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2019 offensive lineman Nick Wagman commits to Owls

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Offensive line will be a priority in the 2019 Rice football recruiting class which now includes preferred walk-on Nick Wagman.

As a former offensive line coach and run game coordinator at Stanford, Mike Bloomgren understands life in the trenches. Part of that wisdom will require the addition of some new players up front, something that has already been made clear in the Owls’ 2019 recruiting class.

It wasn’t a coincidence Bloomgren’s first commitment of the 2019 class came from an offensive lineman. Dallas, TX guard Regan Riddle pledge his commitment to Rice this summer. The Owls have since added to their offensive line haul with the addition of Potomac, MD offensive lineman Nick Wagman. The 6-foot-3, 245-pounder will most likely play along the interior of the line at South Main.

Wagman will walk on at Rice, just like his brother Jack did this year at Maryland. He won’t count toward the Owls’ football scholarship limit, something that will enable the program to take in as many players as possible in this group. This team needs an injection of talent; the more they can get the better.

Walk-on or not, Wagman is ready to contribute as quickly as he can. He had the opportunity to visit campus during the Owls’ junior day this spring and walked away extremely impressed. “You could tell as soon as you walked into the building that there was something special happening,” he said.

A refreshing endorsement from someone outside the program looking in, Wagman has now jumped into the Rice family. He cited his relationship with associate head coach and special teams coordinator Pete Lembo as a key factor in his recruitment. Lembo has been busy along the eastern seaboard, keeping tabs on several prospects of interest to the Owls. Wagman could be just the beginning.

 

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Urgency, focus drivers for Owls, FIU presser notes (10/16)

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Rice football remains winless in Conference USA play and gets their next shot at a win against FIU in Week 8. Mike Bloomgren remains confident this team can make progress.

Head coach Mike Bloomgren kicked off this week’s press conference with an endorsement of this team’s effort and will to win. He said the last six weeks “have been hard on everyone in our building,” but remained resolute that “this team still cares” and is working to right the ship.

Translating that effort into results has been the challenge for this team of late. Bloomgren referenced a quote from the late Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder and Seattle Seahawks owner who passed away this week.

As long as we work together with both urgency and determination there are no limits to what we can achieve

Bloomgren cited the diligence and effort of the senior leadership and the freshman class. Both of those groups have seen success on the field. Many of the seniors were a part of the team that won the Hawaii Bowl in 2014. Many of the freshman are coming off successful high school campaigns of their own. The Owls’ current junior class has won five games at Rice. Bloomgren didn’t try to sugarcoat it: “That stinks.”

Coaching up “what’s between the ears” for that group of players is going to be key to the Owls success on the field against FIU this weekend. If that means a change of who’s playing, so be it. More individual packages and plays are going to continue to be incorporated as the coaching staff determines which guys are excelling in particular areas.

Presumably with Evan Marshman starting at quarterback, Rice will try once again for their first win in conference play. Bloomgren said he knows how important a win on Saturday would be for this program. He feels it, and so does the team, who is coming off what he called their “best practice of the year”. The question is: can they do it on Saturday? We’ll find out soon enough.

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Quarterback depth chart, practice update (10/15)

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Rice football returned to practice on Monday with plenty to work on following the Owls loss to UAB plus a quarterback position up in the air.

Starting quarterback Shawn Stankavage was initially diagnosed with a high ankle sprain and underwent an MRI this weekend. The results are pending, and while he has not yet been officially ruled out, he is not expected to be available for the Owls’ upcoming game against FIU.

Stankavage left the UAB game with the injury midway through the second quarter. Redshirt freshman Evan Marshman replaced him and fared no better moving the ball down the field. Stakavage spent practice sidelined with a walking boot while Marshmann and true freshman Wiley Green worked with the first team offense in his place.

Jackson Tyner practiced with the second team offense. Bloomgen had said he would reopen the backup quarterback job prior to Stankavage’s injury. That has this case, but at this time all signs point to both Marshman and Green being ahead of Tyner. One of those two will be in line to make his first career start Saturday on the road.

Green had a strong fall camp and continues to play well in practice. He was considered to be a prime candidate for the newly instituted redshirt rule that allows players to play four games without forfeiting a year of eligibility. Bloomgren is going to do whatever it takes to win Saturday, so don’t expect to see a potential redshirt play a meaningful role in the decision making process.

Special teams

The first drills of practice focused on special teams. Even though Jack Fox racked up punt yardage in bunches the unit was far from excellent against UAB.

The most glaring issue came on a blocked up, recovered by UAB for a touchdown. That’s exactly where the team started, address any protection issues to ensure that doesn’t happen again.

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This week in CUSA – Looking ahead at Week 8

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Rice football fell at home to UAB in Week 7. How did the rest of the conference fare and what’s next for Conference USA football in Week 8?

Team Last Week Result This Week
Charlotte vs WKU W, 40-14 at MTSU
FAU  — OFF —  — at Marshall
FIU vs MTSU W, 24-21 vs Rice
LaTech at UTSA W, 31-3 vs UTEP
Marshall at ODU W, 42-20 vs FAU
MTSU at FIU L, 24-21 vs Charlotte
North Texas vs Southern Miss W, 30-7 at UAB
ODU vs Marshall L, 42-20 at WKU
Rice vs UAB L, 42-0 at FIU
Southern Miss at North Texas L, 30-7 vs UTSA
UAB at Rice W, 42-0 vs North Texas
UTEP  — OFF —  — at LaTech
UTSA vs LaTech L, 31-3 at Southern Miss
WKU @ Charlotte L, 40-14 vs ODU

Notable Week 6 results

North Texas bounces back

The Mean Green saw their perfect record tarnished on the final play against Louisiana Tech. They followed it up with an ugly win against UTEP, causing some to wonder if their hot start caused the hype to become a bit overblown.  North Texas responded by defeating a tough Southern Miss team, handily. Going undefeated is out the window, but a CUSA crown is still very much in play.

Western Kentucky might be broken

Outside of an eight-point victory over Ball State in late September, the 2018 season hasn’t left much for the Hilltoppers to be excited about. They squared off with fellow CUSA East cellar dwellers Charlotte and left. Neither side of the ball is playing all that well and games against FIU, MTSU, FAU and Louisiana Tech await them in the coming weeks.

Rice has plenty of work to do

Rice football has lost six straight games after a last-second field goal lifted the Owls over Prairie View A&M in Week 0. The offense has been the culprit over the latest two-game stretch, scoring three points in the last eight quarters including a Week 7 shutout, the first time that’s happened at Rice since 2000. Execution remains an issue for the Owls.

Week 8 storylines

Will UAB put the West away?

Sitting at 3-0 and 2-1, respectively, UAB and North Texas meet in Week 8 in a game that will play a major role in determining who wins CUSA West. UAB holds the tiebreaker over Lousiaia Tech who holds a tiebreaker over North Texas. The Blazers can lockdown the division with a win on Saturday.

FAU meets Marshall in an elimination game

On the other side of the conference, FAU desperately needs to emerge victorious over Marshall in Week 8. A loss would drop them to 1-2 in CUSA and 3-4 overall, effectively eliminating them from title contention and putting their bowl hopes in jeopardy.

And then there were four…

UTEP, Rice, Old Dominion and Western Kentucky are the lone CUSA programs without a conference win. ESPN FPI gives the Hilltoppers the best chance to pick up their first win, favoring them to beat fellow winless CUSA squad ODU in Week 8.

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Execution woes continue to plague Owls

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Rice football has scored three points in their last eight quarters of play leaving the team’s poor execution the glaring culprit in the aftermath of a string of defeats.

For the second consecutive Saturday, the Rice offense was kept out of the endzone. The poor offensive showing against UAB came on the heels of a puzzling offensive performance against UTSA. At the heart of both losses was a critical failure: execution.

The coaches don’t run the plays. That somewhat obvious fact will be the source of several hard conversations taking place at South Main this weekend. It doesn’t matter how well the coaches prepare the team or how well the team understands the gameplan on any given week if they’re not able to step on the field on Saturday and put that knowledge into practice.

“That’s what you’re seeing.” Mike Bloomgren said as he leveled with the media following the game. “When you can’t block people in the run game … and when you can’t block long enough in pass protection, there’s not a whole lot you can do in this game.”

He wasn’t alone in his initial assessment. Linebacker Dylan Silcox said team lacked “proper execution” that resulted in big plays for the UAB offense. Freshman quarterback Evan Marshman, who saw his first action for the Owls on Saturday, echoed those sentiments. “I want to convert on third downs and I want to lead us on successful drives. Obviously, that didn’t happen,” he acknowledged.

The coaching staff, the defense and the offense all came away with the same message, albeit one that’s hard to take to swallow. There are players that continue to excel at their one-eleventh, the phrase Bloomgren used to stress the importance of every individual performance on any given play. They’re just not doing it together.

If there was a silver bullet this coaching staff would have fired it long ago. Instead, it’s back to the practice field and back to the X’s and O’s. Captain Zach Abercrumbia remarked during fall camp, this is Rice University. It’s not a question of if these players can understand the gameplan, it’s when. There’s no better time than the present.

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