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Rice Football Recruiting: Harvard OL Spencer Cassell commits to Owls

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The 2024 Rice Football recruiting class added an impact player in the offensive trenches. Harvard offensive lineman Spencer Cassell has committed to the Owls.

The Early Signing Period arrived with a bang for the 2024 Rice Football recruiting class in addition to eight high school additions, the Owls also received a boost from the Transfer Portal at multiple spots. One such boost comes along the offensive line where Harvard transfer Spencer Cassell has committed to the Owls.

Cassell was highly sought after in the portal, receiving scholarship offers from Buffalo, Arkansas State, Marshall, North Texas, App State, Georgia State, Old Dominion, UMass and others. Amidst all the interest, Rice was able to close, securing the services of the second-team All-Ivy offensive lineman. Bloomgren is optimistic Cassell will have two years to play at Rice, pending a medical redshirt.

Cassell played tackle at Harvard and said he’s willing to play “wherever I can help the team” in the offensive trenches at Rice. The plan, as of now, is for him to get started at guard in the spring and see where things go from there.

One of five transfers in the class so far, Cassell is the third offensive lineman. High school signees Lane Jeffcoast and Luke Miller made their commitments official Wednesday morning.

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A former high school tight end, Cassell does appear pretty quick on his feet for a 6-foot-6, 282-pound man. He told The Roost he loves to pull and be a lead blocker on runs and screens, something the Owls have utilized heavily in their offense in recent years. That quickness and power is evident when you turn on his film. Cassell is a great addition for the Owls.

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Small but mighty, 2024 Rice Football Recruiting Class another historic haul

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For the fourth time in the past five years, head coach Mike Bloomgren has inked the highest-rated Rice football recruiting class in program history.

The 2024 Rice football recruiting class only contained eight high school signees, but what the Owls gave up in quantity they got tenfold in quality. This small class boasts the highest rating in program history.

“We got stronger today,” head coach Mike Bloomgren said, later adding, “I think our recruiting staff crushed it.”

Internet recruiting rankings have been around since roughly 2003, making the 2024 class the 22nd in the modern rankings era. Bloomgren has now been the head coach at Rice through six of those complete cycles, excluding the 2018 cycle in which he was hired in December. He owns six of the top eight classes in program history.

In addition to Bloomgren’s six complete cycles, spanning the 2019 class to the 2023 class, only the 2010 and the 2013 classes rank in the top eight in school history. At the time, Bloomgren’s 2020 class was the best-ever Rice had signed. He then topped that haul with the best class in program history in 2022, 2023 and now once again in 2024.

Since he arrived, every recruiting class Bloomgren has signed has been a top-five class in program history at the time pen was put to paper. Four of them have been No. 1 overall.

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* Blue represents top five classes in program history

On aggregate, Rice is listed as the No. 12 class (out of 13) in the AAC. However, it’s important to remember those rankings are cumulative and they don’t include transfers, like high-profile quarterback addition EJ Warner.

Every player you sign is assigned a point value. If you sign 38 recruits (and counting) like North Texas, you’re going to have more points and rank higher than a school that signs eight. But more doesn’t always mean better.

Additionally, Rice finds itself in an interesting predicament. They haven’t had an exodus of outgoing players. The outgoing senior class that is ineligible to return is small and only one scholarship has been opened through announced departures (Jordan Dunbar). They can’t sign 25 players. There simply aren’t enough scholarships to go around.

“It’s hard to say we’re going to sign a high school kid that’s going to be better than Josh Pearcy if he decides to come back,” Bloomgren half-joked, half-explained just how the Owls have arrived in such an interesting position.

The Owls’ low ranking on aggregate reflects the reality of the Owls’ strong roster, an accumulation of top class in program history, in addition to a remarkable retention rate not seen anywhere else in college football.

“I think it’s going to be hard to evaluate it as we once did when we all signed 20 to 25 kids and [had] somewhat of a level playing field because when you look at ratings, you’re looking at some [of the full picture], We’re not going to win that when signing eight,” Bloomgren said. “If we had 12 people go into the portal like most teams then we’d have a much bigger class and a much higher rank, you would assume. I’m personally glad we don’t.”

Rather than vaulting up the recruiting charts through unprecedented amounts of roster turnover, Rice is building its roster one brick at a time. And just like the recruiting rankings have steadily ticked upward, so have the wins on the field.

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Former Temple QB EJ Warner commits to Rice Football

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Following multiple record-setting seasons at Temple, quarterback EJ Warner has committed to transfer to Rice Football.

For the second straight season, Rice football has made a splash in the Transfer Portal at the spot head coach Mike Bloomgren often refers to as “the most important position in sports”: quarterback.

Last winter it was JT Daniels, whom Bloomgren had recruited from the eighth grade before finally landing as a grad transfer. This year it comes in the form of a transfer from within the AAC. Former Temple quarterback EJ Warner has committed to the Owls.

Warner, the son of former NFL MVP and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner, will have multiple seasons of eligibility remaining when he arrives at South Main. He’ll bring with him a resume already overflowing with passing records.

As a true freshman in 2022, Warner completed 45-of-63 passes for 527 yards and five touchdowns against ECU, setting the high water mark for passing yardage in a game in the FBS that season. By the conclusion of the 2023 season, he’d set the program record for 400-yard passing games (3) and completed more passes in a single game (42) than any other player in the FBS that season.

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Warner was a preseason nominee for the Maxwell Award and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm watchlists. He then proceeded to lead the AAC in passing yards per game. Now he leaving the Temple Owls for the Rice Owls. This is a massive addition and a slam dunk get for Rice and one that could secure them a surefire answer at the position for at least the next two years.

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Rice Football Recruiting: 2024 Early Signing Period Live Blog

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The majority of the 2024 Rice Football Recruiting class will become signees during the Early Signing Period. Follow all the action here.

It’s a smaller group, but the 2024 Rice Football recruiting class should still pack a pretty hefty punch. Rice has a balanced collection of talented high school players and a few handpicked transfer additions to supplement a roster that did not lose a single active player to the Portal this offseason. That’s part of the reason for the small class. There are only so many spots to go around.

This live tracker will follow all the latest news and updates throughout the day, with some notes along the way on the class as it is finalized. If you’re not a subscriber yet, here’s your chance.

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Which newcomers will make sizable impacts as soon as they arrive on campus like JT Daniels, Coleman Coco and others did this past fall? This class has plenty of talent that could find its way to the field soon.

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Now, let’s dig into the latest from the Early Signing Period, below.

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Rice Football 2023: Texas State presser quotes and Bowl depth chart

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Next up for Rice football: the SERVPRO First Responders Bowl vs Texas State. Here’s what Mike Bloomgren had to say about the matchup and a few depth chart notes.

Head coach Mike Bloomgren and a set of players met with the media for their customary weekly availability. They recapped the past few weeks of practice and looked ahead at their upcoming matchup with Texas State in the SERVPRO First Responders Bowl.

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We touch on those items, then dig into the Rice football depth chart and what the team looks like heading into the weekend. First, the quotes:

Press Conference Quotes

“We understand it’s a business trip. We also understand it’s a reward for our players that they’ve earned. There’s some great events they have planned. Look forward to partaking in those as well as continuing into practice and get ready for this game when we get there. Being back in a bowl for the second year in a row is a big deal for the continued growth of our program…

I just believe it’s what coach Bowden used to say. It’s how good teams get great and it’s how great teams become elite and we’re somewhere in the middle of that, fighting become a really consistent group that’s enjoying every single practice we get out there.”– Mike Bloomgren on the current state of the program

“They’re a lot like South Florida and Tennessee with the tempo that they incorporate so they’re going to try to have the tempo be a factor in their offensive production but also the they’re like them in terms of spreading you out sideline to sideline and they’ve got a really, really good running back that’s playing good football. They’ve got a great players over there along with a very good scheme that I think GJ [Kinne] knows how to execute very well.” – Mike Bloomgren on the Texas State offense

“Defensively coach [Jonathan] Patke is doing a lot of Manny Diaz type stuff with those transfers, got them playing together. Seems like they’re very much on the same page of what to do. They understand where to fit in their defense. And so they’re kind of making things hard on people in terms of just making you earn it to some degree. When they do that, when they can keep you behind the sticks and get you behind the sticks and make you go on a 10 or a 12 play drive, that’s always hard for an offense.” – Mike Bloomgren on the Texas State defense

“It’s huge. Any extra preparation, you’re going to take it. It’s all about how you use that time and I’m really trying my best to be prepared for these guys and be able to go out there in practice and lead them,  get them in the right stuff, make sure we’re running the play correctly and ultimately go out and execute as effiecntly as possible All that extra time is pivotal.” – Quarterback AJ Padgett on the benefits of extra bowl practices 

“The vibe is great. Everyone’s excited for this. Even just having this opportunity to get these 15 paracitces in, to get another game with this group… it’s really just a blessing. We’re just appeciiating every day of it, every rep of it, every second of it.” – Defensive end Josh Pearcy on the atmosphere around the program right now

“He’s good at getting the ball out to his weapons. He’s good at keeping his eyes down field. Most guys, when they see pressure, they want to take off and run but where he sets himself apart, he remains a passer when he sees his pressure. He’s good at keeping his eyes down field, throwing that check down when he needs to, getting the ball out to his weapons when he has to. At the end of the day, we’ll be ready for him.” ” – Defensive end Josh Pearcy on Texas State quarterback TJ Finley

Depth Chart

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Depth Chart Notes

Tight end Jack Bradley, who missed the final two games of the regular season, was put back on the postseason depth chart, for now, but head coach Mike Bloomgren mentioned in his media availability his status for the game had yet to be determined.

The uncertainty surrounding Bradley, who wasn’t listed on the FAU depth chart at all, as well as the removal of quarterback JT Daniels are the only significant modifications from the depth chart Rice published in their regular season finale against FAU. Daniels, who has since medically retired, was not available in that game either.

The remainder of the depth chart looks as expected without any major surprises. That is in part because of the remarkable roster consistency the Owls have experienced since the Transfer Portal opened, something we wrote heavily about last week. You can read those notes, as well as upcoming Early Signing Period reactions and further bowl practice notes when you subscribe on Patreon.

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