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Rice Football 2021: NFL Owls Week 13 Stats Update

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Rice Football is well represented on 2021 NFL rosters. Here’s the latest from the NFL Owls in action in Week 13.

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 13 Result Week 14
LA Chargers Christian Covington (DL) at Cincinnati W, 41-22 vs New York Giants
Denver Calvin Anderson (OL)
Bryce Callahan (CB)		 at Kansas City (SNF) L, 22-9 vs Detroit
Pittsburgh Chris Boswell (PK) vs Baltimore W, 20-19 at Minnesota (Thr)
Detroit Jack Fox (P) vs Minnesota W, 29-27 at Denver
Tampa Bay Nick Leverett (OL) at Atlanta W, 30-17 vs Buffalo
Indianapolis Andrew Sendejo (Saf) at Houston W, 31-0  — BYE —

Offense

Calvin Anderson – OT, Broncos

Anderson was placed on injured reserve following a leg injury suffered in the Broncos’ Week 13 loss to the Chiefs. He’ll be required to miss at least three games

Nick Leverett – OT, Buccaneers

Ali Marpet returned to action for the Bucs this weekend, reverting Leverett to backup duties. He did not play against the Falcons, but he was active.

Defense

Bryce Callahan – CB, Broncos

Callahan remains on IR after a knee injury suffered in Week 8.

Christian Covington – DL, Chargers

Covington forced his first fumble of the season on Sunday against the Bengals, adding two tackles in a winning effort.

Andrew Sendejo – S, Colts

Sendejo played 87 percent of the snaps for the Colts against the Texans but did not show up in the box score. It’s the first time this season he’s been held without a tackle while playing at least 30 percent of the defensive plays.

Special Teams

Jack Fox – P, Lions

Fox was only called upon three times in the Lions’ first victory of the season. He averaged 55.3 yards per punt, helped by a 62 yard long ball.

Chris Boswell – K, Steelers

Boswell missed an extra point against the Ravens on Sunday, but his two field goals paved the way for a fourth-quarter lead and a thrilling upset victory. His longest kick went through at 53 yards.

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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Conference USA Football 2021: Bowl Notes, Championship Game

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UTSA has won the 2021 Conference USA football championship. Now eight teams venture on to bowl season, with the first game fast approaching.

Team Opponent Bowl Time Date
MTSU Toledo Bahamas Bowl Fri. Dec. 17 11:00 a.m.
WKU App. St. Roofclaim.com Boca Raton Bowl Sat. Dec. 18 10:00 a.m.
UTEP Fresno St. PUBG Mobile New Mexico Bowl Sat. Dec. 18 1:15 p.m.
UAB BYU Radiance Technology Independence Bowl Sat. Dec. 18 2:30 p.m.
Marshall Louisiana R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Sat. Dec. 18 8:15 p.m.
ODU Tulsa Myrtle Beach Bowl Mon. Dec. 20 1:30 p.m.
UTSA* San Diego St Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl Tue. Dec. 21 6:30 p.m.
North Texas Miami (OH) Frisco Football Classic Thr. Dec. 23 2:30 p.m.
*Won Conference USA Football Championship Game

Conference USA Championship results – Standings

The Conference USA Football Championship lived up to the hype, with USTA winning a thrilling rematch against a Western Kentucky team that came roaring back with a vengeance. It was one of those games that someone has to lose, you just hope it’s not the team you root for. Sincere McCormick walked away with game MVP honors, toting the rock 36 times for 204 yards and three scores.

One more ride

Seth Littrell was as good as gone halfway through the 2021 season, or at least that’s what it seemed. The Mean Grene reeled off a five-game winning streak, capping it off with a stunning upset of a ranked UTSA squad to clinch bowl eligibility. It now looks like he’ll be back next season after all.

Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren has also earned another season. His team dropped a pair of overtime games down the stretch, before pulling out a come-from-behind victory over Louisiana Tech in their season finale.

Hitting the reset button

There will be at least two head coaching changes in Conference USA prior to the 2022 season. Louisiana Tech announced they were parting ways with Skip Holts prior to their last game, a loss to Rice. They’ve already filled the position, hiring Texas Tech offensive coordinator Sunny Cumbie.

FIU is also making a change up top, moving on from Butch Davis in a drama-filled final few weeks. They haven’t named a replacement at this time, first opting to fill the vacant Athletic Director position. They tapped former UCF deputy AD Scott Carr to take that role. He will presumably hire his own head coach.

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Rice Basketball Roundup: MBB top JCU, WBB fall to UTA

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Both Rice basketball teams were in action this week. Here’s a brief rundown of how the men and women faired and what’s next for both.

Rice Basketball

Rice basketball snapped a three-game losing streak with a dominant home win over Jarvis Christian on Saturday.

It was 9-0 in favor of Rice basketball before the visiting Jarvis Christian Bulldogs were able to find a bucket. At that point, Rice had only hit one of their 16 three-pointers on the day. The Owls were the favorites entering the contest and led the contest from wire to wire as expected.

The home team led by 22 at half and finished with a 38 point advantage. It was the Owls’ largest margin of victory since they defeated Our Lady of the Lake by 39 points in a 103-64 win last season.

What they’re saying

“I’m really proud of our guys in how they responded after that three-game losing streak. We had great energy in practice this week. It’s a mature, older group of guys that understand what it takes and they really refocused themselves. With us going through finals, I’m really proud of the energy and effort that we had today. It was really good to see Noah (Hutchins) and Jaden (Geron) out there and to see them play well was even better.”  – Scott Pera on the team’s performance 

“I think had his best practice of the year on Thursday and it’s amazing how that translates to good performance on game day.” – Scott Pera on Mylyjael Poteat’s first career double-double

Key takeaway

Rice was able to out-score Jarvis Christian in a game where the Owls held a clear talent advantage. This wasn’t a remarkable defensive showing — there’s work to be done there — but it was a reminder that this is a team that can shoot their way out of slumps and/or poor defensive stretches. Rice shot 51.4 percent from the field and 50 percent from three, both of which are among their better marks of the season.

Up Next: at Houston Baptist – Saturday, Dec. 11 at 7:00 p.m.

Rice Women's Basketball

A strong fourth quarter wasn’t enough for Rice women’s basketball, who fell on the road to UT Arlington on Saturday.

Rice women’s basketball went back-and-forth with UT Arlington in the early minutes of their Saturday contest with Maya Bokunewicz contributing nine crucial points off the bench in the first two quarters. It was the third quarter, though, that would prove disastrous.

UT Arlington shot a blistering 68.8 percent from the field in the third quarter, missing just five shots from the field and dominating the paint. Rice would win the fourth quarter 26-18, but by then it proved to be too little, too late.

What they’re saying

“I’m disappointed in the outcome and that we dug ourselves such a hole in the third quarter before we turned it on, but I am proud of our fight. I’m proud that we didn’t quit but I just want to see the fight show up sooner. We have things we can control that we need to clean up and we will.” – Lindsay Edmond’s on the team’s performance

Key takeaway

Young teams are streaky and this version of Rice women’s basketball is no exception. Ashlee Austin was effective inside, and Malia Fisher recorded another double-double, but it wasn’t enough. The short bench is going to make everyone carry a larger load this season and they’ll learn from the experience. It’s just won’t always be pretty.

Up Next: vs TAMU CC. – Saturday, Dec. 11 at 2:00 p.m.

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Rice Volleyball: Time runs out on inspiring season

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Rice volleyball gave Texas a run but couldn’t upend the ‘Horns, falling in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

Rice volleyball was dealt a crushing blow last season when they were forced to bow out of the NCAA Tournament without playing a match because of COVID-19. Not only did the team never show any signs of lingering frustration, they bounced back and compiled one of the most impressive runs in program history.

The Owls blazed through Conference USA, notching a perfect 12-0 record before falling to Western Kentucky in the conference championship. Along the way they lost just six times, only once to an unranked team. That was more than enough to send them back to the NCAA Tournament once more, but this time they were able to compete, and compete they did.

Rice blanked San Diego 3-0, setting up a tantalizing Lone Star bout between Rice and Texas. The last time these two teams squared off in Austin, Rice won 3-2. This time, it was the Longhorns that came out on top, winning 3-0 in a match head coach Genny Volpe said “the score [wasn’t] very indicative of how competitive it was.”

More: Rice Football transfer portal updates

Rice netted the first set up 15-15 before Texas went on a run to put things out of reach. Then the Longhorns edged the Owls 25-23 in the second stanza. The third set was tied up 17-17 before Texas closed it all out with another run. Had there been a couple of breaks the other way, Rice might have been able to sneak another frame, but this time it just wasn’t in the cards.

“I’m extremely proud of how we played,” Volpe said.”All we ask as coaches is that they’re invested and they feel freed to compete and enjoy the competition because so much hard work goes into what they do. This team is truly invested, and I think you can tell. I think you can see it when we play. I think they inspire others as they inspire me.”

Rice hit .340 against Texas, 53 points better than their season average of .287 and 178 points better than the .162 hitting percentage the Longhorns had allowed to their opponents entering the showdown with the Owls.

Disappointed by the result, Volpe couldn’t help but smile when discussing the team’s effort. “We knew we wanted to embrace the opportunity and play Rice volleyball and we really feel like we can compete at the highest level when we play our game. And so my hope was just that this team was able to relax and trust the process that we’ve gone through and enjoy the moment. We did not get the result we wanted but I feel like they left everything on the floor and showed what a quality team we are.”

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 102 – 2021 Rice Football Season in Review

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Rice football went out with a win. What should we make of the 2021 season? We grade all three phases on this week’s show.

The 2021 Rice football season is in the books. Special teams was terrible. The defense struggled. The offense was … pleasantly exciting? Carter and Matthew break down the totality of the year, starting with the final game against Louisiana Tech and going into grades of each phase and what optimism (or concern) should be warranted going forward.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 102.

Episode Notes

  • Housekeeping
    • Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on your platform of choice. Every little bit helps.
    • Stay tuned for upcoming episodes: The Roosties and our Early Signing Period review
    • Please support us on Patreon. Be the first to get the inside scoop on what’s going on with Rice football and stick around for even further analysis. That includes updates from fall camp, practices and more.
      Become a Patron!
  • Rice Football vs LA Tech Game Recap
    • TJ McMahon and what to make of a spunky Rice offense
    • The defense wasn’t great, but made key plays when they needed to most
    • Rice wins its final game of the season for the third time in four years
  • 2021 Rice Football Season Review
    • How much defensive regression was injury-related and how much concern should we have going forward?
    • Special teams was a disaster (with nice cameos in the return game)
    • Was the offense the most encouraging unit of the three? How much credit goes to new OC Marques Tuiasosopo?
    • Should there be any significant concerns regarding previously announced transfers?

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.

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