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Rice Football Recruiting: Visitors for Homecoming vs UTEP

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Rice football recruiting will host some key recruits on campus for the Owls Homecoming game against UTEP. Here are a few of the priority visitors.

Roughly 30 different high school students will be on hand this Saturday at Rice Stadium to watch the Owls take on UTEP on Homecoming. Within the large group are a handful of key targets for the Owls 2019 and 2020 recruiting classes.

Ron Carr — Offensive tackle (2019)

Hudl highlights | 247 recruiting profile

The Solon, Ohio native is a Yale commit but will fly south to Texas to visit the Owls. Carr has 15 offers to date including a handful of Power 5 schools: Arizona State, Boston College, Duke, Pitt and Vanderbilt: Carr is 6-foot-5, 240 pounds and packs plenty of power. He would be a perfect piece to help Rice invoke Intellectual Brutality starting in the trenches.

Will Prendergast — Defensive end (2020)

Hudl highlights | 247 recruiting profile

Rice football hasn’t started extending offers to any0ne in the 2020 class yet but Prosper, Texas product Will Prendergast could find himself near the front of the list soon enough. He’s explosive and could provide a boost to the Owls pass rush as soon as he gets on campus.

Tyler Hudson — Wide receiver (2019)

Hudl highlights | 247 recruiting profile

Tyler Hudson plays his high school ball just up the road at Klein Oak High school where he’s been a key cog in the Panthers’ offense. Rice football needs a player of his caliber that can take the top off the defense and provide a presence at the second level of the defense. Landing Hudson would be a huge boon to this passing attack.

Josh Landrum — Cornerback (2019)

Hudl highlights | 247 recruiting profile

Expect Rice to take a look at several guys in the secondary in the 2019 class. Adding size and power to the back end is a must and Josh Landram brings both of those aspects to the table. The 6-foot, 165-pound defender from Cedar Hill, Tx has offers from Air Force, Delta State and Georgetown. Rice would prefer to lock him down before the list grows any further.

Kirk Lockhart — Defensive back (2019)

Hudl highlights | 247 recruiting profile

Another defensive back high on the Owls’ radar is Cedar Hill, Texas native Kirk Lockhart. He’s a true ballhawk in the secondary with the ability to play center field and stay with receivers down the field. Wherever he lined up for Rice he’d be a safety net for the secondary. At the moment he has offers from East Texas Baptist and Carroll College.

Hunter Henry — Safety (2019)

Hudl highlights | 247 recruiting profile

It’s no mistake there are this many defenders are near the top of the Owls’ list. Hunter Henry has already spoken extremely highly of Rice and says the “Intellectual Brutality culture fits [him] well.” His physicality and toughness would be a welcome presence at the back end of the secondary. Rice will have to pluck him out of Austin to secure his services.

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Keys to victory over UTEP

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Rice football takes on UTEP at home in Week 10 with both schools looking for their first conference win. Here’s how the Owls get it done.

1. Strike fast

The Rice offense has set the tone on their first drive of the game for the past several weeks. The Owls were turned away quickly against UTSA and UAB. They got into the endzone on their first drives against FIU and North Texas. The rest of the game followed suit.

Rice scored a combined three points in their last two games in which they didn’t score on their first possession and 34 points in the last two games in which they did score a touchdown on their opening drive.

Building confidence is important to this team. They needed to relearn how to move the ball after injuries suffered to key pieces of the offense, Shawn Stankavage and Emmanuel Esukpa. The faces have changed, but the need to start quickly has remained consistent. Getting points early against a struggling offense in UTEP will be even more crucial.

2. Win third down

Controlling the clock is an important aspect of what head coach Mike Bloomgren wants this offense to do. It’s hard to rack up time of possession if you can’t retain possession for meaningful segments of time. That’s something the Owls have struggled with mightily this year. Rice is 44 of 140 (31.4 percent) on third down this season.

Rice hasn’t converted more than three third downs since garbage time against Wake Forest, a game that took place a little over a month ago. Even when the offense got going against FIU and North Texas, staying on the field on third down was an issue.

UTEP is going to come into Rice Stadium and try to play smash mouth, physical football. That can takes a toll on even the most ardent defense if they’re forced to take that beating for 40+ minutes. More third down conversions lead to more scoring and less time to be scored on. The math is simple; the offense needs to find a way to move the chains.

3. Win big when you don’t convert

A four-time Ray’s eight honoree, Rice punter Jack Fox has been nothing short of outstanding this season. He was named the national punter of the week for his incredible effort against North Texas which included a career-best 76-yard punt. Whenever the Owls can’t end a drive in points, pinning UTEP deep should be a difference maker in this game.

The UTEP offense ranks in the bottom two of most statistical categories in CUSA. They’ve scored 15 touchdowns and average 4.7 yards per play while converting on 36 percent of their third downs. UTEP doesn’t have an offense that can take the ball 90 yards down the field and score.

Fox has downed 10 punts inside the 10-yard line already this year. If he can do that against UTEP the result will be short fields for the offense and more points on the board for Rice.

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Owls prep for Homecoming vs UTEP, practice notes (11/1)

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Rice football put the finishing touches on their gameplan for their Homecoming game against UTEP, the Owls’ Week 10 opponent.

After a few rough weeks in the middle of the season, the Rice offense is starting to come together. The atmosphere with the unit at practice was extremely positive on Thursday. Injured quarterbacks Shawn Stankavage and Evan Marshman were both there to offer encouragement and participate in the offensive huddle.

They stood by as receivers Austin Trammell and Aaron Cephus flashed in redzone work. Cephus has come a long way from where he started the season and is beginning to understand how to use his large frame to go up and rebound the basketball. His technical skills still need some refinement, but there are few better endzone targets on this offense than him right now. High-pointing the ball was a significant component of these sessions.

Dubbed “Mr. Consistent” by head coach Mike Bloomgren during fall camp, Trammell might have had glue for hands on Thursday. Coming off a career-best 10 reception, 94 yard game against North Texas last weekend, Trammell continues to be the focal point of the passing attack in practice and will continue to absorb targets in the games.

Injury update

The biggest new addition to the Owls’ this weekend will be cornerback D’Angelo Ellis. He’s been close to a return for a few weeks now, but Saturday should be his first action. He credits the strength program with the strides he’s made in recover thus far, saying Hans Straub’s program has helped him gain weight and get bigger and stronger.

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Rebuilding starts in the trenches

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Rice football yearns to be a team that pounds the rock and relies on strong offensive line play. It’s taken some time, but the players in the trenches are starting to gel.

The phrase Intellectual Brutality traveled with Mike Bloomgren from Palo Alto to South Main. The practice is still a work in progress, and that’s largely because the Owls are still working to find their identity in the trenches.

The Rice offensive line started the year as a veteran-laden group of starters which has gotten progressively younger as the season has advanced. From left to right Uzoma Osuji, Jack Greene, Shea Baker, Joseph Dill and Sam Pierce started the Owls first six games together. Then some of the Owls’ true freshman pushed themselves into the mix and stayed there. Clay Servin from Richardson, Tx and Cole Garcia from Dallas, Tx each earned their first starts on the road against FIU at left tackle and left guard, respectively, and kept the starting jobs through the Owls’ next game at North Texas.

“I think this offensive line, with the five guys we’ve got right now, is the best five guys we can have on the field,” Mike Bloomgren said excitedly, adding that Pierce is playing at the best level he’s seen him play this year and center Baker continues to develop into a leader of the unit.

Rice FootballTo get to this point has been a journey. The message from Bloomgren and his staff has been clear to the entire team from day one, something offensive line coach Joe Ashfield echoed regarding his offensive line, “It’s a true meritocracy,” he confirmed, “It doesn’t matter what age you are or how long you’ve been here.”

As the season has progressed freshman have risen through the ranks of that meritocracy at several positions. This system isn’t easy, but the players that have picked it up the quickest have already made their marks on the program.

Players like Antonio Montero, Prudy Calderon and Treshawn Chamberlain have all risen from backups to starters on defense. Garcia, Servin and starting quarterback Wiley Green fought their way to the top of the depth chart in the same fashion. After weeks of churn, the Owls have found consistency. The next step is turning that familiarity into success.

For many of these young guys, adapting to the speed and tenacity of the college game has proven to be the most challenging learning curve. Understanding the schemes and protections are one thing, but being able to implement them in live action is another.

It’s a six-second street brawl every time we’re throwing the ballCole Garcia

Left guard Cole Garcia called it “a six-second street brawl every time we’re throwing the ball” while Servin emphasized the need to “put your hand in the dirt and just go.” That instinct and raw talent, refined with careful coaching, should produce fruit that will pay dividends for years to come. Balancing the long-term goals with the immediate needs is one of the challenges this staff is facing right now.

From a practical standpoint, the Owls need a combination on the line that can keep their quarterback upright. The current situation, as Garcia described it, is that the Owls are “really down to [their] last quarterback.” Something Garcia and the rest of the line take very seriously. “I want my quarterback to leave the game with the cleanest jersey on the field and no scuffs on his helmet,” he said with a jovial, yet serious demeanor.

The coaching staff believes they’ve found the right pieces to succeed. Now it’s time to see if those pieces can come together and play as one, protecting their young quarterback and giving this team an opportunity to win again. Bloomgren tasks every player with doing their one-eleventh, but the offensive line has to do their five-elevenths. If they can work as one, the future up front is bright, not just for this season, but for the very ethos of this Intellectual Brutality culture for years to come.

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UNT review and UTEP preview, press conference notes (10/30)

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Head coach Mike Bloomgren broken down Rice football‘s performance against North Texas and preview the UTEP game.

On learning how to start strong and finish games

We played well enough to win for about 47 minutes, but that’s not how long a football game is.

Our football team plays much better… when we get that early score. It carries over to all the other phases of our football team.

On Wiley Green‘s performance

He played a really solid game. He did a lot of things with his feet, he improvised on a couple and protected the ball to the best of his ability.

On the involvement of Juma Otoviano

It was not the intention for him to have 19 carries, but he ended up having a really hot hand. We saw him play physical. We saw him break tackles… He’s also somebody we know can be in that wildcat package, but he has the ability to throw the ball down the field as well. We could see more from Juma as this season continues.

On the play of Anthony Ekpe

Mason Fine is an outstanding quarterback and we hit him 10 times and sacked him three. Anthony Ekpe had those three sacks. I thought he was pretty unstoppable on some of those third downs. It was really exciting to see him dominate a game like that and I thought those hits paid dividends as the game went on.

On “Jack Fox doing Jack Fox things”

Jack Fox Had a career-long 76-yard punt against North Texas, averaging 47.3 yards on seven punts with five punts downed inside the 20.

For the fourth time this season he’s on the Ray Guy Award’s Eight List this week. We think he’s a deserving candidate of that award.

On the UTEP game and Homecoming

It’s a huge game for our football team, a huge game for our program and we’re working as such. We are attacking this week no different than we have other weeks. We’re putting in the work.

It’s our homecoming. We hope to have all our letterman and alumni back. We want our letterman to know how important they are to this program, so we hope they all come back and watch it and I hope we put on a show for them.

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