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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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Rice Football 2022: UNT presser quotes and depth chart

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Rice football visits North Texas this week. Here’s what Mike Bloomgren had to say about the matchup at hand and a few depth chart notes.

Head coach Mike Bloomgren and a pair of players met with the media for their customary weekly availability. They recapped the UTSA loss and looked at the week ahead, detailing what they’re expecting to see when North Texas takes the field.

More: Rice Football – Blue and Gray Preview Show

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

“My hat’s off them. They performed at an incredibly high level., I look back at our offense and I see a group that got out-physicaled and that’s something that is hard to swallow because that’s something we hang our hat on. Defensively, we missed a couple of fits and every time we did something wrong, they made us pay in a big way. That’s what happens with small areas, (they) add up to a big stuff as four quarters of football goes on and that’s what we saw on Saturday.” – Mike Bloomgren on the UTSA game

“[UTSA] was our first time having back-to-back losses all year, but you feel like you haven’t won a game in forever and that’s just not the case. That’s how you feel as a 45-year-old man. You can imagine what it is like for 18 to 222-year-olds that are dealing with social media? That’s why I thought it was important to remind them that they are a good football team. They’re not the football team that’s only played the last two games. They’re the football team that has won some really big games this year, that’s come back and overcome things and they’re really talented. We’re a good football team.” – Mike Bloomgren on his message to the team

“I imagine he’s a very mature kid. I’ve talked Seth [Littrell] about him, Seth loves him and thinks he’s a great leader. You see that. At this point his career it’s a little bit like Mason Fine in terms of the leadership ability and how you see him rallying his teammates.” – Mike Bloomgren on North Texas quarterback Austin Aune

“KD [Davis] is a great player, obviously going against him the past couple of years. He’s a solid linebacker. I look forward to the match up again. Their front is definitely a lot of different guys [from last year] so it’s really going to be about our preparation this week, watching film. What were these guy’s tendencies? We have played against them, really just looking at that film and making sure we’re ready for these new transfers that they have up front, guys that we’re going to be going against play after play.” – Tight end Jack Bradley on the North Texas defense 

“I feel like we’re a team that’s been battle tested. We’re a team that seen and been through and overcome adversity, time after time. So this isn’t a position that we’re not used to being in. And I’m not worried about where any of the guys head’s [are] at, or anything, where the coach’s heads [are] at or anything. Through this whole program, we’ve seen and been through adversity. So I think we’re going to get spot mentally and a good spot physically. We got guys coming back and we’ve just got to keep doing what we always do, respond to adversity.” – Defensive end Joshua Pearcy on the team’s current mindset

Depth Chart

Rice Football

Depth Chart Notes

The biggest adjustment this week is at quarterback, where Wiley Green has been removed from the spot below TJ McMahon in favor of freshman AJ Padgett, currently listed as a co-starter. Who suits up for the Owls on Saturday remains TBD, but we’ll have a bit more later in the week in our practice notes (available to our subscribers).

On defense, Blake Boenisch has officially leapfrogged Izeya Floyd as the starter at the nose tackle spot, but still expect to see a heavy rotation there. Additionally, Lamont Narcisse is off the depth chart after being injured in practice last week. He’s been replaced by Tre’shon Devones, who started for the Owls last weekend against UTSA.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 134 Rice Football vs UTSA Recap

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Rice football would soon forget a soggy, sad loss to UTSA, but rain or shy, The Roost Podcast is here to break down the entire affair.

For the third time this season, Rice football had its starting quarterback knocked out of a game in the first half. For the third time this season, Rice lost that game. Wiley Green has the misfortune of fulfilling that statistic twice, then time on Senior Day against Conference USA juggernaut UTSA. The Owls lost and have one game remaining in the regular season. What do we make about the program right now?

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 134.

Episode Notes

Housekeeping

  • Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on your platform of choice. Every little bit helps.
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Rice Football vs UTSA game recap

  • Another scout team quarterback makes his Rice football debut
  • Making sense of the offense, regardless of who is under center
  • Owls post an unbelievably bad rushing performance
  • Defense holds off Harris through the air, but how much is true progress?
  • How much fault can be assigned to injuries? How much to coaching?
  • What does Rice football need to do to reach a bowl game?

Where can you find us?

Download and subscribe to The Roost Podcast on any of your favorite podcast providers. The show is available on iTunes, GooglePlay, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and PodBean. Please consider leaving a review wherever you listen.

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

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Rice Football 2022: NFL Owls Week 11 Roundup

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Rice Football is well represented on 2022 NFL rosters. Here’s the latest from the NFL Owls in action in Week 11.

There are former Rice football players scattered across the NFL. Stay tuned each week for their game results and notables from each player.

Team NFL Owl(s) Week 11 Result Week 12
Denver Broncos Calvin Anderson (OL) vs Raiders L, 22-16 (OT) at Panthers
Detroit Lions Jack Fox (P) at Giants W, 31-18 vs Bills
Indianapolis Colts Kylen Granson (TE) vs Eagles L, 17-16 vs Steelers (MNF)
LA Chargers Bryce Callahan (DB)
Christian Covington (DL)		 vs Chiefs W, 30-27 vs Cardinals
Pittsburgh Steelers Chris Boswell (PK) vs Bengals L, 37-30 at Colts
Seattle Seahawks Myles Adams (DL) — BYE —  — vs Raiders
Tampa Bay Bucs Nick Leverett (OL) — BYE —  — at Browns

Offense

Calvin Anderson – OT, Broncos

Anderson started his third straight game this weekend and the fourth of the season.

Kylen Gransen – TE, Colts

Gransen was thrown the ball just once on Sunday but hauled in the single target for a 16-yard gain.

Nick Leverett – OT, Buccaneers

The Bucs were on bye this week.

Defense

Myles Adams – DL, Seahawks

The Seahawks were on bye this week.

Bryce Callahan – CB, Chargers

Callahan had a season-high six tackles against the Chiefs on Sunday, also registering his second quarterback hit of the year.

Christian Covington – DL, Chargers

Covington was placed on Injured Reserve last week after suffering a pec injury the previous week against the 49ers.

Special Teams

Jack Fox – P, Lions

Fox punted five times in the Lions’ win over the Giants on Sunday, including a 63-yard blast and one downed inside the 20.

Chris Boswell – K, Steelers

The Steelers placed Boswell on IR prior to their Week 10 game against the Saints. He’ll be out for at least four weeks.

More Owls in the NFL

From practice squads to current free agents, there are other Owls on the cusp of returning to active rosters. Find more detail on current contractual agreements and former Rice football players waiting for their next opportunity here.

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Rice Basketball rallies from 17 down, tops Houston Christian

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Rice basketball started slow, but caught fire late, securing a perfect 3-0 weekend at home with a Monday night win over Houston Christian.

It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. At least that’s how the old adage is supposed to go. right? It was indeed a fitting description of how Rice basketball faired against Houston Christian in the final game of the Owl Invitational. Already 2-0 on the weekend, it took the full 40 minutes for the Owls to complete the weekend sweep on Monday Night.

Things couldn’t have started much worse. HCU knocked down four threes in the first five minutes of regulation, jumping out to an 11-point lead with Rice registering just three early points via a three from Quincy Olivari. HCU would lead by as many as 17 points in the first half, entering the break at exactly that margin.

At halftime, Rice basketball head coach Scott Pera told his team to break up the second half into four-minute chunks up to the media timeouts. “I had my grad assistant tell me the score of each four-minute segment,” Pera said. “And I remember the first one clearly being 12 to 2.”

More: Rice Basketball Season Preview

Respond they did. Rice didn’t slow down from the torrid pace with which they started the second half. They also had an 8-0 run a little bit later. Despite HCU knocking down 13 three-pointers and the Owls shooting a mediocre 25 percent from long-range themselves, the Owls battled back.

Finally, with 6:51 left on the clock, Rice basketball took its first lead of the night. Mekhi Mason did the honors, slashing through the lane for a basket and draining the subsequent free throw. Rice would surrender the lead briefly on the following possession but retake it immediately afterward, stretching it to double digits and holding on to remain undefeated at home.

Player Spotlight | Mekhi Mason

Welcome to South Main, Mekhi Mason. The highly-anticipated freshman scored 11 against Georgia Southern on Friday, the previous highwater mark of his young now six-game career. He’d made at least one three in every game to this point and he’d shot fairly well from the floor as a whole, but he hadn’t really had a breakthrough game, not yet.

That changed on Monday. With his team trailing in need of a spark, Mason took over. He led all scorers with 25 points, knocking down 4-of-7 from three with an additional three assists, to boot. He was lights out from the floor, missing just four of his 13 shots.

“He’s a talented, talented you man. I’m really happy for him,” Pera said. “He really picked us up.”

Final Box | Rice 76 – HCU 67

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice basketball has one final game in the month of November before turning the page to the December slate. They’ll host Prairie View A&M on Wednesday, Nov. 20, giving the team an extended Thanksgiving Break.

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