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Last minute rally lifts Rice Football past UTEP for big win

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Rice Football delivers the wining score in the final moments, dashing past UTEP to secure a much-needed win at home.

Thursday’s nationally televised game against all the makings of a bowl-elimination bout between Rice football and the UTEP Miners. The Owls had had the upper hand in the series, particularly at home, winning nine of 12 in Houston. On Thursday night, Rice added one more important victory to the tally. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Withstand the first punch

On the first play from scrimmage, UTEP quarterback Gavin Hardison tried to thread a ball through a mass of blue and gray-clad defenders. Gabriel Taylor was nearly there to meet it, but was unable to make the one-handed stab to force a quick turnover. Instead, UTEP recovered and marched quickly down the field, going 78-yards in 3:13, deflating a defense in need of that instant jolt of confidence.

Down 7-0, Rice was forced to settle for a field goal on their first offensive possession as quarterback TJ McMahon was sacked on third and short inside the redzone. When Rice kicked the ball back to UTEP down by four, it felt like the rubber was about to meet the road. Was UTEP’s early touchdown — just their second touchdown in the first quarter this year — a fluke? Or would the defense figure it out?

The defense responded with a quick three-and-out and their second sack of the day. Then they found their groove. They got pressure. They forced three-and-outs (four on the day). Trey Schuman snuffed out a reverse for a loss of yards. The defense responded to a fumbled punt return with a stop and a 51-yard field goal try after the offense fizzled inside their own five-yard line. For the first time in weeks, they looked good. Not great. But good.

To say the Rice defense was “back” would be overly generous, but the unit that took the field on Thursday night looked a heck of a lot more like the one the Owls have gotten used to seeing in recent years. If they can find a way to get off the field on third down, they might just be dangerous.

Return of the big play

On the other side of the ball, the offense responded in kind. Rice had four pass plays of 15+ yards in four quarters against Charlotte last weekend. They reached that total just three minutes into the second quarter against UTEP and continued to gain yards in chunks. Bradley Rozner reached the century mark for the fifth time this season.

The Owls ended the game with 502 total yards and a slew of big plays. There were eight pass plays of 15+ yards and five run plays of 10+ yards. The offense was legitimately explosive.

What made the performance particularly compelling was the sheer quantity of contributors. Rozner, Luke McCaffrey, Isaiah Esdale, Kobie Campbell and Jack Bradley each had critical catches that extended drives or scored points. Cam Montgomery, Juma Otviano, TJ McMahon and McCaffrey each made big plays on the ground. Uriah West had his first touchdown as an Owl. Eveything just seemed to come together.

And then… the dagger!

The steady emergence of TJ McMahon

When McMahon took the field against UTEP for his eighth consecutive start, he reached a place no quarterback had gone before under Bloomgren at Rice. The previous record for consecutive starts (seven) was held by Shawn Stankavage, who led the way in the first seven games of Bloomgren’s tenure at South Main in 2018 before being injured.

McMahon already led all Rice quarterbacks under Bloomgren in passing touchdowns entering this game. He added two more to up his Rice total to 20. He also leads all of Bloomgren’s passers in interceptions, including an inexplicable additional tipped-pass pick against UTEP, a recurring nightmare that Rice fans can’t seem to escape.

After the Charlotte loss, McMahon said his job this week was “to make sure this game doesn’t beat us twice.” He did that tonight, leading his team down the field with regularity with a bit more of a boost from the running game than he’d had in recent weeks.

It’s been clearly established for several weeks now that Rice had its guy. As McMahon continues to progress, the hope for the future builds.

Breathing room

Two weeks ago, Rice football was 4-3. Being a game above .500 and two wins away from securing bowl eligibility was a breath of fresh air for the Owls, who have fought through their fair share of hardships to get to that point.

That was two weeks ago, and it feels like the program has been through a much more circuitous journey than one could have imagined in just a fortnight’s worth of time. Splitting a two-game homestand against Charlotte and UTEP was disappointing, considering the success Rice football has had to this point. But even still, the Owls have earned three chances to clinch a bowl berth.

The Roost Podcast: Stay tuned for the game recap this week – Rice Football vs UTEP

It’s not time to start booking tickets to spend Christmas in Hawaii or the holiday season in the Bahamas quite yet. But the situation is objectively more positive than it could have been had Rice not found a way to win this football game, and win it in the manner they did. The Owls have been far from perfect this year, but they have been resilient.

Following a loss, Rice football is 4-0 this season. And now instead of being forced to grapple with the real possibility of their one-time storybook season ending in a nightmare, Rice has hope again. Hope can be a dangerous this at times, but right now, it’s exactly what the Owls need. That, and one more win down the stretch. But they’ll focus on that final W tomorrow.

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When in doubt, be clutch

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Rice Football 2022: Louisiana Game Week Practice Report

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Rice football plays Louisiana this week, which comes to Houston riding a 15-game winning streak. Here’s what we learned from this week’s practices.

Saturday can’t get here soon enough. Rice football is eagerly awaiting another chance to get on the field after a thorough drubbing of McNeese State last weekend. This week’s opponent. Louisiana, promises to be a much tougher out.

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The Owls have been hard at work to make corrections from last weekend’s missteps and implement their game plan for the Ragin’ Cajuns. Along the way there have been some shakeups within a few position groups, injuries and a few learnings to pass along prior to Week 3.

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Rice Football rockets past McNeese State on Space Night

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Wearing space-themed jerseys, Rice football blasted past McNeese State, notching a dominant win for the Owls in their home opener.

On a night honoring the 60th anniversary of JFK’s Moon Speech, Rice football nearly reached 60 points, falling short of that sky-high total as they soared past the McNeese State Cowboys in dominant fashion. Rice dominated the scoreboard. They dominated on defense. They dominated on offense. From the time of possession to total yards and points, Rice ran away from McNeese to secure their first win of the season.

And they sure looked good doing it.

Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Early jitters fade fast

Despite the space-themed jerseys, Rice football didn’t come out of the gate like they were aiming for the moon. It took some time to get all systems operational. TJ McMahon and the offense did move the ball fairly well, but were hampered by a holding call and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that forced a punt from midfield.

McNeese gifted them possession right away with a first play fumble, but Rice went spent three fruitless plays inside the 10-yard line including a third down pass that was rocketed out of the hands of Bradley Rozner as he careened towards the goal line. Instead of a possible touchdown, Rice settled for a field goal.

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

Then the afterburners kicked on. The defense forced their second turnover of the day on the following drive courtesy of a deflected pass that landed conveniently in the open arms of safety Treshawn Chamberlain. The offense took the baton from there, marching down the field and capping the drive off with a nine-yard touchdown run by TJ McMahon to take a commanding 17-0 lead with 10 minutes to play before halftime.

From there, it was all Owls for the remainder of the contest.

Takeaways set the tone

McNeese State handed the ball directly to Rice on their first offensive snap. Then the Cowboys turned it over on their third drive. And on their fourth drive. And on their fifth drive. In fact, the only two drives the Cowboys had in the first half that did not end in turnovers were three-and-outs in which the Owls’ average starting field position was the McNeese 43-yard line.

The highlight of the night came courtesy of Gabriel Taylor, who returned this interception 91 yards to paydirt, the third longest interception return touchdown in program history.

Rice lost the turnover battle 4-0 against USC. They won 5-0 against McNeese and scored 23 points directly off those turnovers. It was a masterful effort by the defense.

Owls won despite costly mistakes

Tight end Jack Bradley was called for holding on the first offensive play of the game. Guard Braedon Nutter was drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the same drive. He was promptly sat on the bench for the next several series with John Hughes moving to left guard and Ethan Onianwa checking in at right tackle. Then Rice punted.

On a following drive, Luke McCaffrey committed a false start, negating a wide-open touchdown reception in the second quarter. The Rice defense roughed the passer, jumpstarting a drive that saw McNeese reach the redzone for the first time of the night.

All of that happened before halftime. Rice football committed all of those offenses in a far from clean performance. They gave up a 62-yard touchdown run to start the third quarter, missing several tackles along the way. And they still won by 42 points.

Recent history has suggested that Rice needed to play a near-perfect game to thump any opponent this badly. Rice was far from perfect today but their highs far exceeded their lows. If they can clean up those mistakes and mental errors this team could make some noise in Conference USA.

Taking care of business in style

Without their starting quarterback and starting center, Rice football rolled through their home opener against McNeese State and has moved to 1-1 on the season. Injuries aside, through two games, this is where this team was expected to be if they were to keep their aspirations of a postseason trip alive. So far, so good.

Winning was the priority on Saturday night. And although Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren may be hesitant to stump for it, the style points were noticed and appreciated.

Bloomgren elected to take a timeout with less than three minutes to go before halftime so that his team could have a shot to extend their 31-0 advantage. Immediately following McNeese’s breakaway touchdown, the Owls dialed up a 75-yard touchdown strike to Bradley Rozner.

All actions indicated Rice not only wanted to win, but they wanted to make a statement.

It was heard, loud and clear. Now the bigger question looms, can they do it again?

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Running away with it

If it felt like Rice football hadn’t delivered a good thumping in some time, that’s because what the Owls did to the Cowboys on Saturday night was the most decisive victory of the Bloomgren era. And it didn’t stop there.

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Rice Football 2022: McNeese State Game Week Practice Report

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Rice football will play its home opener this coming weekend against McNeese State. Here’s what we learned from this week’s practices.

As he’s said in prior years, head coach Mike Bloomgren reiterated expectations this week that his team would take a big step forward between Game 1 and Game 2. When asked Thursday if he’d seen that progression, he seemed elated. “They’ve been focused. They’ve been great. They’ve given it in the heat. They’ve worked their butts off,” he said about his team.

With four days of practice in the books and a more manageable opponent looming in McNeese State, the mood around South Main remained upbeat this week. Here are a few important takeaways from practice this week and a couple of nuggets on how Rice football might choose to attack this coming Saturday.

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Three-pack of pick-sixes doom Rice Football at USC

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Rice football was run out of Los Angeles in blowout fashion by the USC Trojans, suffering both insult and injury on their way out of town.

On Saturday evening at the Coliseum, USC and new head coach Lincoln Riley won the toss, marched down the field and scored the game’s opening touchdown. Rice football responded with a 16-play, 74-yard touchdown drive of their own, burning nearly eight minutes of clock time as they methodically marched down the field.

Then all hell broke loose. The Owls would fall in blowout fashion to the Trojans courtesy of three defensive scores allowed and another improbable, yet somehow inevitable, injury to a starting quarterback. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Owls’ offense both explosive and balanced

Before things went sideways, it only took a quick look at the Owls’ first two plays to see things were going to be different on that side of the ball this year. On their first snap of the game, Rice football lined up with two tight ends on the field, including Trey Phillippi, who had only just converted to the position last week. They ran the ball up the middle for four yards.

The next snap came from an empty formation with nobody in the backfield and no tight ends in line. Quarterback Wiley Green hit tight end Jack Bradley for nine yards and the first down. Up and down the field the Owls went, mixing spread concepts with heavy personnel until Ari Broussard delivered the exclamation point: a one-yard touchdown run on fourth down.

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

Despite being down to one proven option at tight end and a backup quarterback, Rice moved the ball down the field on a Trojan defense that, while unproven, was certainly talented. This was one of the most balanced offensive displays we’ve seen from Rice football in quite some time. The Owls finished with 134 yards passing and 146 yards rushing.

They averaged 6.4 yards per play in the first half while the game was in reach, finishing with 4.5 yards per play overall.

Picked off, again and again and again and again

It’s impossible to complement the offense without decrying an embarrassing historical feat — the first game time since 1982 in which the Trojans’ defense registered three pick-sixes.  The first occurrence seemed like bad luck. Green hit Luke McCaffrey in the hands but the ball ricocheted into the air and was hauled in by a defender with 93 yards of empty field.

The second came on a dropped pass from TJ McMahon to Bradley Rozner on the first series of the second half. Rozner would drop another pass which turned into another interception midway through the third quarter.

The third pick-six of the game (and fourth interception) came on a scrambling throw from McMahon, who was hit from behind while he threw, forcing the ball downward and into the hands of the waiting defender.

But even McMahon’s second turnover wasn’t truly a quarterback error. Right tackle Ethan Onianwa, making his first collegiate start, was beat off the edge, forcing McMahon to run right into pressure. While the offensive line had a largely positive day, it’s impossible to ignore the growing pains that come with starting such a green player in a pressure-packed environment like the Coliseum.

The scheme and game planning were solid. The execution, both on the pass-catching front and the blocking on the edge, was severely lacking.

No good, very bad luck

Although USC led 21-7 midway through the second quarter, Rice was very much still in the game following a 55-yard run up the middle by Cam Montgomery. Unfortunately, he was caught from behind before reaching paydirt and Rice found themselves facing a fourth down in the redzone. Head coach Mike Bloomgren made the right call — electing to go for it rather than settle for three — then disaster struck.

Green’s pass to Luke McCaffrey was bobbled in the air, falling into the waiting arms of a USC defender who scampered 93 yards the other way for a USC touchdown. In the process, Green was injured on the play and removed from the game.

In the span of seconds, Rice went from down by 14 with the football in the redzone to down by 21 without their starting quarterback. When one considers the exhaustive injury history the Owls’ have had at the position in recent year, it just doesn’t seem fair. But football is often unfair and sometimes the ball bounces the wrong way and injuries happen. Like two dropped passes turning into pick sixes.

Although it wasn’t enough to win the game, it was encouraging to see the team respond quickly with a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive.

Out-athleted, not schemed

Reigning Biletnikoff Trophy winner Jordan Addison beat Sean Fresch on the first play of the game, picking up a 12-yard gain and a first down. When the Trojans reached the redzone, that play was still in the mind of the Owls’ corner. Then Addison did this:

That score proved to be an omen of things to come on an afternoon in which USC would execute a nearly flawless offensive game plan led by Heisman candidate quarterback Caleb Williams. Unphased regardless of what Rice threw his way, Williams completed 16-of-19 passes in the first half. His three incompletions? A drop, a spike to kill the clock and a sideline laser with one second remaining that was ruled out of bounds.

Could the Owls have executed better on defense? Probably so to at least some degree. But Williams was clinical in his precision on Saturday. As close to perfect as one could ask a quarterback to be. And with weapons like Jordan Addison, Mario Williams and others available, that proved to be too much for Rice to overcome.

By the time the third pick-six was thrown, this game was over. It’s hard to put too much stock into anything that happened from the midpoint of the third quarter on and Rice has shown the ability to put a bad game behind them in the past.

Rice football isn’t going to face a quarterback like Williams or athletes like Addison again for a very, very long time. Even on their bad days, they won’t give their opponents three defensive scores. USC was perfect on offense and got a few breaks along the way.  Sometimes the story is that simple.

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