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Quarterbacks, offensive line updates from practice (8/9)

August 9, 2018 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice football continues to solidify the depth chart, thinning out the quarterback and offensive line positions midway through fall camp.

Head coach Mike Bloomgren spent the majority of the practice with the offensive line. A former offensive line coach at Stanford, Bloomgren got down and dirty teaching techniques first hand. At one point he had his hands on turf instructing one of the younger players in a one-on-one drill.

In addition to focusing on the offensive line, Bloomgren appears to have trimmed the quarterback competition down from three players to two. With that, here are a few tidbits from Thursday’s practice:

Movement in the quarterback battle

Quarterback battle update:

Former QB Sam Glaesmann has moved to wide receiver. Plan is for Tyner and Stankavage to split reps with the ones moving forward. #GoOwls pic.twitter.com/bZUGkb8Luu

— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) August 10, 2018

The most pressing news first: the quarterback position is down to two. As many of you saw late Thursday evening, I broke the news that Sam Glaesmann has moved to wide receiver. Coach Bloomgren wouldn’t say the move was permanent, but he did mention the need for additional reps for Jackson Tyner and Shawn Stankavage moving forward.

Offensive line is beginning to take shape

The first team is beginning to solidify. Tackles Uzoma Osuji and Sam Pierce have been consistent fixtures at left tackle and right tackle, respectively. Shea Baker appears to have locked down the job at center as well.

Jack Greene and Joseph Dill have the lead at the left and right guard positions, but redshirt freshman Corbin Smith is challenging for time in the interior as well. A notable omission from the first team is Florida transfer Andrew Mike. Despite joining the Owls from the SEC it doesn’t appear Mike has done enough in practice to vie for a starting job just yet.

Backup center Cole Elms went down with a leg injury during Oklahoma drills and had to be helped off the field. He was able to return to practice for goal line work later on.

Offensive line tests in short-yardage drills

It’s been no secret that the defensive line is one of the deepest units on the team. The offensive line has struggled to keep up with the power rushers opposite them, but Thursday was a huge step in the right direction.

Thursday’s practice was all about winning in the trenches. The team pitted the offense and the defense against each other in three drills: Oklahoma, short yardage and goal line. The defense, by and large, won the Oklahoma drill but the full team drills were dominated by the offense.

Both units met at midfield with one-yard to go for the first down in a series of reps. Play action, bootlegs and runs straight up the middle resulted in a series of first downs. Bloomgren preaches that everything is a competition, so the defense had to do push-ups as a result of their defeat.

Offense wins goal line drills

The same theme rang true on the goal line. Both quarterbacks beat the edge to the pylon and scored touchdowns with their feet. The real stars were the running backs and the offensive line. Boosted by enough space in front of them to operate, several tailbacks lept over both lines and landed in the endzone. When freshman tailback Antonio Faaeteete sailed through the air and into the endzone the entire offense went berserk, celebrating the head-to-head win over their teammates.

The offensive line wasn’t perfect. A few players were blown up in the backfield and they registered a sack at the goal line. On the whole, though, the efficiency of the quarterbacks and running backs proved that this starting group has enough umph to get the important yards when they need to.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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Veteran presence crucial to Owls’ rebuilding process

August 9, 2018 By Matthew Bartlett

Head coach Mike Bloomgren is in the early stages of turning Rice football into conference championship contender and he’s leaning on his most experienced players to help him get there.

There’s something to be said for guys that really have been there and done that. As the 2018 Rice football team embarks on their journey upward from a 1-11 season a year ago they will lean heavily on their veterans. That experienced hand will come from several sources but the net effect, hopefully, will serve as a catalyst toward what Mike Bloomgren is building at Rice.

Bloomgren knows there is wisdom in his locker room that can speak to the rest of the team in ways that he can’t. A head coach can dictate, but it takes ownership to build a culture. Ultimately, creating a culture of love, physicality and competition remains at the heart of what he has set out to do.

To that end, he’s assembled a 13-player leadership council to help him turn that vision into reality. That council and veteran players beyond it are crucial in laying the groundwork for Bloomgren’s program.

The most senior of those veterans is 23-yeard old Graysen Schantz who started playing football at Rice when the current freshmen class was still in middle school. Four times the victim of season-ending injuries, Schantz was granted a medical redshirt and one more season of college football this fall.

Schantz hopes to use these final months to prepare the younger players on the roster for the continuation of what he helped begin. “Those young guys are the future”, Schantz said of the incoming freshman. “They have to carry the torch when I’m gone.”

These freshmen are all talented athletes, making Schantz’s primary focus the film room. For many of them, this will be the first time breaking down film in a meaningful way and they’ll be learning a new system while they do it. Schantz has been doing that for five years and he’s learned a thing or two along the way.

“I’ve learned three defenses while I’ve been here. It’s the same process. It’s buying into the system. It’s absorbing as much knowledge as you can, taking notes, paying attention and giving your best effort on the field, but then also correcting it in the film room,” remarked Schantz when asked about what he plans to pass on to the next wave of Rice football players. His experience will prove invaluable to this team, but he’s not alone.Rice Football

Grad transfer Gio Gentosi has been on campus for a little over a month after spending the most of his college career at UCLA. He’s learning the ins and outs of Bloomgren’s program along with everyone else, but there are several aspects of the college game that he feels he can help the younger players with.

Gentossi called the college game “a different animal than high school football” adding “the knowledge they have to have goes a lot deeper.” For him, the knowledge came as a reserve offensive lineman and fullback under Jim Mora Jr. with the Bruins. He’s seen an uptick in his usage during fall practices with Owls and his can-do attitude has been evident. He’s lined up in the backfield, he’s been split out wide and he’s turned heads on special teams. Wherever the coaches decide to put him, he’s willing to put in the work.

These veterans have taken it upon themselves to help the “young bucks”, as Bloomgren calls them, learn as much as they can as quickly as possible. Senior defensive tackle Zach Abercrumbia summed it up like this: “We’re here at Rice, so it’s not a matter of if you can learn it, it’s how quickly you can learn it. I really feel like the guys are doing a great job of that so far.”

That’s high praise coming from a player that could be the most dominant players on the Owls’ roster this fall. Abercrumbia has been almost unblockable in fall camp, wreaking havoc on every combination of players along the offensive line. It’s evident he’s put in the work and understand the many changes that need to be made.

It’s going to take more than one offseason to get the team ready to take the next step and contend for conference championships. But that hasn’t dissuaded those on their way out from putting their all into final seasons.

“We’re here at Rice, so it’s not a matter of if you can learn it, it’s how quickly you can learn it. I really feel like the guys are doing a great job of that so far.” – DT Zach Abercrumbia

Senior offensive lineman Sam Pierce said it’s a challenging combination of emotions to process. “It’s both bittersweet and exciting. Exciting in that some of the stuff we’re doing is really exciting because we’ve seen in the spring and the fall camp how well it can work when we all work together. Also bittersweet just because I wish I had a couple more years with these coaches.”

The impact of this coaching staff cannot be undersold. From new strength and conditioning coach Hans Straub to the energy and detail being provided by the position coaches, every facet of the new program has been tailormade to produce results. Bloomgren is taking the model that worked at Stanford and bringing it to Rice. The players believe in what he’s doing and are committed to making it happen.

The tone from each of these men was both expectant and focused. They’re going to have fun, but they’re going to leave Rice football in a better place than where they found it. Pierce said he’s a firm believer in what Bloomgren is building at South Main saying “There’s no telling where this program is going to go in the next few years.”

Regardless of who gets formally recognized or how much extra work it takes, the Owls can count on their experienced members to lead the chrage. “[Leadership] comes with a lot of responsibility,” said Pierce, “but somebody has to do it… We’re all helping each other out as we go.” That help is paying big dividends in camp. This team will be ready for the fall, thanks in large part to its eldest members.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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17 Days: Owls must start stronger in 2018

August 8, 2018 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice football didn’t get off to many fast starts last season, forcing the team to play catch up all year. Can they become a better first quarter team?

Ultimately it’s not how you get the points that matter, it’s having more of those points than the other team when the clock reads 00:00. Rice only outscored their opponent though for quarters once in 2017. A tendency to start slow did them in several times, forcing them to play catch up and put up a dearth of garbage time stats.

Rice scored 17 points in the first quarter last season. That’s 12 first quarters and 17 points, which averages out to about 1.4 points per quarter. Not great. The Owls also seemed to move a bit slower after halftime, posting their second-lowest scoring quarter then:

Score by quarters  1st  2nd  3rd  4th  Total 
Rice  17 56 43 79 195
Opponents  142 136 79 72 429

The skewed distribution of the Owls’ 2017 scoring comes into focus further on a percentage basis. Rice scored only nine percent of their total points in the first 15 minutes of regulation. That makes for a sizable deficit when compared to their opponents who scored nearly a third of their total points in the first quarter alone:

Score by quarters  1st  2nd  3rd  4th  Total 
Rice  9% 29% 22% 41% 100%
Opponents  33% 32% 18% 17% 100%

No matter which way you look at it, Rice needs to find a way to be more productive at the beginning of games. Setting the tone by getting on the board early is going to be extremely important in Mike Bloomgren’s first year as the head coach.

Intellectual Brutality, in terms of the physical pounding the Owls hope to deliver, will take its toll on teams later in the game. Tired teams make mistakes, hopefully opening the door for opportunities later in the Rice offense. That, combined with a strong start, should move the needle on the win column in 2018.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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Offensive and defensive standouts from scrimmage (8/6)

August 6, 2018 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice football held a full scrimmage at practice on Monday, August 6 with the offense and defense going head to head. Here are a few standouts on each side.

The offense and the defense each had their moments in an evening affair that drained the final slivers of sunlight from the sky. The blazing ball of fire was nowhere to be seen overhead as the final players made their way off the practice field. Like head coach Mike Bloomgren told the team this week, it’s an “All Ball, all day” kind of week.

With no classes to distract them the team got down to business. Bloomgren wanted to hold reserve judgment until he had a chance to look at the film, but couldn’t help but crack a smile as he talked the high-level of play the Owls got from several players on Monday. The physicality of the team is growing. “I wouldn’t say we’re there,” he grinned, “but I like where we’re heading.”

With that in mind, here are three guys from each side of the ball that had impressive showings on Monday:

Offense

Austin Walter – Running back

Walter is as slippery and quick as they come. A major theme of Monday’s practice was moving the ball horizontally to create space vertically. Walter beat his man to the edge of the formation and accelerated time and time again. The Owls had several running backs have good evenings, but Walter’s consistency stood out.

Gio Gentosi – Fullback

The first touchdown of scrimmage was scored by UCLA transfer Gio Gentosi, a fullback. The first team offense took to the field with Gentosi in the backfield in front of Austin Walter, paving the way for the smaller, quicker back. Gentosi had a pair of designed runs himself with the second finding the endzone. Head coach Mike Bloomgren preaches physicality. It doesn’t get much grittier than fullbacks doing work in the trenches.

Austin Trammell – Wide receiver

Aaron Cephas had a nice snag in traffic, but it was Austin Trammell that won the day with his hands. The slot receiver looked like he was playing with glue on his gloves and is becoming a safety net on the inside for the Owls’ quarterbacks. With lots of question marks at the position, Trammell looks to be a lock to see a lot of playing time this season.

Defense

Dasharm Newsome – Safety

Newsome might have had the hardest hit of the practice, rocketing out of the defensive backfield to stop a ballcarrier dead in his tracks. The hit reverberated around the practice field as his teammates cheered. Having someone in centerfield ready to deliver a blow will be key for the Owls this fall.

Blaze Alldredge – linebacker

Not once, but twice during the evening session did Alldredge completely blow up a play from his inside linebacker spot. The first hit knocked quarterback Sam Glaesmann to the ground as the ball fell to the turf – the first turnover of the evening. The second would have resulted in a sack had Alldredge been permitted to make the hit. The offense just wasn’t able to stop him slicing through the gap and creating havoc. Fellow linebackers Antonio Montero and Kebreyun Page impressed as well.

Zach Abercrumbia – Defensive tackle

The senior leader of the defense proved his importance early and often. With Roe Wilkins alongside, Abercrumbia collapsed pocket after pocket and made things difficult for all of the Owls’ quarterbacks. It’s clear that the defensive line is one of the deepest position groups on this team and Abercrumbia is the heart and soul of that unit.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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19 Days: Mike Bloomgren the 19th coach in school history

August 6, 2018 By Matthew Bartlett

Mike Bloomgen is the 19th coach in Rice football history, joining a rich tradition which dates all the way back to 1912.

It all began with a 3-2 season in 1912 led by Phil Arbuckle, the first Rice football coach in school history. His 11-years in charge, albeit with a gap in 1918 when John Anderson led the team, set a precedent for long-tenured coaches at South Main.

Although there have been stretches with more turnover than others, Rice has had relatively few men in charge of the football program over the last three decades. Since Fred Goldsmith took over in 1989, Rice has had five head coaches: Goldsmith (five seasons), Ken Hatfield (12 seasons), Todd Graham (one season), David Baliff (eight seasons) and now Mike Bloomgren.

Limited turnover hasn’t necessitated sustained success. The Owls have two conference championships to their name over the last 60 years, a number which contrasts sharply with the six championships they won in the SWC from 1934 to 1957, a span of just 22 seasons. The majority of those championships came under the leadership of all-time great Jess Neely.

Neely’s career record of 144-124-10 isn’t awe-inspiring, but his 12-year stretch from 1946 to 1957 was arguably the most successful era of Rice football. During that period the Owls finished inside the top 10 nationally four times, climbing as high as No. 5 in the nation at the conclusion of the 1949 season.

Since Neely finished with a career 53.7 percent winning percentage no other Owls’ coach that lasted more than a single season has finished with an above .500 record. There have only been three coaches in school history to accomplish the feat, Neely, Arbuckle and Jimmy Kitts. If Bloomgren can get the Owls back to level he’ll already be among some of the most successful coaches Rice football has ever had.

19 is a lot of coaches, but if things break the right way, the Owls won’t have to start looking for No. 20 for quite some time.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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