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Rice Football 2021: Owls find another quarterback quandary

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The Rice football quarterback situation remains in flux entering Week 4 of the 2021 season. Here’s the latest on how the Owls plan to deploy their options.

For the third time in four games, Rice football will play multiple quarterbacks. Luke McCaffrey was the lone signal-caller on the field for the duration of the Houston game. He and Wiley Green split reps against Arkansas and both saw action against Texas before leaving the game with injuries. Jake Constantine, only recently healthy enough to go, made his debut against the Longhorns.

After all that, we’ve got another quarterback competition on our hands.

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For those checking in for the first time, or those returning, a quick programming note. Practice reports are reserved for our subscribers. If you want updates on how Rice football plans to deploy its quarterbacks, position battles, standouts, injuries and more, this is your go-to source. You can get access to all practice notes, recruiting updates and special features like this one when you subscribe to our All-American Tier on Patreon today.

Groundhog Day?

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Rice Football 2021: Offensive changes before Texas Southern game

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Rice football has turned its focus to Texas Southern, including a few personnel changes on offense, both planned and unplanned.

Once again, the starting lineup for the Rice football offense will look different the next time it takes the field. There’s likely to be an adjustment at the quarterback spot, one we’ll cover in greater detail in the subsequent update, but there were also some notable adjustments on the offensive line and the pass-catching options.

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Unplanned offensive line shakeup

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Rice Football 2021: TSU presser quotes, practice notes and depth chart

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Rice football caps off its nonconference schedule against Texas Southern. Here’s what Mike Bloomgren had to say about it, injury updates and practice notes.

This is the first of a couple of updates coming this week as Rice football prepares to take on Texas Southern. We’ll include updates from head coach Mike Bloomgren’s midweek press conference, then dig further into the details on the depth chart and what the team looks like on the field headed into the weekend.

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To some degree, Rice football finds itself in the twilight zone. Conversation this week focused on the quarterback situation and the adjustments needed for this team to bounce back and find the win column once again. There were a handful of significant adjustments to the depth chart and some developments from practice early this week. First, the quotes:

Press Conference Quotes

“I think we learned more about individual players. We learned who would be able to step up in those situations and no matter who the opponent, be able to get their job done and do their one-eleventh. I think that’s great information that our coaching staff needed. Sometimes people can do in practice and can’t do it on game day, and we learn that about some guys unfortunately too. Because it’s a meritocracy, we’ll have to make some tough changes, and changes that nobody wants to make, but I love these kids. We told them in their living room, that’s one thing they could count on. – Mike Bloomgren on what the team has learned so far in nonconference play

“I was impressed with the way Jake was able to come in and really manage everything and get everything orchestrated and make plays go and find the open guy and deliver the ball. I was also impressed with Coach Tui and how they communicated on the sideline and how they got him into some calls he was comfortable with. There was some good there and some lessons learned, to say the least.” – Mike Bloomgren on the play of Jake Constantine

“My composure in the pocket, I’d say is really good. I’d like to say I stand my ground real strong and keep my eyes downfield. I definitely think I can improve in some things like getting rid of the ball on time, last game just coming in there a little rusty, I definitely think there’s some fixing that I could do with my own play, but I’m just excited to get after it this week.” – Jake Constantine on his strengths as a quarterback

“I do think the defense is a lot better. The reason I believe that is because I know the work we put in. I know what we did last year. We’re only missing one piece from that team last year. We were ranked in the top 20. And I believe that all of our players understand that we haven’t played to our standard yet. We play up to our standard in the first three quarters against Arkansas, but since then, defensively, we haven’t plated to our standard. We need to get back to playing how we know we can because that’s a big thing about Coach Blooms philosophy: run the ball, control the clock and play great defense. If we can’t play great defense, we can’t do the other two.” – Kenneth Orji on whether the defense is better than the numbers reflect

Depth Chart

The Rice football depth chart was updated following the Texas game and for perhaps the first time this season, the primary changes involved some performance-based role changes in addition to the more customary injury adjustments.

Injuries shake up depth chart

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Rice Football 2021 Game Preview: Texas Southern

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Rice Football returns home to take on Texas Southern in Week 4, still in search of their first win of the season. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

Week 4 will pit a pair of winless teams against each other in the first ever meeting between intra-city foes. Rice football hosts Texas Southern on Saturday, hoping to bounce back from a deflating shutout loss to Texas the week prior.  Texas Southern enters equally beleaguered, having been outscored 106 to 24 in back-to-back losses to Prairie View and Baylor before having last weekend off.

Kickoff time | 5:30 PM CT
Venue | Rice Stadium – Houston, TX
TV | ESPN3
Radio | Sports Map 94.1 (FM) / Stretch Internet (Online)

Audio / Visual Preview

We’ll preview Rice football vs Texas Southern this week’s episode of the Blue and Gray Preview Show, streaming live on Wednesday at Noon on the Rice Athletics YouTube channel. You can also catch the recap of last week’s game on The Roost Podcast, which should be released shortly. 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

It’s put up or shut up time for Rice football. After three back-breaking losses, the Owls cannot afford to fall to 0-4. The pressure is on Rice, who will enter the contest as the favorites.

Texas Southern hasn’t faired any better than Rice. Their lone win since the 2018 season came by way of a forfeit in an abbreviated spring season. A win over an FBS team would be huge for head coach Clarence McKinney and his staff.

Series History

All Time | Rice and Texas Southern will be meeting for the first time
Last Five | n/a
Last Meeting | n/a

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Rice Stat Notables

Passing | McCaffrey – 16/32 (50.0 percent), 181 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT
Rushing | Griffin – 39 carries, 173 yards (4.4 yards per carry)
Receiving | Myers – 11 receptions, 71 yards (6.5 yards per reception), 1 TD / Bailey – 9 receptions, 85 yards (9.4 yds/rec)
Tackles | Montero – 27 / Smith – 20/ Garcia – 18
Pass Breakups | Smith/McCord/Dunbar – 2 
Interceptions | Fresch/Taylor – 1

Texas Southern Stat Notables

Passing | Brown – 27/53 (50.9 percent), 277 yards passing, 1 TD, 0 INT
Rushing | Howard – 15 carries, 79 yards (5.3 yards per carry), 0 TD
Receiving | Davis – 9 receptions, 124 yards (13.4 yards per reception), 0 TD / Johnson – 7 receptions, 80 yards (11.4 yds/rec), 1 TD
Tackles | Cooper – 13 / Walton – 12 / Gibbs – 9
Interceptions | Marcantel -1
Pass Breakups | Six tied with one PBU

Texas Southern X-Factor | Make the big play

The formula to stymy Rice has focused on the big play. Arkansas gashed the Owls on the ground with their 245-pound quarterback. Texas let running back Bijan Robinson have their way with the Rice defense before getting other playmakers in open space for breakaway touchdown sprints.

There has been a handful of methodical, 10+ play drives against Rice this year. But the Owls have proven most susceptible when their opponents can cut the field in half with one or two big plays. If Texas Southern wants to make this interesting, they’ll need to hit on some home runs.

Rice X-Factor | Come prepared

In each of their first three games, the Rice offense has failed to take advantage of opportunities gifted to them by their opponents and/or their own defense. Three missed field goals, six interceptions, dropped passes and missed assignments. At this point, the offense doesn’t need to move heaven and earth. They need to do the basics correctly.

Against Texas Southern, the basics, when executed correctly, should be more than enough to set Rice up for success. And if Rice can’t clean up the little things, it’s going to be a long season when conference play arrives in two weeks.

Pick ‘Em Contest (Subscribers only)

Make sure you submit your entry for The Roost’s weekly pick’em challenge. There will be swag and prizes for the top finishers at the end of the season. Choose an answer to each of the six questions below and comment on this post on the Patreon page to enter. It’s that easy.

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Injury Report (Subscribers only)

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Need More?

The Roost’s 2021 Rice Football Season Preview has FIVE pages dedicated to every opponent the Owls face. There are depth charts, important new arrivals and positional breakdowns for every team in Conference USA sourced from local beat writers and sources on the ground who cover these teams every day. It’s the most thorough C-USA publication on the market.

One Final Thing

The last time Rice football lost three consecutive games happened in the middle of the 2019 season. The Owls dropped successive contests to UTSA, Southern Miss and Marshall with the point totals falling from game to game, averaging 13.3 points over that stretch.

Then the offense woke up, and the team went on a run. Rice beat Middle Tennessee, North Texas and UTEP, and averaged 27 points per game in the process.

That recent history is not necessarily prescriptive of what is to come, but it has to serve as some evidence that given enough of a hole to dig out of, this program has shown it can rise again. Doing it consistently is a bar they’ve yet to achieve, but getting back into the win column and doing it a few times is well within reach.

But at this point, those are all hypotheticals. The Owls are going to have to show they still believe in themselves and what they’re playing for. It’s well past time to play ball.

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Insult and injury: Rice football blasted by Texas in Austin

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There were no clouds in the sky on Saturday night, but Texas rained down points on Rice Football all night long as the Owls struggled through another crushing defeat.

When Rice football lined up against Texas on Saturday night in Austin, nothing seemed amiss. Texas marched down the field and scored. Rice got a defensive stop and kicked off an efficient drive of their own. Then it all went sideways.

Not only would Rice not score a single point, but the Owls lost both their starting quarterback and backup quarterback to injury before halftime. After taking a 17-7 lead against Arkansas two weeks ago, Rice has been outscored 133-7. To say it’s been a rough month would be an understatement.

Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

No risk it, no biscuit

The Rice offense was handed an early mulligan following their first three-and-out of the game. Thanks to a terrific interception generated by the pass rush of Ikenna Enechuwku, Gabe Taylor’s pick got the ball back for the Owls who had fallen behind early 7-0. Then Rice fell into third and long, again.

That was when Luke McCaffrey attempted his first pass of the game, a first down to Jake Bailey. He completed his second pass of the day on the next play, also for a first down, this time to Jack Bradley. Khalan Griffin ripped off a big gain.

The Roost Podcast: Stay tuned for the game recap this week 

Quip with the playcalling if you’d like, the crux of the issue was how the drive ended. Rice faced third-and-eight from the 10-yard line and dumped the ball off to Jordan Myers. On fourth-and-five, Rice settled for a field goal, which was missed.

Playing it safe and trusting the defense, especially one as reliable as Rice has, is usually a pretty sound strategy. When you’re playing Texas, though, sometimes the risks are worth taking. Rice opted not to take the risk. Texas responded with a 72-yard touchdown run on the ensuing drive to take a 14-0 lead.

Quarterback quandaries continue

Luke McCaffrey led what probably should have been a scoring drive that ended in a missed field goal. Then he left the game, presumably with some injury, which remains undisclosed. Wiley Green came in as his relief and lasted a few drives before he also left with an injury. By the time Rice was closing out the first half, it was Jake Constantine making his Rice debut with the Owls trailing by six touchdowns.

Just three games into the 2021 Rice football season, Rice has turned to at least three different signal callers for the fourth consecutive season. McCaffrey looked fairly promising in his limited work, officially ending his night 2-for-3 for 20 yards with one 5-yard scramble on third down.

Without him or Green and the game out of reach midway through the second quarter, there wasn’t much else to take away from another incomplete offensive performance.

Not so special teams

Special teams have been one of the most promising aspects of the Rice football program under head coach Mike Bloomgren. Punter Jack Fox made the Pro Bowl last year. The tandem punting combo of Adam Nunez and Chris Barnes was one of the best units in Conference USA. Field goal kicking has taken some odd (to say the least) bounces but has largely been effective.

The 2021 iteration has been a complete misadventure. Perhaps we should have sensed something coming when Rice had not one, but four kicks blocked during their second scrimmage of fall camp. An issue with the holding was identified at that point and the problem was ostensibly fixed. That wouldn’t be the end.

Placekicker Collin Riccitelli missed a field goal on Saturday, his third miss in four tries on the season. The Owls’ punt team had a punt blocked, the second occurrence of the year following a block by Houston the week prior. Sean Fresch has been a plus in the return game, but he hasn’t had many opportunities.

Special teams have been exceptional. Former special teams coordinator Pete Lembo has moved up to South Carolina. His successor, Drew Svoboda, now coaches tight ends at Alabama. They’re going to have to figure something out without them.

0-3 is 0-3

Rice football left moral victories and “good” losses in the rearview mirror some time ago. The reality is, this program (and its fans) expects to be at a place where wins are counted on fingers and toes rather than feel-good emotion.

The schedule was daunting from the start. Reminders were built in along the way not to overreact to three games against, arguably, the toughest competition the Owls will face this year. But try as one might to look past the losses and find the good, it’s thankless work.

Four years into Bloomgren’s tenure at Rice, these were expected to be, at the very least, competitive and hard-fought battles. Instead, Rice was outscored in a landslide and struggled to put up many points of their own.

The sun will come up tomorrow. The Owls will begin their prep for Texas Southern. The schedule eases up considerably moving forward, but the margin of error has been significantly trimmed. If Rice really does have bowl aspirations, it’s time to put together a complete performance. Pronto.

Digging deeper

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