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Rice Football: Behind enemy lines with Houston’s Pawdcast

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Houston is next up on the 2023 Rice football schedule so we’re going behind enemy lines with Houston insider Sam Razz from the Scott and Holman Pawdcast.

Coogs’ insider Sam Razz from the Scott and Holman Pawdcast was kind enough to stop by and answer a few questions about the upcoming season-opening matchup between Rice Football and Houston. The answers below should shed some light on the Owls’ upcoming opponent.

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Rice Football 2023: Houston Game Week Practice Report

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Rice football comes home this week to play the Bayou Bucket rivalry game against Houston. Here’s what we learned from practice this week.

This week was spent refining some things as Rice football prepares for its 2023 home opener, an important intra-city rivalry game with Houston. The Owls came close a year ago and believe they have what it takes to get over the hump this time around.

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This week’s roundup focuses on a shakeup at one offensive possession, some learnings from the Texas game and some healthy updates as the team readies for Week 2.

For those checking in for the first time, or those returning, a quick programming note. Special features like this are reserved for our subscribers. Have questions? You can get those answered in our monthly Q&As and get access to all practice notes, recruiting updates and features like this one when you subscribe on Patreon today.

What’s going on at wide receiver?

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Rice Football 2023 Game Preview: Houston

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Rice football returns home this week to host the Bayou Bucket matchup against rival Houston. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

Following a tough loss to Texas, Rice football looks to rebound against another familiar foe from the Lone Star State. They’ll face Houston this week, hosting the Bayou Bucket matchup after playing across town a year ago. The Cougars are coming off a narrow victory over UTSA, edging the Roadrunners by a field goal. Here’s everything you need to know about this week’s matchup between Rice and Houston.

Kickoff time | 6:00 PM CT
Venue | Historic Rice Stadium – Houston, Texas
TV | NFL Network (Viewing Guide)
Radio | Varsity Radio App (Online)

Audio / Visual Preview

We’ll preview Rice football vs Houston on this week’s episode of the Blue and Gray Preview Show, streaming live on Wednesday at Noon 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. Find us on the podcast page or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. (And consider leaving us a 5-star review while you’re at it.)

Sizing up the contenders

Houston bought itself some breathing room with a season-opening win over UTSA, but expectations remain high for Dana Holgerson and company in their first year as members of the Big 12. They play their first league game the week following the Bayou Bucket against TCU, but they can’t afford to look ahead quite yet.

As for Rice football, avoiding a 0-2 start is paramount. Losing to Texas is forgivable, dropping another game in a row to Houston would be disappointing and amp up the pressure for the rest of the way. This would be a big one for the Owls if they can find a way to bring home the victory.

Series History

All Time | Houston leads, 33-11
Last Five | Houston leads, 5-0
Last Meeting | Away 2022, Houston won 34-27

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Rice Football Stat Notables

Passing | Daniels – 14/26 (53.8 percent), 149 yards, 1 TD, 2INT
Rushing | Connors – 8 carries, 23 yards (3.5 yards per carry), 0 TD / Otoviano – 6 carries, 1 yards (0.2 yards per carry), 0 TD
Receiving | McCaffrey – 2 receptions, 22 yards (11.0 yds/rec), 1 TDs / Groen – 4 receptions, 28 yards (7.0 yds/rec), 0 TD
Tackles | Fresch, Wyatt – 8 / Morrison – 7 / Devones, M. Williams – 6
Pass Breakups | Jean – 2 / Fresch – 1 / Narcisse – 1
Interceptions | n/a

Houston Stat Notables

Passing | Smith – 22/34 (64.7 percent), 233 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
Rushing | Smith – 13 carries, 31 yards (2.4 yards per carry), 0 TD / Mathis – 8 carries, 38 yards (4.8 ypc), 0 TD
Receiving | Brown – 6 receptions, 106 yards (17.7 yards per reception), 0 TD / Manjack – 6 receptions, 67 yards (11.2 yds/rec), 1 TD
Tackles | Robinson – 6 / Haulcy, Hogan – 5 / Seven tied with four
Pass Breakups | Hamilton, Ugwoegbu – 1
Interceptions | Fleming – 2 / Payne – 1

Houston X-Factor | Keep the ball in front of you

There have been 126 FBS teams to play at least one game so far this season. Houston has allowed more plays on defense of 10 or more yards than all but 16 of those teams. Exclude the teams that played in Week 0 and have two games to reach that total and the tally is down to eight squads more prone to allowing a chunk play on defense than the Cougars.

Now, some of that is to be expected when you play Frank Harris and what is expected to be a potent UTSA offense. Nevertheless, the results are the continuation of a trend that dates back into last season. The Cougars were the 10th worst defense nationally in that metric a year ago. They give up big gains.

The Rice offense struggled against Texas. Even if they have their hands full up front against Houston, a leaky defense can help overcome any size advantages the Cougars have up front. It’s crucial Houston finds a way to keep the ball in front of them and make opposing offenses earn every yard. If they don’t it’s unlikely they’ll be holding many teams to 14 points again any time soon.

Rice X-Factor | Win the line of scrimmage

Proving the offensive struggles were a fluke last week against Texas has to be at the top of the Owls’ to-do list for this game. For one, the proof of concept in an offense that found success throughout camp would be huge for this team’s psyche, but even more than that, they’re going to need points to beat Houston.

Getting those points has to start in the trenches. The Rice defensive line held its own against Texas. The offensive line did not. Both sides of the ball should have more manageable opportunities this week and allow Rice to play a more balanced version of football than they were able to on opening weekend.

In this matchup last season, Rice was able to go toe-to-toe with Houston and present themselves as equals for nearly the entirety of four quarters. For a team moving up in conference affiliation with a roster full of talent, another such performance is a must. Winning up front will allow Rice to run the ball and dictate how this game is played. If they can do that, they’ll be in the driver’s seat.

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One Final Thing

Rice football narrowly missed an upset in this game a year ago, and the 2023 version of the Cougars doesn’t have Clayton Tune, Tank Dell or Derek Parish. It’s still a very talented football team, but it’s not one that should be in an entirely different weight class like the squad the Owls faced in their opening game. And technically, a win this weekend would be the Owls’ first Power 5 victory under Bloomgren.

Quarterback JT Daniels shared some perspective following Saturday’s defeat. “As much as we would have wanted a different outcome I think there’s a ton to learn from and this doesn’t kill your season,” he said. He spoke of the teams’ aspirations in the AAC and the Owls’ intentions to compete for the league title.

Houston isn’t in the AAC anymore, but this game could very well serve to set the tone for the Owls’ season moving forward.

And with realignment swirling, this game is the final scheduled contest between these two crosstown rivals as things currently stand. In the event future meetings aren’t forthcoming — that’ll be a hot-button topic this week, I’m sure — It sure would be nice to go out on top.

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Texas overwhelms Rice Football as the Owls fall in lopsided opener

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Rice Football delivered the first blow, but it was Texas that had the last laugh as the Longhorns overwhelmed the Owls in the trenches to hand them a season-opening loss.

The final score might not have been completely indicative of the intensity of Saturday’s season-opening matchup between Rice football and Texas. The Owls kept things close through the first half until the defense ran out of gas, worked to the max under the sweltering Austin heat as the Owls’ offense struggled to get into gear. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Throw the first punch

You couldn’t have drawn it up much better than this. Texas received the opening kickoff, picked up a couple of yards and found itself facing a fourth-and-two from its own 33-yard line. Rather than play it safe, the Longhorns rolled the dice. The Owls overwhelmed quarterback Quinn Ewers in the backfield and forced a short throw, turning Texas over on downs on their first possession.

“That’s something that doesn’t really surprise us,” linebacker Myron Morrison said postgame. “We consider ourselves one of the best short-yardage defenses in the country.”

Rice would get three points for their efforts, picking up one first down before turning to Tim Horn who booted through a 42-yard field goal to give the underdogs the lead. Head coach Mike Bloomgren had mentioned this week that he didn’t believe the game would be too big for his team this time around and that certainly seemed to be the case from the opening whistle.

Rice entered the second quarter trailing 7-3 and went into halftime down 16-3. In both instances, Rice was very much so in the game and had given Texas reason to be concerned, at least on one side of the ball. This was a matchup that hadn’t been interesting in the second half in the last several meetings. Rice kept the game in reach at the halftime whistle.

Defense makes its mark

How about that defense? This unit lost Ikenna Enechukwu, Trey Schuman, Quint Titre, George Nyakwol and others from last year’s squad and somehow looked even more dangerous. The front seven engineered two fourth-down stops in plus territory in the first half and gave Ewers all he could handle, racking up two sacks and several more near misses that still managed to impact the game. Coleman Coco and De’Braylon Carroll noticeably impacted the game.

Texas was a five-touchdown favorite on Saturday largely because oddsmakers believed the Longhorns would be able to move the ball. Texas did that to some extent — the Longhorns finished with 458 yards gained — but the Rice defense never lost its composure and seemingly always bounced back following a big Texas gain.

Through the air, Sean Fresch and Tre’shon Devones kept the ball in front of them and prevented Ewers and Texas from connecting on home run balls down the field. Instead, Texas was forced to do much of its damage after the catch.

Although the box score won’t be kind to the defense after surrendering 37 points, when field position and the lack of help from the Owls’ offense is taken into account, it’s hard to walk away from this one not feeling largely positive above this side of the ball. There were missed tackles, missed assignments and missteps, but the defense was not the problem on Saturday, far from it.

Oof, Offense, Oof

While the defense rose to the occasion, the offense was largely stuck in quicksand throughout the game. Handed so many opportunities by their counterparts on the other side of the ball, quarterback JT Daniels and company did little to return the favor. His Rice debut was largely underwhelming, he completed 14 of 26 passes for 149 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

In the aftermath, Bloomgren pumped the brakes on putting the all blame on his quarterback, and for good reason. The Texas defensive line had its way with the Rice offensive line from start to finish, flustering Daniels and making him through with hands in his face and arms on his jersey. “You can’t evaluate quarterbacks like that,” Bloomgren said.

The unit had the opportunity to go back to the drawing board at halftime but came out of the gates with a false start on the first snap of the half which proceeded a quick three-and-out. The ensuing drive did move the chains once, but a fourth-and-one stop by the Texas defense turned the ball over on downs.

In many ways, that short yardage stop, an area the Owls have found tremendous success in during recent years, typified the Owls’ largest offensive problem on Saturday: the trenches. Plain and simple, Rice was simply outmanned up front. They had no answer for the sheer power of the Longhorns inside and it completely crippled their offensive attack. “The best quarterback in the world needs something,” Bloomgren said of the protection. “There were a lot of times I didn’t feel he had those opportunities today.”

Rice football won’t face many teams with the combination of size and strength Texas possesses up front this season. Before writing this unit off entirely, let’s see how they fair against a more evenly matched front.

Onto the next

It would have been a remarkable, unforgettable beginning to the season had Rice football done the unthinkable and upset a ranked Texas team on the road to begin the 2023 season. Those dreams have passed, and Rice is on to what the Owls hope to be the more representative portion of their schedule.

Oddsmakers aren’t infallible, but Saturday’s matchup with the Longhorns should be the only time this season Rice will be an underdog but four or five touchdowns — a margin the Owls managed to cover. No, from this point onward, every game is not only winnable, but victory should be achievable without herculean means.

Rice gave Texas a scare, stayed relatively healthy and got a good look at what will likely be the most talented opposition they’ll face this season. Now it’s time to move on. All eyes are now on Houston as Rice readies for a rematch of a game that went down to the wire last season and is anticipated to be extremely competitive once again.

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Rice Football: Behind enemy lines with Texas expert Eric Henry

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Texas is next up on the 2023 Rice football schedule so we’re going behind enemy lines with Texas insider Eric Henry of 247 Sports.

Longhorns’ insider Eric Henry was kind enough to stop by and answer a few questions about the upcoming season-opening matchup between Rice Football and Texas. The answers below should shed some light on the Owls’ upcoming opponent.

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For those checking in for the first time, or those returning, a quick programming note. Special features like this are reserved for our subscribers. Have questions? You can get those answered in our monthly Q&As and get access to all practice notes, recruiting updates and features like this one when you subscribe on Patreon today.

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