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Safety Hunter Henry commits to Owls

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The 2019 Rice football recruiting class just picked up an important addition. Safety Hunter Henry has committed to the Owls.

More: Complete list of 2019 Rice football commits after the early signing period

It seemed like only a matter of time before Lake Travis safety Hunter Henry made it official and committed to Rice. He was on campus this summer and loved the experience. He was back for the Owls’ game against UTEP and although the result wasn’t what he’d hoped for, he saw an opportunity to contribute.

247 Sports tabbed Henry as a 3-star recruit and the No. 269 player in the state of Texas. At the time he committed to Rice he had offers to play for Texas State, Princeton, Liberty and Houston Baptist. Rice has long been considered a leader in his recruitment and now he’s pulled the trigger and decided to be an Owl.

Henry is a hard-hitting safety that plays with physicality from all areas of the field. He’s already bought into the Intellectual Brutality culture and loves what this coaching staff is building at South Main. It finally got to the point where he couldn’t wait any longer, making the decision midweek following the UTEP game to tell the staff he was all in.

The Owls’ secondary doesn’t have a ton of depth, making the commitment of Henry a huge get for the 2019 class. More should follow. Expect this coaching staff to add to the back end of the defense with a few more key recruits before the class is finished.

Henry checks in at 6-foot-1, 205 pounds — plenty of power that comes in from center field in a hurry. It doesn’t take much more than a cursory look over his film to understand what the staff loves about Henry as a prospect. He’ll be hitting ballcarriers wearing the blue and grey soon enough.

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Owls’ offense snuffed out at Death Valley by LSU Tigers

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Rice football wrapped up their 2018 road schedule against LSU in Week 12, falling to the Tigers by a final score of 42-10 in Death Valley.

Few teams walk into Tiger Stadium and leave with a victory. Rice knew staying with LSU was going to be a challenge, but they hung in the ring with the Tigers and made them go the distance. LSU jumped out to a 28-3 halftime lead before coasting to victory.

Nobody likes losing, especially by a large margin, but the test makes the team better. Now, a few quick reactions from the loss:

1. Marquee games against brand-name opponents are good for this team

The loss marks the 11th defeat for Rice this season and their seventh consecutive loss to LSU. As an aside and irrespective of the final score, Rice football needs to keep playing these games. The atmosphere of playing in Death Valley is one of the premier experiences in all of college football and getting the chance to step into Tiger Stadium and be a part of that moment was a special experience for these players.

Rice was a heavy underdog, but they Owls fought, and the test provided by one of the premier teams in this sport will pay off for down the road. This game is more than a nice paycheck for the university, it’s a chance to see how you measure up against the best of the best. Rice has a long way to go, that’s clear, but now they know exactly what they’re up against.

2. Joe Burrow has strong outing against up and down Rice secondary

Joe Burrow made waves this summer when he transferred from Ohio State to LSU. The former blue-chip quarterback recruit was viewed as the last piece the Tigers needed to get over the hump and return to National Championship contention.

Through his first 10 games the returns were mixed. Entering the Rice game, Burrow ranked 13th in the SEC with a 54.8 completion percentage. His 14 pass plays of 30+ yards were just one more than the Owls’ 13 such plays.

Burrow was sharp against Rice. The Owls were forced to respect the speed on the outside and generally erred on the side of caution when it came to pressure at the line of scrimmage. The results were relatively clean throwing lanes for Burrow who didn’t miss. He completed 20 of 28 passes for 307 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

The Owls nearly had an interception, but it was taken off the board on an offsides call. Coverage down the field kept the ball in front of them with the exception of a few deep throws delivered perfectly by Burrow (one of which was ruled incomplete). Those have plagued the Owls all season and made an otherwise decent night in the secondary rather dour.

3. Prudy Calderon is already a difference maker

LSU brought in Jontre Kirklin to run a Wildcat package on their second possession of the game. Dylan Silcox brought him down after a short gain and ripped the ball out, Calderon was there to pounce on it and give the Owls possession and their 10th fumble recovery of the season.

Calderon has four interceptions in his last five games. He came close to adding another against LSU, but a diving attempt in the second quarter came up just short. Midway through the third quarter he picked up a pass break up, turning LSU away on third down.

The fumble recovery, pass break up, and three tackles were the only items on the stat sheet for Calderon on Saturday, but the impact he has on this team from the safety position has been huge. Teams don’t beat him over the top. When they try to go short, he’s there to make the tackle and deliver a big hit.

Calderon is a true freshman. He’s going to be a fixture on this defense for years to come and instrumental in turning this unit around in the coming seasons.

4. The Rice rushing attack remains a work in progress

By Mike Bloomgren’s own admission, the Rice offense is meant to be a run-first attack. The Owls have struggled on the ground over the last month and knew they’d be up for a challenge against LSU, the 30th-best run defense in the nation.  That expectation became a reality as crowded boxes dared Rice to throw the ball or face short pickups at the line of scrimmage.

Rice was held to -4 yards on the ground in the first quarter. Excluding sacks, that number marginally improves to 11 yards on six Aston Walter carries. Running for less than two yards a clip isn’t going to cut it for a run-first offense, but that’s part of the battle that comes with playing a defense with as much talent and speed as LSU.

Through four quarters, the rushing numbers did not improve. It didn’t matter who had the rock, it was tough sledding. Rice tallied 97 yards on 43 carries, good for 2.3 yards per carry.

It’s worth noting that Rice brought in the jumbo package needing one yard or less to convert on three separate occasions. They converted on all three occasions against one of the most physical defensive fronts in the country.

That’s been the theme of the season thus far, too much in the way of mixed results. The Rice coaching staff has done a decent enough job using things like the Wildcat package with Juma Otoviano and gadget plays with D’Angelo Ellis to jump-start the rushing attack, but the results haven’t been where they need to be.

5. On to Old Dominion

It’s been a long season filled with highs and more lows than Rice fans would have wished for — and just like that, it’s almost over. Rice hosts Old Dominion next weekend in the Owls’ 13th and final game of 2018. Head coach Mike Bloomgren is still looking for his first conference win, giving this team plenty to play for in their last contest.

A win against Old Dominion wouldn’t make up for several near-misses that could have given the Owls another win or two, but it would be evidence that the Owls are headed in the right direction.

As Bloomgren himself would say, it’s time for the team to put this one behind them and move on. The results weren’t what this team was looking for but the process continues on. Overmatched on several fronts against LSU, this team demonstrated the fight and the willingness to compete that fans have been waiting for all year.

Rice has one more chance to scratch across a win.

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10 Stats entering Owls’ game vs LSU

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Rice football has been through plenty of ups and downs in 2018. With a game against LSU looming it’s time to take a peek at some key stats.

4 – Interceptions by true freshman safety Prudy Calderon. One more than the entire team had last season.

5 – Number of players to register at least 25 carries so far this season. After relying on one lead back through his time at Stanford, several factors have led Mike Bloomgren to employ a variety of rushers. Aston Walter saw the majority of the work in the Owls’ most recent game against Louisiana Tech.

6 – Sacks by Anthony Ekpe, the most on the team and a career high. Since his breakout three-sack game against North Texas, Ekpe has 10 tackles and 1.5 sacks over his last two games.

10 – Touchdown passes for quarterback Shawn Stankavage. The most by an Owls’ quarterback since Tyler Stheling in 2016.

37-13-5 – Rice’s all-time record against LSU.  The Tigers and Owls went back and forth in the mid-’50s, but LSU has won 17 of the last 19 with one tie. The Owls’ last win came in 1980.

45 – Different players that have recorded at least one tackle this season. The volume of newcomers the Owls’ have played continues to grow every week.

45.3 – Average punt length from specialist Jack Fox. That distance leads Conference USA and ranks ninth in the nation.

48 – Tackles registered by Zach Abercrumbia this season, the most by an interior defensive lineman since Christian Covington in 2013

90 percent – Kicker Hayden Tobola has connected on 9-of-10 field goals. That accuracy leads Conference USA and ranks sixth in the nation.

600 – Receiving yards for Austin Trammell through 11 games. Trammel appeared in 12 games as a freshman in 2017 and tallied 51 receiving yards on four catches.

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Why not us? LSU press conference notes (11/13)

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Rice football faces their toughest task of the season on Saturday as they travel to Death Valley to take on the SEC’s LSU Tigers. Mike Bloomgren and the team remain confident.

There won’t be many people around the country that have a Nov. 17, 2018 matchup between Rice and LSU circled on their calendars. From a national perspective, it’s a vaunted SEC superpower against a lowly Group of 5 opponent. While that might be the trend, Rice football seeks to be the exception.

“They’re going to be more talented than us,” head coach Mike Bloomgren freely admitted in his Tuesday press conference prior to the game. “But every week in college football you see a team go into one of those places [and win].” Bloomgren said every week there’s one game that forces you to do a double-take when you check the score on your phone and gasp, “Those dudes beat them?”

Old Dominion toppled Virginia Tech, Akron beat Northwester and Eastern Washington upset Purdue. A massive upset happens every week. Why not this week? Why not Rice? Bloomgren didn’t shy away from the possibility, remarking “Nobody outside of these walls believes we can do it and we know we can.”

The key to engineering the upset starts with cleaning up mistakes from last weekend. Quarterback Sean Stankavage’s three interceptions were at the top of Bloomgren’s gripes against Louisiana Tech. The running game, primarily on the legs of Aston Walter was better, but still has a long way to go until it gets back to the level this team is capable of.

The team is confident, but measured. Safety Prudy Calderon, who picked off two passes against Louisiana Tech knows they’re in for an arduous task. LSU is a team that he described as having that “one shot capability” – something Rice has struggled with throughout this season. Calderon’s insertion into the starting lineup has helped, but the secondary as a whole will have to step up their game even further.

“Our guys are up for the challenge,” Calderon declared, echoing Bloomgren’s believe in his team and hopes for Saturday. It’s gong to be a battle. Rice knows if they’re still standing in the fourth quarter they’ll have a shot. That’s all they’re asking for.

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Adjustments on offense, practice notes (11/12)

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Rice football went back to work on a wet and cold Monday evening, working as hard as ever to play LSU in Week 12.

It was 45 degrees, raining and all around ugly outside. The Rice football team showed up and they worked. Head coach Mike Bloomgren has made the promise week in and week out that his team would put in the effort to get better. On an evening when they could have done the bare minimum they ground it out til the final whistle.

There are no participation trophies for good days of practice and this team is through with moral victories. Still, they keep showing up and putting in the work. That’s the mark of a culture shift that will hopefully lead to results on the field soon enough.

How many more quarterback can the Owls play?

Seeing Shawn Stankavage back at the helm of the Rice offense was a return to business as usual. Parker Towns being the next signal caller brought into the game was an unexpected curveball. He completed 1-of-3 passes for 10 yards and picked up 10 yards on the ground on two carries.

Quarterbacks coach Robbie Picazo said the insertion of Picazo into the offense was sparked by Evan Marshman‘s success in the run game. Having that dimension in the arsenal was something the staff liked and Towns did enough during practice to earn the shot at his own package on Saturday.

If the Owls did need to turn to a backup at quarterback behind Stankavage, Jackson Tyner is still expected to be the next man up. Picazo said Towns is “doing a really good job wholeheartedly attacking the package we give him” and they’re not going to put too much on his plate just yet.

Aston Walter seized his chance

Another somewhat unexpected development from the Louisiana Tech game was the career-high in carries for Aston Walter. Taking over the lead back duties for his brother Austin Walter, Aston started the game and led the team in carries with 17. Juma Otoviano, the Owls’ wildcat quarterback had four rushes and Austin didn’t carry the ball at all.

The driver for Aston’s uptick in work was his dependability. Running backs coach Drew Svoboda used that word multiple times to describe Aston’s reliability and role in the offense. “He’s been a guy that’s always been there and been ready when called upon,” Svoboda said, “He got a little bit more opportunity and he took it and ran with it.”

Putting Aston on the field at running back lets the staff move Austin to the slot, a position he’s more comfortable with and can play extremely effectively.

More young guns

With two games remaining on the season the opportunity to give younger players more reps and maintain their redshirt is being evaluated by the staff. If there is an opportunity to give some freshman and lesser-utilized players a look in the LSU game there could be several Owls that get increased minutes.

Freshman corner Andrew Bird figures to be near the top of the list of newcomers. He hasn’t seen game action yet this season and participated with the second team some during practice. Sophomore linebacker Garrett Grammer has seen brief playing time on the field this season but has the potential to get an extended look against LSU.

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