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Rice Football Recruiting: Surveying the Owls’ initial 2022 offers

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The Rice football offseason calendar is moving along. National Signing Day is done, spring ball is here and the 2022 recruiting class is ramping up.

Ever since recruiting director Alex Brown was hired, National Signing Day has signaled a turning of the page to the next recruiting cycle. Over the past two years, Rice football recruiting has issued more offers to the upcoming class during the week of National Signing Day than it has received commitments from the immediate class.

That trend proved true this year as well, albeit with somewhat of a more narrow scope. Rice has offered 15 players in the 2022 class prior to the month of March, down from 27 players offered at this time last year.

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The lack of any sort of in-person meetings with these players has to account for some of the gap. The NCAA announced they were extending the dead period again, this time through May 31.

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Rice Football: OC Marques Tuiasosopo brings new spin to familiar scheme

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Rice football has hired Marques Tuiasosopo as its new offensive coordinator. His task: reinvigorate the Owls’ offense.

Marques Tuiasosopo was introduced on Tuesday as the new offensive coordinator for Rice Football. Tuiasosopo brings a wealth of experience from the Pac-12 with him to South Main. His path to Houston includes stops at Washington, UCLA, USC and Cal where he served in a variety of roles coaching tight ends and quarterbacks.

Head coach Mike Bloomgren said Tuiasosopo checked his three most important criteria, saying Tuiasosopo “see[s] the game the way I do”, can design and call the passing game, and can “build the quarterback room from the ground up.”

To quell any illusions of what would or wouldn’t be changing, Tuiasosopo was emphatic about what the Rice offense was going to look like under his direction.

“Hey, we’re going to run the ball.”

The son of a defensive lineman, Tuiasosopo explained the physicality and importance of winning in the trenches was something that had been ingrained in him from a young age.

He talked about a commitment to being able to “throw it over the top”. That will still be a component of the offense. But Tuiasosopo noted the ability to take those vertical shots starts with running the rock. He and Bloomgren are aligned on that central tenant.

That balance goes all the way back to his playing days. The former Washington quarterback became the first player to throw for 300 yards and rush for 200 yards in a game as he set a school record of 509 yards in a win over Stanford.

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He credits a lot of his growth to this point to a handful of notable coaches he’s had the privilege to work under. From Jon Gruden, he learned the importance of protecting the quarterback. From David Shaw, he learned how to stay poised under pressure. Steve Sarkisian, who he’ll stand on the opposite sideline from this coming fall, instilled in him the value of executing at a high level without sacrificing all of the fun.

Now at Rice, the first-time offensive coordinator for the first time in his career seeks to bring all of that experience together into one coherent plan of attack.

When it comes to the X’s and O’s, Bloomgren reiterated he doesn’t expect a seismic shift in the scheme. The notable change, if any, would a deeper exploration into RPO’s and similar concepts Tuiasopopo has direct experience with in the past.

At the end of the day, no matter how Tuiasosopo and Bloomgren build it, the expectations are rising. The offense has lagged behind the defense, most notably in the past two seasons. The changes to the coaching staff reflected Bloomgren’s desire to reset and address that side of the ball. “I wanted some fresh ideas to come into the building,” Bloomgren said.

Tuiasosopo has been on campus for a matter of days. He has one spring practice under his belt. Both he and the Rice offense have a lot of work to do this spring. That could include another reset at the quarterback position

On that front, probably Tuiasosopo’s most imminent priority, the new OC stressed a fresh start. “There’s a clean slate for those four young men in the quarterback room here at Rice,” he said. “Let’s go out and see who can be the best guy this year.”

From the quarterback spot to the offense as a whole, Tuiasosopo will be busy.

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Rice Football to begin spring practice on Monday, March 1

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Spring football is back. Rice football is scheduled to kick off its spring schedule on Monday, March 1. Stay tuned to The Roost for updates.

Rice football will begin spring practices on March 1. The spring football roster, including early enrollees and returning seniors, was released mid-February but might have gotten lost in the shuffle considering everything that’s gone on in Houston over the past two weeks.

We’ve broken down the most notable changes and shifts on that new roster for subscribers here. We’ll also be providing updates throughout the month as practices progress. There will be details on important competitions like quarterback and wide receiver plus notes on a few new faces just recently arriving on South Main.

Our Starting Lineup tier subscribers will get access to every update from spring practices. You’ll also get access to all recruiting updates, past and future as well as any special features along the way. Offers for the class of 2022 are picking up as Rice looks to build off consecutive strong classes.

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There should also soon be an announcement regarding the changes on the coaching staff. Departing from the staff are offensive coordinator Jerry Mack and special team’s coordinator Drew Svoboda. Rice is expected to name former Cal tight ends coach Marques Tuiasosopo as their new offensive coordinator. Jim Jackson, formerly of UMass, will coach tight ends.

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Rice Baseball 2021: Owls swept by Louisiana in first road series

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Rice baseball (2-4) fell in three straight games to Louisiana. The Owls had good moments on the mound, but couldn’t keep up with the Cajun’s bats.

THREE FOR THE ROAD | Louisiana wins series 3-0

1. The Bullpen posts another strong showing

The season hasn’t been long, but we’ve seen the same narrative play out more than once. Rice baseball starting pitching surrenders the lead. The offense doesn’t have the juice to catch back up, but the bullpen keeps the team within striking distance until the innings run their course.

That same scenario manifested itself on Friday and Saturday against Louisiana. Dalton Wood and Reed Gallant were terrific. Wood allowed no hits and struck out three in 2.1 innings on Friday. Gallant allowed two hits with one strikeout in 4.1 innings on Saturday. But despite their best efforts, neither factored in a decision on the weekend because the lead had already been lost before they got their chance on the mound.

Sunday’s collective wasn’t as strong, but it did include several faces seeing their first action of the season in a situation where Rice was already trailing.

2. More offense, please

Rice scored three runs in each of their three games against Louisiana. Justin Dunlap, the Owls’ most productive hitter against Houston Baptist, did not play in the series. Among the Owls that did, only four — Braden Comeaux (.364), Justin Long (.333), Cade Edwards (.304) and Bradley Gneiting (.238) — are hitting better than .220 on the season.

Guy Garibay, who made his Rice debut on Friday night, drew three walks and hit a home run. He’s fifth among all Owls with a .385 on-base percentage. Rice is going to need more from incoming transfer Connor Walsh and Hal Hughes at the plate, too.

3. Flipped rotation not working for the Owls

We’ve seen a lot of tremendous pitching performances from the Rice staff so far this season. Unfortunately, that hasn’t extended to their unexpected series-starting pitcher Mitchell Holcomb. Entering the season, Roel Garcia and Blake Brogdon were the sure-fire top two arms in the rotation. Holcomb was the likeliest candidate to pitch on Sundays. He wasn’t supposed to be a Friday night guy.

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But the storm and limited availability of others have made Holcomb the man tasked with opening series thus far. By head coach Matt Bragga’s own admission, he hasn’t been at his best. That’s put Rice in early holes.

If everything had gone according to plan, Holcomb still would have been in the rotation, so his struggles so far still would have impacted the team. But there’s something to be said from falling behind in a series so quickly. It changes how pitchers are deployed and how a team responds. Getting Garcia back into the No. 1 spot is a must.

THE PLAY BY PLAY

FRIDAY | Louisiana 7 – Rice 3

Louisiana struck early in the opener. A leadoff home run sparked a three-run, eight-batter first inning against Mitchell Holcomb that put Rice into comeback mode from the start. The Owls were able to equalize with a Connor Walsh home run, but the offense was quiet from that point onward.

Holcomb would allow another two runs before exiting after three innings. Alex DeLeon allowed two more runs in 2.2 innings before Dalton Wood came on and blanked the Cajuns for the final 2.1 innings. By then, it was too late. Rice had just four hits total after the second inning.

SATURDAY | Louisiana 5 – Rice 3

After trading zeroes in the first, Louisiana scratched across a run in the second and the third innings to take a 2-0 lead. Rice had their best opportunity in the fourth, striking for three runs and driving starting pitcher David Christie from the game.

The Owls did not hold the lead for more than a few minutes. A pair of RBI doubles against Rice starter Blake Brogdon put Louisiana in front in the bottom half of the inning. Brogdon would be chased before recording the third out. He was charged with all three runs in the inning as well as the 5-3 loss.

SUNDAY | Louisiana 6 – Rice 3

Rice struck first on Sunday, sneaking a run across on an error in the third inning. That 1-0 lead would hold until Garcia was lifted in the fifth inning for Brandon Deskins. The sophomore didn’t exhibit the same amount of control that he did against Houston Baptist. He was charged with three runs and saddled with the loss.

Including the three allowed by Deskins, the bullpen would collectively concede six runs before Rice baseball found a way back onto the scoreboard.

Garibay came through with his first collegiate home run in the eighth, but the celebration was somewhat muted with teammate Comeaux having been just escorted from the field after being hit by a pitch.

ON DECK | Rice Baseball vs Prairie View A&M (Wed) and Shriner’s College Classic at Minute Maid Park: Sam Houston (Fri), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Sat), Texas State (Sun).

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Rice Women’s Basketball: Owls shoot circles around Louisiana Tech

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Rice women’s basketball rebounded from a challenging road trip with an emphatic home sweep of Louisiana Tech. The wins kept the Owls atop C-USA.

The lede up to the Marshall games was different for Rice women’s basketball. The team wasn’t able to practice like they’re used to before fleeing a thawing city in the midst of ever-present COVID-19 concerns. Win or lose, last week was hard.

So win Jasmine Smith launched a half-court heave in the third quarter of Friday’s win over Louisiana Tech, the bench exploded. “Everything is so heavy right now,” head coach Tina Langley recalled after the game. “You can’t even see each other smile hardly anymore. So to be able to see [Smith] celebrate and have some fun, I think really brought us all a lot [of joy].”

That infectious energy imbued Rice to a two-game sweep of Louisiana Tech this weekend. The Owls jumped out to an early lead in the opening game, but Louisiana Tech fought back and held the Rice accountable for their miscues.

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A five-point halftime lead reflected what had been a fairly evenly contest to that point. Then the Rice women took a page out of the men’s playbook and began a barrage of three-pointers. Including the half-court bomb from Smith, Rice hit six threes in a row, blowing what had been a close game wide open. The Owls closed out the fourth quarter with a comfortable lead, capping off an emphatic bounce-back win.

Saturday was more of the same. The two teams traded blows early on, with Rice clinging to a two-point lead at halftime. Then came the third quarter and, once again, the three point barrage. Rice made three of their seven three pointers in the third quarter, extending the lead to double-digits to set up a relatively stress-free fourth quarter.

Player Spotlight | Nancy Mulkey

Mulkey notched her 1,000th career point with, what else, but a three pointer in the third quarter. She’s perfect from deep on her career, making all three of her attempts. As good as the Owls have been as a unit, Mulkey has been on another level.

As of the end of this series, the Owls’ center leads the team in field goal percentage, rebounding, blocks and points. She’s also the only member of the team to be shooting 1.000 from three.

Stat Corner | Going deep

This isn’t a team that takes a lot of three point shots. With Nancy Mulkey in the paint, there’s hardly much need to rely on volume from deep. It’s just never been part of head coach Tina Langley’s offensive philosophy. Until now?

“To be honest with you, we’ve been talking about [shooting more threes] for some time.”

Rice finished their Friday game with 14 made three-pointers, four more than they converted in their two-game set against Marshall last weekend and more than they’ve made in any game over the past three seasons. Four different players hit at least three three-pointers. The Owls 25 attempts were the most they’d taken since Feb. 14, 2019 in a win over FIU.

The volume was down Saturday, but the efficiency remained sky-high. Rice hit 50 percent of their deep balls, tied for their fourth-best shooting performance from three this season.

Up Next

While some programs have ended their regular season schedule, Rice women’s basketball has one more set of games lined up prior to the conference tournament. The Owls will make up previously scheduled games against North Texas. The Owls will play Thursday in Denton and finish the two-game set Saturday at Tudor Fieldhouse.

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