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Rice Football 2024: NFL Owls Week 3 Roundup

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Rice Football is well represented on 2024 NFL rosters. Here’s the latest from the NFL Owls in action in Week 3.

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

Team NFL Owl(s) This Week Result Next Week
Detroit Lions Jack Fox (P) at Cardinals W, 20-13 vs Seahawks (MNF)
Indianapolis Colts Kylen Granson (TE) vs Bears W, 21-16 vs Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers Chris Boswell (PK) vs Chargers W, 20-10 at Colts
New England Patriots Nick Leverett (OL) at Jets (TNF) L, 24-3 at 49ers
Seattle Seahawks Myles Adams (DL) vs Dolphins W, 24-3 at Lions (MNF)
Washington Commanders Luke McCaffrey (WR) at Bengals (MNF) W, 38-33 at Cardinals

Free Agent News

Former Rice football offensive lineman, Calvin Anderson, who most recently played with the Patriots before being released this offseason, has signed with the Steelers.

Offense

Luke McCaffrey – WR, Commanders

McCaffrey made a splash on Monday Night Football. picking up a crucial fourth down conversion from quarterback Jayden Daniels, one of three receptions on the evening for the Commanders’ rookie wide receiver. He finished with three receptions for 44 yards.

Nick Leverett – OL, Patriots

Leverett saw limited action on Thursday night, making one appearance with the Patriots special teams unit. He did not see any snaps with the offense this week.

Kylen Granson – TE, Colts

Granson hauled in a 40-yard reception against the Bears, the second-longest catch of the day for the Colts. His grab accounted for roughly a quarter of their passing offense for the day.

Defense

Myles Adams – DL, Seahawks

Adams was inactive for the Seahawks’ Week 3 game against the Dolphins.

Special Teams

Jack Fox – P, Lions

Fox punted five times for 247 yards on Sunday, pinning the Cardinals inside the 20 on four of his five kicks while still managing a 494. average of his punts.

Chris Boswell – K, Steelers

Boswell entered rarified air this week, banging through two field goals and two extra points against the Chargers, officially surpassing 1,000 total points in his NFL career. He became the second Steeler in franchise history to achieve such a feat.

 

More Owls in the NFL

From practice squads to current free agents, there are other 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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The Roost Podcast | Ep 186 – Another sad recap: Rice Football loses to Army

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Rice football fell to 1-3 on the season, dropping their AAC opener at Army. Next week’s game at Charlotte is officially a must-win.

Rice football “got Army’d” on Saturday afternoon as the Black Knight ran all over the Owls who weren’t able to find any sort of rhythm on either side of the ball until it was too late. Carter and Matthew recap the debacle and share a few brief thoughts and updates on the latest in conference realignment which reared its head this week.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 186.

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 as is the Luv-Ya-Owls shirt. Make sure you check out the brand-new sailor hat (pictured below) as you shop the Rice collection or pick up something else (or both)!

Patreon

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Recapping Rice Football vs Army

  • AAC Members mark themselves safe from conference realignment
  • Rice fans don’t have to go to Pullman, WA, congrats!
  • Undisciplined effort mars Owls’ West Point showing
  • Defense unable to overcome slue of injuries
  • EJ Warner had some moments, but neither he or the offense was consistent enough
  • It’s officially a must win game this week against Charlotte

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.

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Rice Football 2024 Game Preview: Charlotte

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Rice football returns home this week to take on Charlotte before a bye. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

A pair of 1-3 teams meet in Houston this week, looking for their first FBS win of the season. Rice football fell to Army at West Point last Saturday while Charlotte faired no better at Indiana. Who can climb out of the AAC basement and get themselves back in the win column in Week 5? Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup between Rice and Charlotte.

Kickoff time | 6:00 PM CT
Venue | Rice Stadium – Houston, TX
TV | ESPN+ (Viewing Guide)
Radio | Varsity Radio App (Online)

Audio / Visual Preview

We’ll preview Rice football vs Charlotte on this week’s episode of the Blue and Gray Preview Show, kicking off live on Wednesday 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.

Sizing up the contenders

Biff Poggi talked a big game this offseason, but there wasn’t much in the way of expectations for this Charlotte squad. They were picked to finish near the bottom of the league standings and haven’t done much to prove anyone wrong just yet, needing to rally in the fourth quarter to beat their only FCS opponent. 

Rice, on the other hand, was projected to finish in the middle of the pack and even whispered as a dark horse to contend for the conference title. That seems like ages ago after a disastrous start including three blowout losses, one of which came in their some opener against Sam Houston. This is as close to a must-win game as could have been conceived entering the season.

Series History

All Time | Rice leads, 3-2
Last Five | Rice leads, 3-2
Last Meeting | Away 2023, Rice won 28-7

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Rice Football Stat Notables

Passing | Warner – 87/138 (63.0 percent), 701 yards, 5 TD, 6 INT
Rushing | Connors – 41 carries, 248 yards (6.0 yards per carry), 5 TD / Atkins – 18 carries, 188 yards (6.6 yards per carry), 2 TD
Receiving | Sykes – 16 receptions, 209 yards (13.1 yds/rec), 2 TD / Groen – 12 receptions, 94 yards (7.8 yds/rec) / Connors – 26 receptions, 112 yards (4.3 yds/rec)
Tackles | Morris – 20, Fresch/Looes/Tita – 19, Taylor – 17
Pass Breakups | Fresech – 3, Pearcy/Green/Ahoia/Jean/Fresch – 1
Interceptions | Flowers/Williams – 1

Charlotte Stat Notables

Passing | Brown – 30/57 (59.7 percent), 368 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing | Wilson – 27 carries, 136 yards (5.0 yards per carry), 1 TD / Norton – 32 carries, 102 yards (3.2 yards per carry)
Receiving | Weber – 14 receptions, 143 yards (10.2 yds/rec) / Brown – 13 receptions, 159 yards (12.2 yds/rec), 1 TD / Kennon – 12 receptions, 122 yards (10.2 yds/rec), 1 TD  
Tackles | Ali – 21, Williford – 20, McGee- 19 
Pass Breakups | Ali/Balfour/Jackson/Booker – 2
Interceptions | Ali – 2, Balfour/Kelly/Neal – 1

Charlotte X-Factor | Protect the quarteback

In their FBS games, Charlotte is averaging 312 yards of total offense. Although all of those outings have come in losing efforts, the 49ers have been able to move the football at times. Scoring has been the challenge, but part of that is to be expected against a brutal opening schedule that featured James Madison, North Carolina, and Indiana. Some ill-timed turnovers haven’t helped, but their biggest problem has been negative plays. 

The 49ers rank dead last in the AAC in tackles for loss allowed (31.0) and are tied for 12th in sacks allowed (11.0). It’s been those drive-killing plays that have stymied this offense and put the pressure back on the defense which hasn’t gone so well. There are some pieces here for Charlotte to be productive if they could only tighten things up a little bit and avoid these kinds of costly mistakes.

If Charlotte wants to win on Saturday they need to play clean football. Don’t allow your quarterback to be sacked and stay on schedule as much as possible. Let Rice make the mistakes — this has been a problem that has plagued the Owls so far this season — and take care of business when you have the ball. If you’re going to win on the road in conference play, that’s priority number one.

Rice X-Factor | Throw the first punch

If it wasn’t readily apparent thus far, Rice football is not a team engineered to play from behind. For whatever reason the Owls have yet to show they can effectively move the football until it’s too little too late. Rice trailed Sam Houston 17-0, Houston 33-0 and Army 30-0. By the time the Owls got on the board, the game was effectively over. 

Whether that’s mixing it up and taking the ball to start the game or finding ways to generate home run plays, something has to change to get this team back on track. Playing from behind is not doing any favors to quarterback EJ Warner or the Owls’ offensive line. 

Sustained drives would be a great place to start. Three-and-outs, particularly early in the game, have absolutely torpedoed the Owls offense so far this season. Avoiding those, taking a lead and allowing the defense to pin their ears back and set loose one of the nation’s best pass rushes has to be the plan on Saturday.

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One Final Thing

If it wasn’t abundantly clear already, Rice football has entered the worst-case-scenario timeline of the 2024 season which began with lofty expectations and so much promise. The year is far from over, but the uncompetitive nature of the Owls’ first trio of FBS games has been as damaging to the psyche of this fanbase as one could imagine. The burden on the coaching staff to stave off that downward spiral and get this team off the mat has to be exponentially more onerous. 

Rice football hasn’t played a normal football game this season. Execution issues, unforced errors and dumb mistakes have turned what might have been competitive contests into routes before the halftime whistle sounded. For that to be happening with such a veteran roster is aggravating, but there’s nothing they can do about that now.

If there’s any respite from the painful beginning, and this is a big if, it’s that this team is flush with veteran leaders who know how to lead and have (unfortunately) been here before. There was little hope for the early Bloomgren-era teams to right the ship. This one has the components to do so, but it’s getting exhausting waiting for that rebound to happen. So please, Owls. Please find a way to win this weekend. 

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AAC Football 2024: Week 4 Roundup

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AAC Football was back in action this weekend. Here’s the latest from the teams on the gridiron this week.

Team Record  This Week Result Up Next
Army 3-0 (2-0) vs Rice W, 37-14 at Temple (Thr)
Charlotte 1-3 (0-0) at Indiana L, 52-14 at Rice
ECU 2-2 (0-0) at Liberty L, 35-24 vs UTSA
FAU 1-3 (0-1) at UConn L, 48-14 vs Wagner
Memphis 3-1 (0-1) at Navy L, 56-44 vs MTSU
Navy 3-0 (2-0) vs Memphis W, 56-44 at UAB
North Texas 3-1 (0-0) vs Wyoming W, 44-17 vs Tulsa
Rice 1-3 (0-1) at Army L, 37-14 vs Charlotte
Temple 1-3 (0-1) vs Utah State W, 45-29 vs Army (Thr)
Tulane 2-2 (0-0) at Louisiana W, 41-33 vs USF
Tulsa 2-2 (0-0) at Louisiana Tech W, 23-20 (OT) at North Texas
UAB 1-2 (0-1) — OFF —  — vs Navy
USF 2-2 (0-0) vs Miami L, 50-15 at Tulane
UTSA 2-2 (0-0) vs Houston Christian W, 45-17 at ECU

Notable Results and Storylines // (Standings)

Salute the Troops

Army was the home favorite in their first-ever AAC home game against Rice and took care of business handily, but it was the other academy that made the biggest waves this weekend. Navy came out guns blazing and roughed up Memphis, knocking the preseason No. 1 team off in their first conference game. Midshipmen quarterback Blake Horvath paved the way with 211 rushing yards and Rayuan Lane delivered a game-sealing pick-six in the final minute to secure the upset.

Temple finds the win column

It wasn’t uncommon to see Temple predicted to go winless this season as recently as this past week. These Owls had other plans though. After falling behind by 14 points in the second quarter, the underdogs rallied to score 31 of the game’s final 38 points and secure the upset.  Quarterback Evan Simon’s five-touchdown day was impressive.

Tulane gets right

A brutal non-conference schedule left Tulane 1-2 entering their final non-conference game against a feisty Lousiana squad. The Green Wave could still make some noise in AAC action without this game, but the chance to get back on the right track before conference play begins has to provide some comfort. Makhi Hughes went for 166 on the ground to pace the victory.

Looking ahead – Key storylines

Heavy Weight Fight No. 1

The game of the week in the AAC takes place in New Orleans where Tulane hosts South Florida. With Memphis falling to Navy, the driver’s seat in the AAC is up for grabs. This pair of conference frontrunners could earn themselves some extra margin with a win on Saturday.

Basement bowl

Through four weeks, Charlotte and Rice are the only teams that have played four games and remain winless against FBS opponents. That duo squares off at Rice Stadium this coming Saturday. Whoever loses this game will find themselves at the bottom of the AAC standings with a hard road to climb out.

Are the Pirates for real?

East Carolina is 2-2 on the season but isn’t that far away from being 4-0. The Pirates lost to Appalachian State by two points in Week 3 and had a 17-point lead at Liberty on Saturday in a game that included a four-hour weather delay that stifled their early momentum. UTSA comes to town next. It’s not a game they’re supposed to win, but combining those early flashes into a consistent effort could make this a sneak shot for an upset for ECU.



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Rice Football marched off the field by Army at West Point

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Rice Football fell behind early and saw their hopes drown in the Hudson River, falling on the road to Army in a one-sided affair.

Army’s clock-control offense had its way with the Rice football defense, striking early and holding on for dear life. The Owls found themselves in comeback mode — not a place a struggling offense wants to be. Things were downhill quickly from there as Rice fell to 1-3 on the season. “We got Army’d today. We didn’t do anything to stop it. Not a lot of fun to be a part of,” head coach Mike Bloomgren painfully acknowledge afterward. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Undisciplined start

Discipline was the word of the week around South Main. Everyone was quick to mention that for everything Army might lack in athleticism, they made up for in poise and discipline. This was a team that wasn’t going to beat itself. And if you didn’t do your job and stay focused, you were going to get beat.

That’s what made it particularly disheartening when the Owls were flagged for a penalty on the opening kickoff (duplicate jersey numbers) and promptly allowed a 41-yard touchdown pass just a few plays later. When it was the Owls’ turn on offense everything appeared to be going according to plan before Rice was flagged again, this time for having too many men on the field. Moved back from third and short to third and long, Rice failed to convert and punted.

The two penalties in the first two drives were preventable mental mistakes. Those things happen on occasion, even to the best of teams, but for them to happen on this particular Saturday after how much the Owls preached discipline this week was disappointing. Tack on penalties later for a snap infraction and an illegal formation and you see a team that was not as locked in as they needed to be.

“Your margin for error is going to be small against an Army team. You don’t want to give them an inch, much less five yards or any kind of first down.” Bloomgren said. “So those are the things that you do beat yourself up about, rightfully so. That’s on us. You can’t do those kind of things.”

The Owls’ reasons for concern were validated on Saturday. Rice had one possession in the first quarter and allowed Army to score on its first two possessions. As expected, Army didn’t mess up. Rice did.

Running loose

Rice and Army met most recently in 2019. In that game, Rice held Army to 14 points and 231 yards on the ground. Schematically, the Owls were well prepared for the Black Knights option attack. Since that time the Rice football roster has gotten much better, particularly in the trenches. Even though the Army rushing attack had been productive this year, there was reason to believe Rice would be able to battle it out along the lines. That wasn’t the case on Saturday.

Put simply, Army annihilated Rice on the ground. The nation’s leading rushing attack had its way with the Owls’ defense.

Army quarterback Bryson Daily ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns… in the first half. He got up to 252 total yards in the second half including a 6-for-9 day through the air with two more touchdowns, a near-flawless outing from the Black Knights’ quarterback.

Entering this game, the Rice defense wasn’t supposed to be the problem, but they had simply no answer for the quarterback run game. This won’t be the last option team that Rice faces this year. FAU’s quarterback is a powerful runner, too.

The Owls’ run defense has officially been put on notice.

Offensive sparks

If there was a silver lining to this game, and that’s a huge supposition after such a tough result, it was the brief signs of life from the Rice offense. Outside of the third down woes — we’ll get to that shortly — Rice was able to run the ball effectively and EJ Warner was more accurate in the passing game. He made a few nice throws down field on Saturday and while his receivers didn’t do him many favors, the offense did move down the field with more frequency.

It’s probably telling, though, that the most impactful offensive play involved some trickeration:

Warner consistently put too much air under the ball when he took shots down the field. His interception was almost directly caused by overshooting Matt Sykes, who isn’t a short receiver. The willingness to look down the field was there, seen on display on his touchdown pass to Sykes in the third quarter.

If he can improve his touch, there’s a chance for this side of the ball to coalesce into a productive unit. If not, this side of the ball is going to be in trouble when the running game struggles.

Must win, already

It’s too early in the season to be here, but Rice football already faces a must-win game next weekend against Charlotte. Frankly, this game against Army had already neared that territory, but there is no putting the genie back in that bottle.

Had Rice beaten Army, they’d have the prospects of a 2-0 start to conference play going into the bye, salvaging what was such a tumultuous start to the 2024 season. After how bumpy the first few weeks of this season have been, that possibility was a breath of fresh air.

Instead, Rice is playing to avoid an even more gruesome beginning to what was meant to be a breakthrough season. It’s hard to put into words how quickly this year has pivoted from a daydream to a nightmare, but the last stand officially takes place on Saturday. A win against Charlotte gets Rice into the bye week 1-1 in conference play with a lot of time to do some soul-searching. If Rice wants to go bowling for a third consecutive year, this is their chance to get off the mat.

When asked about that added pressure, Bloomgren did not shy away. “I don’t know if there’s any need to add any pressure. I think we all want to win so badly,” he said. I think our effort is great. How do we sharpen up our details? How do we sharpen up our ability to do it on game day?”

Ultimately, that’s the most important question of all and one that must be answered come next game day.

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Third down woes

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