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Conference USA Football 2021: Week 2 C-USA Roundup

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Conference USA Football was back in action this weekend. Here’s the latest from the teams on the gridiron in Week 2.

Team Week 2 Result Week 3
Charlotte vs Gardner-Webb W, 38-10 at Georgia St
FAU vs Georgia Southern W, 38-6 vs Fordham
FIU vs Texas St. L, 23-17 (OT) at Texas Tech
LA Tech vs SE Louisiana W, 45-42 vs SMU
Marshall vs NC Central W, 44-10 vs East Carolina
MTSU at Virginia Tech L, 35-14 at UTSA
North Texas at SMU L, 35-12 vs UAB
Old Dominion vs Hampton W, 47-7 at Liberty
Rice vs Houston L, 44-7 at Texas
Southern Miss vs Grambling W, 37-0 vs Troy
UAB at Georgia L,  56-7 at North Texas
UTEP at Boise St. L, 54-13 — OFF —
UTSA vs Lamar W, 54-0 vs MTSU
WKU at Army  L, 38-35 — OFF —

Notable Week 2 results – Standings

Non-conference nonsense

In Week 1, the Texas Longhorns handled Louisiana with ease and Rice came within one quarter of upsetting Arkansas. At the same time, Houston collapses against a Texas Tech team that nearly lost to SFA in Week 2. How then, did Arkansas pummel Texas and Rice get overwhelmed by Houston in their second games? Because this is college football and nothing makes sense.

Second-week snoozers

The seven Conference USA teams that won in Week 2 did so against non-FBS teams. For the most part, those victories were uneventful, save for a too-close-for-comfort escape by Louisiana Tech over in-state foe Southeast Louisiana, who never trailed by more than 10 points at any time in the contest.

Zapped

Western Kentucky quarterback Bailey Zappe lit up the boxscore, but it was too little, too late against Army on Saturday. The Black Knights jumped out to a 21-7 lead in the first quarter, putting the Hilltoppers in come-back mode early. Zappe went on to throw for 435 yards and three scores, but it was too big of a mounting for even him to overcome.

Looking ahead – Key storylines

Let the (conference) games begin

The first Conference USA matchups of the season start next week. Middle Tennessee visits 2-0 UTSA in San Antonio while North Texas hosts UAB in a battle of two programs coming off a Week 2 losss. There’s plenty of season still to be played, but the winners of those matchups can put themselves in favorable position right out of the chute.

More opportunities for marquee wins

FIU and Rice both draw Power 5 opponents this week and Louisiana Tech gets perennial AAC power, SMU. Each of those non-conference foes has struggled early in the season, with Texas coming off a Week 2 loss and neither SMU or Texas Tech looking too mighty following more harrowing wins of their own.

Sneaky, tricky games

Marshall would do well to keep one eye open when they prep for a home contest against East Carolina. The Pirates gave South Carolina a scare in Week 2 and were able to put up some points against Appalachain State the week prior. After consecutive snoozers against Navy and NC Central, this contest might take a bit more focus.

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Rice Football: Houston onslaught dooms Owls to disappointing 0-2 start

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The Houston Cougars threw the first punch, battering Rice Football early and keeping the Owls out of sync from the start.

The pressure was on from the start when Rice football took on Houston in the battle for the Bayou Bucket on Saturday. The usually stalwart Rice defense took their licks early before settling into a groove. The offense did them no favors, staying away from the scoreboard until the final minute of the first half.

Clearly flustered early, Rice didn’t truly get their bearings set until the start of the second quarter. At that point, the butterflies had subsided, but the Houston offense had made its mark. Trailing 17-0 in the early minutes of the game, the Owls had dug a hole too deep.

Rice football falls to 0-2 on the season with a trip to Austin to play Texas looming. There’s been a lot of good mixed in, but the sour taste that turned up late in the Arkansas game remains in the mouths of the Rice faithful.

Although it was hard to envision at halftime in Week 1, the start to the 2021 season has been rather disappointing with Houston delivering a final gut punch with a walk-off pick-six on the final play.

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

Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Owls stutter out of the gate

The beginnings of this rivalry game felt very one-sided, and that was true before the Rice deficit reached three scores. Houston pressed the ball down the field, finding holes in the Rice secondary and moving the ball well.

The Rice defense, usually chomping at the bit to make their presence felt swiftly, played rather loose. The typical early aggression was missing, and Houston capitalized. Rice entered the game having held 15 consecutive opponents scoreless on their first possession. Houston snapped that streak before anyone on either side broke a sweat.

Consecutive three-and-outs, followed by a Luke McCaffrey interception did nothing to help the slow defensive start. Perhaps it was nerves, or simply misfires, but McCaffrey put two balls on the hands of his receivers, one on each of the first two drives, but neither Zane Knipe or Jack Bradley was able to hang on. The entire unit just wasn’t in sync.

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

In a big moment, neither side of the ball was ready. Rice left the first quarter trailing 17-0. After running nine plays, they’d gained just 30 yards. Against Arkansas, Rice caught a lot of bad breaks, but they never looked unprepared. That wasn’t the case against Houston. By the time the second quarter rolled around, the defense looked fully engaged, but the early deficit would prove problematic.

Not winning in the trenches

Much was made of how Rice played for the majority of the game against Arkansas last week. Head coach Mike Bloomgren himself acknowledge that for three quarters, it didn’t look like a Conference USA team squaring off with an SEC foe. That was before the heat, injuries and several self-inflicted wounds turned the fourth quarter into a rout.

One week later, Rice looked like the fourth-quarter-against-Arkansas team in the trenches. The offensive line was bullied around from the beginning, constantly putting McCaffrey under duress. The line did open up holes for the Rice running backs from time to time, but the totality of the performance was decisively underwhelming.

On Saturday against Houston, it looked like Rice was fighting an SEC (or perhaps a Big XII) versus Conference USA fight. For a team that prides itself on toughness, on intellectual brutality, it was not an inspiring performance up front.

McCaffrey was sacked four times. Rice averaged 2.2 yards per carry before garbage time, and that number bumped up to 3.5 per attempt by the final whistle. Rice was hardly able to get anything going through the air or on the ground all night long, and the offensive line was carry a large portion of that responsibility.

McCaffrey isn’t the silver bullet, but he can be a difference-maker

When the news that McCaffrey was transferring to Rice football broke this summer, the anticipation was palpable. After churning through quarterbacks, from the transfer portal and the back ends of the roster, Rice was finally going to have a bonafide quarterback and one with more raw talent than perhaps any that had set foot on campus in a decade or more.

With one game as a starter under his belt, it’s abundantly clear that while McCaffrey might grow to become the Owls’ ace in the hole, he’s not going to be able to do it all on his own. Like 99 percent of other collegiate passers, he’s going to need some help.

McCaffrey’s second interception of the day looked like a clear misread. He went short and his receiver did not break off his route. Who made the mistake is unclear, but it’s something that should be ironed out over time. That’s exactly the kind of play the coaching staff had their concerns about when they opted to start Wiley Green against Arkansas rather than someone of McCaffrey’s skillset. Granted, knowing the scheme and executing it are different things, but it’s a factor nonetheless.

McCaffrey and the offense did settle down in the second quarter. He led Rice on an 11-play, 81-yard touchdown drive to close out the half, showcasing what made him special on multiple occasions, keeping this play alive:

Before finishing with a beautiful roll out touchdown to Jordan Myers:

The flashes of what could be are evident. As he matures and better understands the scheme, the Owls’ offense should continue to rise with him. Hopefully, that comes before conference play, just three weeks from now.

Digging deeper

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Rice Football 2021: Pre-Houston QB questions and practice notes

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Rice football had some decisions to make at the quarterback spot as they prepared for Houston this week. Here’s the latest, plus some injury notes.

The conclusion of the Arkansas game left Rice football with questions to answer at the quarterback position. With another full week of practice in the books, we have a bit more clarity on how Rice might deploy that position against Houston. This update will touch on the signal callers and update some key injuries and how those will impact how the Owls line up on Saturday.

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For those checking in for the first time, or those returning, a quick programming note. Practice reports are reserved for our subscribers. 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. You can get access to all practice notes, recruiting updates and special features like this one when you subscribe to our All-American Tier on Patreon today.

So, who is playing quarterback?

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Rice Football 2021: Houston presser quotes, practice notes and depth chart

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Rice football opens its home slate on Saturday against Houston. Here’s what Mike Bloomgren had to say about it, injury updates and practice notes.

This is the first of a couple of updates coming this week as Rice football prepares to take on Houston. We’ll include updates from head coach Mike Bloomgren’s midweek press conference, then dig further into the details on the depth chart and what the team looks like on the field headed into the weekend.

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This week, there was considerable attention given to the quarterback spot. There was one notable development on that front in practice, as well as a few updates on a score of players that left the Arkansas game early. First, the quotes:

Press Conference Quotes

“I think it’s it’s always special. Anytime you play anybody in state, but especially in your own city. So many of our kids know guys on that team and played with them in high school or played against them in high school. I think that’s really fun.

I’ve been so fortunate in my career, to be a part of some great rivalries, whether you talk about Florida-Florida State or Florida State-Miami, or Alabama-Auburn, or Stanford-Cal or Stanford-Oregon at that time. They’re always fun.

You wish you could take the same approach and you wish you could be able to just do your routine. But there’s something that happens when you go out there and you’re amped up against a rival. As long as we use it for good, we’ll be really happy about that. So I know there’s going to be more emotions. I know there’s going to be excitement that builds towards this game. And I guess quite frankly, there should be. It’s a big game in the fourth largest city in America.” – Mike Bloomgren on Bayou Bucket rivalry game

“Both of them took reps with the ones yesterday, both of them are all working towards it. And we’re gonna see how we come out of this thing. I think both those guys have the ability to lead a college football team and we’re going to keep working to see who the is the best fit and gives our team the best opportunity to go forward.” – Mike Bloomgren on the QB battle

“Both teams are going through a lot of changes in the past three years. But as far as our team goes, I think we’ve played our brand of football all the way through since Coach Bloom got here. We’ve played with intellectual brutality in our minds. And I think you saw that in 2018. And you’ll see a better, more refined version of that, coming in 2021.

We’ve got guys in better spots; we’ve got a more talented roster across the board. We’ve got coaches that have been in system longer. Coaches that are used to calling games longer. We’ve got coach Tui going into his second game as a Rice Owl.” – Tight end Jaeger Bull on the differences in UH and Rice teams from 2018 to now

“Being a Houstonian, I really look forward to this game. It’s about time we take this win and pretty much say that we own the city of Houston because we do. We haven’t been able to get the win just yet, but this week we will.”  – Safety George Nyakwol on the team’s confidence this week

Depth Chart

The Rice football depth chart did not change from the Arkansas game. There will most certainly be changes, but no players were officially ruled out as of Tuesday.

Rice football, depth chart

Expected Depth Chart Changes and injuries

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Rice Football 2021 Game Preview: Bayou Bucket vs Houston

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Rice Football continues its tour of former Southwest Conference foes, squaring off with Houston in Week 2. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

Rice football fans experienced the full range of emotions last, ending with a heartbreaking thud. The Owls saw a 10-point lead vanish as they fell on the road to Arkansas.

Houston had the good fortune of playing in their own city, squaring off with Texas Tech at NRG Stadium. Houston led by as 14 points on two separate occasions, but the Cougars were outscored 28-0 in the second half. Both teams enter Week 2 with a sour taste in their mouths and plenty of motivation.

Broadcast Info

Kickoff time | 5:30 PM CT
Venue | Rice Stadium – Houston, TX
TV | CSB Sports Network
Radio | Sports Map 94.1 (FM) / Stretch Internet (Online)

Audio / Visual Preview

We’ll preview Rice football vs Houston 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

During our preseason survey of the Rice football opponents, the significance of the Bayou Bucket was noted in a conversation with Sam and Dustin of The Scott and Holman Pawdcast on The Roost Podcast. After opening losses, both rife with reasons for each respective fanbase to voice their frustrations, this Week 2 game looms large.

For Rice, this contest is sandwiched between Power 5 opponents. And if the Owls were unable to close against Arkansas, the task won’t be any easier against Texas in Week 3. Losing this week against Houston could pave the way for an 0-3 start for a team touted as one of the program’s best in recent history.

Houston has reason to worry, too. No matter how realistic they might have been, the Cougars have conference championship expectations. Outside of Cincinnati and possibly UCF, the rest of the AAC looked decidedly underwhelming in Week 1. Houston could rise from 0-2 to challenge for a conference title, but the optics would make such an endeavor seem like wishful thinking at best. All those factors combined make for a rather significant Week 2 rivalry game.

Series History

All Time | Houston leads 31-11
Last Five | Houston leads 5-0
Last Meeting | Home 2018, Houston won 45-27

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Rice Stat Notables

Passing | Green – 12/25 (48.0 percent), 152 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT
Rushing | Griffin – 13 carries, 35 yards (2.7 yards per carry)
Receiving | Pitre – 4 receptions, 97 yards (24.3 yards per reception), 1 TD / Bailey – 4 receptions, 47 yards (11.8 yds/rec)
Tackles | Montero – 11 / Chamberlain – 10 / Morrison – 9
Pass Breakups/Interceptions | Smith – 1 PBU, Fresch – 1 INT

Houston Stat Notables

Passing | Tune – 27/38 (71.1 percent), 174 yards passing, 2 TD, 4 INT
Rushing | Car – 13 carries, 37 yards (2.8 yards per carry)
Receiving | Dell – 7 receptions, 80 yards (11.4 yards per reception), 1 TD / Trahan – 6 receptions, 42 yards (7.0 yds/rec)
Tackles | Mutin – 8 / Jones – 8 / S. Williams – 5
Interceptions/Pass Breakups | D. Williams / Anenih – 1 PBU, no interceptions

Houston X-Factor |  Calm Tune

Houston jumped out to a 21-7 lead over Texas Tech last week but was unable to hold the early advantage thanks in large part to the play of their quarterback Clayton Tune. At one point in the game, ESPN gave the Cougars an 88.6 percent chance of victory. Then tune threw four interceptions, including one that was returned for the game-tying touchdown.

After several disjointed years marred by injuries, COVID-19 cancelations and an uncertain quarterback room, 2021 was supposed to be the year Tune put it all together. The depth chart is rather bare behind Tune. For better or worse, he’s the guy. If he turns in a similar performance against a ravenous Rice defense, Houston is going to be in for a very long day.

Rice X-Factor | First and second down

The quarterback situation is clearly at the top of the priority list for Rice, but given what we’ve seen about this team to this point and the dominance of the defense, the Owls shouldn’t need a herculean effort on that front to position themselves for a win.

No matter the trigger man, Rice has to do better on first and second down.

Rice started the Arkansas game facing third down lengths of the 8-yards, 9-yards, 3-yards, 5-yards, 14-yards, 6-yards, 8-yards and 9-yards. They converted twice.

It’s one thing to remain committed to running the football. It’s another to set yourself up to have to convert third and long too often. If Rice does that, they’re not going to find any sort of rhythm.

Pick ‘Em Contest (Subscribers only)

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Injury Report (Subscribers only)

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Need More?

The Roost’s 2021 Rice Football Season Preview has FIVE pages dedicated to every opponent the Owls face. There are depth charts, important new arrivals and positional breakdowns for every team in Conference USA sourced from local beat writers and sources on the ground who cover these teams every day. It’s the most thorough C-USA publication on the market.

One Final Thing

No definitive answer was given following the Owls’ Week 1 loss to Arkansas regarding how the quarterbacks would be deployed going forward. Head coach Mike Bloomgren is fiercely loyal, but and his staff have some hard conversations to have this week about the most important position player on the field.

Wiley Green was 12-for-25 in the opener, throwing for 152 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. Luke McCaffrey was 5-for-10 for 75 yards in what amounted to two drives and a short portion of garbage time.

Given the defense Rice brings to the table, they might not need a perfect outing this week under center. But establishing some semblance of a rhythm is paramount with conference play looming soon. Bloomgren frequently preaches that teams make the biggest jump from game one to game two. They need to see that adjustment at quarterback this week.

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