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Keys to victory against North Texas

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Rice football has a tough task against them in Week 9. Can they travel to North Texas and win? Here’s how the Owls get it done.

1. Don’t give Mason Fine time

North Texas is has surrendered 10 sacks (2.5 sacks per game) in conference play, tied for the eighth worst rate in CUSA. On further examination, nine of those 10 sacks came in their two losses. North Texas was sacked five times by Louisiana Tech and four times by UAB.

Getting pressure on Mason Fine and limiting his chances to look downfield is a must on Saturday. That’s been an area Rice has struggled in. So far the Owls have three sacks spread across four conference games. They’re the only CUSA team averaging less than one sack per contest, and their susceptibility through the air has had a lot to do with the pass rush.

Both Louisiana Tech and UAB handed Rice a blueprint on how to beat North Texas. Getting the offense off schedule and behind the chains has to be the top priority.

2. Control the clock

Rice is no stranger to teams that can score fast, particularly through the air. Houston, Hawaii and Wake Forest all put together lightening fast scoring drives against the Owls’ secondary and North Texas is another team capable of taking a mile if given an inch.

12 different pass catchers have caught at least one pass of 20 yards or more for the Mean Green this season. Seven have a 30+ yard grab and two have touchdown receptions of 50+ yards this season. North Texas doesn’t need eight minutes and 12 plays to march down the field and score, they can do it in a play or two. That makes limiting those opportunities critical.

If Rice can hold onto the football and shorten the game they can take the ball out of the hands of Mason Fine. Stealing possessions and limiting the potency of the Mean Green offense is a must. To do that will require a lot more work proficiency from the running game and a strong performance on third down.

3. Be gutsy

Rice went eight quarters without scoring an offensive touchdown. That made the opening drive against FIU all the more important. Coming away with points, specifically with seven points, sent a message to this team. The offense was getting back on track and the Owls were going to have a shot to win.

That touchdown drive and confidence booster doesn’t occur without perhaps the best play call of the Mike Bloomgren era. After putting plenty of short plunges on film, Rice opted for a bootleg play-action pass, leaving quarterback Evan Marshman with plenty of real estate to scamper for the score.

Winning a college football game isn’t easy, and winning a conference game on the road is even harder. It’s going to take more gutsy calls like that to beat North Texas. Bloomgren hasn’t been afraid to roll the dice yet, which means fans could see some fireworks if this game is close in the fourth quarter.

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Meet Elijah Garcia, the defense’s unsung hero

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Rice football has come a long way on the defensive side of the ball since the start of the 2018 season, spearheaded by Elijah Garcia and a host of young starters.

Elijah Garcia will start the fifth game of his Rice football career on Saturday against North Texas. The redshirt sophomore defensive lineman from San Antonio, TX had five total tackles a year ago. From five tackles to five starts, Garcia’s growth has been tremendous and the impact his presence has made on this team cannot be understated. He registered a career-best eight tackles against FIU last weekend.

Garcia says his motivation is simple, but focused. “Every week I’ve been trying to tell myself ‘you need to do a little bit more'”. So far, that “little bit more” has resulted in a front seven that’s strongest up the middle. Opposing teams have been able to find success on the edges, but running up the gut is a dicey proposition.

“Right now to run between the tackles against our defense is an uphill battle,” remarked head coach Mike Bloomgen. Garcia alongside team captain Zach Abercrumbia have turned the defensive line into one of the most consistent units on the defense.

Having guys like Abercrumbia, Roe Wilkins and Graysen Schantz to learn from has been invaluable for Garcia. He picks their brain as much as he can and enters every game trying to emulate their successes.

Garcia also credits the coaching staff with their constant message and direction. He reiterated a few phrases and maxims he’s heard more than once this fall, such as defensive line coach Cedric Calhoun’s reminder that “your assignment and technique aren’t always going to be perfect but your effort can be perfect.”

More: True freshman Wiley Green to start Saturday against North Texas

Effort has been front and center as the Owls fight through a prolonged drought between wins. Rewriting the narrative is going to require guys to do what Garcia is doing, working hard, being aggressive and attacking every drill and play with relentless effort.

One defensive lineman playing with effort won’t rewrite a season. But Garcia’s infectious personality and culture building attitude are the kinds of building blocks that this program needs to get to where Bloomgren wants to take it. Garcia is a fighter. Eight tackles against FIU are just the beginning of what he’s capable of doing for Rice football in the coming weeks and years.

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Owls on pace to improve passing stats amidst quarterback shuffle

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Rice football played four quarterbacks last season and four quarterbacks in 2018. Even in challenging circumstances, the Owls are finding positive results.

In fall camp head coach Mike Bloomgren said he’d love to see one guy grab control of the starting quarterback job and carry it through the season. Vanderbilt transfer Shawn Stankavage looked to be that guy early on, but an injury suffered against UAB forced Bloomgren and the offensive staff to go further down the depth chart.

Evan Marshman started against FIU. Wiley Green will start against North Texas. Jackson Tyner’s turnover concerns have kept him as a reserve player for the time being, but he’ll be in the mix alongside some former high school quarterbacks that have played various other skills positions for the Owls.

Here’s how the Owls’ passers have faired thus far in 2018:

Player Cmp Att Pct Yds TD Int
Shawn Stankavage 99 174 56.9 1011 9 7
Jackson Tyner 9 19 47.4 132 0 1
Evan Marshman 17 31 54.8 164 0 1
Wiley Green 1 6 16.7 8 0 2

That’s a mixed bag, especially considering the various different scenarios and game situations each of those quarterbacks experienced. All told, though, Rice is actually on pace to produce better numbers from the quarterback position in 2018 than 2017, even with another lengthy list of participants.

Year Cmp Att Pct Yds TD Int
’17 Rice QBs 121 244 49.6 1721 6 16
’18 Rice QBs 126 230 54.8 1315 9 11
’18 Projected 205 374 54.8 2137 15 18

At a bare minimum, the improved passing numbers in such challenging circumstances has to be encouraging. Preparing an offense for “three vastly different quarterbacks in three different weeks” isn’t easy, and what the offensive staff has been able to do this month has been nothing short of incredible.

Bloomgren detailed the team’s mental processing that has to go on with they insert yet another new face under center against North Texas on Saturday. “It’s always going to be next man up,” Bloomgren said, “but anytime you have a next man up, especially at that position, everybody has to tighten their belts. Everyone has to play better and do your job that much better to make that person comfortable so they can do their job.”

The job on Saturday will be to get true freshman Wiley Green plenty of space in the pocket to deliver a calm, accurate throw. Green has an arm that can get the ball anywhere, but as we saw against FIU, that can include the wrong hands if he’s pressing. He has the talent and the coaching that’s produced encouraging results from a few passers already for Rice this season. Now it’s his turn to take the reigns.

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Owls to start Wiley Green vs North Texas

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Rice football has been forced to dig deep into the quarterback depth chart. Wiley Green will start for the Owls in lieu of an injured Evan Marshman.

Wiley Green started the fall as the fifth quarterback on the Owls’ roster. On Saturday he will start against North Texas because of injuries suffered by Shawn Stankavage and Evan Marshman in successive games.

Marshman started the Owls’ Week 8 game against FIU and played well. He completed 11-of-15 passes for 107 yards and threw one interception. He was even more productive on the ground, rushing for 68 yards and two scores. Unfortunately for Marshman and the Owls, his final run proved to be dangerous.

Marshman took off, found space and was greeted with a flurry of opposing jerseys at the goal line. He plunged through the scrum for the touchdown, landing awkwardly before being immediately rushed to the medical tent. He did not return to the game, and he won’t suit up again for the Owls any time soon. Precise details of his injury have not yet been made public, but like Stankavage, this injury will cause him to miss multiple weeks if not longer.

That makes Green, the former scout team quarterback, the next man up for the Owls against North Texas. After him, the depth chart gets murky. Jackson Tyner is one of the few men standing at the position which has prompted the coaching staff to dig deeper for possible solutions. In addition to Tyner, wide receiver Austin Trammell and running back Juma Otaviano will take reps at quarterback this week.

Rice will play its third different starting quarterback in three weeks against North Texas. That’s not what any coach would hope for, but the raw talent Green possesses makes Bloomgren hopeful. “He can spin it,” Bloomgren said, adding that he’s been impressed with his progression this fall.

Green understands the gravity of the situation, but say’s his preparation remains the same.  “At the end of the day, it’s football. No matter if it’s the ones or the threes it’s football and I’ve been playing it since elementary school.” That may be true, but this weekend won’t be just another game. It will be his first collegiate start.

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This week in CUSA – Looking ahead at Week 9

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Rice football fell at home to UAB in Week 7. How did the rest of the conference fare and what’s next for Conference USA football in Week 9?

Team Last Week Result This Week
Charlotte at MTSU L, 21-13 vs Southern Miss
FAU at Marshall L, 31-7 vs LaTech
FIU vs Rice W, 36-17 at WKU
LaTech vs UTEP W, 31-24 at FAU
Marshall vs FAU W, 31-7  — OFF —
MTSU vs Charlotte W, 21-13 at ODU
North Texas at UAB L, 29-21 vs Rice
ODU at WKU W, 37-34 vs MTSU
Rice at FIU L, 36-17 at North Texas
Southern Miss vs UTSA W, 27-17 at Charlotte
UAB vs North Texas W, 29-21 at UTEP
UTEP at LaTech L, 31-24 vs UAB
UTSA at Southern Miss L, 27-17  — OFF —
WKU vs ODU L, 37-34 vs FIU

Notable Week 8 results

All aboard the Blazers’ train

UAB has become one of the best stories in college football. Two years ago they had no football team, now they’ve clinched their second consecutive bowl trip and their best start in program history. The job that head coach Bill Clark has done in Birmingham is outstanding, including their latest big win over a North Texas team that was the favorite to win the division entering the season. Now it’s UAB out in front and nobody has been able to stand in their way.

Western Kentucky is bad, but their luck couldn’t be worse

The tragedy that befell the Hilltoppers in Week 7 has to be seen to be believed — and even then, you still might not believe it. WKU was in position to force overtime against Old Dominion, instead, they allowed a game-winning field goal at the buzzer in the most befuddling of circumstances.

Rice is alive

Things were looking pretty bleak for the Owls who seemed to have lost their momentum completely. After an encouraging start to the year the Owls were shutout against UAB in Week 7. They responded with an inspiring performance against FIU, leading the Panthers on the road after the first quarter. They weren’t able to hold on to win, but the insertion of redshirt sophomore quarterback Evan Marshman has this team believing in themselves again.

Week 9 storylines

Last chance

One CUSA team that is trending in decidedly the wrong direction is FAU. The Owls have all but squandered any hopes of winning the East and will be fretting their bowl aspirations soon if they can’t turn things around. They’re 3-4 entering Week 9 with a home game against a dangerous Louisiana Tech team. If the Owls can’t bounce back they might be staying home this winter.

Can Old Dominion get on a roll?

Barring whatever exactly happened against WKU, Old Dominion would still be looking for their first conference win against Middle Tennessee. They were gifted a win against WKU, but the offensive production was a positive step. If the Monarchs can keep that side of the ball rolling they’ll be able to contend down the stretch. That starts against Middle Tennessee.

UTEP isn’t bad?

UTEP is 0-7. It’s hard to put too much stock in a team that has yet to win a game, but the Miners have come precariously close more times than they’d like. One of their last four games has been decided by more than seven points and each of their conference games have been winnable. Knocking off UAB is unlikely, but they’re playing well enough that a win on Saturday is absolutely on the table.

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