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Rice Football 2024: UTSA Game Week Practice Report

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Rice football is back in action this week against UTSA in search of a much-needed win. Here’s what we learned from the Owls at practice this week.

There was some good news on the injury front for Rice football over the bye week and lots of shifts and contortions with the depth chart as the Owls attempt to replace players still not able to participate and account for changing numbers in various position groups. Here’s where the team stands prior to the UTSA game this weekend.

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Running back ranks reset

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Rice Football 2024 Game Preview: UTSA

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Rice football returns from the bye this week to take on UTSA. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

Both teams in this matchup have had two weeks to stew on disappointing results. Rice football lost a one-point game to Charlotte at home in their last contest before the break. UTSA didn’t fair much better, falling to ECU 30-20 on the road. Neither wants to add another loss to their respective ledger. Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup between Rice and UTSA.

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 UTSA 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

Rice football is in danger of being eliminated from bowl eligibility soon and doesn’t have much wiggle room to spare. Their next loss would be their fifth and half the season is still in the balance. On the other hand, a win over UTSA would be big for head coach Mike Bloomgren who has yet to beat the Roadrunners in his tenure on South Main.

Meanwhile UTSA sits in an intriguing lurch. They’ve taken a step back without quarterback Frank Harris at the helm, which can be forgiven, if not excused entirely. Yet that fan base and that program has no intentions of letting that skid turn into a slide. Getting back in the win column against Rice would alleviate some of those concerns that a free fall could be imminent. 

Series History

All Time | UTSA leads, 8-3
Last Five | UTSA leads, 5-0
Last Meeting | Away 2023, UTSA won 34-14

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Rice Football Stat Notables

Passing | Warner – 108/177 (61.0 percent), 955 yards, 7 TD, 6 INT
Rushing | Connors – 55 carries, 369 yards (6.7 yards per carry), 5 TD / Atkins – 24 carries, 158 yards (6.6 yards per carry), 2 TD
Receiving | Sykes – 24 receptions, 306 yards (12.8 yds/rec), 2 TD / Groen – 12 receptions, 94 yards (7.8 yds/rec) / Connors – 28  receptions, 126 yards (4.5 yds/rec)
Tackles | Morris – 24, Taylor/Tita – 23, Hook/Looes/Pearcy – 22
Pass Breakups | Fresech – 4, Six others tied with 1
Interceptions | Flowers/Williams/Mutombo – 1

UTSA Stat Notables

Passing | McCown – 101/164 (61.6 percent), 1054 yards, 7 TD, 2 INT
Rushing | Henry – 40 carries, 194 yards (4.9 yards per carry), 1 TD / Barnes – 39 carries, 143 yards (3.7 yards per carry)
Receiving | McCuin – 30 receptions, 196 yards (6.5 yds/rec) / McCoy – 15 receptions, 306 yards (20.4 yds/rec), 2 TD / Carpenter – 13 receptions, 137 yards (10.5 yds/rec)
Tackles | Davison – 25, French – 24, Randle – 23
Pass Breakups | Davison/French/Randle/Pewee- 2
Interceptions | Frazier – 2, Pewee/Morris – 1

UTSA X-Factor | Extend drives

The Roadrunners have struggled mightily on third down this season and it’s significantly impacted their offensive production. They enter this game converting 33.7 percent of their third down opportunities, 12th in the AAC. In 2023, UTSA led the league in third down conversion rate. They led C-USA in 2022 and were second in the league in 2021. This has traditionally been an efficient team on those money downs and they’re just not getting it done right now.

The rest of the UTSA offense has been sturdy, but when a team can’t sustain drives, it takes away scoring opportunities and that’s a large part of what has slowed the Roadrunners’ attack this year. If they can find a way to get a few more key conversions the offensive output will pick up, putting more pressure on the Rice defense and allowing their own defense to catch a breather. 

Rice X-Factor | Take the ball away

Rice football is 12th in the AAC in takeaways with three. They’ve only forced one turnover against an FBS opponent this season. Turnovers are the great equalizer in this sport. A blowout can become a closer game with a few fortunate bounces and a close game can be swung in your favor if the takeaways materialize at the right points. Rice hasn’t gotten those turnovers and the results haven’t been kind.

In the Charlotte game Rice registered its first FBS takeaway and was nearly able to put the game out of reach soon afterward with the added momentum boost. That’s the formula this team needs to figure out moving forward. If they’re not going to play lights out defense or be perfect on offense, extra opportunities are crucial. A turnover provides just that and it does so at the expense of the other team.

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One Final Thing

Rice has already lost their must-win games to this point, making every game feel like a must-win game from this point forward. Bloomgren needs every evidence possible the program is moving in the right direction and a first time win over UTSA — even if it’s not the full-strength UTSA program of years past — would count as a positive step. 

If there’s any solace, it’s that those inside the walls of the Brian Patterson Center haven’t lost faith. They still believe they have the tools and talents to get this train back on its tracks. 

“It’s going to turn at some point. I hope it turns faster, sooner rather than later,” offensive coordinator Marques Tuiasosopo told The Roost this past week. “It’d be nice to get some guys back, that always changes things up too, but you gotta play the hand you’re dealt.”

It’s been a rough hand so far. Here’s to hoping for a more fortunate hand this time around. There were moments against Charlotte when this team felt like it was moving in the right direction. They desperately need to find a way to recreate those hopes and sustain them for a full four quarters. 

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Rice Football 2024: Bye Week 1 Practice Report

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Rice football is off this week, utilizing a much-needed bye week to take stock of the program and make some tweaks before the second half of their season begins.

The first free weekend of a two-bye season has arrived. Rice football was on the practice field again this week working to turn things around. A lot of depth players saw extended run and the coaching staff implemented a few adjustments to set the team up for what they hope will be a bounce back after the bye.

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Opportunities for fresh faces

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Rice Soccer, Basketball and more bring good news: September 2024 Q&A

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The 2024 Rice Football season has taken a turn for the worse, but Rice Soccer, basketball and more offer hope for the future. We look at both in this month’s subscriber Q&A.

Understandably, good news was the order of the day after things went south with Rice Football. Fortunately, it’s been a very active fall sports season with highlights from Rice Soccer’s tremendous start to accolades for Genny Volpe and expectations for sports yet to start like Swimming and Basketball. This update focuses on the good news from those sports. We’ll dig into the football woes elsewhere.

Questions were edited briefly for clarity. Want to get your questions answered? Subscribe on Patreon for our monthly mailbag.

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Q: I’ve given up on football. Give me some good news on the Rice Athletics front. What else is there to look forward to this year?

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Rice Football squanders fourth-quarter lead in loss Charlotte

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Rice Football had their chances to put the game away against Charlotte, but couldn’t close when it mattered most. The Owls are 1-4.

A 10-0 halftime lead was not enough as Rice football fell by a single point to Charlotte at home on Saturday night. In the final two minutes, Rice had chances to win the game on offense, but couldn’t convert a third and short. They had a chance to win on defense, but allowed a go-ahead touchdown in the final minute. They had the chance to win with special teams, but a last-second kick sailed wide.

“I think I’ve given this speech a few too many times this year,” Bloomgren said at the podium following the Owls’ fourth loss in five games. “We performed better than we have been, but when the crunch time was here in that fourth quarter we failed in all three phases and Charlotte made more plays.”

Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Trust your playmakers and let them produce

In the highest leverage moments, it’s the stars that have to shine. For Rice football right now, that means the most critical offensive moments should involve Dean Connors and EJ Warner and/or Matt Sykes. They’re not the only talented playmakers on this offense but that trio has largely been at the forefront when that offense is moving the ball well.

Warner overshot a makeable touchdown pass to Sykes on the Owls’ first possession but redeemed himself soon afterward with a nice dish to Jackson for the opening score. Connors had more rushing yards on his first touch of the game than Charlotte did in the entire first quarter.

Now, this reality comes with a very real, and very important caveat: your playmakers have to produce.

Warner hasn’t overcome his tendency to elevate throws downfield. He overshot Sykes on multiple third downs in the first half. Sykes was better this week than he was against Army a week ago, but his lack of consistency has been part of what’s gummed this offense up at times. Both have played better as the season progresses, but each would (correctly) admit they have room to grow.

Dean Connors has been and continues to be the most valuable man on this side of the ball. He only touched the ball seven times in the first half; that’s not enough. He finished with 16 touches for the game and 135 yards of total offense. Your best offensive weapon — and Connors is most certainly that — needs more of the ball.

“We got other good backs. We don’t want to just wear Dean out. If you tell me Dean is going to get 20 to 30 touches every game, that’s probably the right number,” Bloomgren said after the game. “16 total touches? Would you wanna program a few more for him? Absolutely. He’s a really good player, but the flow of the game was going the way it was.”

Rice does have other good backs, but 16 is not 30. It’s not 20 either.

Rice racked up 463 yards of total offense, their highest total against an FBS opponent yet this season. It’s not a particularly impressive number on the whole, but it’s a step in the right direction. Those playmakers have to get things going if this offense is ever going to come close to the ceiling it’s shown in previous years.

Bring out the depth

So much of the discourse this offseason around the Rice football roster centered on the depth the Owls’ had accumulated in Bloomgren’s seventh season. Unfortunately, the only way to truly evaluate that depth is to have it forced into action. The results have been mixed when former twos and threes have been thrown into the first with the first units this season, but Saturday’s win against Charlotte probably doesn’t happen without some important contributions from former backups being asked to step up.

The offense line, featuring just two players in the same position they played on opening day, consistently opened up holes for the running game. Both Dean Connors and Taji Atkins got to the second level on plays that were blocked well. Although he took a few shots, Warner wasn’t sacked.

Likewise, the defense churned out some big plays from lesser-known faces. Peyton Stevenson and made consecutive plays to help stonewall a Charlotte drive in the second quarter. Daveon Hook led the team in tackles. Mutombo had the interception and followed it with a sack. None of those three were on the two-deep against Sam Houston in Week 1.

The go-ahead fourth quarter touchdown was scored by Elijah Mojarro, who wouldn’t have been on the field had Boden Groen been healthy.

Obviously, the Owls would love to have as many of their starters back on the field as possible. A bye week with extra rest will help those efforts, but even if reinforcements do arrive, this depth matters. Especially if Rice wants to make good on some of their preseason aspirations and get things turned around.

Unfortunately, the reliance on depth has it’s downsides too. Kicker Enoch Gota missed his first do-or-die attempt of his young career, turning what could have been a celebratory night into another painful defeat.

The defense gets some of its swagger back

The Rice offense got a big play from Dean Connors but didn’t put any points on the board in the first quarter, turning the ball over inside the redzone and punting on their ensuing possession. That put the onus on the defense to make sure they kept their team in the game.

Aided by favorable field position on a few occasions, the defense delivered one of their better starts to a game this season. Blake Boenisch didn’t suit up on Saturday, but the Owls still held Charlotte to 1.2 yards per carry in the first quarter. The safety room was as depleted as it’s ever been under head coach Mike Bloomgren, but they limited Charlotte quarterback Trexler Ivey to 5-of-10 passing for 35 yards on the 49ers’ first three offensive series.

The Charlotte never got in gear under Trexler Ivey. When they did finally get the ball across the 50-yard line midway through the second quarter they were swiftly turned away by this interception from defensive lineman Joseph Mutombo, who has seen an elevated role in the defense partly because of the slew of injuries in front of him.

Charlotte finally found life under backup quarterback Deshawn Purdie, who connected on three deep passes, all of which resulted in scoring drives. That was essentially it for the Charlotte attack. Three plays. But it was enough.

As the offense works through its challenges in real time, more and more pressure is going to be put on this defense to win games. On Saturday against a woeful Charlotte offense, they came close enough but got little help from the other phases. If they can translate that to more talented opponents, Rice is going to have a fighting chance to win some games, but they’re the last bastion of hope for a team that’s hurting.

Losing on the Margin

A fourth down pass interference call against Sean Fresch changed the outcome of this game. A block in the back penalty on the ensuing possession might very well have swung the outcome, too. Both plays exemplified the dangerous tightrope Rice Football attempted to walk in this game. Rice let a bad Charlotte team stick around to the point where one blown coverage could shift the result of the game.

The best teams in the sport create margin. You can afford a bust on any particular play or phase of the game when there’s a buffer to cover those shortcomings. When you’re stuck in a one-score game, every mistake matters. Teams with more faults make more mistakes. There’s some truth to the old adage that good teams stay good and bad teams stay bad.

This is a bad football team right now.

One that, in Bloomgren’s own words “failed in all three phases” to one of the few teams left in the country that had yet to beat an FBS opponent. It’s hard to imagine a lower point than this in a season that was supposed to be a breakthrough campaign. Picked to finish in the thick of a competitive AAC, Rice football sits dead last in the standings and they have yet to play UTSA, Tulane, Memphis or South Florida.

This is a team out of excuses and out of answers. There’s a lot of soul-searching to be done during this bye week from everyone in the program. This isn’t how this season was supposed to go.

Digging deeper

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Fourth and the Woe Zone

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