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2019 quarterback Trevor Bycznski commits to Owls

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Rice football picked up their first commitment in the month of July with the announcement of 3-star quarterback Trevor Bycznski’s pledge to the Owls.

The recruiting cycle tends to slow down in the month of July. In-person visits are on hold during the NCAA imposed “dead period” and most coaches are busy with media days and last minute odds and ends. Even though the Owls couldn’t make any face-to-face overtures they still added to their 2019 recruiting class. 3-star quarterback Trevor Bycznski from Cleveland, Ohio announced his commitment to Rice football on July 17.

https://twitter.com/bycznski8/status/1019371787052777477

The 6-foot-5, 220-pound passer is the first quarterback in the 2019 class and a massive building block for head coach Mike Bloomgren and his program. He chose the Owls over offers from Bowling Green, Georgetown, Buffalo, North Dakota State, Ball State and others.

Although he has yet to be offered by any Power 5 program, Bycznski was on the radar of several big name schools thanks to an impressive performance at Notre Dame’s Elite Skills Camp in June. Tom Loy of 247 Sports called Bycznski “terrific” and “the most physically-ready” quarterback in attendance.

Bycznski had the strongest arm at the event. He was putting a ton of zip on his passes and spinning it extremely well. Beyond the fact that he clearly has a hose and a big, strong build, Bycznski showed off accuracy with the football and a quick release. He had a smooth, clean motion and the ball shot out of his hand. Tom Lay, 247 Sports

In addition to his strong arm, Bycznski has plus mobility. He’s not afraid to take the ball himself when a play breaks down and has enough quickness to exploit defenses on the ground when given the opportunity.

Bycznski is the third out-of-state commitment. That’s marks an uptick in the focus outside Texas compared to the Owls’ entire 2018 class which features six signees from outside the state of Texas. He joins a Rice class that ranks seventh in Conference USA and inside the top 100 classes nationally (No. 99).

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35 Days: Owls must take season 10 yards at a time in 2018

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Rice football hasn’t won a game over the last three seasons when they’ve accumulated less than 20 first downs. That’s a number that needs to change for the Owls to move forward.

There is a time and a place for intricate offensive schemes, trickery and creative playcalling. The razzle-dazzle always sparks Oohs and Aahs in the crowd when it works, but the effort that goes into installing such unique play calls can often outweigh the rewards. Before Rice football tries to get complicated they need to get back to mastering the basics: first downs.

The first down might be the simplest concept in all of football. Teams have four (although traditionally three) downs to get 10 yards. If they can’t do that the other team takes over. Keeping possession and driving down the field will not only enable the Owls to score but will limit the opportunities for their opponent. Shortening the game against some of the high-powered offenses they’ll face in 2018 is a good place to start.

The 1979 and 1992 Owls each demonstrated the ideal outcome of this philosophy, each against the Houston Cougars. Both teams accumulated 35 first downs in their respective games against UH, a record that still stands to this day. The last Rice team to top 30 fresh sets of chains came in a loss to 42-28 Texas in 2015. Had the Owls not spotted the Longhorns two easy touchdowns on poor special teams plays in the first quarter they might have had enough offensive success to topple the college football giant.

Rice has played 36 games over the last three seasons. They reached 20 first downs in exactly half of those contests, 18. Over that period Rice is 0-18 when achieving less than 20 first downs. They’re 9-9 when getting 20 first downs or more. Those numbers could not be any more disparate.

If Rice wants to get more points they need to find a way to move the ball. That goes back to fundamentals, the basics and traditional hard-nosed football. There will be plenty of time for flair later. For now, let’s get the first down.

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2018 North Texas Mean Green Season Preview

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Rice football seems to always find themselves in a shootout when they play North Texas. Will 2018 be any different when the Owls face the Mean Green?

Seth Littrell and the air raid offense have done wonders for the North Texas Mean Green. The team parted ways with former coach Dan McCarney midway through the 2015 season, falling to 1-11 before Littrell took over in 2016. After going 5-8 during his first season, Littrell continued the upswing with a 9-5 finish in 2017.

North Texas was the West representative in the Conference USA Championship Game last season. They fell to Florida Atlantic for the second time that season, ending the campaign 7-2 in conference play with both losses coming at the hands of Lane Kiffin’s Owls.

Their game against the Rice Owls turned out quite differently. Although Rice was able to slow down the Mean Green’s high-powered offense they didn’t have enough firepower of their own to catch up North Texas won at 30-14 at Rice Stadium. They’ll host the Owls in 2018.

Offense

North Texas returns their most important piece of their offense in 2018, junior quarterback Mason Fine. The 5-foot-11 passer amassed 4,052 passing yards, second-most in the conference to Mike White of Western Kentucky in 2017.  Fine led CUSA in passing touchdowns with 31. He’ll have the proverbial green light to open up the passing lanes once more this season and will have the benefit of several familiar targets.

The Mean Green return five of their top six pass catchers from last season, losing senior Turner Smiley (35 receptions, 623 yards and five touchdowns) to graduation. Smiley will be missed, but Michael Lawrence (62 rec., 819 yd, four TD), Jalen Guyton (49 rec., 775 yd, nine TD) and Rico Bussey Jr. (47 rec., 677 yd, seven TD)  are more than enough weapons to make Fine comfortable in the pocket.

All that’s left is to find a running back. Replacing Jeffrey Wilson will be the biggest challenge this offense faces next season. He toted the rock 188 times for the Mean Green in 2017, racking up 1,215 yards and 16 touchdowns. Nick Smith, now a sophomore, saw meaningful action as a freshman but wasn’t nearly as effective as Smith, averaging 1.5 less yards per carry and scoring 10 fewer touchdowns on 50 fewer carries.

Defense

The defense is what has kept North Texas from breaking through. In seven meetings with the Mean Green from 2008 to 2017 the Owls have averaged 36 points per game. It wasn’t just Rice that has gotten the best of the North Texas defense. They’ve finished in the bottom three in CUSA in scoring defense twice in the past three seasons, becoming equally susceptible to the run and the pass in 2017. North Texas surrendered 431.4 yards per game last season, 12th worst in CUSA.

Hoping to right the decline in 2018 will be a collection of upperclassmen in the defensive backfield. Corner Kemon Hall led the unit with eight passes defended last season, also registering one interception and 73 tackles. That’s an elevated number of tackles for a corner, but that speaks to gaps in the front seven that let his opponents get to the second-level so quickly.

Up front North Texas will build around 2019 NFL Draft prospect E.J. Ejiya. The 6-foot-3, 223-pound outside linebacker should be the Mean Green’s biggest playmaker once again in 2018. Ejiya is coming off a career season in which he registered 108 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss and seven sacks. A strong year for him would go a long way to easing the pressure on the secondary, but he’ll need some help. Look for fellow linebacker Brandon Garner to take some pressure off Ejiya, opening up holes for his teammate to get into the offensive backfield.

Schedule

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37 Days: Redzone defense can only get better in 2018

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Rice football needs to bulk up their defensive front, especially in the redzone. Few units have as much room for improvement in 2018 as the Owls.

There are few events more emotionally draining than watching your opponent march down the field, enter the redzone, and punch the ball into the endzone from close range. Forcing a field goal, although not the best outcome available to the defense, is at least a small victory. Rice needs to force a few more field goals in 2018 if they want to find a way to stay competitive for four full quarters.

Rice football allowed 37 redzone touchdowns in 2017. In 49 opportunities they held their opponents to a field goal nine times and came away with a paltry three stops. Their opponent’s scored on 93.9 percent of their red zone opportunities. Only 12 defenses in college football allowed their opponents points on 90 percent of their red zone chances.

Even the best defenses can’t keep their opponents from reaching the redzone entirely. Teams like Wisconsin, Alabama and Miami earned their stripes by clamping down in the final 20 yards, forcing field goals and creating turnovers. The Owls’ 75.5 percent opponent touchdown rate needs to creep back towards 60 percent, roughly the average mark for an FBS defense last season.

To make those improvements the Owls are going to have to get more physical. Head strength and conditioning coach Hans Straub will be instrumental in making inroads in that area. He joins the Owls from Stanford where he worked as the Director of Olympic Sports Performance. Straub has been in the strength and condition world for more than a decade, and the opportunity to see that experience pay off is at hand.

Better conditioning and smarter football should be enough to get the Owls back to the middle of the pack. They’re not going to turn into a lockdown defense overnight, but they’ll be headed in the right direction in 2018 with significant headway expected down the line.

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38 Days: Offensive help for the Owls is on the way

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Rice football needs a jolt on offense in 2018. Head coach Mike Bloomgren has the experience and the know-how to make that happen.

There weren’t many teams worse on the offensive side of the ball than Rice in 2017. The Owls finished six spots above the worse scoring offense in the FBS, UTEP. Coincidentally, the Miners were the only team the Owls were able to beat last year. If Rice has their eyes on making strides in the win column they’ll need the offense to improve drastically.

Mike Bloomgren is the man for the job.

Bloomgren joins the Owls after five years as the offensive coordinator at Stanford. The difference between the Rice offense and the Stanford offense over that time was seismic. Beyond the obvious talent gap, the Cardinal frequently ran the ball effectively and put up points. They weren’t perfect, but they finished inside the top 50 in the nation three times in Bloomgren’s five years calling the shots. Rice, although they did boast a stronger offense in 2014, consistently lagged behind.

Team/Yr   Rice   Stanford
2013 62 45
2014 66 79
2015 87 18
2016 93 82
2017 125 38
Average 86.6 52.4

The low points for Stanford are noteworthy; even Bloomgren’s squads weren’t perfect. However, the upside should give fans hope. Stanford has the No. 38 offense in the nation last season. Rice hasn’t finished that high in the offensive rankings since Chase Clement took Conference USA by storm in 2008. Clement is walking through the door any time soon.

What Bloomgren did at Stanford can be replicated. He built around a strong running game with a quarterback that was able to methodically move the ball down the field. When quarterback K.J. Costello took over from Keller Chryst midway through the season the offense got even better. A little bit of mobility combined with top-level football IQ is all Bloomgren needs to build upon. Whichever quarterback he chooses, the Rice offense is in good hands.

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