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Keys to victory over UTEP

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Rice football takes on UTEP at home in Week 10 with both schools looking for their first conference win. Here’s how the Owls get it done.

1. Strike fast

The Rice offense has set the tone on their first drive of the game for the past several weeks. The Owls were turned away quickly against UTSA and UAB. They got into the endzone on their first drives against FIU and North Texas. The rest of the game followed suit.

Rice scored a combined three points in their last two games in which they didn’t score on their first possession and 34 points in the last two games in which they did score a touchdown on their opening drive.

Building confidence is important to this team. They needed to relearn how to move the ball after injuries suffered to key pieces of the offense, Shawn Stankavage and Emmanuel Esukpa. The faces have changed, but the need to start quickly has remained consistent. Getting points early against a struggling offense in UTEP will be even more crucial.

2. Win third down

Controlling the clock is an important aspect of what head coach Mike Bloomgren wants this offense to do. It’s hard to rack up time of possession if you can’t retain possession for meaningful segments of time. That’s something the Owls have struggled with mightily this year. Rice is 44 of 140 (31.4 percent) on third down this season.

Rice hasn’t converted more than three third downs since garbage time against Wake Forest, a game that took place a little over a month ago. Even when the offense got going against FIU and North Texas, staying on the field on third down was an issue.

UTEP is going to come into Rice Stadium and try to play smash mouth, physical football. That can takes a toll on even the most ardent defense if they’re forced to take that beating for 40+ minutes. More third down conversions lead to more scoring and less time to be scored on. The math is simple; the offense needs to find a way to move the chains.

3. Win big when you don’t convert

A four-time Ray’s eight honoree, Rice punter Jack Fox has been nothing short of outstanding this season. He was named the national punter of the week for his incredible effort against North Texas which included a career-best 76-yard punt. Whenever the Owls can’t end a drive in points, pinning UTEP deep should be a difference maker in this game.

The UTEP offense ranks in the bottom two of most statistical categories in CUSA. They’ve scored 15 touchdowns and average 4.7 yards per play while converting on 36 percent of their third downs. UTEP doesn’t have an offense that can take the ball 90 yards down the field and score.

Fox has downed 10 punts inside the 10-yard line already this year. If he can do that against UTEP the result will be short fields for the offense and more points on the board for Rice.

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Owls prep for Homecoming vs UTEP, practice notes (11/1)

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Rice football put the finishing touches on their gameplan for their Homecoming game against UTEP, the Owls’ Week 10 opponent.

After a few rough weeks in the middle of the season, the Rice offense is starting to come together. The atmosphere with the unit at practice was extremely positive on Thursday. Injured quarterbacks Shawn Stankavage and Evan Marshman were both there to offer encouragement and participate in the offensive huddle.

They stood by as receivers Austin Trammell and Aaron Cephus flashed in redzone work. Cephus has come a long way from where he started the season and is beginning to understand how to use his large frame to go up and rebound the basketball. His technical skills still need some refinement, but there are few better endzone targets on this offense than him right now. High-pointing the ball was a significant component of these sessions.

Dubbed “Mr. Consistent” by head coach Mike Bloomgren during fall camp, Trammell might have had glue for hands on Thursday. Coming off a career-best 10 reception, 94 yard game against North Texas last weekend, Trammell continues to be the focal point of the passing attack in practice and will continue to absorb targets in the games.

Injury update

The biggest new addition to the Owls’ this weekend will be cornerback D’Angelo Ellis. He’s been close to a return for a few weeks now, but Saturday should be his first action. He credits the strength program with the strides he’s made in recover thus far, saying Hans Straub’s program has helped him gain weight and get bigger and stronger.

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Rebuilding starts in the trenches

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Rice football yearns to be a team that pounds the rock and relies on strong offensive line play. It’s taken some time, but the players in the trenches are starting to gel.

The phrase Intellectual Brutality traveled with Mike Bloomgren from Palo Alto to South Main. The practice is still a work in progress, and that’s largely because the Owls are still working to find their identity in the trenches.

The Rice offensive line started the year as a veteran-laden group of starters which has gotten progressively younger as the season has advanced. From left to right Uzoma Osuji, Jack Greene, Shea Baker, Joseph Dill and Sam Pierce started the Owls first six games together. Then some of the Owls’ true freshman pushed themselves into the mix and stayed there. Clay Servin from Richardson, Tx and Cole Garcia from Dallas, Tx each earned their first starts on the road against FIU at left tackle and left guard, respectively, and kept the starting jobs through the Owls’ next game at North Texas.

“I think this offensive line, with the five guys we’ve got right now, is the best five guys we can have on the field,” Mike Bloomgren said excitedly, adding that Pierce is playing at the best level he’s seen him play this year and center Baker continues to develop into a leader of the unit.

Rice FootballTo get to this point has been a journey. The message from Bloomgren and his staff has been clear to the entire team from day one, something offensive line coach Joe Ashfield echoed regarding his offensive line, “It’s a true meritocracy,” he confirmed, “It doesn’t matter what age you are or how long you’ve been here.”

As the season has progressed freshman have risen through the ranks of that meritocracy at several positions. This system isn’t easy, but the players that have picked it up the quickest have already made their marks on the program.

Players like Antonio Montero, Prudy Calderon and Treshawn Chamberlain have all risen from backups to starters on defense. Garcia, Servin and starting quarterback Wiley Green fought their way to the top of the depth chart in the same fashion. After weeks of churn, the Owls have found consistency. The next step is turning that familiarity into success.

For many of these young guys, adapting to the speed and tenacity of the college game has proven to be the most challenging learning curve. Understanding the schemes and protections are one thing, but being able to implement them in live action is another.

It’s a six-second street brawl every time we’re throwing the ballCole Garcia

Left guard Cole Garcia called it “a six-second street brawl every time we’re throwing the ball” while Servin emphasized the need to “put your hand in the dirt and just go.” That instinct and raw talent, refined with careful coaching, should produce fruit that will pay dividends for years to come. Balancing the long-term goals with the immediate needs is one of the challenges this staff is facing right now.

From a practical standpoint, the Owls need a combination on the line that can keep their quarterback upright. The current situation, as Garcia described it, is that the Owls are “really down to [their] last quarterback.” Something Garcia and the rest of the line take very seriously. “I want my quarterback to leave the game with the cleanest jersey on the field and no scuffs on his helmet,” he said with a jovial, yet serious demeanor.

The coaching staff believes they’ve found the right pieces to succeed. Now it’s time to see if those pieces can come together and play as one, protecting their young quarterback and giving this team an opportunity to win again. Bloomgren tasks every player with doing their one-eleventh, but the offensive line has to do their five-elevenths. If they can work as one, the future up front is bright, not just for this season, but for the very ethos of this Intellectual Brutality culture for years to come.

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Injury updates, healthy quarterbacks, practice notes (10/29)

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Rice football returned to the practice field with a few new faces in the mix on Monday. Here’s the latest from Mike Bloomgren and the Owls.

Quarterback depth chart

There seems to be a bit more clarity at the quarterback position. Wiley Green is the new starter. Behind him, Jackson Tyner saw reps with the second team and Parker Towns threw behind him.

Juma Otoviano and the wildcat package were effective against North Texas. He’ll be in the mix for some reps, but barring an injury, it doesn’t appear that Austin Trammell will see any snaps at quarterback.

Injury update

Wiley Green is healthy. After back-to-back weeks with a banged up signal caller that seemed worth mentioning here. Joining Green in the offensive backfield next week will be Emmanuel Esukpa, who should be 100 percent against UTEP after missing the last two games.

Two faces the Owls’ haven’t seen on the field yet this year were back in action on practice on Monday. Cornerback Isaiah Richardson participated in individual drills and continues to progress. He’s day to day, as is freshman wide receiver August Pitre. He did individual drills and is scheduled to participate in 7-on-7 drills tomorrow. Both these players are on track to available soon but haven’t been ruled in or out against UTEP quite yet.

Running back platoon in full effect

In addition to Esukpa at practice, there were plenty of mouths to feed in the backfield. Aston Walter, Nashon Ellerbee, Austin Walter and Otoviano all saw some touches during practice. They won’t be able to get each guy a ton of volume every week, but the backfield will have plenty of fresh legs whenever Esukpa or Austin Walter need a breather.

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Rough fourth quarter spoils Owls strong start vs North Texas

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Rice football gave North Texas a scare coming close to an upset before stumbling in the fourth quarter. The Owls are getting closer, but couldn’t finish.

When the fourth quarter started Rice trailed North Texas 20-17. The coaches and the team don’t make much mention of being underdogs or favorites, but the oddsmakers tabbed the Owls as 30-point underdogs again the Mean Green.

This team wasn’t intimidated. They started fast and stayed in the ring for three full quarters until a rough fourth quarter turned this into a blowout. There were some missteps on both sides of the ball, but there wasn’t an extended stretch of time when it felt like this team was lost until a series of penalties and a sack-fumble put the game out of reach late in the fourth.

Rice could have won this game, but their record falls to 1-8. Here are a few immediate reactions:

1. Credit to where credit is due, the offense is improving

Rice was kept out of the endzone in successive games against UTSA and UAB. The poor offensive performances plus the injury to quarterback Shawn Stankavage‘s made the future of this unit seem bleak.

Rather than stick to “what had always worked” and clearly wasn’t working anymore, offensive coordinator Jerry Mack and head coach Mike Bloomgren went back to the drawing board. The results were impressive and impactful. Rice scored touchdowns on their opening drive against FIU and their opening drive against North Texas, each coming with a different quarterback at the helm of the offense.

A vastly different offense took the field in Denton, Tx on Saturday. Juma Otoviano was heavily involved as a wildcat quarterback. Wiley Green honed in on Austin Walter and Aaron Cephus in the passing game and the Owls moved up and down the field.

It looked like a different offense. The unit that put up a zero against UAB is long gone. The next step for this group is converting third downs and staying on the field. Rice was 3-for-14 on third down, making the amount of production they were able to achieve even more encouraging.

2. Fine under fire

Rice entered the game against North Texas dead last in the conference in sacks. The Owls have struggled to get any sort of consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks, leaving the secondary exposed. The defensive line knew they need to step up, and the results began to show up on Saturday.

Anthony Ekpe and Houston Robert both sacked Fine in the first quarter, but Robert’s was negated by an illegal substitution penalty. Ekpe picked up what should have been a drive-ending sack in the third quarter, but an unsportsmanlike penalty on the Owls kept the defense on the field. He emerged again in the same drive, sacking Fine and forcing a long field goal which North Texas missed.

Even when the Owls didn’t get there in time they made their presence felt in the offensive backfield. Fine was on the ground a lot and was well aware of the pressure coming from all sides. The Rice pass rush completely changed this game, something that hasn’t been said over the last several weeks.

3. Tackling and making plays in space is still an issue

There are several aspects of the defense that have shown tremendous improvement throughout the season. Unfortunately, the bottom line doesn’t reflect that progress largely because the Owls are still plagued by the big play.

North Texas’ first touchdown came from 68-yards out. Fine hit Rico Bussey Jr. in space and the receiver outsprinted the defense into the endzone. This team has been prone to surrendering the long ball, but Bussey’s catch and run wasn’t a home run. Rice had defenders behind the receiver, but multiple bad angles left them without a play on the football. He should have been knocked out in the redzone, instead, he scored.

The Owls have been susceptible to the big play on the ground too. Against North Texas, this came in the form of a 44-yard DeAndre Torrey scamper down the sideline. He was surrounded by a trio of Rice defenders, but nobody forced him out until he had rushed for a huge gain.

If those two big plays are taken off the board Rice could have been tied entering halftime, or perhaps even with a narrow lead. This defense cannot take any more meaningful strides if they don’t eliminate these kinds of plays.

4. New faces continue to make big impacts

Where to begin? The freshman were the difference makers on both sides of the ball against North Texas. On offense, Wiley Green threw for 204 yards, one touchdowns and didn’t throw any interceptions. He fumbled once, but also picked up a score with his legs. Juma Otoviano was critical early on, jump-starting the offense with 64 yards on 17 carries, many out of the wildcat formation.

On defense, Prudy Calderon and Trewshawn Chamberlain both forced fumbles. Calderon came up with a huge pass breakup in the endzone and was active all over the field. His insertion into the starting lineup has boosted the play of the entire defense and helped take away the over the top plays that burned the secondary often through the first month of the season.

5. Don’t beat yourself

Rice committed four penalties for 30 yard against FIU. They committed eight penalties for 99 yards against North Texas. Five of those penalties gave North Texas first downs, many coming on third downs when Rice had done enough to get off the field.

This team has made significant strides on the defensive side of the ball. Even though that’s the case, they’re not at the point where they can be handing out extra possessions and expecting the results to stay positive.

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