The source for Rice sports news

Rice Football Recruiting: Colgate DL Coleman Coco commits to Owls

By

The Transfer Portal has delivered a potential difference-maker in the trenches. Colgate defensive lineman Coleman Coco is the latest commitment to the 2023 Rice Football recruiting class.

The past several months have been focused on building a strong base of high school talent. Now with the Transfer Portal officially opened to collegiate players, the 2023 Rice Football Recruiting class has added its first veteran player. Colgate defensive lineman Coleman Coco has committed to the Owls.

“I was open to deciding wherever felt like home,” Coco told The Roost. “From the start of Rice recruiting me I knew deep down that they were the best fit.”

Coco burst onto the scene in 2018 as a sophomore. He started seven games that year and led all Patriot League defensive linemen with 46 tackles. After playing a two-game schedule because of COVID-19 in 2020/2021, Coco reemerged with 40 tackles in 11 games in 2022. He brings 12 career sacks with him to South Main.

This is the second time Rice has landed a transfer from Colgate in recent years, signing offensive lineman Jovaun Woolford in 2020.

Coco was the third defensive lineman in the class at the time of his commitment, which began with a run of offensive linemen last fall. Chris Clark was the first member of the 2023 Rice football recruiting class in the trenches. He committed to the Owls this past summer. One month later, he was joined by defensive end Joseph Mutombo.

Premium: Rice Football Recruiting Offer and Commitment Tracker

Coco’s natural position is on the edge, but he’s fairly versatile for a man of his size (6-foot-3, 240 pounds). Perhaps his most exciting trait, though, is his drive. From the first snap on his highlights it’s evident he plays through the whistle and finishes with power.

Part of what drew Coco to this defense was its depth and his ability to be a potential game-changing piece on the outside. “I feel like the defense is one that I can make a ton of plays in and also give my teammates a lot of opportunities,” he said. “I will excel at dominating the line of scrimmage and making big time game changing plays.”

Become a Patron!
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Football Recruiting: ATH Ashton Ojiaku commits to Owls

By

One of the final high school additions to the 2023 Rice Football recruiting class is in the fold. Athlete Ashton Ojiaku has committed to the Owls.

The bulk of the high school recruiting for the 2023 Rice football recruiting class has been wrapped up for some time. With the exception of a few players the Owls flipped from other schools during the course of the season, the Owls had most of the prep commits accounted for before the calendar reached December before ultimately deciding they needed at least one more. Athlete Ashton Ojiaku has committed to the Owls.

Ojiaku had his pick of destinations before settling on the Owls. He helped offers from Vanderbilt, Houston, Army, Air Force and others before deciding Rice was the place for him. Head-to-head recruiting wins over any program are big for Rice, but getting the leg up on an SEC school is a decidedly important milestone.

If he does make the transition to defense, he’ll likely join fellow commit Ty Morris on the back end at safety. That tandem, along with corners AJ Stephens and Jamarion Clark gives Rice a rather robust group of defensive backs already on board.

Premium: Rice Football Recruiting Offer and Commitment Tracker

Listed as an athlete in some places, a running back in others, and a safety, elsewhere, Ojiaku’s athleticism leaps out as soon as you turn on the film. Rice has made a habit of finding playmakers like this in recent years, getting them to campus and finding the right role afterward.

From Luke McCaffrey, who transitioned from quarterback to running back, to Izeya Floyd who has played on both sides of the ball to multipurpose offensive weapons like Cameron Montgomery and Quentin Jackson, the Owls aren’t afraid to move people around. They’ll find the right spot for Ojiaku, who is quite simply, a really good football player.

Become a Patron!
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Basketball loses upset bid in OT, falls to Texas

By

Rice basketball took Texas to the brink but was unable to secure the historic upset, falling to the Longhorns in overtime.

Whether it was good fortune or a willingness to take advantage of what had been a turbulent day for the Texas program, Rice basketball came out ready to play on Monday evening at the Moody Center. Max Fiedler put Rice on the board with a layup to start the scoring, which would casually ping-pong back and forth in the early goings as both teams adjusted to the pace of the game. Then the Owls took off.

Alem Huseinvoic knocked down back-to-back threes with Quincy Olivari following with another, a 9-0 Rice run. Texas would battle back but was never able to get in front. Rice went into the break with a 33-29 lead and a real shot to pull off a monumental upset.

Want More Rice sports news? Subscribe on Patreon

The Owls, who hadn’t beaten a ranked Texas squad since 1982 and had lost their last 10 meetings with the Longhorns, sensed an opportunity and never quit. Although Texas was able to take the lead in the second half, Rice always seemed to answer.

Both teams exchanged minored leads throughout the remainder of the contest. Texas would lead by as many as six points in regulation but was never able to pull away. Ultimately, Rice would have their shot, a jumper by Huseinovic in a tie game with the buzzer imminent. Instead, the ball hit iron and the Owls would go on to lose in overtime.

The loss will sting, but it’s worth noting this wasn’t just a bad night from Texas that Rice stumbled upon. No, Texas shot 50 percent from the floor and narrowly outrebounded Rice 40-39. This was a full 45-minute dogfight and the Owls acquitted themselves well before ultimately running out of game.

Player Spotlight | Quincy Olivari

Olivari had strung together some impressive games over the month of December, but his performance against Texas might have been his most inspired showing yet. Olivari tied for the lead among all scorers with 28 points, connecting on 4-of-9 from three and 6-of-7 from the free throw line, also grabbing five boards and dishing out four assists.

It felt like he was involved in most of the momentum-shifting plays on Monday night. Had it not been for his effort, the Owls wouldn’t have been in this game.

Final Box | Texas 87 – Rice 81 (OT)

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice basketball heads back home for a three-game homestand which gets started on Thursday night against North American. They’ll play another on Saturday against Northwestern State before taking on Jarvis Christian in their final non-conference game of the season. All three of those games are scheduled to be streamed on CUSAtv.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Football 2022 Bowl Game Preview: Southern Miss

By

Rice football takes on Southern Miss in the Lending Tree Bowl this week. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

Southern Miss secured bowl eligibility on the final week of the regular season, defeating Louisiana Monroe on the road for their sixth win. Rice football wasn’t assured of a bowl trip until all of that weekend’s games had concluded and a shortage of six-win teams remained. The Owls are bowling because they were the program with the highest remaining APR score.

How they got here doesn’t matter now, though. Here’s everything you need to know about this week’s game.

Kickoff time | 4:45 PM CT
Venue | Hancock Whitney Stadium – Mobile, AB
TV | ESPN (Viewing Guide)
Radio | Sports Map 94.1 (FM) / Stretch Internet (Online)

Audio / Visual Preview

We’ll preview Rice football vs Southern Miss 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

This is a bowl game that means a lot to both programs, despite the appearance of modest stakes. The Owls and Mike Bloomgren are looking to secure win number six, something that many around South Main viewed as an understood prerequisite to even be in this game. Southern Miss, on the other side, could clinch a win season for the first time under coach Will Hall with a victory.

Series History

All Time | Tied, 6-6
Last Five | Southern Miss leads, 3-2
Last Meeting | Home 2021, Rice won 24-19

Get the Inside Scoop

Get access to practice reports, analysis and special features during the week when you subscribe to our Starting Lineup Tier on Patreon today. If you want updates on how Rice football plans to attack this week’s opponent, position battles, standouts, injuries and more, this is your go-to source. Don’t miss out! Join now!

Become a Patron!

Rice Football Stat Notables

Passing | Padgett – 20/40 (50.0 percent), 339 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing | Montgomery – 86 carries, 498 yards (5.8 yards per carry), 0 TD / Otoviano – 65 carries, 391 yards (6.0 yards per carry), 1 TD
Receiving | Rozner – 41 receptions, 834 yards (20.3 yds/rec), 9 TDs / McCaffrey – 51 receptions, 656 yards (12.9 yds/rec), 6 TD / Esdale – 39 receptions, 461 yards (11.8 yds/rec), 0 TD
Tackles | Conti – 69 / Morrison – 66 / Taylor – 55
Pass Breakups | Dunbar – 8  / Taylor – 6 / Fresch – 5
Interceptions | Taylor, Morrison – 2 / Nyakwol, Chamberlain, Fresch, Narcisse – 1

Southern Miss Stat Notables

Passing | Lowe – 55/103 (53.4 percent), 795 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT
Rushing | Gore Jr. – 207 carries, 1053 yards (5.1 yards per carry), 7 TD / Dean – 58 carries, 179 yards (3.1 ypc), 3 TD
Receiving | Brownlee – 52 receptions, 819 yards (15.8 yards per reception), 7 TD / Mims – 23 receptions, 361 yards (15.7 yds/rec), 2 TD
Tackles | Shorts – 91 / Latham – 81 / Gill – 76
Pass Breakups | Stanley – 6 / Latham – 4 / Shorts – 3
Interceptions | Stanley – 4 / Shorts – 3 / Scott, Brooks, Harrell – 2

Southern Miss X-Factor | Limit the big play

Southern Miss is going to try and make this a defensive struggle. The Golden Eagles lauded “Nasty Bunch” defense has made a significant jump this year, climbing to No. 80 in the nation in scoring defense to No. 43. The Golden Eagles allow 23.5 points per game. Keeping opponents out of the endzone is something they’ve largely excelled at compared to their peers.

The path to those points, has been suspect, though. Southern Miss ranks 12th of 14 teams in the Sun Belt in plays allowed of 20 or more yards with 63, an average of 5.3 such occurrences per game. Georgia Southern and Coastal Carolina — the two defenses in their conference that allow more explosive plays — each rank worst than 100th in the nation in scoring defense.

To some extent, the way this defense has been winning is unsustainable, but something is undeniably working. This is a defense that bends but doesn’t break. If something miss stiffens on the back end and allows less wiggle room, they’ll have Rice right where they want them.

Rice X-Factor | No turnovers

No team has turned the ball over this season more often than Rice football. None. Zilch. Zero. Nada. Rice football ranks dead last in the nation with 30 turnovers in 12 games, an average of 2.5 giveaways per contest.

When they don’t implode, this offense has proven itself adequate, perhaps even dangerous with its explosiveness and diversity. The Owls have put up more than 440 yards of total offense in four of their five wins and have largely moved the ball well with a variety of different quarterbacks under center. The bugaboo — and it’s been a big one — has been protecting the football.

Coaches are oft to say things like “we beat ourselves,” and in this case, that largely seems to be true. If Rice can avoid shooting themselves in the foot and give themselves a chance to complete their drives, they will be able to hang with a low-scoring offense on the other side of the ball. If they spot that other offense points, things could get dicey, quickly.

Injury Report (Subscribers only)

When Rice football last took the field, they were without quarterback TJ McMahon, wide receiver Luke McCaffrey and several other key players on each side of the ball. Subscribers, stay tuned later this week for a deeper dive on those key injuries with the latest on who is (and isn’t) likely to go in this upcoming contest. Not a subscriber (yet)?

Become a Patron!

One Final Thing

Getting to a bowl game is an accomplishment in itself, but things could hardly have set up better for Rice football in this season-ending showdown with a familiar foe. Instead of having to travel a great distance, the Owls will be playing as close to home as they could have been beyond a return to Frisco. They’re not being shipped to Detroit or South Carolina.

Better still, this is a winnable game against a team with a commensurate level of talent. They’re not playing an underachieving SEC school that simply has better players who played tougher competition. No, Southern Miss is on Rice’s level and in fact, the Owls have beaten them as recently as last season.

This game matters to Rice football. It matters to the staff, the players and to the fans. To those who care, it’s not a random bowl sponsored by who’s-it-called or what’s-it-named. With that in mind, the effort should be equal to the task. Rice needs to play this game with the effort they put forth against North Texas in the season finale. If they can clean up the mistakes, they’re got all they need to walk away as winners.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Where things stand: Rice Football, Mike Bloomgren and the future

By

Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren is coming back for another year. What went into the decision and what’s next for the program?

Athletic director Joe Karlgaard and Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren met with the media last week to discuss the upcoming Lending Tree Bowl. Both men were asked about the game itself, the significance of potentially winning it and other postseason-related questions. The status of Bloomgren’s job security wasn’t discussed.

Subscriber content.<br /> Please login to see the full post or visit our Patreon page.

This update will focus on that previously unspoken situation. After reaching a bowl game, but not six regular season wins, where does Bloomgren stand and what is the outlook for the Owls as they look forward to entering the AAC in 2022?

Officially, official

First, let’s start with the first official statement, given to The Roost this week from Karlgaard himself:

“Mike is coming back. He’ll be our coach next season. Our progress over the last several years has been slower than we had hoped but we did post our highest win total since 2015 and our players were exceptional in the classroom.

This is not the same college athletics that was in place the last time we went to a bowl game. We’ve seen all these environmental changes with Alston and NIL and the Transfer Portal and the deregulation of the NCAA rules. I’m proud of the roster and foundation that coach Bloomgren and his staff have built and how we’ve navigated the shifts to the environment so far. But for us to strive for excellence in the future, we’re going to have to be innovative, progressive and values driven.”

What other factors are in play?

Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts