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Shawn Stankavage is grateful to return to football

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Rice football has their starting quarterback back. After fearing the worst, Shawn Stankavage will return to the field against Louisiana Tech.

“I thought my career might be over.” That’s the grim reality Rice quarterback Shawn Stankavage was dealing with in his North Carolina home only a few weeks ago. After getting a second opinion and rehabbing vigorously, he’ll start once again for the Owls against Louisiana Tech on Saturday.

Stankavage views the second chance as a blessing, saying “sometimes when you lose something, you realize how much you miss it.” He realized he missed the gridiron, and his teammates have welcomed him back with open arms.

Through his first seven appearances with the Owls, Stankavage threw for 1,011 yards nine touchdowns and seven interceptions. He has not seen action since his injury against UAB, but doesn’t anticipate any rust as he readjusts to the offense.

Although he’s been unable to play, Stankavage has been actively involved in meetings and with the team on the practice field. He’s been in the huddle alongside Evan Marshman and Wiley Green as they took their turns at the starter’s job. He’ll slide back into the QB1 spot moving forward. Tyner will be the backup with Green available if necessary.

The offense has gone through quite the journey over the month Stankavage been unavailable. It’s started moving in the right direction once again thanks to big days from Austin Trammell and Aaron Cephus, but Stankavage remains confident the unit can and will get better. “There’s still more plays to be made,” he said, talking expectantly of what the on-field results could be as the unit grows.

Stankavage knows he’s not the missing piece that will turn this offense around overnight, but he understands where this team has been and he remains confident in the direction they’re going. The process without the desired result is frustrating, but one win is all it will take to reenergize this program. “When you win, people start believing,” Stankavage said. “We’re close.”

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Quarterback changes take center stage, practice notes (11/8)

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Rice football continues to work on the practice field as they prepare for Louisiana Tech in Week 11. Here are the latest news and notes.

The plan at quarterback behind Stankavage

True freshman quarterback Wiley Green has looked promising so far this season. The Owls’ former fifth stringer racked up 525 yards passing, four total touchdowns (one rushing) and four interceptions across three games. Green can only play in one more contest this year and preserve his redshirt — something Bloomgren indicated was important to the coaching staff during his Tuesday press conference.

Bloomgren is going to get that fourth game in at some point this season, the question is when will that be? If the situation arises where Rice has to turn to the bench late in a winnable game to Louisiana Tech we might see Green over fellow backup Jackson Tyner. Otherwise, Tyner is the probable No. 2 behind Stankavage this week. He took reps with the second team on Thursday. Green ran the scout unit.

D’Angelo Ellis is going to be a thing

The junior defensive back saw limited action as a member of the Owls’ offense in their game against UTEP. He registered one carry for three yards, playing as a wide receiver motioning out of the backfield. That was his first dose of game action this season and his involvement is only going to go up.

Ellis is quick and could provide a jolt to this offense. Him, alongside a guy like Austin Walter, can be spark plugs for a unit that all too often gets stuck. He has the potential to be that kind of big-play guy.

Get a good look at Jack Fox

It’s not often that you get transfixed in practice by special teams, but it’s worth taking every moment remaining to appreciate punter Jack Fox. His punts boomed effortlessly down the field with a subtle thump each time he launched the ball off his foot. He’s going to be playing on Sundays.

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Austin Trammell, the “blueprint” for Owls moving forward

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Sophomore Rice football wide receiver Austin Trammell has been a steady hand in a time of offensive turmoil for the Owls this season. Can he add to a career year?

Wide receiver Austin Trammell touched the ball 18 times, racking up 133 total yards as a true freshman last season. His sophomore performance has blown those numbers out of the water. Trammell’s most recent high point was a career game against UTEP in which he caught eight passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns.

From a role player to a superstar, Trammell’s humble, hard-working mentality exemplifies the kind of person and athlete Rice football needs to win. “Austin Trammell is absolutely the way I would build a football player, the way I want to build Rice football players. I would clone him and play him at center and left guard and right tackle if I could,” said head coach Mike Bloomgren about a player he dubbed “Mr. Consistent” earlier this season.

The team has experienced their highs and lows, so has Trammell. But how he has responded over the last month has been one of the brightest spots in a tough stretch for the Owls. Trammell says he “just had to refocus and come back to working hard every day.” That hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed, and it’s raised the level of this entire offense.

Austin Trammell is absolutely the way I would build a football player, the way I want to build Rice football players. I would clone him and play him at center and left guard and right tackle if I could

Rice was held out of the endzone against UTSA and UAB. In the three games that follow Trammell has amassed a team-high 23 receptions, 263 yards and two scores. His fight and effort are what this team needs. Bloomgren called him the “blueprint” of the type of players he wants to build his program around, doubling down by saying “we can win with Austin Trammell’s across the board.”

For now, they only have one Austin Trammell. He’s bought in and doing everything he can to bring people along with him. His effort and intensity continue to be instrumental in the psyche of the offense and should give Rice fans hope for the future. The Owls might not have had much success on the scoreboard yet, but they have one Austin Trammell, and he’s on a mission to flip that script.

 

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Quarterback Shawn Stankavage to start vs Louisiana Tech

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Rice football has a new quarterback again, sort of. Former starter Shawn Stankavage has been cleared to play against Louisiana Tech in Week 11.

Shawn Stanakavage went down in the Owls’ game against UAB and returned to the field with a boot on his foot. Redshirt freshman Evan Marshman took over the offense for the next seven-ish quarters of the season before suffering a hand injury that will keep him sidelined for the rest of the 2018 season.

Marshman ceded the job to true freshman Wiley Green who started the last two games against North Texas and UTEP. Green has a lot of raw talent and continues to show promise, throwing for more than 300 yards and two touchdowns against the Miners. As one of the last healthy passers remaining on the roster, Green was expected to be the starter for the remainder of the season.

Then the Rice coaching staff got some unexpected, but welcome, good news. Stankavage, the Owls’ original QB1 who had been written off as lost for the season, returned to practice on Monday. He’s expected to participate fully in team drills on Tuesday and through the rest of the week.

“He’s worked his butt off,” said Mike Bloomgren who affirmed he doesn’t believe starters should lose their job to injury. Stankavage has been on the field during practice, in the meetings and doing everything to prepare short of putting on a helmet. The limitation was his body, which has healed at a rate that caught most everyone around the program off guard. That might be the first welcomed surprise the Owls have received this season.

For Stankavage, it’s one more opportunity to play college football. In seven appearances for Rice this season he threw nine touchdowns and seven interceptions. He’ll be trusted with the reigns from this point forward and tasked with moving an offense that has been hot and cold all season. If he can turn the corner, this offense might too.

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For Mike Bloomgren rebuilding is hard, but hope remains

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Rice football hit a new low on Saturday, falling to a previously winless UTEP team at home. Mike Bloomgren is taking the loss harder than anyone else.

“We’re just past the point of moral victories. I love that they fight, but we’ve just got to win games.”

The frustration in the room was palpable following Rice’s stunning near-blowout loss at the hands of the now 1-8 UTEP Miners. Rest assured fans, head coach Mike Bloomgren hears you loud and clear and he feels the pain as deep as anyone else associated with this program, if not more so.

“I never thought I would be associated with a team that has had this little success,” Bloomgren admitted following the loss,” This has been very difficult.” It was a difficult result in more ways than one for Owls everywhere. Prior to Saturday, UTEP’s last win came in November of 2016 — nearly two years ago. The toll a defeat to a program that had been so bad for so long is ringing loud and clear through the Rice locker room and through Bloomgren’s ears. The reverberations are going to continue for some time.

“UTEP made more plays than we did down the stretch and that seems to be a common theme,” Bloomgren said in the aftermath of the defeat, adding that his team has been “given a lifetime of lessons this year.” If the team doesn’t start learning from these gut-wrenching moments, Bloomgren knows they’ll be in for more of the same feelings. And that’s not fun.

“It’s no fun right now to do this,” he said, “The fun is in the winning… life is not fun for me right now because this is such a big part of my life. It’s not fun for our coaches; it’s not fun for our players. It’s just not fun. Fun is in the winning.”

Life is not fun for me right now because this is such a big part of my life. It’s not fun for our coaches; it’s not fun for our players. It’s just not fun. Fun is in the winning.

It’s been a challenging season for Bloomgren and his staff. This team has been repetitively punched in the mouth and asked to respond. For every step forward the Owls seem to take two steps forward, but that doesn’t mean the steps forward should be ignored. This team has shown signs of progress, something evidenced by their willingness to fight back from a 31-3 deficit and turning it into a one-score game in the fourth quarter.

Bloomgren says there’s no “magic pill” and he “wouldn’t be able to sleep if I threw these seniors out with the bathwater.” This staff won’t throw in the towel and write this season off as lost, no matter how gruesome the record might be. Instead, they’re going to keep working, keep making adjustments and keep showing up on the field every Saturday with winning intentions.

This team needs to see progress, at whatever the cost. “At this point, everything is on the table,” said Bloomgren. The Owls’ new head man inherited a 1-win team with a monumental rebuild awaiting him. It’s been harder than even he could have anticipated, but it doesn’t mean all is lost. This is the valley. There’s nowhere to go but up.

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