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Conference USA Football: Takeaways from early 2020 schedule

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The 2020 Conference USA football schedule has been announced. Here are five thoughts from the early look at the upcoming season’s games.

1. Statement opportunity on opening night

Florida Atlantic’s first game under new head coach Willie Taggart has the potential to be national news. Minnesota will be coming off a Top 10 finish this year and will be looking to keep things rolling after their 11-win season. This game is scheduled for Thursday night, September 3, presumably on national television. C-USA needs to do better against Power 5 programs. This will be one of their best chances in 2020.

2. No more double byes

Having two off weekends last year was a scheduling quirk that was rather nice. It lengthened out the schedule (more football!) and gave teams an extra chance to rest up and get well. Most C-USA squads were able to avoid playing more than five or six consecutive games. 2020 marks the return to one off week, with some drawing rather inconvenient timing. Marshall and Southern Miss are off in Week 10, with only three games left on their schedules.

3. The first conference game comes early

Southern Miss hosts Louisiana Tech in Week 2 in the first C-USA game of the season. Both teams will have division title aspirations, making the game pretty important in spite of the early date. Old Dominion hosts FIU in Week 3 and Middle Tennessee in Week 4 before the bulk of the conference games get underway in Week 5.

4. UAB’s has a case for the most favorable schedule

The Blazers get New Mexico State, Alabama A&M, South Alabama and Miami (which was shutout by Louisiana Tech in their bowl game) in nonconference play. Their most challenging road trip will be Halloween night against Louisiana Tech with most of their toughest games coming at home. They’ll host WKU and Southern Miss. On paper, things set up pretty nicely for UAB.

5. Marshall has another tough road

In addition to a nonconference slate which includes East Carolina, Pitt and Boise State, the remainder of Marshall’s schedule is filled with quirks. After hosting Boise State (Sep. 26) and Rice (Oct. 3), they don’t play consecutive home games until Nov. 14 and Nov. 21. Their crossover opponents  (Louisiana Tech and Rice) are far from the easiest pair they could have drawn. As if that wasn’t all, they play Boise State, Rice, WKU, Louisiana Tech and Florida Atlantic in a five-game stretch. Oof.

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Rice Football 2020: Owls in the NFL Divisional Round Update

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The last remaining Rice football alums have been eliminated from the NFL Playoffs. Here’s a rundown of all the NFL Owls who played in the Divisional Round.

There are former Rice football players scattered across the NFL. Stay tuned each week for their game results and notables from each player.

Divisional Round Results

49ers 27 – Vikings 26 (Sendejo)
Titans 28 – Ravens 12
Chiefs 51 – Texans 31 (Gaines)
Packers 28 – Seahawks 23 (Ellerbee, Willson)

Andrew Sendejo, Saf, Vikings

Sendejo was active in a Vikings secondary that didn’t have many opportunities to shine. 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo attempted just 19 passes on Saturday, the longest going for 22 yards. San Francisco had four times as many rushing attempts (47) as completions (11). Sendejo had three tackles in the loss.

Emmanuel Ellerbee, LB, Seahawks

Ellerbee was placed injured reserve prior to the start of the season. He did not appear in any games with the Seahawks this year and wasn’t on the field for Seattle’s playoff run which ended in the Divisional Round.

Luke Willson, TE, Seahawks

Willson’s season came to an end on Sunday night in a close loss the Packers. He caught the only ball thrown his way, an eight-yard reception. More notably, he registered the first carry of his six-year NFL career, gaining one yard.

Phillip Gaines, CB, Texans

Gaines was placed on injured reserve following an ankle injury suffered during the Texans’ Week 8 game against the Colts. He wasn’t available for the Texans playoff run. Instead, he had to watch a gut-wrenching come-from-behind victory by the Chiefs. After falling behind 24-0, Kansas City went on to score 41 unanswered points and win.

More Owls in the NFL

From practice squads to current free agents, there are others Owls on the cusp of returning to active rosters. Find more detail on current contractual agreements and former Rice football players waiting for their next opportunity here.

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2020 Rice Football schedule released: Opponents and dates finalized

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The 2020 Rice Football schedule has been set. Now we have the dates and the opponents the Owls will face in the season ahead.

Broadcast information will slowly be released as we get closer to the season. Right now it’s probably safe to assume the Owls will have games on a variety of ESPN properties, the NFL Network and CBS Sports Network, just like last season. For now, here’s what we know about the 2020 Rice Football schedule.

Week 1   | Sat. Sep. 5 | at Houston
Week 2   | Sat. Sep. 12 | vs Army
Week 3   | Sat. Sep. 19 | vs LSU (at NRG Stadium)
Week 4   | Sat. Sep. 26 | vs Lamar
Week 5   | Sat. Oct. 3 | at Marshall
Week 6   | Sat. Oct. 10 | vs UAB
Week 7   | Sat. Oct. 17 | BYE
Week 8   | Sat. Oct. 24 | vs MTSU
Week 9   | Sat. Oct. 31 | at Southern Miss
Week 10 | Sat. Nov. 7 | vs UTSA
Week 11 | Sat. Nov. 14 | at Louisiana Tech
Week 12 | Sat. Nov. 21 | at North Texas
Week 13 | Sat. Nov. 28 | vs UTEP

Early Thoughts

Last year Rice opened the season with a pair of Friday night games. The Owls will stick to Saturdays for the duration of the 2020 campaign. This year that includes Halloween night — be sure to bring your Owl costumes to Hattiesburg.

Most notably, Rice won’t have nearly as rigorous of a nonconference schedule as they did in 2019. Their 2019 opponents included Army, Wake Forest, Texas and Big 12 runner up Baylor. 2020 Features Houston, Army, LSU and Lamar. Swapping out two Power 5 teams for a cross-town rival and an FCS squad is huge, particularly in the context of postseason expectations. All four teams could be breaking in brand new starting quarterbacks. The best part? All four games are in Houston.

On the Conference-USA front, things set up extremely well. Rice gets to of their presumably tougher opponents right out of the gate, Marshall and UAB. After the Week 7 bye, Rice only plays two teams who finished better than .500 last season, Southern Miss and Lousiana Tech. The Rice defense, which returns the vast majority of its contributors, held both of those explosive offenses at bay.

More: 2019 Rice Football Season superlatives

Three of the other four games after the bye are at home, the other is against a North Texas team replacing Mason Fine and a large chunk of their coaching staff.

It’s early, but this doesn’t look like a murder’s row. For the most part, the 2020 Rice football schedule looks very manageable.

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Detroit Lions sign punter Jack Fox to futures contract

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Following the end of the regular season, former Rice football punter Jack Fox has signed a futures contract with the NFL’s Detroit Lions

Former Rice football punter Jack Fox has been swept up into the churn of NFL life. After going undrafted, Fox signed a free agent deal with the Kansas City Chiefs and was cut prior to the regular season. He was on and off the Chiefs’ practice squad during the season, eventually being signed to the practice squad by the Detroit Lions.

It looks like Fox will be in Detroit for at least a little while longer. At the end of the regular season, Fox agreed to a futures contract with the Lions.

What is a futures contract?

NFL teams don’t practice between the end of the season and training camp, thus eliminating the need for practice squad players. Even though they weren’t on the official roster, teams still want to make sure they can keep many of those players in the fold for the upcoming season when the rosters expand from 55 players to 90. And thus futures contracts were born.

Essentially a futures contract is a low-cost commitment between the player and the team to keep a player from signing elsewhere during the offseason. Futures contracts take effect at the start of the new league year (Mar. 18, 2020 at 4:00 p.m. ET).

What’s next for Fox?

It’s unlikely Detroit would have brought Fox in if they didn’t intend to give him a shot to compete for a spot on the active roster next season. The Lions’ current punter Sam Martin is eligible for free agency, leaving a potential opening at the position. Detroit also signed free agent Matt Wile who appeared briefly for the Falcons this season and was the full-time punter for the Vikings in 2018, averaging 45.2 yards per punt.

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Rice Football 2020: Owls in the NFL Wildcard Round Update

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Four Rice football alums are moving on in the NFL Playoffs. Here’s a rundown of all the NFL Owls still in the Super Bowl hunt after the Wildcard Round.

There are former Rice football players scattered across the NFL. Stay tuned each week for their game results and notables from each player.

Wildcard Round Results

OT | Texans 22 (Gaines) – Bills 19
Titans 20 – Patriots 13
Vikings 26 (Sendejo) – Saints 20
Seahawks 17 (Ellerbee, Willson) – Eagles 9

Owls out of the playoffs

Broncos – Anderson, Callahan
Cowboys – Covington
Steelers – Boswell, McDonald

Andrew Sendejo, Saf, Vikings

Sendejo played a role in limiting Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints, holding them below 21 points for the first time since Week 10. The stout performance was enough to upset New Orleans at home. He had three tackles and a pass defended, marking the third time since joining the Vikings he’s registered multiple tackles.

Emmanuel Ellerbee, LB, Seahawks

Ellerbee was placed injured reserve prior to the start of the season. He did not appear in any games with the Seahawks this year and won’t be on the field for Seattle’s playoff run.

Luke Willson, TE, Seahawks

Willson was active against the Eagles but did not catch a pass. His experience as a blocker continues to be his ticket onto the field. The Seahawks heavily targeted their wide receivers on Sunday with Jacob Hollister registering the only two catches from the tight end position.

Phillip Gaines, CB, Texans

Gaines was placed on injured reserve following an ankle injury suffered during the Texans’ Week 8 game against the Colts. He won’t be available for Houston’s playoff run.

More Owls in the NFL

From practice squads to current free agents, there are others Owls on the cusp of returning to active rosters. Find more detail on current contractual agreements and former Rice football players waiting for their next opportunity here.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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