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Rice Football 2021 Game Preview: North Texas

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Rice Football returns to Houston this week to take on a struggling North Texas team. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

North Texas and Rice football could not have had more opposite weekends despite both holding multi-score leads midway through the third quarter of their respective games. The Mean Green surrendered 21 straight points, losing at home to Liberty in a game they controlled for the entirety of the first half, if not longer.

Rice, on the other hand, was able to complete the upset. The Owls became the first Conference USA team to beat UAB at home since the Blazers’ program was reinstated beginning with the 2017 season. Riding high, the Owls now seek to pick up a much-needed win at home. Here’s what you need to know:

Kickoff time | 1:00 PM CT
Venue | Rice Stadium – Houston, TX
TV | ESPN3
Radio | Sports Map 94.1 (FM) / Stretch Internet (Online)

Audio / Visual Preview

We’ll preview Rice football vs North Texas this week’s episode of the Blue and Gray Preview Show, streaming live on Wednesday at Noon on the Rice Athletics YouTube channel. You can also catch the recap of last week’s game on The Roost Podcast, which should be released shortly. 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

North Texas is playing for pride at this point. Discussions regarding the security of head coach Seth Littrell’s job have endured throughout the season with the voices of his detractors growing louder and loud with each successive loss. A bowl game is still nominally within reach, but even that might not be enough for Littrell at this point.

On the other sideline, Rice football very much so has plenty to play for on Saturday. Should they win, they’d even their season-long record to 4-4 and be two wins away from the bowl berth they’ve had their eyes fixed on all year. More still, they’d be 3-1 in league play and firmly in the race for a conference title. Both objectives get much harder should Rice not hold serve on their own turf against North Texas.

Series History

All Time | North Texas leads Rice, 6-5
Last Five | North Texas leads Rice, 4-1
Last Meeting | Away 2020, North Texas won 27-17

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Get access to practice reports, analysis and special features during the week when you subscribe to our All-American Tier on Patreon today. If you want updates on how Rice football plans to deploy its quarterbacks, position battles, standouts, injuries and more, this is your go-to source. A few sections of this preview are reserved for those subscribers. Don’t miss out! Join now!

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Rice Stat Notables

Passing | Constantine – 49/66 (74.2 percent), 564 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT
Rushing | Myers – 71 carries, 284 yards (4.0 yards per carry), 6 TD
Receiving | Bailey – 29 receptions, 290 yards (10.0 yds/rec), 1 TD / Patterson – 16 receptions, 265 yards (16.6 yds/rec), 1 TD
Tackles | Montero – 48 / Smith – 41 / Pearcy – 36
Pass Breakups | McCord/Dunbar – 5, Smith – 4
Interceptions | Smith/Nyakwol – 2, Four others tied with one

North Texas Stat Notables

Passing | Aune – 78/149 (53.4 percent), 851 yards passing, 6 TD, 6 INT
Rushing | Torrey – 164 carries, 853 yards (5.2 yards per carry), 7 TD
Receiving | Burns – 40 receptions, 448 yards (11.2 yards per reception), 2 TD / Pirtle – 25 receptions, 211 yards (8.4 yds/rec), 2 TD
Tackles | Davis, KD – 59 / Davis, Tyreke – 39 / Nixon III – 31
Interceptions | Five tied with one apiece 
Pass Breakups | Sanders – 3, Three tied with two apiece

North Texas X-Factor | Get off the field

On paper, the North Texas defense has been ever so slightly a hair below Rice’s defense. If it’s possible to boil the difference down to one specific factor, third down is unquestionably the Mean Green’s Achilles heel. North Texas opponents are converting 47.4 percent of their third down opportunities this season, the second to worst mark in C-USA and the 122nd rate in all of FBS football. C-USA opponents convert on average 43.6 percent of their third down tries against the Mean Green.

UTEP, Florida Atlantic, Marshall, UTSA and UAB own the best third down defenses in the conference. It’s no coincidence those five teams also boast the top five scoring defenses in C-USA. Yes, better defenses (tend to) give up less points, but the North Texas defense could take a substantial leap up the ladder by finding a way to get off the field at a better clip.

Rice wants to grind the clock and extend drives. If the North Texas defense can’t get Rice off schedule, it’s going to make it tough for this team as a whole to do much of anything to get out of sync.

Rice X-Factor | Do it again

When Rice knocked off Marshall on the road in 2020 it managed the feat behind a stellar defensive performance. The Owls picked off the Herd five times that game, returning one of those snags for six points of their own.

That wasn’t the case for Owls against the UAB Blazers last weekend. Rice found success in all phases, from Wiley Green’s first-ever 3-touchdown passing day to a masterful fake punt to the final stand by the defense to close the door. The ask for this team is to do something they’ve done few times in recent memory, do it again.

Safety Naeem Smith used the word resilient in his postgame comments on Saturday. Rice has now proven on multiple occasions they can shake off one bad day and turn the page quickly. The next step is stringing multiple good days together. That can start on Saturday, and if it doesn’t, they’ll have enough firepower to beat North Texas.

Pick ‘Em Contest (Subscribers only)

Make sure you submit your entry for The Roost’s weekly pick’em challenge. There will be swag and prizes for the top finishers at the end of the season. Choose an answer to each of the six questions below and comment on this post on the Patreon page to enter. It’s that easy.

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One Final Thing

For better or worse, Rice football gave the rest of their opponents notice of just what they are capable of when they put together a complete game, because that’s exactly what we saw Rice cobble together against UAB. It wasn’t perfect — far from it — but it was arguably the first time this season where all three phases have worked in unison to win a football game.

If UAB was sleeping on Rice at all, something head coach Mike Bloomgren did make a passing comment regarding following the game, that’s not going to be the case again this season. Nobody is going to overlook Rice anymore, largely because Rice has shown its hand.

Now, assuming Rice is going to get the best North Texas has to throw at them, it’s time for them to prove they are what their record says they are. The Owls have a better conference record than North Texas and Louisiana Tech, both of which are still on the Owls’ schedule. Rice can get within one win of a bowl berth simply by beating the teams they’ve already moved above in the standings.

It’s not that simple. But in many ways it is. Rice has beaten a team they weren’t “supposed to” beat. Now they have to beat someone they should.

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Official: Rice Athletics accepted into American Athletic Conference

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Rice Athletics has been officially accepted into the American Athletic Conference, marking the end of their time in Conference USA.

Word broke on Monday afternoon that Rice Athletics might have a new home. Roughly 72 hours later, it’s official. Rice has been accepted as a new member by the American Athletic Conference.

Six schools (Rice, UAB, UTSA, North Texas, FAU, and Charlotte) submitted their applications to the AAC on Tuesday evening, paperwork was exchanged on Wednesday. Then AAC Board of Directors met and formally extended the invitations on Thursday. Upon the official sign off this morning, Rice Athletic Director Joe Karlgaard released this statement:

“We have been working diligently to position Rice as an attractive candidate when the next round of conference realignment began. Today’s invitation to join the American Athletic Conference confirms our approach and aligns with our aspirations to offer an unparalleled experience for our students. The commitment to athletics by our university administration has been crucial for our efforts to move forward, and we’re grateful for their close partnership. We have strong alignment as we embark on the next chapter in the history of Rice Athletics.”

Ultimately, the timing of the move will at least partially be dependent on the dominoes that came before. Texas and Oklahoma will have to reach some sort of agreement with the Big 12 to move to the SEC sooner than 2025. Then the four new additions to the Big 12 would “free up” space in the AAC allowing these new six schools to slot in. The 2023 season has been thrown around as a possibility. It’s a bit messy, but the important part for the Owls is this: they’re in.

As previously reported, the Owls’ newfound conference will include these 14 teams, with two divisions most likely position as follows:

West: Rice, SMU, Tulsa, Tulane, Navy, North Texas, UTSA
East: USF, FAU, Temple, Memphis, UAB, Charlotte, ECU

Other than Navy, currently part of the AAC West because of a longstanding desire to have connections to Texas, the Owls’ furthest road trip would be to Tulsa, an eight-hour drive or an hour and a half flight. For reference, it’s an 11-hour drive from Houston to El Paso and a three-hour flight from Houston to Norfolk, Virginia, sites of current Conference USA opponents.

Podcast: Rice Athletics to the AAC, instant reaction

Regionally, this move is a no-brainer. Financially, Rice stands to more than double its television revenues, with the potential to drastically outpace its current numbers pending further renegotiations down the line. Altogether, this is a banner day for Rice Athletics.

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Report: Rice Football expected to join the AAC

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BREAKING: Per a report by Yahoo!’s Pete Thamel, Rice football is expected to join the American Athletic Conference.

After flying almost entirely under the radar during the most recent round of realignment, Rice football and all Rice Athletics programs have found themselves in the spotlight. Per a report by Yahoo!’s Pete Thamel, the Owls are one six programs expect to apply to the American Athletic Conference, which is expected to accept all six applications.

Here’s Thamel’s report in its entirety:

“Sources: The American Athletic Conference is expected examine expansion this week, with six schools expected to send applications. The AAC is expected to receive an application from – FAU, Charlotte, North Texas, UTSA, Rice and UAB this week. The expectation is that they will be accepted and the AAC will grow to a 14-team football league. (Also 14 teams in hoops.)”

There might be smoke to this fire. The Athletic’s Chris Vannini echoed the report soon after, adding some additional color as well:

“Source confirms to The Athletic that the American Athletic Conference is expected to look at adding Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, Rice, UAB and UTSA.

Pete Thamel first reported.

Some in the AAC have wanted to go big and take Texas away from potential Mountain West expansion.”

Rice had received almost passive mentions in realignment discussions to this point. The Owls were connected to rumblings regarding the AAC late this summer and were eventually linked to the Mountain West.

If these most recent reports come to fruition—something that seems very probable, if not likely, at this point— months of wondering would come to an end and Rice would escape Conference USA. The Owls’ newfound conference might look something like this:

West: Rice, SMU, Tulsa, Tulane, Navy, North Texas, UTSA
East: USF, FAU, Temple, Memphis, UAB, Charlotte, ECU

Meanwhile, Conference USA would be left in pieces. The remaining teams would be UTEP, Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss, Western Kentucky, Marshall, FIU and Old Dominion. If the Sun Belt were to come calling, the league might very well cease to exist. Whether it was cunning or luck, or a mixture of both, Rice football might have found itself in the right place at the right time.

This is a developing story. Updates will follow.

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Rice Football 2021 Game Preview: UAB

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Rice Football looks to rebound from its first C-USA loss, but they’ll have their work cut out for them against UAB. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

Rice football and UAB, the Owls’ upcoming opponent, could not have had more diametrically opposing weekends. The Blazers blanked a Southern Miss team Rice had just edged out at home, winning by a final score of 34-0. Meanwhile, Rice was in the middle of a shutout of their own, but the Owls were on the wrong side of the margin, falling 45-0 to UTSA.

UAB will look to keep rolling at home this weekend while Rice needs a bounce back in the worst way. Here’s what you need to know:

Kickoff time | 2:30 PM CT
Venue | Protective Stadium – Birmingham, AL
TV | ESPN+
Radio | Sports Map 94.1 (FM) / Stretch Internet (Online)

Audio / Visual Preview

We’ll preview Rice football vs UAB this week’s episode of the Blue and Gray Preview Show, streaming live on Wednesday at Noon on the Rice Athletics YouTube channel. You can also catch the recap of last week’s game on The Roost Podcast, which should be released shortly. 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

UAB currently sits tied atop the Conference USA West standings with UTSA and UTEP, all three of which boast sterling 3-0 records. If the start of conference play is any indication, the battle for this division might be close, making every game all the more important for each team still in the hunt.

Rice (1-1 C-USA) isn’t technically eliminated from that race, but the Owls have some issues of their own to work through before they can seriously start to consider themselves bonafide contenders. Sitting at 2-4 on the season, the Owls need to finish 4-2 down the stretch to reach bowl eligibility. That task gets decidedly harder if they don’t walk away from Birmingham this weekend with the upset.

Series History

All Time | UAB leads Rice 6-3
Last Five | UTSA leads 4-1
Last Meeting | Home 2020, UAB won 21-16

Get the Inside Scoop

Get access to practice reports, analysis and special features during the week when you subscribe to our All-American Tier on Patreon today. If you want updates on how Rice football plans to deploy its quarterbacks, position battles, standouts, injuries and more, this is your go-to source. A few sections of this preview are reserved for those subscribers. Don’t miss out! Join now!

Become a Patron!

Rice Stat Notables

Passing | Constantine – 49/66 (74.2 percent), 564 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT
Rushing | Myers – 60 carries, 264 yards (4.4 yards per carry), 5 TD
Receiving | Bailey – 23 receptions, 245 yards (10.7 yds/rec), 1 TD / Patterson – 14 receptions, 226 yards (16.1 yds/rec), 1 TD
Tackles | Montero – 45 / Smith – 37 / Garcia – 33
Pass Breakups | Smith/Dunbar – 4, Nyakwol – 3
Interceptions | Nyakwol – 2, Five others tied with one

UAB Stat Notables

Passing | Hopkins – 62/102 (60.8 percent), 973 yards passing, 10 TD, 2 INT
Rushing | McBride – 80 carries, 421 yards (5.3 yards per carry), 2 TD / Brown Jr. – 59 carries, 343 yards (5.8 yds/car), 2 TD
Receiving | Prince – 17 receptions, 357 yards (21.0 yards per reception), 6 TD / Shropshire – 12 receptions, 265 yards (22.1 yds/rec), 3 TD
Tackles | Wilder – 42 / Boler – 32 / Wright – 26
Interceptions | Swoopes – 2, Six tied with one apiece 
Pass Breakups | McWilliams – 4, Five tied with two apiece

UAB X-Factor | Make Rice earn it

UAB enters this game tied for second in the conference in 20+ yard plays allowed. They’ve given up 26 such plays across seven games, an average of 3.7 per contest. That number almost disappears when considering their conference games. In three games against North Texas, Florida Atlantic and Southern Miss the Blazers have allowed just four gains of 20+ yards, 1.3 such plays per game.

The Rice offense has struggled on third down. Poor protection put them in long downs and distances frequently last weekend against UTSA. If UAB can keep Rice behind schedule, forcing them to need long gains to stay on the field, it’s game over for the Owls who enter the weekend dead last in Conference USA with 16 plays of 20+ yards across six games.

Rice X-Factor | Start fast

For all the growing pains that have beset Rice football over the past several seasons, starting strong was never a problem for this team until now. Rice entered the UTSA game riding a 16 games streak in which they’d prevented a conference opponent from scoring on their opening drive, dating back to their meeting with UTEP in 2018.

Rice scored first in every game last season and did not allow a single first quarter point in five games. Perhaps that high of a standard was unsustainable — and it probably was — but regressing as far as they have has been much too excessive of a slide, especially considering the talent they have returning.

So, until proven otherwise, Rice absolutely must start strong if they’re going to find the motivation and confidence to play a four quarter football game. Two bad possessions on top of each other has doomed Rice in several games already this year, and the season is only six games old. For Rice, they need to do everything they can control to lead 7-0 after the first couplet of drives, even if that means pulling out every trick in the book.

Pick ‘Em Contest (Subscribers only)

Make sure you submit your entry for The Roost’s weekly pick’em challenge. There will be swag and prizes for the top finishers at the end of the season. Choose an answer to each of the six questions below and comment on this post on the Patreon page to enter. It’s that easy.

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Injury Report (Subscribers only)

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One Final Thing

Dwelling in the past never does too much to benefit the present, but there are a few glaring similarities between where Rice stands entering the UAB game and where Rice stood a year ago prior to their now lauded road tilt with No. 15 Masrhall.

Rice football had just been dealt a discouraging loss, on the road to a conference opponent they were expected to (at the very least) contender with. The Owls saw their starting quarterback get injured in that game and were already without multiple starting players on the defensive side of the ball and had been without Bradley Rozner for the season.

With not much going for them other than what the team coined “unwavering belief”, they pulled up one of the most significant upsets in the history of the program. Rice needs to get out of the business of being multi-touchdown underdogs, but if nothing else, they’ve always found a way to bounce back from their bottoming-out moments.

Rice started 0-9 in 2019 before winning three straight to close the year. They recovered from the quadruple-doink in 2020 to squash Southern Miss 30-6 on the road. And then were was the aforementioned rebound against Marshall. This team hasn’t discovered consistency whatsoever, but they have been resilient when they’ve needed it most. They need that resiliency now more than ever.

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Rice Football outclassed by UTSA in blowout loss

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Despite having two weeks to prepare, Rice football was bludgeoned off their bye week by a scoring hot UTSA squad that never let up.

UTSA threw the first punch against Rice football at the Alamodome on Saturday night. Then they threw the second. And the third. In a highly anticipated Lonestar showdown, Rice football was outclassed in every aspect of the game, dropping their first conference road game of the season in a ghastly fashion.

Rice had two weeks to get ready for their return to San Antonio, the site of what was one of their most heartbreaking losses of the 2019 season. Both teams had changed dramatically since then. But UTSA looked like their new-and-improved selves this time around. Rice did not. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

It’s how you start

There’s no golden rule that insists your first fifteen minutes of a football game has to be your best fifteen minutes, but that’s certainly been a prerequisite for Rice football so far this season. The opening quarter of the UTSA game made that abundantly clear.

The Rice defense kept UTSA in front of them on their first possession, but two third down conversions and a fumble forced that landed in the hands of a UTSA receiver saw the Owls fall behind 7-0. The offense went three-and-0ut, then the defense sagged before holding UTSA to a field goal.

Rice needed a spark on their second drive and got into a favorable position — third and short — before Jake Constantine was sacked. Another three-and-out. Following a booming punt by Charlie Mendes, the Rice defense then allowed an 81-yard run to stud Roadrunner tailback Sincere McCormick and a touchdown two plays later.

This start proved eerily similar to the Houston game. Two three-and-outs on offense and a defense unable to get off the field on third down, leading to a three-score deficit in the first quarter. Altogether, this was about as disastrous of a starting sequence as Rice has seen in recent memory.

Overwhelmed in the trenches

Part of what led to the awful beginning for the offense was severe protection issues up front. On the Owls second third down, Constantine dropped back to pass and was almost immediately met in the backfield by not one, but two UTSA rushers.

As if that wasn’t problematic enough, it happened again on the very next possession. Facing a fourth down near midfield, Constantine again dropped back to pass and again saw two defenders in his face immediately. He did his best to throw over the free rushers, but the ball was tipped, caught and returned for a pick-six.

Whether it was the running back, the quarterback or the line, someone didn’t make the right lead. Bad protection leads to bad plays, plain and simple. This play looked doomed from the start, and it might have put any hopes of making this game competitive to bed immediately.

Oftentimes, sacks are as much a quarterback stat as a protection stat. It takes both positions operating together to avoid those negative plays. Constantine wasn’t perfect either, but he was set up to fail from the start and the ramifications were disastrous.

Insult and injury

Rice did themselves no favors in any of the three phases on Saturday. But once again, injuries at a key position proceeded to stack the deck further against the Owls. Following an incomplete pass on third down on the second drive of the second quarter, starting quarterback hobbled to the sideline. Luke McCaffrey, who was “1B” on the quarterback depth chart, was suddenly the last man standing at the position for Rice football.

For Rice, the injury luck at this essential position has been unfathomably awful. Rice has started three quarterbacks in six games this year. Three different passers appeared in games in 2020, and Rice churned through signal callers in each of the 2018 and 2019 seasons as well.

The Roost Podcast: Stay tuned for the game recap this week 

Saturday’s performance was incriminating enough on its own aside from Constantine’s injury. But the sheer fact that we have to have this conversation — discussing yet another Rice quarterback knocked out of a game with an injury — is downright maddening.

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. Rice has been the unluckiest program in the country when it comes to quarterback health. And it’s not even close.

From winning streak to gut punch, yet again

A back-and-forth season pivoted back away from the Owls on Saturday night at the Alamodome. Rice has won six of their last 10 conference games, beaten previously undefeated No. 15 Marshall yet never seemed to be in the same zip code of a UTSA team that looked as good as advertised and remains the lone remaining unbeaten team in Conference USA.

A perfect conference record was improbable at best. That’s out the window. Reaching bowl eligibility and perhaps even getting a shot to contend for a conference title? Both of those objectives are in mathematically in play. But this time Rice won’t have the luxury of two weeks to prepare. And they’ll be playing an opponent (UAB) that is at least as good, if not better, than the UTSA squad that blew them out on Saturday.

It would be nice to see this team get another signature win to prove their trajectory remains as high as it felt entering the year. They’ve proven they can. It gets lost in the shuffle, but the Marshall upset came on the heels of a disastrous showing against North Texas (on the road) where the Owls’ starting quarterback was injured and unable to go against the Herd. That’s not to say the situations are synonymous, but there’s something about this team that doesn’t follow a linear pattern whatsoever.

If the two-game winning streak lessened the pressure, it’s back on, with interest. Rice needs to put a completely different team on the field next week. Another no-show performance would cannot take place.

Digging deeper

Every week we’ll have a stat, storyline or key learning from the game reserved for our subscribers.

Headed in the wrong direction

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