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Rice Football Recruiting: 5 Takeaways from 2021 Early Signing Period

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The first members of the 2021 Rice Football recruiting class signed this week, setting the stage for an exciting future at South Main.

The ink is starting to dry on the first day of the Early Signing Period and the 2021 Rice Football recruiting class is off to a great start. Rice signed 18 players, representing the majority of their scholarship additions to their 2021 class.

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This class isn’t done yet — there are still a few more weeks before National Signing Day in February — but as it currently stands, here are a few immediate reactions from a group that could end up being pretty special for the Owls.

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1. Ratings boost

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Rice Football Recruiting: 2021 Early Signing Period Live Blog

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The majority of the 2021 Rice Football Recruiting class will become signees during the early signing period. Follow all the action here.

Recruiting is the lifeblood of all college football programs and Rice is not different. The Owls have brought in a tremendous amount of talent under Mike Bloomgren so far and this week will continue that trend. This live tracker will follow all the latest news and updates through the week, with some notes along the way on the class as it is finalized. If you’re not a subscriber yet, here’s your chance.

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Which newcomers will make sizable impacts like Khalan Griffin, Gabe Taylor and others did this year? This class has plenty of talent which could find its way to the field soon.

Now, let’s dig into the latest from the Early Signing Period, below.

Updates

3:43 p.m.

Closing thoughts: Rice adds for the present and future with talented 2021 class

Rice Football Recruiting: Owls move from “needs” to “wants” with 2021 class

12:17 p.m.

Wide receiver MJ Singleton is the only scholarship commit not to sign today. He told me earlier in the week he’d be signing in February. That appears to still be the case, but we’ll follow up on him soon. With that, Rice has announced the remainder of their 2021 class.

Head coach Mike Bloomgren will meet with the media at 1:00 p.m. today, then we’ll have some further remarks to share with everyone.

9:53 a.m.

And one from the West Coast. Offensive lineman Faaeanuu Pepe has sent in his letter of intent.

7:42 a.m.

Two more in the trenches. Offensive lineman John Long and defensive lineman Elroyal Morris have signed.

7:39 a.m.

The entire linebacking corps is now in. Kenny Seymour has signed with Rice.

7:37 a.m.

Defensive lineman Blake Boenisch makes it six signees from Texas thus far.

7:29 a.m.

Another Katy product has inked with the Owls, defensive end Cal Varner is in. Right after him, tight end Jaggar Hebeisen‘s signature comes in, as well as another Alabama product, wide receiver Jayden Folmar.

7:26 a.m.

Another from Alabama, this time its wide receiver Peyton Stevenson.

7:18 a.m.

Just picked up a wave of Texas signees: linebackers Aidan Siano and DJ Arkansas as well as offensive lineman Ethan Onianwa are all in.

7:07 a.m.

Make that two from the Yellowhammer state. Fellow safety Marcus Williams has also signed.

7:05 a.m.

The first of a sizable Alabama contingent is on board. Safety Joshua Williams has signed.

6:40 a.m.

A quick reminder, recruits can sign at 7:00 a.m. local time, so the bulk of the Texas and Alabama commits should start getting finalized in the next hour or so.

6:25 a.m.

Defensive lineman Jalen Hargrove is in. That should wrap up the early morning east coast contingent.

6:14 a.m.

That’s two, and this one is a big one. Rice has its quarterback in the boat. Shawqi Itraish has signed.

6:08 a.m.

The first signature is in! Corner  Jonathan “Jojo” Jean is officially an Owl.

5:47 a.m.

Good morning folks. We’ll be posting updates here throughout the morning as players sign as well as updated the recruiting tracker. Should be a good day.

Tuesday night

The majority of the 2021 Rice Football recruiting class is in the boat prior to the beginning of the Early Signing Period. In most typical years, we’d have a firmer timetable of who is putting pen to paper when, but COVID-19 has impacted some of the traditional ceremonies. Players are eligible to fax in their signatures starting at 7:00 a.m. local time.

Rice has the No. 4 class entering Wednesday morning. From a rating perspective, the Owls are on track to surpass last seasons’ average rating, the highest ever from a Rice recruiting class.

Make sure to stay tuned on Twitter and follow our live blog here during the day for updates. Get the latest list of the 2021 Rice Football Recruiting commits by clicking the tracker below.

Rice Football, Rice Football Recruiting

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Rice Football: What to expect from the Early Signing Period

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The first members of the 2021 Rice Football recruiting class will sign this week. Here’s where the Owls stand entering the Early Signing Period on Wednesday.

It’s been nine months, almost to the day, that the 2021 Rice Football Recruiting class truly started in earnest. On March 8, offensive lineman Faaeanuu Pepe committed to the Owls. He was the first of four commitments Rice picked up in the span of five days, and part of a thinning number of 2021 commits that actually stepped foot on South Main during this calendar year.

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For many in this class, the virtual recruiting landscape has been the norm. That speaks volumes of the work Recruiting Director Alex Brown and his staff have done, navigating a pandemic to assemble what is currently on pace to be the highest-ranked class in Rice history. That would be a nice encore to the 2020 class, which currently holds the top spot.

Subscribers will have access to a live blog on Wednesday tracking all the developments throughout the day as well as several pieces in the coming days breaking down the class. Stay tuned. This is going to be a fun week. Not a subscriber? Join now.

Where things stand right now

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Rice Football: Owls’ succumb to beat up Blazers in season finale

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Rice Football fought to the end but couldn’t overcome an explosive UAB offense, falling in their regular season finale to the divisional champs.

Fresh off a momentous road win, Rice football ran out of gas in front of their home fans. The Owls took UAB to the wire, but couldn’t finish things off in their regular season finale, falling by a final score of 21-16.

Like they’ve become accustomed to, Rice started strong, shutting out UAB in the first quarter and taking a 6-0 lead of their own. UAB founds it’s footing and exploded for to take the lead, forcing Rice into comeback mode in the second half. Down to their third-string quarterback, the Owls could not muster the comeback they needed. Here are a few immediate takeaways from the game:

Pound the rock, control the clock and play great defense… early

It’s fitting that the final home game in Year 3 of the Mike Bloomgren era started out how it did. After a quick three-and-out by the Rice defense, the offense took the ball and delivered on its’ Intellectual Brutality mantra.

Rice marched down the field on 20 plays, going 62 yards, converting multiple third down and fourth down attempts en route to a field goal and an early 3-0 lead. In the process, the Owls burned more than 12 minutes off the clock.

UAB got the ball, went three-and-out again, and the same sequence transpired. Rice crept down the field, this time aided by a few penalties from UAB, and tacked on another field goal. This one followed an eight-play, 35-yard drive that took 4:35 off the clock.

Secondary shows leaks

The strong start turned sour when UAB started to connect on some deep shots. UAB Quarterback Tyler Johnston was able to do what Marshall quarterback Grant Wells was not and the results were jarring to a defense that had just pitched a shutout seven days ago.

Rice was physical along the line of scrimmage, but they were surprised downfield too many times. Those three big plays, one for 54-yards, another for 63-yards and one more for 42-yards, were directly responsible for all of the Blazers’ points.

In many ways, the game showed eerie similarities to the matchup between these teams in Birmingham last season. In that game Johnson threw touchdown passes of 46-yards, 36-yards and 57-yards. All positive momentum the Owls’ had gained early faded with each successive bomb.

The passing game lacks consistency

Jovoni Johnson threw for 86 yards against Marshall. He threw for 161 yards on Saturday against UAB before leaving in the fourth quarter with an injury. In comparison, Mike Collines threw for 242, 233 and 327 yards in his three outings as the starter.

To be fair, Johnson never had the benefit of playing alongside team captain and leading receiver Austin Trammell, but the lack of any downfield presence completely siphoned the big play potential from this offense.

Rice can run the ball effectively and control the game, but without the ability to threaten a defense over the top, you wind up where they did midway through the second quarter: trailing 7-6 despite outgaining their opponents and racking up more than 16 minutes of possession to the Blazers six minutes.

Committing to your identity as a smashmouth, run-the-ball football team is one thing. Not being able to consistently pick up yards through the air when you need to is another. Collins showed this team can do it. Now they need to find a way to get it done no matter who is taking snaps.

So Close

A win on Saturday would have secured Rice football a winning record in conference play. Instead, the Owls’ strange five-game slate officially came to an end on Saturday with a loss to divisional winner UAB.

This season won’t (and shouldn’t) be remembered for its tough finale. But the lack of a bowl berth that was one win away will serve as a reminder that although this team has come a long way, they have some work to do before they get to where they want to be.

Were it not for an unbelievably bad bounce against Middle Tennessee, Rice would have that opportunity to play in a bowl game this year. This team was good enough to be postseason bound. And they came pretty close to doing so. The ball (literally) didn’t bounce their way.

There will be plenty of time to dig through the strange happenings of this year. Along the way, the Owls bludgeoned Southern Miss and blanked Marshall, two notable road wins. Now, Rice football will turn its attention to the Early Signing Period, which begins Wednesday. Rice currently has a Top 5 class in Conference USA.

Digging deeper (Subscribers only)

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

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Rice Football 2020: UAB Presser quotes, practice notes and injury news

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Rice football seeks to finish strong against UAB on Senior Day. Here are the latest notes and press conference quotes from the week.

It was a great week for Rice football. Although fans are still riding high from the Owls’ historic road win against Marshall, the team has turned the page and has their attention focused squarely on UAB. For the first time this season, there will be fans allowed into Rice Stadium to see the contest in person.

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Head coach Mike Bloomgren spoke about the week that was and the task at hand. A few players chimed in as well. Then there’s the depth chart to get to, including some unfortunate injuries at key positions and some notes on what we might see on the field on Saturday.

Press Conference Quotes

“Because it’s such a big win, I probably let myself go an extra day with it. I probably went 48 hours instead of 24 hours enjoying it, because it is an absolutely huge win. But we know that that game, as good as we played, it won’t give us any points on the scoreboard. It won’t have a single stop on defense or a single interception. We have to go earn that this week.” – Mike Bloomgren on switching focus from Marshall to UAB

“UAB has a great offensive line. We’re gonna take the same things that we did last week, change up the scheme, and do the same thing this week. It’s no different. Whoever you put in front of us, that’s who we gotta go hit. So we gotta make it happen.”- Offensive lineman Jovaun Woolford on the UAB defensive front

“Awards come with wins. I think the biggest thing that I see when I see that I won that award is that we had a dominant team because I’ve had better individual performances but it doesn’t mean anything when you don’t get that W. The biggest thing that I’m excited about is that we got such a big team win.” – Linebacker Blaze Alldredge on being named C-USA Defensive Player of the Week

Depth Chart Notes

Here’s an updated depth chart from Rice football heading into the UAB game and some comments on a few notable additions and omissions as well as some injury notes:

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