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Rice Football 2024: UConn Game Week Practice Report

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It was an interesting week for Rice football as the team juggles injuries and prepares for UConn.  Here’s what we learned from the Owls at practice this week.

Injured on the final play of their game against Tulane, Rice football starting quarterback EJ Warner has been a significant question mark as the team prepares to make the trip east to take on UConn. Head coach Mike Bloomgren has issued some positive remarks about Warner’s status, but more light was shed during practice this week. And that might not be the only position with important injury-related news.

This update will touch on the good and the bad from the injury front plus some individual highlights and comments on the team the Owls are likely to trot out on Saturday. Here’s where the team stands prior to the UConn game this weekend.

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EJ Warner

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Five turnovers doom Rice Football in road loss to Tulane

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Rice Football traded blows with a heavily favored Tulane squad at home before a series of back-breaking turnovers ruined the Owls’ upset bid.

Tied in the fourth quarter, Rice football still managed to lose by multiple scores to an unyielding Tulane team which took advantage of seemingly every mistake the Owls made. Those miscues were, unfortunately, far too many to overcome as Rice fell to 2-5 on the season and 1-3 in AAC play. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game, starting with those stated objectives:

Defense leads the way

In a perfect world, you’d build a super team. The offense would score 100 points a game. The defense wouldn’t allow any. Special teams would ensure a smooth transition back and forth. Voila.

But as any Rice football fan is well aware at this point, we don’t live in that perfect world. And since we don’t the Owls must wrestle with the reality of three phases of football all playing at different levels of competency and consistency. One thing has become abundantly clear is the defense is going to set the tone for the Owls moving forward.

Following a first-drive punt by the offense — which hasn’t scored on its first possession against an FBS opponent this season — the defense quickly engineered a three-and-out, nearly putting points on the board themselves on this crushing sack from Ty Morris on the goal line.

The defense allowed a field goal on a short field following a Rice turnover, but held star Tulane quarterback Darian Mensah to zero passing yards in the first quarter. Mensah wasn’t going to be blanked for a full four quarters, but the redshirt freshman quarterback looked much more like a youngster than the poised distributor who had diced up AAC defenses thus far.

“That’s winning football, what our defense did,” head coach Mike Bloomgren summarized. “The only thing we can ask of our defense to better is create some turnovers. That’s something that we’re emphasizing, it’s something that we’re just not getting done right now and we have to, very simply, to be the team that we want to be. But if we can play with that kind of effort, defensively, we can win a bunch of football games.”

Tulane wideout Mario Williams dropped two surefire touchdown receptions in this game, but sometimes the ball does bounce your way. Two fourth-down stops prove this showing wasn’t a fluke. This defense is very good. If they can take that next step and become truly elite, the shortcomings in other phases can be overcome.

The Green Wave scored 10 points off turnovers. When forced to drive the length of the field, Tulane only mustered 14 points. That should always be good enough to win a college football game. It has to be.

Turnover gremlins can’t be silenced

Turnovers kill. Entering Saturday Rice football had turned the ball over eight times in six games, a rate that put them smack dab in the middle of the AAC, but it sure didn’t feel that way. That’s partly because the Owls’ four turnovers gained are second from last in league play and tied for 120th in the nation. Only one program in America has fewer turnovers against FBS opponents than Rice does: UAB.

Warner’s interception and a fumble by Dean Connors following a long run spoiled an otherwise effective first half. Those mistakes aren’t any more or less excusable by what is (or isn’t) happening on the other side of the ball, but they are felt more deeply when the margins are close like they were on Saturday.

Despite being down two giveaways on the stat sheet, Rice football was absolutely in this game at halftime, trailing 10-7. If the Owls had been neutral in the turnover department it’s hard not to project a tied game at the break, if not swinging things all the way over toward a Rice lead.

Warner’s second INT in the redzone was the most egregious offensive mistake of the afternoon. A veteran quarterback has to understand the situation better and not leave that opportunity without points. Likewise, the Owls’ star position player can’t put the ball on the ground twice. Connors’ second fumble was returned for a touchdown, officially ending any hopes on an upset bid.

Connors fumbled once in his first 220 career carries as a Rice Owl before fumbling twice today. Some of the turnover problems are systemic. Some are variance. The sum total today was overwhelming.

If this team could just get back to neutral in the turnover department, whether by way of fewer offensive mistakes or more defensive help, they’d have a puncher’s chance in most of their games moving forward. Being allergic to such game-changing plays doesn’t make sense, but it’s been a reality at the program for years.

“It’s hard to think you’re gonna win a game with a 5-0 turnover margin,” Bloomgren admitted. “It just doesn’t happen in this game.”

Warner imperfect, but improved

It’s hard to comprehend the degree to which the level of quarterback play Rice football has gotten from EJ Warner has improved over the last two months. His debut against Sam Houston and subsequent rough outings against Houston and Army had most onlookers wondering if this really was the same guy who had led the AAC in passing in each of the last two seasons. He just didn’t look comfortable whatsoever and the offensive production reflected that unease.

The Charlotte game was the first sign of growth. Then it got better against UTSA and was good again on the road against Tulane on Saturday afternoon. Warner had already thrown for more than 100 yards and a touchdown. He started this game 8-for-10 with his only real mistake an interception thrown into traffic.

The pick, along with some less-than-stellar accuracy on throws deep down the field — where most college quarterbacks struggle — provide evidence that there’s more growth needed for Warner and the Rice offense to reach their ceiling. But to have reached a point in the season where the flaws in this offense and in Warner’s game can be nitpicked is, to some degree, stunning.

Warner finished the game 26-for-46 for 271 yards one touchdown and three interceptions. He’s thrown for more than 250 yards in three consecutive games after failing to reach that mark once in his first four with the Owls, including against FCS Texas Southern. Some well-designed offensive playcalling from Marques Tuiasosopo like this jumbo-formation touchdown to Elijah Mojarrow deserve some credit, too:

“He’s seeing things well, He’s delivering the ball well and giving us a real chance,” Bloomgren said, declining to absolve his quarterback of all blame for the turnover-plagued day but noting, probably correctly that Warner “played a whale of a football game” outside of those mistakes, at least one of which Bloomgren attributed to protection issues at first glance.

Warner has grown a lot over the span of seven weeks. If he’s got even a bit more progress in him, he’ll take one more step and clean up those crushing interceptions, one of which came on a garbage time heave. This offense could be punchy in the second half of the season. Needless to say, that development would be massive and might hinge on Warner’s health following an injury suffered on the Owls’ final offensive play.

Where to go from here

Losing to Tulane on the road in a highly competitive game would typically make for a respectable, albeit disappointing, result. One needs to look no further than the complete dismantling UAB underwent against that same Green Wave squad a game prior.

But given the year Rice football has had and just how winnable this contest was makes it hard to argue for that silver lining.

There are no moral victories; this game marked the fifth loss of the season, and the calendar still has yet to reach Halloween. We’re now forced to play the schedule game with a Rice team attempting to tightrope to their third consecutive bowl appearance.

At 2-5, Rice has to beat either Navy or Memphis, who own a combined one loss between them at the time of this writing. If Rice can do that — and that’s a high bar to clear in itself — the Owls can get to the postseason through a perfect run through their other three games: at UConn, at UAB and home against South Florida for the regular season finale.

This team has shown flashes of high-level play over the past three weeks. They have the talent to win a few more games. Whether or not they can win enough is the question at hand. If they are going to make the run they absolutely must take care of business against UConn.

Being at this point in the season which began with such high expectations is crushing, but there’s no rewriting the past now. There’s still a chance. Please, please, please beat UConn.

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Where’d the running game go?

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Rice Football 2024: UTSA Game Week Practice Report

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Rice football is back in action this week against UTSA in search of a much-needed win. Here’s what we learned from the Owls at practice this week.

There was some good news on the injury front for Rice football over the bye week and lots of shifts and contortions with the depth chart as the Owls attempt to replace players still not able to participate and account for changing numbers in various position groups. Here’s where the team stands prior to the UTSA game this weekend.

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Running back ranks reset

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Rice Football squanders fourth-quarter lead in loss Charlotte

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Rice Football had their chances to put the game away against Charlotte, but couldn’t close when it mattered most. The Owls are 1-4.

A 10-0 halftime lead was not enough as Rice football fell by a single point to Charlotte at home on Saturday night. In the final two minutes, Rice had chances to win the game on offense, but couldn’t convert a third and short. They had a chance to win on defense, but allowed a go-ahead touchdown in the final minute. They had the chance to win with special teams, but a last-second kick sailed wide.

“I think I’ve given this speech a few too many times this year,” Bloomgren said at the podium following the Owls’ fourth loss in five games. “We performed better than we have been, but when the crunch time was here in that fourth quarter we failed in all three phases and Charlotte made more plays.”

Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Trust your playmakers and let them produce

In the highest leverage moments, it’s the stars that have to shine. For Rice football right now, that means the most critical offensive moments should involve Dean Connors and EJ Warner and/or Matt Sykes. They’re not the only talented playmakers on this offense but that trio has largely been at the forefront when that offense is moving the ball well.

Warner overshot a makeable touchdown pass to Sykes on the Owls’ first possession but redeemed himself soon afterward with a nice dish to Jackson for the opening score. Connors had more rushing yards on his first touch of the game than Charlotte did in the entire first quarter.

Now, this reality comes with a very real, and very important caveat: your playmakers have to produce.

Warner hasn’t overcome his tendency to elevate throws downfield. He overshot Sykes on multiple third downs in the first half. Sykes was better this week than he was against Army a week ago, but his lack of consistency has been part of what’s gummed this offense up at times. Both have played better as the season progresses, but each would (correctly) admit they have room to grow.

Dean Connors has been and continues to be the most valuable man on this side of the ball. He only touched the ball seven times in the first half; that’s not enough. He finished with 16 touches for the game and 135 yards of total offense. Your best offensive weapon — and Connors is most certainly that — needs more of the ball.

“We got other good backs. We don’t want to just wear Dean out. If you tell me Dean is going to get 20 to 30 touches every game, that’s probably the right number,” Bloomgren said after the game. “16 total touches? Would you wanna program a few more for him? Absolutely. He’s a really good player, but the flow of the game was going the way it was.”

Rice does have other good backs, but 16 is not 30. It’s not 20 either.

Rice racked up 463 yards of total offense, their highest total against an FBS opponent yet this season. It’s not a particularly impressive number on the whole, but it’s a step in the right direction. Those playmakers have to get things going if this offense is ever going to come close to the ceiling it’s shown in previous years.

Bring out the depth

So much of the discourse this offseason around the Rice football roster centered on the depth the Owls’ had accumulated in Bloomgren’s seventh season. Unfortunately, the only way to truly evaluate that depth is to have it forced into action. The results have been mixed when former twos and threes have been thrown into the first with the first units this season, but Saturday’s win against Charlotte probably doesn’t happen without some important contributions from former backups being asked to step up.

The offense line, featuring just two players in the same position they played on opening day, consistently opened up holes for the running game. Both Dean Connors and Taji Atkins got to the second level on plays that were blocked well. Although he took a few shots, Warner wasn’t sacked.

Likewise, the defense churned out some big plays from lesser-known faces. Peyton Stevenson and made consecutive plays to help stonewall a Charlotte drive in the second quarter. Daveon Hook led the team in tackles. Mutombo had the interception and followed it with a sack. None of those three were on the two-deep against Sam Houston in Week 1.

The go-ahead fourth quarter touchdown was scored by Elijah Mojarro, who wouldn’t have been on the field had Boden Groen been healthy.

Obviously, the Owls would love to have as many of their starters back on the field as possible. A bye week with extra rest will help those efforts, but even if reinforcements do arrive, this depth matters. Especially if Rice wants to make good on some of their preseason aspirations and get things turned around.

Unfortunately, the reliance on depth has it’s downsides too. Kicker Enoch Gota missed his first do-or-die attempt of his young career, turning what could have been a celebratory night into another painful defeat.

The defense gets some of its swagger back

The Rice offense got a big play from Dean Connors but didn’t put any points on the board in the first quarter, turning the ball over inside the redzone and punting on their ensuing possession. That put the onus on the defense to make sure they kept their team in the game.

Aided by favorable field position on a few occasions, the defense delivered one of their better starts to a game this season. Blake Boenisch didn’t suit up on Saturday, but the Owls still held Charlotte to 1.2 yards per carry in the first quarter. The safety room was as depleted as it’s ever been under head coach Mike Bloomgren, but they limited Charlotte quarterback Trexler Ivey to 5-of-10 passing for 35 yards on the 49ers’ first three offensive series.

The Charlotte never got in gear under Trexler Ivey. When they did finally get the ball across the 50-yard line midway through the second quarter they were swiftly turned away by this interception from defensive lineman Joseph Mutombo, who has seen an elevated role in the defense partly because of the slew of injuries in front of him.

Charlotte finally found life under backup quarterback Deshawn Purdie, who connected on three deep passes, all of which resulted in scoring drives. That was essentially it for the Charlotte attack. Three plays. But it was enough.

As the offense works through its challenges in real time, more and more pressure is going to be put on this defense to win games. On Saturday against a woeful Charlotte offense, they came close enough but got little help from the other phases. If they can translate that to more talented opponents, Rice is going to have a fighting chance to win some games, but they’re the last bastion of hope for a team that’s hurting.

Losing on the Margin

A fourth down pass interference call against Sean Fresch changed the outcome of this game. A block in the back penalty on the ensuing possession might very well have swung the outcome, too. Both plays exemplified the dangerous tightrope Rice Football attempted to walk in this game. Rice let a bad Charlotte team stick around to the point where one blown coverage could shift the result of the game.

The best teams in the sport create margin. You can afford a bust on any particular play or phase of the game when there’s a buffer to cover those shortcomings. When you’re stuck in a one-score game, every mistake matters. Teams with more faults make more mistakes. There’s some truth to the old adage that good teams stay good and bad teams stay bad.

This is a bad football team right now.

One that, in Bloomgren’s own words “failed in all three phases” to one of the few teams left in the country that had yet to beat an FBS opponent. It’s hard to imagine a lower point than this in a season that was supposed to be a breakthrough campaign. Picked to finish in the thick of a competitive AAC, Rice football sits dead last in the standings and they have yet to play UTSA, Tulane, Memphis or South Florida.

This is a team out of excuses and out of answers. There’s a lot of soul-searching to be done during this bye week from everyone in the program. This isn’t how this season was supposed to go.

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Fourth and the Woe Zone

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Rice Football smothered in Bayou Bucket loss to Houston

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Rice Football fell behind early and never threatened to catch up, ceding the Bayou Bucket to Houston after a one-year sojourn at South Main.

It had been more than 20 years since Rice football had claimed the Bayou Bucket in successive seasons. That streak will continue for quite some time longer after Saturday’s loss at TDECU Stadium. There’s one game left in the series as things stand and Rice can’t wait for another shot to redeem themselves from a rough outing in their biggest rivalry matchup. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Going Sideways

Notwithstanding their big day on the scoreboard against Texas Southern, the Rice football offense has struggled to move the ball north and south this season. They’ve largely been a horizontal offense utilizing their speed to the edges to outflank their opponents and slowly matriculate their way down the field. When you’re playing a less talented opponent, that works. When you’re playing a Big 12 team that is just as athletic as you are if not more so, it’s impossible. Rice found that out the hard way, early on.

The first three plays from scrimmage were a Dean Connors run off left tackle followed by a swing pass to Connors off the left side and then a flat out to Boden Groen. They gained seven yards and punted. EJ Warner was under a decent amount of pressure early but misfired on most of his shots down the field. Rice didn’t get any points from their offense until there were 68 seconds left in regulation.

Against FCS competition, Rice has scored 69 points. Against FBS foes the Owls have mustered just 21 in twice as many quarters.

If there was a weak link, it was hard to identify. Warner missed some receivers downfield, the protection regularly failed to give him time to work and the receivers did not generate nearly enough separation. There were moments when everything seemed to come together, but the passing game was flat and horizontal making it near impossible to sustain any meaningful drive.

Rice had one snap on the plus side of the 50 in the first half and seven such plays in the second half. They were 2-for-13 on third down. For an offense, it doesn’t get much worse than this.

The personnel is the personnel. The staff is the staff. They’ve got to figure something out, fast.

Defense staves off a massacre

In hindsight, leading the nation in sacks through two games should have been the clear indicator that this current iteration of Rice football would be led by its defense. A tough opening quarter, which included 35 total yards from the offense and a punt return score, would have been so much worse if the defense hadn’t picked up the slack.

Josh Pearcy added to that sack total on the opening drive, although that takedown probably could have been credited to a few Owls, which is a testament to just how dominant the front seven has been so far this season.

The defense was burned for a handful of chunk plays but largely limited the backbreaking Houston punches to a pair of long first-quarter runs by Re’Shaun Sanford and a screen touchdown following a special teams mistake. A 37-yard run up the gut by Donovan Smith was the cherry on top of a garbage time sundae.

Forced to carry the load for the totality of the game, the defense added three sacks to their total and did a reasonable job containing Houston quarterback Donovan Smith and the Cougars’ rushing attack, which tried its best to drain the clock as quickly as it could. It might not have been a great day from the defense as a whole, but this phase of the ball wasn’t the reason Rice lost on Saturday.

Special teams roulette

Many of the largest swings in this game came in the sometimes overlooked third phase of football. Houston’s second touchdown was a 75-yard punt return touchdown. A few series later, a muffed punt by Sean Fresch was followed by a 44-yard touchdown from the Cougars on the very next play.

The Owls’ punt return woes didn’t stop there. Tyson Thompson, Fresch’s replacement, was leveled on his first return, putting the ball on the deck. Fortunately, Rice recovered and was aided further by a targeting penalty on the Cougars. The Owls were only in need of being bailed out because Thompson failed to signal for a fair catch, perhaps hoping to make the most of a rare opportunity.

While so many of his teammates struggled, Rice punter Alex Bacchetta was a bright spot on Saturday night at TDECU Stadium. Bacchetta punted seven times in the first half and two more in the second. The Rice football program record is 12 punts in one contest, most recently achieved by Jack Fox in 2018.

Bacchetta had one bad boot, a 24-yard on his first touch of the game. The remainder of his kicks were booming blasts. He averaged 42.2 yards per punt, 44.2 yards apiece when excluding the first dud. He was superb, but special teams on a whole were way too erratic in the moments that mattered most.

Behind schedule

Beating Houston would have gotten the Owls to 2-1, par for the season according to oddsmakers, with a marquee win and a rivalry trophy retained. The loss, while not unexpected from a spread standpoint, officially puts Rice behind expectations with a road trip to Army looming.

Picked to finish in the middle of the AAC, presumably with another bowl trip in tow, it’s time to officially put all of those aspirations on hold. Rice could very well achieve both of those objectives, but the team that was talked about as a dark horse to contend for the AAC title quite frankly hasn’t shown up to play in this season. Beating an FCS squad is nice, but the remainder of the schedule is against FBS opponents, against which Rice is 0-2.

Maybe things would feel a bit more hopeful if Rice had found a way to not stub their toe in their opening game against Sam Houston, but right now this is a team with more questions than answers and there are still two more games to play before the first bye week of the season.

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Downfield, please?

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