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Rice Football 2022: FAU Game Week Practice Report

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Rice football travels to the Sunshine State this weekend to play FAU. Here’s what we learned from practice as the Owls prep for C-USA’s other Owls.

Rice football returns from their bye week in search of their first road win of the season. FAU, the only Conference USA squad Rice head coach Mike Bloomgren has yet to play, promises to be another good test for this rising team.

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This week’s roundup highlights changes on the team during the bye week, focusing on some up-and-coming players and a few healthy players set to make their 2022 debuts after injuries sidelined them earlier in the year. Plus, continuity on the offensive line… finally!

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Rice Football 2022 Game Preview: Houston

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Rice football takes on Houston in their final nonconference game of the season. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

Rice football scored one of the marquee upsets of Week 3, knocking off a Louisiana squad that entered the week with the nation’s longest winning streak. The win pushed Rice to 2-1 on the season at roughly the same time when crosstown rival Houston was falling to 1-2. The Cougars were blasted by Kansas at home, their second straight defeat following a double-overtime loss to Texas Tech. Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup.

Kickoff time | 5:00 PM CT
Venue | TDECU Stadium – Houston, Tx
TV | ESPN+ (Viewing Guide)
Radio | Sports Map 94.1 (FM) / Stretch Internet (Online)

Audio / Visual Preview

We’ll preview Rice football vs Houston on this week’s episode of the Blue and Gray Preview Show, streaming live on Wednesday at Noon on the Rice Athletics YouTube channel. Look for a recap of the game on the site afterward as well as on The Roost Podcast, which should be released early next week. Find us on the podcast page or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. (And consider leaving us a 5-star review while you’re at it.)

Sizing up the contenders

Houston has won six consecutive games against Rice and dominated Rice 44-7 as recently as last season. The Cougars get this game at home and desperately need to win it to get back to .500 and avert a season in crisis. On the other side of town, Rice football is playing with house money. They’re fresh off a monumental win and playing great football.

The Cougars probably have the talent advantage, but the Owls have the momentum. This one could be interesting.

Series History

All Time | Houston leads, 32-11
Last Five | Houston leads, 5-0
Last Meeting | Home 2021, Houston won 44-7

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Rice Football Stat Notables

Passing | McMahon – 51/80 (63.8 percent), 642 yards, 7 TD, 6 INT
Rushing | Broussard – 51 carries, 145  yards (2.8 yards per carry), 4 TD / Montgomery – 15 carries, 132 yards (8.8 yards per carry), 0 TD
Receiving | McCaffrey – 19 receptions, 202 yards (10.6 yds/rec), 2 TD / Esdale – 12 receptions, 155 yards (12.9 yds/rec), 0 TD
Tackles | Morrison, M. Williams – 11 / Lockhart – 9
Pass Breakups | Morrison, Dunbar – 2 / Five others tied with one
Interceptions | Nyakwol, Chamberlain, Taylor – 1

Houston Notables

Passing | Tune – 64/102 (62.3 percent), 744 yards, 5 TD, 2 INT
Rushing | Campbell – 36 carries, 177 yards (4.9 yards per carry), 2 TD / Tune – 37 carries, 111 yards (3.0 ypc), 2 TD
Receiving | Dell – 18 receptions, 246 yards (13.4 yards per reception), 2 TD / Harry – 10 receptions, 151 yards (15.1 yds/rec), 1 TD
Tackles | Mutin – 24 / Owens – 22/ Parish – 18
Pass Breakups | Owens, Hogan – 4 / Green – 2
Interceptions | Owens, Green, Rogers, Ceaser – 1

Houston X-Factor | Get off the field

Through three weekends of college football, the Houston Cougars rank No. 118 in the nation in total defense. Rice ranks 40th. And the Owls have had to face the nation’s current No. 11 offense, USC. Houston hasn’t faced a single top 30 offense yet. That’s a lot of numbers meant to communicate one thing: Houston has been mediocre, at best, on the defensive side of the ball.

Although Rice football has taken to the air this season with more consistency than in previous years, running the football and controlling the clock remains a staple of the Owls’ offensive scheme. You can be sure the Rice coaching staff is aware of the potent Houston offense and will do their best to play keep away when possible.

Houston has to get off the field on defense. Whether by turnover or a third down stop, the Cougars have to show progress on this side of the football if they want the game to go as they’d hope.

Rice X-Factor | Don’t turn the ball over

Through three games, TJ McMahon is sports a woeful 7:6 touchdown to interception ratio. Three of those picks came in a lost outing against USC, but the other three came in what could have been a disastrous first half against Louisiana. McMahon was off target and made bad decisions, including his third pick-six of the season.

Nobody could have said it better than he did following the game. “We’re going to play a lot of teams later down the road where, you know, you make those little mistakes or if I have a first half again like that, we’re not going to be able to win those games,” McMahon admitted.

He’s probably right, too. Three picks against Houston is going to be tough to overcome. The Cougars’ offense has historically been much more proficient than the Ragin’ Cajuns and the road atmosphere will be much less forgiving. But Rice saw the upshot of a clean performance in the second half. This team was impressive. If they can channel that energy, they’ll be hard to beat.

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One Final Thing

Before the season, a 2-2 record in nonconference play was seen as the most reasonable “best case scenario” for Rice football this year. Beating McNeese State was a base level expectation. Finding a way to squeeze out one more win was the dream. Now sitting at 2-1, the Owls are playing with house money. And after winning this past game how they did, having larger expectations seems decidedly appropriate.

Rice hasn’t won the Bayou Bucket since 2010. They’ve only posted two wins in this rivalry since the 2004 season. Houston entered the year with AAC title expectations and even the subtle murmurings of dark horse college football playoff buzz. The latter is certainly out the window, but this is still a dangerous team that will be able to score points in bunches as long as Clayton Tune and Tank Dell are in the lineup.

And yet, Rice will have more than a puncher’s chance this coming weekend. Rice proved they can go toe to toe with a very good Group of 5 program, even when they throw three interceptions in the process. This should be a good game. Don’t be surprised if the Owls take the Cougars to deep water in the fourth quarter. Once they’re there, anything can happen.

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Streak Snapped: Rice Football knocks off Louisiana at home

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The nation’s longest winning streak is no more. Rice football improves to 2-1 on the season as they knock off the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns at home.

When Rice football took the lead early in the first quarter against Louisiana, the crowd applauded. Jumping out in front of the Ragin’ Cajuns, who owned the nation’s longest winning streak — 15 games dating back to last season — was a big deal. The two sides would trade blows, but it became clear by the midpoint of the second half that this Rice team was more than capable of going toe-to-toe with UL. The question became, could they pull it out.

A true heavy weight fight took place between the hedges for four quarters. Then Ari Broussard burst through a goal line scrum with three minutes to go in the fourth quarter, delivering a knock out blow. Rice football had done it. The Owls had taken down the Ragin’ Cajuns and scored their biggest home victory of the Mike Bloomgren era. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Defense and special teams set the tone

For the majority of head coach Mike Bloomgren’s tenure at South Main, the defense has been the leading edge of the program. While the offense has come on stronger of late, the Owls leaned up their bread and butter to get things started against Louisiana.

The Rice defense orchestrated a three and out on their first defensive possession before Sean Fresch reversed field and scampered 40-yards on a punt return, setting the Owls up inside the Louisiana 35. A penalty would kill that drive, putting the onus back on the defense.

The Roost Podcast: Stay tuned for the game recap this week – Rice football vs Louisiana

On third down, George Nyakwol stepped in front of a Chandler Fields pass and returned it to the Rice 38. That was the first turnover of any kind the Louisiana offense had committed in the last seven games. It would set the Owls up in positive field position yet again, leading to a field goal and an early lead. The third series was a similar story. A few yards, no first downs and a punt.

Following the offense’s second turnover of the day, the defense held on fourth-and-one in the redzone, turning the Louisiana offense again without points yet again. The defensive line was absolutely dominant in this game, creating pressure and filling running lanes all night long. Even without De’Braylon Carroll, this front was as good as it’s ever been.

Rice limited Louisiana to 74 total yards in the first half. Exactly zero Louisiana drives went longer than 30 yards until the Ragin’ Cajun’s first possession of the fourth quarter. It was a masterpiece by a Rice defense that was frequently dealt rough hands and always was able to rise to the occasion.

McMahon falls back to earth, then bounces back

Everything came up roses for Rice quarterback TJ McMahon last week against McNeese State. He completed 20-of-29 passes for 274 yards and four touchdowns last week. He did not turn the ball over at all and added a rushing touchdown, too. That wasn’t the case against the Ragin’ Cajuns.

McMahon threw a pick-six in the first quarter, his third pick-six thrown this year. This pass wasn’t deflected like the prior two miscues, rather McMahon was attempting a screen pass to a wide receiver in the flat and had the route jumped with nobody behind them. It was an easy, walk-in score for Louisiana.

On the next drive, Louisiana got a free rusher on third down on what looked to be some sort of stunt. Rather than eat the ball, McMahon panicked and threw it straight ahead into the waiting arms of a linebacker over the middle. With a chance to extend their lead before halftime, McMahon tossed his third INT of the game, resulting in another Louisiana touchdown.

It wasn’t all his fault — the offensive line was more inconsistent than they’d been last week against McNeese — but McMahon certainly looked much more like a quarterback in his second career FBS start than the savvy passer who led the team up and down the field the week prior.

To his credit, the highs were as impressive as the lows were painful. McMahon engineered two lengthy scoring drives in the first half, putting the turnovers out of his mind as he accounted for more than 300 yards of total offense and three touchdowns. Simply put, he settled down and played incredible football.

McMahon used his legs to elude defenders and scramble for positive plays. He went through his progressions and found open men down the field. After an extremely suspect start, his ability to flush the past play and move forward was critical in the Owls’ success on Saturday. His two-point pass to Bradley Rozner exemplified his ability to extend plays and create big moments.

Luke McCaffrey breakout game

Through Rice football’s first two games, Luke McCaffrey led the team with nine receptions but it didn’t really feel like he’d made his mark as a go-to guy in this offense. This week during practice, I asked both McCaffrey and Bloomgren when that game was coming.

“I think it could happen this game. It could happen the game after. It could also happen every game,” Bloomgren told The Roost this week. Then No. 10 stepped onto the field and dominated.

McCaffrey was the focal point of the Rice offense and absolutely delivered upon expectations. His first receiving touchdown as a Rice Owl was a beautiful throw and catch to put the Owls ahead in the second quarter.

The quarterback-turned-receiver was targeted a team-high 14-times and hauled in 10 passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns. He had another score pulled off the board at the end of the first half when officials ruled he stepped out of bounds on the play. Otherwise, the stat line could have been even more impressive.

If McCaffrey can do this against this defense, he’s going to be a problem in Conference USA.

Owls soar

Rice football is 2-1. Outside of a walk-off win over Prairie View A&M in Bloomgren’s first game with the Owls, this is the only other occasion in which the program has been above .500. And their second win of the season snapped the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajun’s 15-game winning streak, the longest in the nation at the time.

Bloomgren has had a few “signature wins” to this point. The 20-0 shutout at Marshall was incredible. The upset of UAB on the road last season was remarkable as well. But both of those games happened on the road. And neither season resulted in the bowl berth this program has been searching for since Bloomgren and his staff arrived.

That’s what makes this victory different. In front of the Rice faithful, the team secured a marquee non-conference win and ensured at least a .500 record entering conference play in a few weeks. Rice needs to go 4-4 in Conference USA to reach the postseason. That feels doable, especially considering the quality of the team the Owls felled on Saturday night.

Next week it’s on to Houston — which lost to Kansas at home on Saturday. For now, celebrate and be happy. This will go down as one of the most significant wins the program has experienced in quite some time.

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All three phases

Rice football talks about winning all three phases every week: offense, defense and special teams. On Saturday against Louisiana, the interceptions — three very costly turnovers — were the only true negatives for the Owls across the board.

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USC Onslaught a wake-up call for bruised, yet resolute Rice football

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Rice football started strong but stumbled to a lopsided finish in their season opener against USC, prompting the Owls to find a solution before next week.

“To say that things snowballed is probably an understatement.”

When Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren uttered those words following a 66-14 rout at the hands of the USC Trojans on Saturday night, the admission wasn’t surprising. Even heading into the game — Rice was a 32.5-point underdog on the road — it would have been foreseeable to envision a scenario in which a Top 15 program with a Heisman-caliber quarterback outplayed the Owls.

But nobody could have envisioned how the onslaught unfolded.

“There are four plays that really led to this game going the way that it did,” Bloomgren followed, making direct reference to the four interceptions thrown by Rice quarterbacks. Yes, quarterbacks, plural, because the Owls had their starter knocked from the game with an injury for the fifth time in their last 10 games.

If you want to talk about statistics more staggering than three pick-sixes in a single game, five injured quarterbacks in 10 games come pretty close.

There is no official diagnosis of Green’s injury nor is there an established timeline for his return. Once more, Rice football doesn’t have a lot of answers.

“This is a tough pill to swallow,” safety George Nyakwol said. “This is just a good wake-up call for us to prepare us for the rest of the season.”

Likewise somber, offensive lineman Shea Baker was already moving on to the next game. “We’ll watch the film, learn from our mistakes, not repeat the same mistakes and move on,” he said with a defiant resolve.

The offensive line undoubtedly has improvements to make in the running game as well as in pass protection. As Nyakwol would also go on to admit, the Owls’ tackling could stand to improve as well. There are lots of little tweaks to be made and things to correct before they take the field again next week against McNeese State.

But regardless of who is on the field or who is playing quarterback, three tipped pass interceptions that went in and out of the receiver’s hands, as Bloomgren himself described it — that won’t do. “You gotta be able to throw and catch,” Bloomgren said point blank. “We’re playing college football.”

Whatever happened on Saturday from the second quarter on was a miserable excuse for a college football game. It was a slaughter, brought on by correctable errors by players who have already proven they can play much better than they did against the Trojans.

To that end, Bloomgren’s final refrain seems believable, if not somewhat likely.

“I don’t see anything that’s terminal. I’m not gunna hang my head on this thing,” he declared. “I still think we are a very, very good football team and I think we showed that in spurts today but certainly not for a complete game.”

Rice football hosts McNeese State on Saturday, September 10. They will be expected to win.

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Rice Football 2022: USC Game Week Practice Report

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Rice football is days away from opening its season against USC. Here’s what we learned from the practices leading up to the game.

Following Wednesday’s practice as Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren surveyed his team as they began to pack up their things and leave the field, he offered this comment: “This is what I wanted it to look like.”

He was speaking of the Owls’ roster, of the program as a whole. He and I had talked about what this team would look like in Year 4 in Year 5 back when he first arrived at the program for the 2018 season. The depth he’d dreamed of has arrived. The speed, athleticism and raw talent is evident in so many players. And now this team is days away from being put through its first test.

With most of this week’s practice wrapped up, here’s a deep dive on all three phases, some standouts from this week and a few notes on how Rice football is preparing to take on USC.

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