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Rice Football 2022 Game Preview: FAU

October 10, 2022 By Matthew Bartlett

Fresh off a bye, Rice football heads east to the beach this week to play FAU. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

After a grueling opening month, both Rice football and FAU were off this past weekend, giving them time to recover and get healthy before they start the second half stretch of their 2022 seasons. Prior to the break, Rice upset UAB for the second time in as many years while FAU fell to North Texas in Denton just up the road. Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup of Owls against Owls.

Kickoff time | 5:00 PM CT
Venue | FAU Stadium – Boca Raton, FL
TV | ESPN+ (Viewing Guide)
Radio | Sports Map 94.1 (FM) / Stretch Internet (Online)

Audio / Visual Preview

We’ll preview Rice football vs FAU on this week’s episode of the Blue and Gray Preview Show, streaming live on Wednesday at Noon on the Rice Athletics YouTube channel. Look for a recap of the game on the site afterward as well as on The Roost Podcast, which should be released early next week. Find us on the podcast page or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. (And consider leaving us a 5-star review while you’re at it.)

Sizing up the contenders

FAU enters the game in a precarious position. Following a tough nonconference stretch that included games against Purdue and UCF, the Owls fell at home to North Texas. They bring a 2-4 record into their first game after the break. A win would help their bowl aspirations and keep them in the mix for a conference title run. A loss might knock them out of both.

Conversely, Rice football is feeling much better about where they’re at exiting their open week. 3-2 overall and 1-0 in the conference. These Owls can take another step forward with a win on the road against a team that was originally projected to finish near the top of the conference standings.

Got Questions?

Subscribers, don’t forget to submit your questions for our October mailbag here.

Series History

All Time | Rice leads, 2-1
Last Five | Rice leads, 2-1
Last Meeting | Home 2016, FAU won 42-25

Get the Inside Scoop

Get access to practice reports, analysis and special features during the week when you subscribe to our Starting Lineup Tier on Patreon today. If you want updates on how Rice football plans to attack this week’s opponent, position battles, standouts, injuries and more, this is your go-to source. Don’t miss out! Join now!

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Rice Football Stat Notables

Passing | McMahon – 87/136 (64.0 percent), 1080 yards, 9 TD, 7 INT
Rushing | Broussard – 75 carries, 192 yards (2.6 yards per carry), 8 TD / Montgomery – 24 carries, 186 yards (7.8 yards per carry), 0 TD
Receiving | McCaffrey – 31 receptions, 361 yards (11.7 yds/rec), 3 TD / Rozner – 15 receptions, 312 yards (20.8 yds/rec), 3 TDs / Esdale – 19 receptions, 239 yards (12.6 yds/rec), 0 TD
Tackles | Taylor – 26 / Conti, Morrison – 25 / Nyakwol – 19
Pass Breakups | Dunbar – 3 / Morrison, Taylor, Fresch – 2 / Three others tied with one
Interceptions |
Taylor – 2 / Morrison, Nyakwol, Chamberlain – 1

FAU Notables

Passing | Perry – 115/203 (56.7 percent), 1512 yards, 15 TD, 5 INT
Rushing | McMammon III- 84 carries, 512 yards (6.1 yards per carry), 2 TD / Mobley – 63 carries, 325 yards (5.2 ypc), 3 TD
Receiving | Wester – 39 receptions, 442 yards (11.3 yards per reception), 8 TD / Edrine – 19 receptions, 287 yards (15.1 yds/rec), 2 TD
Tackles | Williams – 58 / Adams – 34 /  Toombs – 33
Pass Breakups | Mungin – 3 / Antoine – 2 / Adams, Toombs, Young, McKithen, Cook – 1
Interceptions | Toombs – 2 / Young, McKithen – 1

FAU X-Factor | Keep the ball in front of you

Florida Atlantic is tied for eighth in Conference USA in explosive plays allowed on defense. Only two programs have allowed more 20+ yard plays than the Owls (28) who have also been burned on plays of 50+ yards on five separate occasions. The latter is one play better than Charlotte which owns the second-worst defense in the FBS.

Interestingly enough, FAU has actually been pretty good when it comes to getting off the field on defense if they can keep the ball in front of them. They rank second in Conference USA in opponent’s third down conversion rate (33.8 percent). It’s been the big play that’s done them in time and time again.

Through five weeks, Rice has only produced 18 plays of 20+ yards, which ranks 10th in the conference. But the Owls do have plenty of playmakers capable of breaking off a big run or racking up copious amounts of yardage after the catch. FAU needs to be ready.

Rice X-Factor | Get the run game going

Rice football has found ways to win, ultimately that’s what really matters, but running the football efficiently really hasn’t been as critical to the team’s success as one might have expected. The Owls have averaged 3.6 yards per carry or worse in each of their last three games and haven’t reached the 150-yard rushing mark against any of their FBS opponents yet this season.

FAU is the worst run defense Rice has faced this season, coming in at 100th nationally allowing 173 yards per game on the ground. North Texas ran for 300 yards against this team in their last game and as a result, FAU was never able to get their offense into rhythm.

That’s exactly the kind of game Rice would love to play, especially on the road. Better still, it would serve as one more data point in the Owls’ 2022 offensive resurgence. Putting together a complete game, one where the defense stands tall and the offense can move the ball through the air and on the ground would continue to push Rice towards the top of the conference where they want to be.

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One Final Thing

Florida Atlantic was picked to finish fourth in the conference in the Conference USA preseason media poll. Rice was picked tenth. Rice has already beaten the No. 2 team, UAB, and gets the No. 1 team (UTSA) at home to end the season. The Texas-based Owls enter this game red-hot while the Floridians aren’t playing their best football. Rice needs to take advantage of this opportunity, even if it does come away from home.

To date, all of the Owls’ 2022 wins have come at Rice Stadium, but Rice has won big games away from Houston in each of the past seasons. The road factor shouldn’t play a large factor in the outcome of this game, instead, that should be decided by how well Rice prepares during the bye week.

Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren said it best following the teams’ upset over UAB, “If you look at the second half, if we can learn to play that way for 60 minutes, I don’t know who can beat the Rice Owls right now but the Rice Owls. We just gotta play our game.”

Bloomgren and this team have the opportunity to prove themselves right on that account this coming Saturday. A win would lift them to 2-0 in conference with a real chance to contend for a conference title which suddenly isn’t feeling quite so elusive anymore. All the Owls need to do is play their game.

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Filed Under: Featured, Football, Premium Tagged With: Game preview, Rice Football

How five UAB snapshots tell a Rice football story

October 2, 2022 By Matthew Bartlett

From a blowout to back-to-back wins, the rise of Rice football parallels the Owls’ progression against the UAB Blazers, one of C-USA’s best programs.

Rice football has faced UAB five times since head coach Mike Bloomgren assumed leadership of the program prior to the 2018 season. The Owls are 2-3 against the Blazers in that time, but the progression demonstrated in that quintet of contests speaks volumes as to just how far this program has come in that time.

To fully understand what made Saturday’s upset win so significant, one must look back in time. Bloomgren certainly has. When meeting with the media following a 28-24 victory that lifted the Owls to 3-2 on the season, Bloomgren was quick to mention how this burgeoning rivalry started.

“They beat the life out of us,” Bloomgren said of that 2018 contest, one that UAB won 42-0 in Houston on the same field where Rice had just avenged themselves.

Bloomgren has been quick to compliment the Blazers in his remarks over the years. Even after the win, he referred to UAB as “the standard in our conference.”

Then came the follow-up question: if UAB is the standard, what does it say about a Rice program that has now taken down that giant twice in successive seasons?

“It means that we’ve taken some real steps in this football program, and I couldn’t be more proud of these guys,” Bloomgren said between smiles. “I’m incredibly proud of them, to beat them two years in a row means everything.”

The progression

Following the 2018 shellacking, Rice cut the margin significantly the following season, falling to UAB in Birmingham by a final score of 35-20 in a weather-delayed, rain-soaked slugfest. Rice led 7-0 after the first quarter before UAB hit on three long touchdown plays in that contest which proved to be the difference. It was another loss, but Rice had shown a pulse.

In 2020 the teams played their closest game yet. Rice led 13-7 at halftime, another positive step, but the defense could not stop the UAB rushing attack and the offense was held out of the endzone in the second half, losing starting quarterback Jovoni Johnson to injury along the way before falling 21-16.

From a 42-point defeat to a 15-point defeat to a 6-point defeat. The deltas kept dwindling until they flipped for the first time in 2021. To win that game, Rice had to be absolutely perfect. They were.

Gabriel Taylor forced a fumble on the very first play of the game. Juma Otovanio provided a pivotal 50-yard kick return, the Owls’ longest of the season. After completing one of his first four passes, quarterback Wiley Green finished the game by completing 16 of his next 18 attempts for 200 yards and a career-high three touchdowns.

Rice was as close to perfect as they could have dreamed to be and UAB still had a Hail Mary attempt at the buzzer to win the game. It fell incomplete. Rice won.

Defensive end Ikenna Enechukwu participated in that thrilling win and it was in his mind on Saturday when the Owls posted another victory over the Blazers.

“I feel like we’ve been able to play with them for at least the past maybe four years honestly and this is just another time like last year where we put all the pieces together,” Enechukwu said. “We were able to fight for four quarters and really dig in deep during the fourth quarter to come up with a victory.”

Far from perfect

While Rice football did technically play four quarters, they’d rather not write home about most of the first half. The Owls’ opening scoring drive accounted for 75 yards. Rice ended the first half with 75 total yards of offense, making absolutely zero progress on that side of the ball while allowing 17 straight points on defense.

“We played about as bad as we could in the first half,” Bloomgren admitted.

That’s part of what made the win so uplifting. Last year Rice football has to be perfect to squeak by a very good UAB team. This year the Blazers were picked to finish second in the conference in the Conference USA preason poll. Rice was tabbed as the No. 10 team in an 11-team field. And by the Owls’ own admission, they did not play their best brand of football on Saturday, and they still won.

“Who the heck picked us tenth?” Bloomgren joked in the aftermath. “I don’t know if you’re a betting man, but the lines have been off the last few weeks too.” Double-digit under dogs in each of their last contests, Rice has covered all three times and won outright twice, also dispatching Louisiana at home.

On Saturday against UAB, though, it wasn’t their underdog status that propelled them to victory. Rice won because Ari Broussard dominated short-yardage situations, scoring his seventh and eighth rushing touchdowns of the season. He’s currently tied for fourth in the nation in rushing scores and all of his touchdowns have come from inside the five-yard line.

Rice won because Treshawn Chamberlain, following a big hit by George Nyakwol that put the ball on the turf, was the only man on the field to hurry to the football, scooping it up for the go-ahead touchdown. The remaining 21 players on the field assumed it was an incomplete pass. Chamberlain recognized it as a fumble and made the play.

More: Postgame reactions — Rice football upsets UAB, again

Rice won because quarterback TJ McMahon, now 4-0 in games he’s finished at Rice Stadium, has the presence of mind to go down on a play action call rather than force the ball down field. His decision burned 40 more seconds of valuable clock time and made the UAB offense work at a frantic pace.

Rice won because its defense — which allowed UAB to rack up 360 total yards of offense — posted three sacks in the final sixty seconds, including the game-winner by Joshua Pearcy as the clock expired.

Rice won because they took advantage of 12 UAB penalties for 116 yards, ranging from holding to roughing the passer to taunting to everything in between. Flags were flying all night, with penalties to both teams. The Owls endured.

Rice won because they’re a fundamentally different team than the squad that was blasted in Birmingham in 2018. And a different team from the one that couldn’t make the key plays down the stretch in 2020. And from the program which needed perfection to overcome the odds last season.

Not done yet

The 2022 Rice football team had already won with a dominant showing this season. Against UAB, Rice won ugly. And if Rice can beat one of Conference USA’s premier programs without posting a single yard of offense from the second drive until halftime and while allowing 17 consecutive points on defense… watch out.

“The sky’s the limit for this program,” longtime running back Cameron Montgomery said following the game.

And if anyone should have a true sense of the trajectory of this program, it would be Montgomery. One of only a handful of players still on campus that was recruited by former coach David Bailiff, Montgomery remembers every step it took along the way for Rice football to get to this place. He’s not taking his eyes off the prize.

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“We’ll just keep taking it one week at a time. I’d love to take it day by day. I would love for my guys to have a great night tonight, celebrate this win, come back tomorrow, look at the film with a critical eye and wake up on Monday, recovered,” he said.

“And we’ll just keep chopping away at that wood, chopping away at that wood until we knock that tree down.”

If the past few seasons were spent sharpening the ax, Rice football has come out of the gates this season swinging it freely. UAB might not be the last giant (tree) to be felled.

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Filed Under: Featured, Football Tagged With: Cam Montgomery, Ikenna Enechukwu, Mike Bloomgren, Rice Football

Rice Football 2022: UAB Game Week Practice Report

September 29, 2022 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice football hosts UAB in their final game before their by week. Here’s what we learned from practice as the Owls prep for the Blazers.

Rice football is ready for another big game this weekend. Days removed from a narrow loss to AAC favorites Houston, the Owls host the UAB Blazers, one of the expected contenders in Conference USA.

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This week’s roundup highlights a lot of moving parts along the offensive line, some adjustments the Owls need to make on the defensive line against the UAB rushing attack this week and a series of important nuggets from both sides of the ball.

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.

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Filed Under: Featured, Football, Premium Tagged With: Aidan Siano, Blake Boenisch, Chris conti, De'Braylon Carroll, DeMone Green, Ikenna Enechukwu, Isaac Klarkowski, Izeya Floyd, John Hughes, John Long, Kenneth Orji, Myron Morrison, practice notes, quent titre, Rawson MacNeill, Rice Football, Shea Baker, Tre'shon Devones, Trey Phillippi, Tyson Thompson

Rice Football 2022 Game Preview: UAB

September 25, 2022 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice football opens Conference USA play against the UAB Blazers this weekend. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

The UAB Blazers sat and home during their bye week and watched Rice football push the Houston Cougars to the brink on Saturday night. The Owls did not prevail, but they should have given the Blazers plenty to prepare for as the teams prepare to meet for the first time since Rice upset UAB in Birmingham last season. Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup.

Kickoff time | 6:30 PM CT
Venue | Rice Stadium – Houston, Tx
TV | ESPN+ (Viewing Guide)
Radio | Sports Map 94.1 (FM) / Stretch Internet (Online)

Audio / Visual Preview

We’ll preview Rice football vs UAB on this week’s episode of the Blue and Gray Preview Show, streaming live on Wednesday at Noon on the Rice Athletics YouTube channel. Look for a recap of the game on the site afterward as well as on The Roost Podcast, which should be released early next week. Find us on the podcast page or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. (And consider leaving us a 5-star review while you’re at it.)

Sizing up the contenders

Both UAB and Rice football enter their Week 5 contest 0-0 in conference play. The Blazers were expected to be among the favorites in the race for the conference title, the Owls were not. But the dynamics of that title hunt could change quickly. Rice is playing some of their best football in recent memory right now and they beat UAB in Birmingham last season. The Blazers are the favorites, but this one could very well go the distance.

Got Questions?

Subscribers, don’t forget to submit your questions for our September mailbag here.

Series History

All Time | UAB leads, 6-4
Last Five | UAB leads, 4-1
Last Meeting | Away 2021, Rice won 30-24

Get the Inside Scoop

Get access to practice reports, analysis and special features during the week when you subscribe to our Starting Lineup Tier on Patreon today. If you want updates on how Rice football plans to attack this week’s opponent, position battles, standouts, injuries and more, this is your go-to source. Don’t miss out! Join now!

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Rice Football Stat Notables

Passing | McMahon – 76/119 (63.9 percent), 976 yards, 8 TD, 7 INT
Rushing | Broussard – 60 carries, 160 yards (2.7 yards per carry), 6 TD / Montgomery – 19 carries, 152 yards (8.0 yards per carry), 0 TD
Receiving | McCaffrey – 26 receptions, 323 yards (12.4 yds/rec), 3 TD / Rozner – 13 receptions, 278 yards (21.4 yds/rec), 3 TDs / Esdale – 17 receptions, 219 yards (12.9 yds/rec), 0 TD
Tackles | Conti – 19 / Morrison – 17 / Taylor – 15
Pass Breakups | Morrison, Dunbar, Taylor, Fresch – 2 / Three others tied with one
Interceptions |
Morrison, Nyakwol, Chamberlain, Taylor – 1

UAB Notables

Passing | Hopkins – 35/52 (67.3 percent), 430 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
Rushing | McBride – 48 carries, 400 yards (8.3 yards per carry), 5 TD / Brown – 38 carries, 247 yards (6.5 ypc), 2 TD
Receiving | Palmer – 8 receptions, 110 yards (13.8 yards per reception), 0 TD / Jones – 10 receptions, 91 yards (9.1 yds/rec), 0 TD
Tackles | Wilder – 21 / Taylor – 19/  Cash – 13
Pass Breakups | McWilliams – 4 / Swoopes, Bynum – 3
Interceptions | Key – 2 / Four others tied with one

UAB X-Factor | Stop the pass

Although Rice football has preached ground and pound under the direction of head coach Mike Bloomgren, the 2022 Owls have taken to the skies. In their most recent outing against Houston, Rice threw for 334 yards, almost 100 yards more than the pass-happy Cougars.

Through four games, Rice is averaging 262.3 yards per contest compared to 211.7 per game last season. On the other hand, the Owls rushing attack has more or less held steady, dropping slightly from 149.5 yards per game last season 147.8 this year. The 2022 Owls aren’t one-dimensional anymore.

UAB’s best bet is to take that extra tool away. The Blazers have had a Top 4 run defense in Conference USA in each of the last four seasons. They were No. 1 in the conference last year. If they can hang tight with the Owls through the air they’ll have a chance to render the entire offense less explosive and less effective. Rice is going to try and take to the skies. UAB has to find a way to answer.

Rice X-Factor | Stop the run

The Owls’ to-do will be exactly the opposite. As UAB attempts to limit Rice through the air, Rice will have to find a way to stymy UAB on the ground. The Blazers enter the game with the No. 1 rushing offense in Conference USA, averaging 253.3 yards per game. Their 6.23 yards per carry ranks fifth nationally. This is a team that is going to run the football a lot.

This won’t come as a surprise for Rice defensive coordinator Brian Smith. This script matches what UAB has sought to do in their prior matchups with the Owls over the years. UAB averaged 5.8 yards per carry in this matchup last season. They weren’t able to lean on the ground game quite like they might have hoped to, only managing to run the ball 22 times for 127 yards.

If UAB can’t run the ball, their deep shots off play action become harder to sell. If that happens, Rice can pin their ears back in traditional passing situations and severely limit the entire UAB offensive approach.

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One Final Thing

With a win on Saturday, Rice football should be mentioned among the teams in contention to win a conference title. No, that’s not hyperbole. There is no singular team in Conference USA that looks head and shoulders above any other.

UAB and UTSA remain the frontrunners for obvious reasons, but if Rice can knock off the former in back-to-back seasons behind the arm of their newfound quarterback, there isn’t a team in this league they can’t beat. That’s a lot at stake for a conference opener, which precedes a much-needed bye week which will give the roster time to recuperate and get healthy.

A close loss, similar to how Rice fell to Houston, would still keep this team in that conversation, serving as another datapoint suggesting this team is much better than they were a year ago. If this team is the team they’ve led us to believe they are, there’s no reason this isn’t another good game at South Main. And if things go the right way, it could be the fourth consecutive home victory for Rice football.

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Rice Football 2022: Owls come up short across town vs UH

September 24, 2022 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice Football took Houston to the wire in the battle for the Bayou Bucket and came up just short, falling 34-27 in their nonconference finale.

Back-and-forth, back-and-forth. That was the cadence of a thrilling Bayou Bucket battle between Rice football and Houston on Saturday night. Heavy underdogs by the oddsmakers, the Owls looked every bit the Cougars’ equals until a pair of untimely fourth quarter turnovers doomed their upset bid. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Withstand the first punch

Rice football has played Houston twice during head coach Mike Bloomgren’s tenure. In 2018 the Owls kept the game close, leading at halftime 24-17. That gave the team a fighting chance despite their limited roster. That wasn’t the case in 2021. Trailing 10-0, Rice turned the ball over. Houston quickly jumped ahead 17-0 and scored on their first two drives of the second half to put the game out of reach.

Their recent struggles were irrelevant on Saturday, Rice had to find a way to survive the first punch and turn this into a heavyweight fight. It wasn’t pretty, but they hung tough in the early goings. A bad bounce on the opening kickoff forced the Owls to start their first possession from their own two-yard line. Rice got two first downs before punting, salvaging important field position. Then got the Houston offense off the field after just four plays.

The Roost Podcast: Stay tuned for the game recap this week – Rice football vs Houston

Houston would take the lead on their second offensive series, picking up a couple of first downs on their way to a 19-yard touchdown pass from Clayton Tune to Matthew Golden. Then the momentum changed.

Here's the interception that helped @RiceFootball get on the board.pic.twitter.com/uW2PS1ipi5

— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) September 24, 2022

Trailing 7-0 at the beginning of the second quarter, the Rice defense got pressure on Tune who threw into heavy traffic. The ball bounced around and fell into the hands of Myron Morrison. Four players later, Rice was in the endzone and the game was tied. Houston won the first quarter, but after 20 minutes, the game was tied. It wasn’t pretty, but it was gritty and proof this team was ready to grind one out.

Just add offense

Over the past several seasons, Rice football fans have seen some tremendous defensive performances. From the five-interception shutout against Marshall to allowing just 175 total yards to Louisiana last week, this defense has proven its worth time after time. More often than not, it’s been the offense that’s come up wanting.

Early returns from that side of the ball were encouraging. Saturday’s showing reaffirmed a new reality for the Owls’ offensive attack.

Good coaches put their players in position to succeed.

Give the Owls' coaching staff some kudos for dialing up this one. pic.twitter.com/HWlxxMakU0

— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) September 24, 2022

@AriBroussard becomes the first Owl to have a rushing TD in four straight games since Sam McGuffie in 2010! pic.twitter.com/Y23TVPCoWj

— Rice Football (@RiceFootball) September 24, 2022

30 seconds before this ball was thrown @RiceFootball had ZERO wide receivers on the field. Then they dial up this ⤵️pic.twitter.com/AHmOE46ltn

— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) September 25, 2022

The underdogs averaged 6.0 yards per carry in the first half and were perfect in their pair of redzone appearances (extending their streak to 14 consecutive red zone trips with a score). Broussard’s short touchdown plunge might seem that impressive, but when you consider the regularity with which this team can get two yards on the ground when they need to, it’s an essential tool in the Owls’ arsenenal.

It starts and ends in the trenches

Trey Phillippi made the start at right guard for Rice football on Saturday night. His insertion into the lineup was notable for several different reasons. First, his addition to the starting lineup marked the fourth different starting offensive line combination in four games for Rice football in the midst of an offensive renaissance. More importantly, Phillippi had never played guard before in his life.

Philippi was a tackle in high school. He started his Rice career as a tackle and moved to tight end with injuries at that position early this season. His first snaps at guard in his football career happened during practice this week. His first game just concluded. As a whole, the offensive line held their own and gave Rice a chance.

Not to be outdone, the Rice defensive line had its moment. On third and one near the end of the third quarter, Houston was stonewalled at the line of scrimmage. Given the break between quarters to reconvene, the Cougars lined up to go for it again. They didn’t get it.

The defense has earned their place in the highlight reel tonight, too. Here's that fourth down stop.pic.twitter.com/0MdeklAy4D

— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) September 25, 2022

A Rice defensive front that was without De’Braylon Carroll for much of this game went toe-to-toe with Houston and looked every bit their equal. Houston will be playing in the Big 12 next season. Rice will be in a “Group of 5” Conference. The supposed talent gap didn’t feel that large in this game.

House Money

To say the result of Saturday’s showdown at TDECU Stadium did not matter would be entirely disingenuous. Beating a rival always matters, especially for a team that hasn’t hoisted the Bayou Bucket Trophy since 2010 with six consecutive losses in the matchup since.

No matter what the result would be, even with a loss, the Owls would have split their nonconference slate for the first time under head coach Mike Bloomgren. A win, however, had the potential to material shift the outlook of the Rice football program. That wasn’t in the cards this week.

Nevertheless, the product the Owls put on the field against the Cougars proved these two teams are more evenly matched than many may have suspected. Houston was projected to contend for an AAC title this season. Rice traded blows with them for four quarters. Are the Cougars scuttling well below expectations? It’s possible. But it seems much more likely the Owls are starting to rise up.

Rice exits this game four wins from a bowl berth. That’s an achievable target if they continue to play with this level of intensity and execution. It was a tough day across town, but the 2022 Rice Football season still has plenty more good to come.

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McMahon’s magic overcomes the odds

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Recent Posts
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  • The Winding Road: Jack Ben-Shoshan’s circuitous path to the top of the Rice Baseball bullpen
  • Rice Baseball inches closer to postseason with series win over Wichita State
  • Rice Baseball 2025: MLB Owls Update – May 7

Filed Under: Featured, Football, Premium Tagged With: Ari Broussard, De'Braylon Carroll, game recap, Kobie Campbell, Luke McCaffrey, Myron Morrison, Rice Football, TJ McMahon, Trey Phillippi

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