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Rice Football 2023: State of the Special Teams Practice Report

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Rice football is off this week with plenty to address on special teams before heading to Tulsa. Here’s what we learned from practice this week.

Practice marches on for Rice football through the bye week. Rather than jam everything into a length report heading into game week, we’re going to split things up and address a topic that’s front of mind first: special teams.

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What did head coach Mike Bloomgren and special teams coordinator Pete Alamar have to say about the state of the unit? Let’s dig in.

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Costly mistakes doom Rice Football to winless UConn

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Rice Football, now 3-3, played sloppy football and cost themselves a win, falling to previously winless UConn at home.

An auspicious start turned quickly after a series of Rice football miscues turned their final non-conference game of the season into a nightmarish end to the first half of their season. The Owls have plenty of soul-searching to do during the bye week, but first, here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

The running game shows life

Prior to Saturday, Rice football had essentially punted on running the football over the first five games of the season. To be frank, they had that luxury because quarterback JT Daniels had been lights out. Rather than stay stuck to a tired script, head coach Mike Bloomgren and the Owls have adjusted their plans, leaning into a pass-happy offense that has quickly become the norm for the program this year.

But you knew at some point the ground game was going to get its chance to mount a comeback. An offensive line coach at heart, raised up under West Coast philosophies, abandoning the running game entirely was never really going to completely transpire.

In their final non-conference game of the year, the Owls’ rushing attack reached a meager 112 yards, a season-high against FBS opponents. Rice wasn’t able to lean into the pounding the rock given the circumstances, but when they did, it was marginally effective. If you’re looking for a silver lining in today’s messy result, this is probably it.

Shot themselves in both feet, again and again

It looked like Rice football was en route to a runaway win after Otoviano found paydirt for the second time in the first quarter. Then UConn scored twice in the span of 65 seconds. The blame for both touchdowns rests squarely on big mistakes by the Rice offense.

The first oops was committed by quarterback JT Daniels, who lost the football at the two-yard line when he was contacted by some combination of the UConn pass rush and an offensive lineman blocked in his direction. UConn scored two plays later.

Then, following a big return by Quinton Jackson that set Rice up in UConn territory, a swing pass to Braylen Walker was ruled a backward pass. Rice didn’t respond to the ball on the ground. UConn did, picking up the loose pigskin and racing for a 50-yard defensive touchdown. Just like that, a two-score lead turned into a one-point advantage. The lead was preserved by Peyton Stevenson, who blocked a UConn extra point.

At the end of the second quarter, a false start squandered second-and-goal from the three before a missed field goal. A muffed punt spotted UConn favorable field position, which they capitalized on midway through the third. A delay of game took them out of field goal range in the fourth, trailing by 10.

One or two mental mistakes can be overlooked. The mistakes on Saturday were overwhelming and they directly cost Rice a very winnable game.

Special teams remain an adventure

It’s been a mixed bag from the special teams this season, with a stark split in which units are performing well and which ones aren’t. Quinton Jackson and the return game have earned some flowers. They’ve been, by far, the most impactful component of the Owls’ special teams. Jackson had three returns against UConn for 90 yards, including a long of 41 that got Rice into UConn territory.

The Owls also blocked an extra point, helping them preserve an early lead when everything else started to go sideways.

The rest of the special teams has been less encouraging. Tim Horn missed a chip-shot 29-yard field goal, his fourth missed kick in his last five tries. He’s now converting less than 50 percent of his field goals on the season. That’s not good enough.

Punting hasn’t been quite as disastrous, but it hasn’t been great. Conor Hunt entered Saturday ranked ninth in net punting average out of 11 eligible AAC punters. Both of his first two punts went less than 30 yards. He’s talked about trusting his coverage and not overkicking so maybe there’s an adjustment the unit can make to improve results. As it stands right now, the results aren’t good enough.

Add a muffed punt to the mix and a holding penalty that nullified another big return from Jackson and you get one of the most disappointing days from the Rice special teams we’ve seen in quite some time.

Measuring up to expectations

Most of us aren’t scratch golfers, but that’s almost where Rice football found itself as a program through the first half of the 2023 season.

Entering the year, a plausible “best-case scenario” for the Owls looked to be a 4-2 start. Of course, that was likely assuming a Bayou Bucket loss and a win on the road against USF. Those results ended up being flipped. A win against a 0-5 UConn team would have reached that 4-2 mark. It didn’t happen.

A golden opportunity was laid in front of this team and they did not get the job done. That’s going to sting. In a year that felt like one the Owls could prove they were better than just okay, they’ve fallen right back to .500. Rice is the only team in the AAC with a Power 5 win. They’re also the only team in the country to lose to UConn, reiterating something we already more or less knew. This team is capable, but wildly inconsistent.

The coaching staff has a lot of questions to answer during their bye week. If they’re going to reach a bowl game, they need to be at least .500 in AAC play. They still have Tulane, SMU and UTSA on the schedule. That’s a tall ask for a consistent team and quite a mountain to climb for an inconsistent one.

Digging deeper

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Rice Football: Behind enemy lines with a UConn Insider

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UConn is next up on the 2023 Rice football schedule so we’re going behind enemy lines with Huskies’ insider Joe Arruda from the Hartford Courrant.

Huskies’ insider Joe Arruda from the Hartford Courrant was kind enough to stop by and answer a few questions about the upcoming matchup between Rice Football and UConn. The answers below should shed some light on the Owls’ upcoming opponent.

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Rice Football 2023: UConn Game Week Practice Report

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Rice football hosts UConn this week in their final non-conference game of the season. Here’s what we learned from practice this week.

A week removed from their first ever AAC win, Rice football returns to non-conference play for one final time this season against UConn. The health of quarterback JT Daniels remains a question heading into the week, but there was some good news on that front, as well as some clarification on how the team will build their gameplan as they prep for the Huskies.

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This week’s roundup focuses on Daniels’ status for Saturday, what the Owls are doing alongside of him and a few defensive beliefs that are driving the Owls on that side of the ball.

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He’s back!

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Rice Football 2023 Game Preview: UConn

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Rice football hosts UConn in their final nonconference game of the season. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

Rice football rallied in the fourth quarter to beat East Carolina at home last weekend. UConn thought they’d managed a similar turnaround, only to see their potential game-tying extra point extra point blocked. The Huskies enter this game 0-5. Rice is 3-2. Here’s everything you need to know about this week’s matchup between Rice and UConn.

Kickoff time | 4:00 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 UConn 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.

Sizing up the contenders

Everything has seemingly gone wrong for Jim Mora and company this year. A sixth loss wouldn’t officially eliminate them from postseason — a five-game deficit feels insurmountable already — but the mood around the program would certainly further decay. As for the Owls, Rice could move two games above .500 and enter the bye week within two games of a second consecutive bowl berth.

Series History

All Time | No previous meetings
Last Five | No previous meetings
Last Meeting | No previous meetings

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Rice Football Stat Notables

Passing | Daniels – 98/157 (62.4 percent), 1469 yards, 13 TD, 4 INT
Rushing | Connors – 34 carries, 138 yards (4.1 yards per carry), 1 TD / Alexander – 18 carries, 35 yards (1.9 yards per carry), 5 TD
Receiving | McCaffrey – 23 receptions, 414 yards (18.0 yds/rec), 4 TDs / Walker – 11 receptions, 190 yards (17.3 yds/rec), 2 TD
Tackles | Morrison – 32 / Wyatt – 31 / Conti – 29
Pass Breakups | Fresch – 5 / Taylor – 4 / Jean – 3 
Interceptions | Devones, Conti – 1

UConn Stat Notables

Passing | Roberson – 70/122 (57.4 percent), 755 yards, 5 TD, 2 INT
Rushing | Rosa – 57 carries, 310 yards (5.4 yards per carry), 2 TD / Houston – 34 carries, 161 yards (4.7 ypc), 0 TD
Receiving | Buckman – 22 receptions, 261 yards (11.9 yards per reception), 1  TD / Joly – 16 receptions, 195 yards (12.2 yds/rec), 0 TD
Tackles | Mitchell – 47 / Jones – 30 / Plack – 28
Pass Breakups | Bin-Wahad – 3 / Cross, Bell – 2
Interceptions | Mitchell, Shearin – 2

UConn X-Factor | Take some risks, offensively

The Huskies have not been that productive as an offense through five games, averaging a meager 17.0 points per game, sixth worst in the country. East Carolina wasn’t exactly a juggernaut coming into its bout with Rice either, but the Pirates were able to move the ball against the Owls, albeit without finding the endzone enough.

The Rice defense has been chaotic all season long, mixing havoc plays and turnovers in with long pass plays and poor tackling at times. If previous games are any true indicator, UConn is going to have opportunities. They need to force the issue and make Rice bring their A-game on defense, which has allowed several quarterbacks to post great games against them thus far.

Road underdogs, UConn isn’t winning this game without some fortunate bounces. They’re certainly shouldn’t plan on outdueling a Rice offense that, while disjointed at times, has proven to be effective more often than not when JT Daniels is on the field.   

Rice X-Factor | Pound the Rock

Head coach Mike Bloomgren has mentioned his willingness to lean into the pass this season if it helps his team win football games, but even he will admit posting back to back sub-40-yard rushing games isn’t going to get it done. Rice needs to find a way to run the football rather than waiting on JT Daniels to bail them out, even if No. 18 has managed to do so time and time again.

UConn has allowed more rushing touchdowns than more than 100 FBS teams. The Huskies have been respectable in many of their other defensive metrics against the run, but when push comes to shove, they’ve been blown over with regularity. 

Rice won’t face many other defenses this season that have been proven to be this susceptible to the ground game. It’s not quite a make-or-break moment, but this facet of the Owls’ attack is one of the lone stones left unturned so far this season. Getting the ground game going would be a huge confidence boost before the team heads into the bye week.

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One Final Thing

Saturday was an ugly win for Rice football. The defense made the final plays, but got gashed along the way. The offense let a lot of points on the board and the special teams unit missed another important kick. Had the result been different, there would have been a lot of frustration with the performance, and frankly, some angst is justifiable. 

That’s what makes this coming game so crucial. UConn is not a good football team, by any measure. The Huskies are winless with their closest losses coming against FIU and Utah State. Their defense has been gashed in all five games and their offense hadn’t shown much of a spark prior to putting up 33 points in a losing effort against Utah State last weekend.

This is a game Rice football is supposed to win. The Owls would like to believed they’ve graduated from playing “winnable” games to a team that takes care of business against so-called inferior opponents. Nobody from within the walls of the Brian Patterson center will verbalize it that way, but UConn is an inferior opponent. Rice should win, and win comfortably.

If the Owls can do that, they’ll be back on schedule, assuring many that the USF loss was a bump on the road to a season that can still become very special.

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