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Rice Football 2020: First week of fall camp practice notes

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Rice football wrapped up its first padded practice of fall camp on Saturday. Here are a few early impressions of the Owls.

We made it. Thank you to all who have subscribed so far, hoping we’d get to real football. I had to pinch myself on Friday and Saturday as I watched Rice Football practice for the first time in sixth months. If you haven’t subscribed yet, check out this sneak peek for a better idea of the content you’ll have access to. I’ll also be giving away a free copy of the 2020 Rice Football Season Preview to one new subscriber this week.

Alright, now that we’ve gotten the housekeeping out of the way, fall camp is going to be just as unusual as the rollercoaster ride of an offseason which preceded it. Rice football is three practices into its preseason and it’s been different too. Community Gatorade cup distributions have been replaced with individual water coolers. Social distancing is being taken very seriously.

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Through all of those changes, there have been a few meaningful takeaways from the first few days of camp. Starting with the quarterback battle…

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Conference USA Football 2020: Week 4 C-USA Roundup

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Conference USA Football was back in action this weekend. Here’s the latest from the teams on the gridiron in Week 4.

Team Week 4 Result Week 5
Charlotte vs Georgia state CANCELED at FAU
FAU vs USF CANCELED vs Charlotte
FIU at Liberty L, 36-34 — OFF —
LA Tech vs HBU W, 66-38 at BYU
Marshall — OFF —  — — OFF —
MTSU at UTSA L, 37-35 vs WKU
North Texas at Houston CANCELED vs USM
Rice — OFF —  — — OFF —
Southern Miss vs Tulane L, 66-24 at North Texas
UAB at S. Alabama W, 42-10 vs UTSA
UTEP at ULM W, 31-6 — OFF —
UTSA vs MTSU W, 37-35 at UAB
WKU — OFF —  — at MTSU

Notable Week 4 results – Standings

Blazers prove to be the team to beat in the West

UAB had the unenviable task of traveling to play a hot South Alabama team without starting quarterback Tyler Johnston. Not only did the Blazers rise to the occasion, backup Bryson Lucero slung the ball all over the yard, racking up 319 yards and two touchdowns. On the ground, Spencer Brown became the program leader in rushing touchdowns. The defense was stout, holding USA to 3-for-12 on third down. UAB looks every bit the contender many expected them to be.

Rice is back

After delaying their season multiple times, Rice football has returned to practice. The Owls began fall camp this week and are on schedule to open their 2020 season against Middle Tennessee on Oct. 24. The Owls currently have six games on their schedule.

THREE WIN UTEP

UTEP started out strong with a pair of wins over FCS schools, equally their win total over the past two seasons. Saturday the Miners further impressed, thumping Louisiana Monroe on the road. Gavin Hardison threw for 302 yards. Deion Hankins rushed for 118 yards and three scores. It wasn’t a perfect performance, but it was a big win for the UTEP program and head coach Dana Dimel.

Week 5 storylines

Third time’s the charm

Postponements have been a weekly occurrence in college football this year and it doesn’t seem like something that will be going away any time soon. The loss of games has been more impactful to some programs than others. FAU and Rice are the only active C-USA teams who haven’t played a game yet this season. FAU will try for their debut next week against Charlotte after losing potential openers against Georgia Southern and South Florida.

Roadrunner gut check

A 3-0 start has UTSA fans riding high. Given the circumstances, it certainly seems like Jeff Traylor has done a phenomenal job in his first few months in San Antonio. Week 5 will put that growth to the test as the Roadrunners visit the UAB Blazers. An upset there could turn a feel-good start into legitimate conference title aspirations.

Last tune-up for Louisiana Tech

Louisiana Tech overcame significant adversity to win their season-opening game against Southern Miss in the final seconds. After downing HBU this week, the Bulldogs get a challenging test in Week 5 against a BYU squad that was only recently added to the schedule. Showing clear improvement against the Cougars (and maybe settling on a QB1) could but them in a great place before returning to conference play.

 

Rice Football Opponent Scouting Report

A weekly update on who the Owls will be playing this season including updates on key storylines, injuries and more.

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College Football and COVID-19: Mid September Roundup

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College football is back, but this season has been far from normal. Here’s a roundup of the key stories around the nation.

We’re almost a month into the 2020 college football season and it’s been one heck of a roller coaster ride. With all the twists and turns, it was time for a quick update on the impacts COVID-19 is having on the season.

If you want to look back at the up-and-down news cycle, you can check out the late-July edition of this update here, the early August edition here or the mid-August update here or are most recent update here.

Rice Football is back!

As first reported by The Roost, Rice football has returned to practice and is on track to play their first game on Oct. 24 against Middle Tennessee. The Owls were the last team in Conference USA that intends to play this season to start fall camp.

Cancelations are mounting

Through three weeks of football, roughly 75% of the games scheduled as of Week 1 had been played. With a cancelation rate trending toward 25%, the odds of any team completing a full schedule are slim. This weekend saw multiple games (Houston at Baylor, Florida Atlantic at Georgia Southern) postponed the day before kickoff.

Schedules are fluid

UTSA was finishing a football game on Saturday when they found out who they would be playing in Week 4. The Roadrunners were originally scheduled to play Memphis, but that game was lost because of positive tests in the Memphis program. No sooner had that game been canceled than did Conference USA slide in Middle Tennessee into the off date. So much for games needing to be scheduled years in advance.

The SEC starts up this weekend

The Big 12 and ACC have already played games in a staggered fashion. The SEC opted to return all at once with marquee games including Mike Leach’s debut against No. 6 LSU, Mo. 23 Kentucky at No. 8 Auburn, and No. 16 Tennessee at South Carolina.

The Big Ten is back … with its third schedule of the year 

After the rumblings of a return proved true, the Big Ten announced their return to play protocols and conference schedule this week. Nebraska, who had led the charge to get back on the field, opens with Ohio State and hosts Penn State later in the season too.

Pac-12 and Mountain West announced return plans of their own

Once the Big Ten announced they would play this fall, the Pac-12 quickly changed its tune. There are more hurdles to jump through in California and Oregon before the westernmost conference returns to action, but things seem to be trending that way. The league will resume play the weekend of Nov. 6. The Mountain West, after initially shutting things down with the Pac-12, will start their season on Oct. 24.

Conference USA is running out of quarterbacks

Injuries to Charlotte’s Chris Robison and UAB’s Tyler Johnston put an already precarious quarterback situation into further uncertainty. Jack Abraham at Southern Miss and Asher O’Hara at Middle Tennessee are now the only healthy returning starters in the conference. We discussed the new hierarchy of C-USA signal callers in this week’s podcast.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 53 – Breaking News: Rice Football is back

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An offseason of uncertainty came to an end this week. As first reported by The Roost, Rice Football has returned to practice for the first time this fall.

There were so many twists and turns to this offseason, but the light seems to have appeared at the end of the tunnel. Rice football returned to practice this week and is on schedule to play their first game on Oct. 24 against Middle Tennessee.

You can always find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 53.


Episode 53 Notes

  • Housekeeping — If you haven’t yet, grab a copy of the 2020 Rice Football season preview and subscribe on Patreon. You’ll get practice reports, recruiting news and the latest analysis and updates on all things relating to Rice Athletics.
    Become a Patron!

    Want to take a test drive first? We’ve unlocked a few posts for a limited time so you can get a feel for what to expect as a subscriber.

  • Rice Football is back — We discuss the breaking news and highlight a few key topics:
    • The Owls kicked off fall camp this week, officially beginning the preseason and putting an end to our Extended Offseason
    • A quick overview of the twists and turns over the last several months and what it took for Rice to get to this point
    • The likelihood of Rice playing out this season as scheduled and what potential impacts could be on the horizon, including a possible rescheduling of the postponed game against UAB

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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BREAKING: Rice Football returns to practice, on track to play this fall

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The string of postponements is over. Rice football has returned to practice with the intention of playing games this fall.

Rice football fans can smile today. After months of uncertainty, a plan has been put in place for Rice to play football this fall. The Owls have been given the green light to return to practice. If everything goes according to plan, Rice will kickoff their 2020 season on October 24 at Rice Stadium against Middle Tennessee.

The Owls’ first practice took place on Thursday. They’ll scrimmage on Saturday and continue through the next several weeks leading up to the first game.

Listen Now: The Roost Podcast: Carter and Matthew breakdown the Owls’ return to practice

This news comes in the wake of an uncertain path forward for the program. While others sought to replace postponed or canceled games on their schedule, Rice opted to delay the start of its season on multiple occasions.

Prior to this news, Rice had lost or postponed games against Houston, Army, LSU, Lamar, Marshall and UAB. The likelihood of the more than one of those games being rescheduled this year is minimal, with the only plausible options being their conference games against either UAB or Marshall. Assuming currently scheduled games are played as planned, penciling a game against UAB the weekend of Dec. 5 seems likely.

There were times when the outlook looked bleak, but it would appear Rice has successfully threaded the needle. They’ve minimized any potential risk to their campus and their athletes while still finding a way for the football team to compete for a conference title.

The future will undoubtedly hold its twists and turns, but for now, football is on the horizon. If you haven’t yet, grab a copy of the 2020 Rice Football season preview. Then subscribe on Patreon. You’ll get practice reports, recruiting news and the latest analysis and updates on all things relating to Rice Athletics.

Become a Patron!

Want to take a test drive first? We’ve unlocked a few posts for a limited time so you can get a feel for what to expect as a subscriber. Visit our Patreon page and find the first post.

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

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