And they did it without two of their most important players on the court in the critical moments.

The win puts Rice in the driver’s seat in their portion of pod play. The 11-seed entering the bonus portion of the conference schedule, Rice has games remaining against Middle Tennesee and Charlotte (twice) with a trip to the conference tournament on the line. Rice defeated both schools (in regulation) during the regular season.

Box

PLAYER FG 3PT FT OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
J. Williams 1-6 1-1 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 0 1 5 3
Q. Millora-Brown 4-7 0-0 2-3 2 6 8 0 0 0 0 2 10
C. Mullins 4-16 1-3 10-13 2 2 4 6 1 0 4 3 19
J. Parrish 2-5 1-2 1-5 1 8 9 2 2 3 2 2 6
A. Adams 2-5 1-3 0-0 0 2 2 2 2 0 1 0 5
R. Martin 7-12 2-3 7-10 2 11 13 2 2 1 3 3 23
P. Moore 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
T. Murphy III 4-11 3-7 3-6 1 5 6 1 2 2 0 2 14
D. Peterson 2-4 1-3 0-0 0 3 3 1 1 0 0 3 5

 

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