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Rice Football 2024 Spring Practice Notebook 2: From the Trenches

March 20, 2024 By Matthew Bartlett

Spring is meant to be a time for improvement and learning. That’s been the theme from Rice football on the practice field this week.

Rice football returned from spring break and got back on the practice field this week. There were standouts at all levels, but the trenches stuck out the most. The offensive line has wowed early, even as they rotate through several faces. Meanwhile, on defense, the up-and-coming youngsters are working to make a name for themselves alongside some veteran pieces.

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Growth, competition and good news up front

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Rice Football 2023: Tulane Game Week Practice Report

October 26, 2023 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice football heads home this weekend for a massive game against AAC frontrunner Tulane. Here’s what we learned from practice this week.

It was back to business as usual for Rice football on the practice field this week. The Owls came out firing early in the week, looking crisp on both sides of the ball as they prepare for one of their toughest challenges yet: a ranked Tulane team visiting Rice Stadium this weekend. Before kickoff, Rice had a few things to iron out on the practice field.

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This week’s roundup focuses on some of the successes Rice football unearthed against Tulsa and how they plan to keep those good things going, plus some special teams and injury updates and a few nuggets on offensive playmakers who could be on the rise.

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Take it away

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Recent Posts
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  • Hickson gem propels Rice Baseball to series win over Charlotte
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Filed Under: Featured, Football, Premium Tagged With: AJ Padgett, Chase Jenkins, Conor Hunt, Daelen Alexander, Elijah Mojarro, Elroyal Morris, Jojo Jean, JT Daniels, Landon Ransom, Marcus Williams, Matt Sykes, practice notes, Reese Keeney, Rice Football, Tim Horn, Van Heitmann

Rice Football 2023: Tulsa Game Week Practice Report

October 17, 2023 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice football is off the bye and headed to Tulsa for a prime-time conference game. Here’s what we learned from practice this week.

Following two weeks of prep, Rice football is on its way north to play Tulsa in what has the makings of a pivotal AAC game for both squads. The Owls got started on their game plan last week and added the finishing touches over the last several days, including some hotly contested special teams battles and some potential playing time risers over the last several practices.

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This week’s roundup focuses on those potential changes over the bye week, what the Owls might do differently from a personnel standpoint and as always, a few injury notes, both good and bad.

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Bye week adjustments

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Recent Posts
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2023 Rice Football Season Preview: Defensive Line

July 29, 2023 By Matthew Bartlett

Next up in our 2023 Rice Football Season Preview: defensive line. Let’s dive into the position and break down the Owls’ plans for the group this year.

No Rice football position group will look more different than it did a year ago than the defensive line. While there is a lot of quality production returning, the Owls do have several prominent names to replace up front and a few position battles still to sort out when fall camp arrives. Here’s how the position looks in 2023.

Rice Football Preseason Preview: Check out the rest of the series here.

This piece is part of our 2023 Rice Football Season Preview. Get access to it, as well as all other preview posts such as positional breakdowns, depth chart and schedule analysis and more when you subscribe on Patreon today. 

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Recent Posts
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Filed Under: Archive, Football, Premium Tagged With: 2023 Rice Football Season Preview, Aquantis Clemmons, Blake Boenisch, Caleb James, Chibby Nwajuaku, Chris Clark, Coleman Coco, De'Braylon Carroll, DeMone Green, Elroyal Morris, Izeya Floyd, Jalen Hargrove, Jordan Campbell, Joseph Mutombo, Josh Pearcy, Michael Larbie, Rice Football, Van Heitmann

Rice Football 2022 Season Preview: Defensive Line

July 23, 2022 By Matthew Bartlett

As part of our 2022 Rice Football Preseason Preview series, next we’ll examine the offensive line position and discuss the Owls’ plans for that group.

Following years of injuries and inconsistencies, Rice football has now accumulated a surplus of riches along the defensive line. Defensive coordinator Brian Smith will have to decide how he’ll deploy so many proven commodities and that’s never a bad problem to have. Here’s our 2022 Defensive Line Preview.

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Breaking down the defensive line position

Rice football has found itself between a rock and a hard place in recent seasons. The depth the Owls had hoped to have accumulated in the front four simply wasn’t there. That gave way to an ever-lingering dance between rotating in someone who might not be ready and sticking with the same guys for too long and risking exhaustion.

In an ideal world, Rice would be able to play seven or eight defensive linemen significant minutes through a game. At this position, perhaps unlike any other, Rice wants to continuously be bringing fresh legs onto the field. And they may be able to do just that this year.

If they can, they’ll help bolster a pass rush that had already shown its first meaningful signs of progress last season. The Owls’ 2.25 sacks per game ranked seventh in Conference USA and were almost a full sack per game better than their previous three seasons.

The run defense has always been solid, although it remains to be see how the front four will compensate for the loss of Elijah Garcia, who signed with the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agent this offseason. To that end, this unit isn’t without its questions, but there are many more potential answers than there were in recent years.

Projected Starters – Trey Schuman, De’Braylon Carroll, Ikenna Enechukwu, Kenneth Orji

Even though they were missing Trey Schuman and De’Braylon Carroll from practices, the Rice football defensive line put together an impressive showing this spring, At that time, it was Ikenna Enechukwu on the end, with Izeya Floyd and Blake Boenisch in the middle and one of Kenneth Orji or Josh Pearcy flying in off the edge.

That’s six names already mentioned. There are four “starting” spots.

Schuman has struggled with injuries over the last several seasons. It might make sense for him to share time with Enechukwu on the end, although we’ll probably see both on the field at times given Enechukwu’s position flexibility.

Carroll should be the rock the rest of this amoeba forms around. Fully healthy from an injury suffered in the summer of 2021, he’ll be a fixture in the interior of the line. When Enechukwu hasn’t slid inside, Floyd should fill the other spot. He had a fantastic spring after moving back over from the offensive line. He and Carroll were recruited in the same class but haven’t played alongside each other yet. That will change this season.

Then there’s the edge. Nobody wants anyone to lose their job because of injury, but that happened to some degree with Orji who, through no fault of his own, will move into a much more even split with Pearcy. The newcomer made his mark last season and earned more time on the field.

One solution? Play them both. At some point, the Owls will step up to the line like this: Pearcy, Enechukwu, Carroll, Orji. And that leaves quality players like Schuman and Floyd waiting in the wings. Sheesh.

Rest of the Room

Boenisch is probably the odd man out here because of the depth, not because of his ability. He arrived at South Main with an intimidating frame and took significant series with his game this spring. He’s a candidate to earn some specialized situational roles and he will push Floyd for snaps on the interior of the line.

The other name of note here is Quent Titre. The Abilene Christian transfer didn’t pick Rice to ride the pine. He played in 36 games with ACU over the past four seasons and tallied 65 tackles. He expects to play at South Main and should provide some utility along the interior. How he progresses during fall camp will be huge. The position is flush with talent.

Caleb James, Cole Latos and Elroyal Morris would be the third wave of players who could each see a handful of spot snaps on a game-to-game basis.

Player to Watch – Van Heitmann

Barring a wave of injuries, it looks like there shouldn’t be more than a few cameo appearances from incoming freshmen or other underclassmen along the defensive line this season.

Van Heitmann really hasn’t had his name called in his two-year Rice career thus far, but the sophomore defensive end posted a strong outing in the spring game and made a few big plays throughout the course of spring practices. He was a special teamer last season and should see frequent action there again this year. If he continues to play well there, he’ll be in the conversation for more time with the defense as well.

While he might not see much action early, watch out for Davion Carter. The incoming true freshman is listed at 5-foot-11 and 304 pounds. He’s going to be a difference maker.

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Recent Posts
  • Rice Baseball blows past PVAMU at home
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Filed Under: Archive, Football, Premium Tagged With: 2022 Rice Football Season Preview, Blake Boenisch, Caleb James, Cole Latos, Davion Carter, Elroyal Morris, Ikenna Enechukwu, Izeya Floyd, Josh Pearcy, Kenneth Orji, quent titre, Rice Football, Trey Schuman, Van Heitmann

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