The source for Rice sports news

Conference USA Football 2020: Week 10 C-USA Roundup

By

Conference USA Football was back in action this weekend. Here’s the latest from the teams on the gridiron in Week 10.

Team Week 10 Result Week 11
Charlotte at MTSU PPD — OFF —
FAU vs WKU W, 10-6 vs FIU
FIU at UTEP PPD vs FAU
LA Tech at North Texas PPD vs Rice
Marshall vs UMass W, 51-10 vs MTSU
MTSU vs Charlotte PPD at Marshall
North Texas vs LA Tech PPD at UAB
Rice vs UTSA PPD at LA Tech
Southern Miss vs N Alabama W, 24-13 at WKU
UAB — OFF —  — vs North Texas
UTEP vs FIU PPD at UTSA
UTSA at Rice PPD vs UTEP
WKU at FAU L, 10-6 vs Southern Miss

Notable Week 10 results – Standings

Last men standing

Conference USA had more teams idle in Week 10 than teams playing, and that was by no means what the league had intended for Saturday. COVID-19 incidents at UTSA, Charlotte, FIU and North Texas forced the postponement of four games, leaving just four C-USA schools in action across three games. You can find the full list of COVID-19 related postponements here.

It’s nice to win again

Southern Miss might have entered halftime wishing its game against North Alabama would have been canceled. The Eagles trailed the winless FCA squad 10-7 at halftime and entered the fourth quarter trailing 13-7 before ripping off 17 unanswered points to steal away a much-needed win after losing five of their first six.

Hold the fireworks

The only game featuring two C-USA squads this week was a bit of a dud. FAU and Western Kentucky traded zeroes in the first half, then field goals in the third quarter. It took until the final three minutes of regulation for someone to find the endzone for the first time. FAU’s Javion Posey took carried it in from 11 yards out and won the game.

Week 11 storylines

Let’s try this again

Rice and Louisiana Tech are the only two programs that had their games canceled by their opponents in Week 10 slated to play in Week 11, and it could be a rather consequential meeting. The winner would pick up a crucial win and climb a peg up the West Division standings, where UAB currently leads 3-1. Rice could tie that mark next week with a win while LA Tech would pull up a half-game behind at 3-2 with a victory.

Fingers crossed for an All-Florida affair

FAU and FIU have both struggled with COVID-19 postponements this season. The two schools have lost a combined seven games from complications with the virus and only played seven total games between them.

Get-right game

North Texas hasn’t played a football game since Oct. 17 when they beat Middle Tennessee on the road. UAB was on bye in Week 10, but is coming off two consecutive losses for the first time since November of last year. Both teams could use the win to get back on track. A loss makes a C-USA championship appearance that more hard to achieve.

Rice Football Opponent Scouting Report

A weekly update on who the Owls will be playing this season including updates on key storylines, injuries and more.

Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Football: Takeaways from UTSA game postponement

By

Rice football’s game against UTSA has been postponed by COVID-19 concerns at UTSA. How will that impact the Owls in the long and near term?

Entering their third week of action, Rice football had yet to have a game postponed by an active COVID-19 issue. Head coach Mike Bloomgren first learned there was a potential storm brewing on Thursday night when AD Joe Karlgaard informed him there was a positive test and contact tracing underway at UTSA.

Bloomgren set up a meeting with his team for Friday morning. In the hours in between, the warning of a potential cancellation became reality. Bloomgren was tasked with delivering the bad news, and he wanted to make sure the team heard it from him first.

This update is reserved for subscribers. Sign in to see this content or visit our Patreon page.

“To some degree, I wanted to make the weather.” Bloomgren said, “I wanted to make them understand that as disappointed as we are, we’ve got to flush it, and we’ve got to move on to LA Tech.”

The abrupt change will have ramifications on Rice that stretch beyond this week. Most notably, on these two specific fronts.

Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Football 2020 Practice Notes: Breaking down the corners

By

It’s been a wild ride for the Rice football corners this fall. Through two games and seven-plus weeks of practice, here’s where the Owls stand.

Last week I wrote in detail about the Rice football wide receivers, including comments on who would be the primary options against Southern Miss. Sure enough, Rice relied on essentially a three-wide receiver set in that game, with only five healthy wideouts making the travel roster.

Practice updates reserved for subscribers. Sign in to see this content or visit our Patreon page.

The Owls are at home against UTSA this weekend, so counting heads for a bus trip won’t be important. That said, who is healthy enough to participate is a pressing matter, especially in the secondary. I have confirmed Rice expects to get at least one member of their defensive back corps back on the field for the first time when they take on UTSA.

Below I’ve compiled notes from practice this week and some comments from cornerback coach Gerard Wilcher. Our subscribers should also check out our bonus podcast this week with UTSA insider Jared Kalmus of Alamodome Audible.

It’s time for a 2020 debut and a few injury updates

Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Football Film Room 2020: Southern Miss Review, UTSA Preview

By

Rice quarterback Mike Collins might be the real deal, but so is UTSA running back Spencer McCormick. We look at both guys in this week’s Rice Football film room.

So that was fun! I, for one, would enjoy it if Rice won by 24+ points every game. For this week’s Rice Football Film Room, we’ll look at one of my favorite plays from the offense this week (somehow from a drive that resulted in no points for the Owls, oddly enough), and then get a quick look at Sincere McCormick and the UTSA offense. 

Film rooms reserved for subscribers. Sign in to see this content or visit our Patreon page.

(I’d have loved to do a defensive play from Southern Miss, but it was pretty slim pickings in terms of readily-available-online highlights from the defensive side. Check this week’s edition of The Roost Podcast for mine and Matt’s thoughts on the defense.)

This play showcases what we hoped all offseason, which has been validated in the first two games for the Owls: Mike Collins is a serious talent, y’all.

Mike Collins: The Real Deal

Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Football 2020: Post Southern Miss presser and practice notes

By

There’s a lot going on in the world of Rice football. Here’s a rundown of the weekly press conference and an update from practice headed into the UTSA game.

The season is back in full swing and we’ve got a full slate of Rice football updates on deck for everyone this week. I’ll include a few snippets from today’s press conference here as well as updates from practice on Monday. The players were off on Tuesday for the Election.

Practice updates reserved for subscribers. Sign in to see this content or visit our Patreon page.

Press conference notes and quotes

Head coach Mike Bloomgren did note a few players of the week following the victory:

  • Defensive Player of the Game – Chike Anigbogu
  • Offensive Player of the Game – Austin Trammell
  • Special Teams Player of the Game – Charlie Mendes
  • Offense Scout Team Player of the Week – Caleb James
  • Defense Scout Team Player of the Week – TJ McMahon
  • Special Teams Player of the Week – Terreance Ellis

“Anytime you are giving up big plays the way we did in the first game, that’s never a good thing. I think we talked a lot about eliminating the big plays, keeping it in front of us, and I think the guys got the message and we played a lot better in those critical situations at the end of the half and on third down.” – Brian Smith on the what the defense did differently from game one to game two

It felt good to get a win, it really did. It felt great to get a win on Saturday. An incredible effort from start to finish from our guys. I think, really the opening kickoff all the way through the fourth quarter you saw a lot of strain, a lot of physicality. And I can’t say enough about how proud I am of that team for continuing to work the way they did.” – Bloomgren on the Owls’ first win of 2020

“Mike [Collins] is the biggest change. It’s the best play we’ve had out of a quarterback in our time here… Mike is changing the game for our football team. He’s giving everybody a chance to showcase their talent. And it sure doesn’t hurt that the offensive line and the blocking unit is giving him time as well. Everything’s working together, but if I were to identify one change, so far, it would be Mike Collins.” – Bloomgren on the biggest change in the offense from last year to this year

“Two games in, we’re in a good spot… I just don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves I think we’ve got so much we can improve on right now. Yes, we’re better, but that was a pretty low bar. I want to see how good this offense can perform.” – Bloomgren on how the offense meets his expectations

Practice updates and Southern Miss takeaways

Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts