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Rice Football 2023: Bowl Prep Practice Report 2

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Rice football plays in the first SERVPRO First Responders Bowl next week. Here’s what we learned from the Owls as they prepare for the game.

Another week of Rice football bowl practice is in the books. The Owls hit the road for Dallas on Friday where they’ll have a few more days of practice then celebrate Christmas before taking on Texas State next Tuesday.

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This week’s roundup focuses on a handful of potential bowl game risers and surprise impact players as well as some milestones to watch for when the game arrives and some additional notes.

For those checking in for the first time, or those returning, a quick programming note. Special features like this are reserved for our subscribers. Have questions? You can get those answered in our monthly Q&As and get access to all practice notes, recruiting updates and features like this one when you subscribe on Patreon today.

Potential bowl game risers

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Former Temple QB EJ Warner commits to Rice Football

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Following multiple record-setting seasons at Temple, quarterback EJ Warner has committed to transfer to Rice Football.

For the second straight season, Rice football has made a splash in the Transfer Portal at the spot head coach Mike Bloomgren often refers to as “the most important position in sports”: quarterback.

Last winter it was JT Daniels, whom Bloomgren had recruited from the eighth grade before finally landing as a grad transfer. This year it comes in the form of a transfer from within the AAC. Former Temple quarterback EJ Warner has committed to the Owls.

Warner, the son of former NFL MVP and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner, will have multiple seasons of eligibility remaining when he arrives at South Main. He’ll bring with him a resume already overflowing with passing records.

As a true freshman in 2022, Warner completed 45-of-63 passes for 527 yards and five touchdowns against ECU, setting the high water mark for passing yardage in a game in the FBS that season. By the conclusion of the 2023 season, he’d set the program record for 400-yard passing games (3) and completed more passes in a single game (42) than any other player in the FBS that season.

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Warner was a preseason nominee for the Maxwell Award and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm watchlists. He then proceeded to lead the AAC in passing yards per game. Now he leaving the Temple Owls for the Rice Owls. This is a massive addition and a slam dunk get for Rice and one that could secure them a surefire answer at the position for at least the next two years.

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Rice Football 2023: Bowl Prep Practice Report 1

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Rice football is prepping for the SERVPRO First Responders Bowl. Here’s what we learned from the Owls at practice this week.

Extra practices are one of the most significant benefits of postseason play and Rice football is taking full advantage of the opportunity. The Owls are getting time on the practice field last week and this week, working around finals as they install their game plan and get reps in for their upcoming matchup with Texas State.

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This week’s roundup focuses on what the bowl roster will look like for Rice football as well as some notes on how prep has gone and who has shown out in the early goings.

For those checking in for the first time, or those returning, a quick programming note. Special features like this are reserved for our subscribers. Have questions? You can get those answered in our monthly Q&As and get access to all practice notes, recruiting updates and features like this one when you subscribe on Patreon today.

Who’s here and who isn’t

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 170 – Fifth Annual Roosties for Rice Football

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The Rice football regular season is in the books. That means its time for our podcast awards, the fifth annual Roosties!

There will be a time for a more formal set of Rice football postseason awards. From Team MVP to newcomers of the year, those awards are coming. First, it’s time to present our immediate reactions to the season that was and share our nominations for players, units and games that made this season special in one way or another. Stay tuned below for our fifth iteration of the annual Roosties!

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 170.

Episode Notes

DCTF

The Roost Podcast is now part of the Dave Campbell’s Republic of Football Podcast Network. You’ll still get the same content with the same hosts, but now under the DCTF banner.

Homefield

We’re thrilled to partner with Homefield Apparel, the premier proprietor of college football clothing. First-time buyers can use the code ROOST for 15% off their order. The Owls hoodie is a personal favorite. So is the brand new Luv-Ya-Owls shirt. Shop the Rice collection or pick up something else (or both)!

Homefield

Patreon

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Remembering Rice Football with the Roosties! 

Carter and Matthew hand out honors in the following categories to commemorate the 2023 season, reliving the highs, lows  and everything in between:

  • Favorite Play
  • Player You Were Most Wrong About (Biggest Surprise)
  • Most Improved Unit
  • Play/Game You Most Want to Redo
  • Player You’ll Miss the Most
  • Out of Nowhere Star
  • Most Valuable Transfer
  • Most Head Scratching Moment
  • Most Dominant Game
  • Player You’re Most Looking Forward to in 2024

Where can you find us?

The Roost Podcast is part of the Dave Campbell’s Republic of Football Podcast Network. You can find this podcast and all of our partner podcasts on Apple, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.ri

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Rice Basketball thunders back to avoid upset vs HCU

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Rice basketball fell behind early before thundering back, riding their defense rather than their shooting to a win over Houston Christian.

Alem Huseinovic opened the game with a jumper that drew applause from the assembled crowd at Tudor Fieldhouse, but onlooking fans wouldn’t have much to cheer from for the next several sequences up and down the court. A brief Rice basketball lead evaporated and the Owls quickly found themselves playing catch up on their own court.

Houston Christian pounced on Rice from that first shot, climbing to a 25-12 lead at the under-eight media timeout and putting some pressure on the home team to find a way to settle down and avoid a disastrous loss.

Down by 13 on a day when they shot just 25 percent from three, Rice made three of the five triples they would convert for the entire game over the course of the next six minutes. A large deficit turned into a tie game, opening the door for a second-half rally.

Rice went on a 22-8 run to start the second half, leaning on their defense rather than their shot making ability to flip the script and build a double-digit lead of their own. HCU would climb back within five, but a few clutch shots from Huseinovic, Max Fiedler and Keanu Dawes kept them at bay and allowed the Owls to secure a hard-fought home win.

Final Box | Rice 65 – HCU 56

What They’re Saying

“I’m really happy to get the win. A good word to use for this game is sloppy. Offensively, we just couldn’t get any rhythm going. That’s a credit to (Houston Christian’s) defense. But, the good news is, we would not have won that game in the past. We won with our defense. They shot 35 percent from the floor and 18 percent from three. Any chance you do that, you’re going to give yourself a chance to win. So I’m really proud of that. That’s back-to-back pretty good defensive performances by us.” – Head coach Scott Pera

Key takeaway | The defense is in there somewhere

Despite promises that this would be the season when Rice basketball found its footing on the defensive end of the court, nothing consistent or impactful truly materialized through the first seven games of the season. There were flashes here and there, but nothing nearly as impressive as the performance the Owls put on display Saturday afternoon — and they needed every little bit of it to get past HCU.

As Pera mentioned postgame, the defense was superb. Rice also forced 14 turnovers and only allowed their opponents to get to the free throw line 15 times.

Imperfect rebounding did lead to more defensive opportunities than should have been absolutely necessary, but at the end of the day, holding any team under 60 points is a solid start for this program right now. Over the past two seasons, Rice is 4-0 when holding their opponent below 60 total points.

Rice basketball probably isn’t ever going to turn into a defensive juggernaut, but they have the makings of a team that can play enough defense to get by, provided the offense holds up its end of the bargain. It has to be encouraging then that the offense was rather uninspiring by its standards on Saturday and the Owls still found a way to walk away with a win

Up Next: at Houston – Dec. 6 (Wed.)

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