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Rice Football: Bloomgren, bowls and the latest from South Main

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Rice football faces a lot of uncertainty this week. From bowl possibilities to head coaching questions, here’s the latest from South Main.

It’s been a crazy couple of days on the Rice football front. There have, understandably, been lots of questions regarding the nuances of a five-win bowl berth and the latest on Mike Bloomgren after the team failed to reach six regular season wins.

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This update should shed some light on those pressing issues and hopefully set the stage for the weeks to come.

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Rice Football 2022: UNT Game Week Practice Report

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Rice football hits the road in search of their sixth win and securing bowl eligibility against North Texas. Here’s what we learned from practice this week.

Bouncing back has been the message for Rice football all week as they prepare for North Texas in what they hope will not be their final game of the season. The Owls can clinch bowl eligibility with a win — and might get in anyhow without one — but the focus remains on winning the game in front of them.

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This week’s roundup focuses on the team morale, the quarterback situation, injury updates and a few additional individual notes.

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Setting the tone

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Rice Football: Can Owls go bowling with five wins? — November Patreon Q&A

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Rice football had its eyes set on a bowl berth. Six wins was the assumed path to get there, but could they get in with less? It’s possible.

There were a lot of good questions that came in during this month’s mailbag ask. Several of those were answers throughout the month in practice updates, podcasts and various other updates. A few more were so good that we’ll get to those soon, promise! First, the most time-sensitive question. What’s the path to a bowl game for Rice football? Do they have to get to six wins? Or could they make it with five? We tackle that in this month’s Patreon Q&A.

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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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Rice Football 2022 Game Preview: North Texas

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Rice football closes out the regular season against North Texas still in search of win number six. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

North Texas was on bye last weekend. Rice football might have wished they were. The Owls were rocked on Senior Day, losing their starting quarterback to injury for the second week in a row. Now they’re headed to Denton, still in search of their sixth win to clinch bowl eligibility for the first time since 2014. Here’s everything you need to know about this week’s game.

Kickoff time | 1:00 PM CT
Venue | Apogee Stadium – Denton, TX
TV | ESPN+ (Viewing Guide)
Radio | Sports Map 94.1 (FM) / Stretch Internet (Online)

Audio / Visual Preview

We’ll preview Rice football vs North Texas 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

North Texas still has a great chance to make the Conference USA Championship Game. By virtue of their win over Western Kentucky earlier this year, they would make the title game with a victory on Saturday or with a Florida Atlantic loss to Western Kentucky. On the other side, Rice wants to secure a bowl trip. Both sides have plenty to play for in this one

Series History

All Time | North Texas leads, 7-5
Last Five | North Texas leads, 4-1
Last Meeting | Home 2021, North Texas won 30-24

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Rice Football Stat Notables

Passing | McMahon – 160/266 (60.2 percent), 2102 yards, 18 TD, 14 INT
Rushing | Montgomery – 75 carries, 449 yards (6.0 yards per carry), 0 TD / Otoviano – 51 carries, 297 yards (5.8 yards per carry), 1 TD
Receiving | Rozner – 39 receptions, 806 yards (20.7 yds/rec), 9 TDs / McCaffrey – 51 receptions, 656 yards (12.9 yds/rec), 6 TD / Esdale – 34 receptions, 392 yards (11.5 yds/rec), 0 TD
Tackles | Conti – 63 / Morrison – 58 / Taylor – 50
Pass Breakups | Dunbar – 7  / Taylor – 6 / Fresch – 5
Interceptions | Taylor, Morrison – 2 / Nyakwol, Chamberlain, Fresch, Narcisse – 1

North Texas Stat Notables

Passing | Aune – 185/321 (57.6 percent), 2912 yards, 29 TD, 11 INT
Rushing | Adeyi – 86 carries, 696 yards (8.0 yards per carry), 4 TD / Adaway III – 118 carries, 583 yards (4.9 ypc), 5 TD
Receiving | Burns – 34 receptions, 628 yards (18.5 yards per reception), 1 TD / Shorter – 19 receptions, 505 yards (26.6 yds/rec), 8 TD
Tackles | Davis – 105 / Nixon III – 74 / Richards  – 67
Pass Breakups | Texada – 15 / Gaddie – 10 / Wilson – 5
Interceptions | Texada – 3 / Wilson – 2 / Whitlock, Wood – 1

North Texas X-Factor | Be aggressive

Rice football is the most turnover-prone team in Conference USA and they don’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Extra possessions tend to result in more points and against a team like the Owls that have struggled to be consistent on that side of the ball, it spells opportunity. If North Texas attacks on defense and forces the issues, Rice has shown to make mistakes.

That could result in some big plays for the Owls when the Mean Green decide to take those risks, but entering into a potential shootout against this Rice team would likely just open the door for more turnover opportunities.

It doesn’t have to be reckless, but anything North Texas can do to confuse whoever Rice has a quarterback or punch out a ball when a ball carrier keeps it too far away could prove to be differential. Short fields continue to burn the Owls and there’s no reason to believe they’ve proven immune to this issue in a week’s time.

Rice X-Factor | Make the Mean Green throw

North Texas is 6-5 this season, but there’s been a consistent pattern in their wins: they don’t throw the football. In four of their six wins, North Texas has attempted fewer than 30 passes, completing 16 passes or fewer. They’ve won two pass-happy games (vs FIU, at WKU) both of which were blowouts in which North Texas could do whatever they wanted to on offense.

On the other side of the coin, the difference is stark. North Texas averaged 35 attempts in their five losses this year (vs 27 attempts in their wins). They complete 50.1 percent of their passes in losses vs 63.8 percent of their passes in wins.

North Texas wants to run the football. That’s going to be Plan A. The teams that get them off-script usually win. That’s exactly what the Owls need to do.

Injury Report (Subscribers only)

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One Final Thing

On the bowl front, Rice is in with a win. However, there’s still a possibility Rice goes bowling with a loss. Stay tuned for more on how that would work later in the week. As for this game, a win is still well within reach.

The last two losses have two common threads for Rice football. First, they’ve been plated with a platoon at quarterback with the expected starter knocked out of the game before halftime. Second, they’ve been against two of the top three teams in the conference standings. The latter won’t change this coming week — North Texas is currently tied with Western Kentucky in the standings — but Rice will probably (knock on wood) get a quarterback through a complete game… right?

Whether it’s McMahon, Green, or someone else, building an offense around one guy and letting him execute it has worked this season for Rice more often than it’s not. In games in which Rice has not had its starting quarterback leave with an injury, the Owls are 5-3. They’re 0-3 when they lose their starter.

Ideally, it’s McMahon back under center next weekend. But even if it’s not, riding one arm through a full four quarters will give this team a better shot. As for who that is? That’s still to be determined.

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Doom and Gloom: Rice Football falls to UTSA rain-soaked Senior Day

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Rice Football never got hot on a cold and gloomy Senior Day, falling at home to UTSA in their final home game of the season.

On a cold and rainy Saturday morning, Rice football froze up. Injuries and missed opportunities stifled a Rice team that has yet to complete a complete four-quarter performance this season, despite notching five victories along the way. They did not get their sixth win on Saturday, falling to UTSA in a one-sided result on Senior Day. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

From bad to worse

On paper, the weather seemed to be something that should work in favor of the Owls, who entered their final home game of the season with a slew of injuries at several key positions. Starting quarterback TJ McMahon was unable to go, as were the Owls’ top four corners: Jordan Dunbar, Sean Fresch, Lamont Narcisse and Jojo Jean.

From a personnel standpoint, an ugly game with lot of running and field position battles was much preferred to an aerial back-and-forth against the Roadrunners and star quarterback Frank Harris.

Rice did get an ugly game, but the weather wasn’t at fault.

Quarterback Wiley Green was injured on the Owls’ second possession, getting blasted from behind and fumbling in the process. UTSA recovered and scored their second-consecutive touchdown on as many plays.

The Owls’ defense opened the game three-and-out and Green hit Bradley Rozner on a slant to get Rice out of the shadow of their own endzone. Then the drive stalled on fourth and one, Rice punted, and the tumultuous sequence of injuries and turnovers commenced.

Turnovers fall, but it’s not enough

At some point, the turnovers that have plagued Rice football this season were going to stop, or at the very least, they would slow down. Despite the Owls’ issues with protecting the football, tipped passes and fumbles from a myriad of different players seemed unlikely to persist forever. Despite the injuries and bad weather, Rice did a good job protecting the football against UTSA.

In their first 10 games, Rice won the turnover battle twice. They were +5 against McNeese and +1 against UAB. They won both games. Against FBS opponents, Rice hadn’t forced more than two turnovers in a game this season whereas they’d produced at least three giveaways four times.

The Roost Podcast: Stay tuned for the game recap this week – Rice Football vs UTSA

Against UTSA, Rice forced two turnovers. George Nykawol knocked the ball out himself and Myron Morrison made a play in coverage to intercept Frank Harris.

The Owls’ first turnover on offense came on a play in which Green was injured, with pressure coming unblocked off the edge. It’s not excusable by any means, but it wasn’t a lapse by a ballcarrier or decision-maker, the Achilles’ heel of the offense to this point. That came the very next drive when Kobie Campbell put the ball on the deck.

The third turnover came on an errant pass from Itraish, who was subsequently benched for true freshman AJ Padgett. That gave Rice a minus differential in the turnover margin once again.

It all comes down to quarterback, again

Watching Green leave with an injury with TJ McMahon standing on the sideline, already ruled out, was a gut punch for a Rice offense that has taken such large strides this season. Trailing at home with a backup, backup quarterback, there were two plays that highlighted what could have been.

With Shawqi Itraish at quarterback early in the second quarter and Rice trailing 21-0, Isaiah Esdale burst through double coverage on the far side of the field. He had seven yards on both defenders and plenty of green grass in front of him. It was a walk in touchdown. Itraish underthrew all three players, incomplete. Rice got no points on the drive.

Following a turnover by the Roadrunners shortly after, Rice dialed up a double reverse pass. The ball was tossed back to Itraish who had Bradley Rozner wide open down the field. He couldn’t release the ball quick enough, throwing it into the ground. Once more, no points.

It’s not all Itraish’s fault, but these two moments do highlight the challenges of calling an offense in the rain with your third string redshirt freshman quarterback at the controls. It’s hard. And you can’t miss your opportunities. On Saturday, Rice did and the result was, unfortunately, predictable.

The silver lining, if there was one, was an intriguing debut by true freshman AJ Padgett. He connected on a 43-yard touchdown pass to Bradley Rozner on fourth down in the fourth quarter. Could he see action in the season finale against UTSA? At this point, anything seems feasible.

One more?

As soon as the clock hit zero at Rice Stadium a few weeks ago, securing an upset for the visiting Charlotte 49ers, it seemed more likely than not that the Owls would find themselves here.

Defeating Western Kentucky or UTSA didn’t seem completely far-fetched, but the wiggle-room in the Owls’ search for six wins had evaporated. They needed to win one of their final three to reach that mark, but that stretch included games against the top three teams in the standings.

Now, it all comes down to this. Rice sits at 5-6, losers of back-to-back games for the first time this season. They travel to North Texas next weekend, in need of that final elusive win to clinch bowl eligibility for the first time since 2014.

Digging deeper

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Death, Taxes, Wiley Green and injuries

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