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Rice Football: Owls hit open week in need of a reset

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Rice Football hits an open week in need of an introspective look. The Owls must make their extra week of preparation as productive as possible.

There’s hardly even been an off week that didn’t come at the right time. If the team is winning, the rest offers time for injured players to return and the team to rest up for another string of games. If the team isn’t, it’s a respite from the toil and time to reassess. Rice football finds itself in the latter rather position than the former.

Owners of an 0-6 record, what the team does with this week will reverberate for months to come.

More: Takeaways from Owls’ waterlogged loss to UAB

“I think this bye is going to be a defining moment for us,” linebacker Blaze Alldredge said following the UAB loss. “Hopefully we can use it as a turning point in our season. I know the coaches are going to do their best to help us do that and it’s going to be on us players to keep the right mindset and treat this bye week like professionals and come the week after ready to play.”

Coming back ready to play starts with an honest assessment of where the team has left off.

Where the Owls stand

Among their Conference USA peers, Rice has the tenth-most efficient offense, ninth-most efficient defense and the fifth most efficient special teams. SP+, an opponent-adjusted metric meant to evaluate the entire team as a whole, pegs the Owls as the 12th best team in C-USA.

Those numbers highlight what most have been able to digest from watching the team play this year. There are facets of all three phases that have been undeniably great — but hitting those highpoints consistently has been a challenge.

As they search for their first win, the team knows they’re capable of so much more. Bloomgren knows it too.

“I’m so glad we’re going into an open week so we can get better at some real fundamental things that we’ve just got to continue to work through,” he said, “I still think there’s a lot in the future of this football team. I certainly don’t think this any kind of death sentence or anything like that. What I do think is if we work, we’re going to win some games. And I don’t know how many. But if we position ourselves and work our butts off for the next two weeks, it should start then.”

It gets easier from here

That first win might not be far off. The difficulty of the nonconference schedule has been well documented, but the quality of the opponents that remain on the Rice football schedule has taken a noticeable dip too. Here are the first six opponents:

Army | 3-2
No. 11 Texas | 4-1
No. 19 Wake Forest | 5-0
No. 22 Baylor | 5-0
LA Tech | 4-1
UAB | 4-1

Three of them are ranked in the most recent AP Poll. Two of them are undefeated. Altogether, the Owls’ first six opponents are 25-5 with losses to LSU, Texas, Michigan, current C-USA leader WKU and current AAC leader Tulane. That’s a sterling resume.

Contrast that to the road ahead:

UTSA | 2-3
Southern Miss | 3-2
Marshall | 2-3
MTSU | 2-3
North Texas | 2-3
UTEP | 1-4

The next six opponents on the schedule have six combined victories over FBS teams with wins over UTEP (twice), Troy, Ohio, Marshall and UTSA. One of those teams has a record of .500 or better (Southern Miss) and that includes wins over Alcorn State and UTEP. That’s a stark difference from what the Owls have faced so far in which no opponent has yet to lose multiple times in regulation.

The next two weeks will be a gut check for the Owls on both sides of the football. Senior Aston Walter says “It starts with looking in the mirror,” adding that he’ll “never put a defined ceiling on what this team can be.” If the team can take to heart that message, the next coming weeks of Rice football should offer more promising results than the first portion of the season.

Tweaks, not overhauls

Rice isn’t going to fully reboot on either side of the ball, rather they’ll work to perfect what has already paid early rewards.

On the offensive side of the ball, identifying ways to ensure open running lanes in the second half of games will be paramount. Aston Walter has broken off two long touchdown runs in the past two games, but both came early in the game. What does Rice need to change, if anything, schematically to ensure those runs can pop later in the game too?

The passing game has been better, but protecting the quarterback should be a priority. Keeping Wiley Green upright will enable the offense to be more efficient as a whole.

A more decisive pass rush would go a long way for the defense. The Owls have gotten pressure, but haven’t gotten home consistently. That’s led to added strain on the secondary.

Defensively, Rice has probably had two of their better performances under Bloomgren in the last three weeks (LA Tech, Baylor). The offense has been their best in the first halves of the games against LA Tech and UAB. If the team can find a way to sustain those good things and iron out the inefficiencies, this team could get a lot better, quickly.

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Rice Football: Owls fall to UAB in delayed downpour

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Rice Football traded blows with UAB before the offense dried up under heavy rains as the Owls fell to the Blazers in a sloppy night.

Rain and lightning turned a promising start into a drawn-out, waterlogged affair on Saturday night in Birmingham. The Owls put together a strong first half but couldn’t overcome the elements, falling to UAB on a dreary night at Legion Field. UAB won by the final score 35-20 a few minutes past midnight. Here are a few takeaways from the game.

1. Throw the first punch. Check.

Playing with the lead is always a good thing, but it’s especially important if you want to run an offense predicated on grinding out games. Controlling the clock and running the football don’t complement comeback attempts well. That’s why it’s a good thing to have a smart running back and great blocking to set up plays like this:

Rice struck first against Louisiana Tech and never trailed in regulation. The encore performance against UAB included a shutout pitched by the Rice defense through the first quarter before UAB eventually equalized the score. Rice threw punches with UAB for a while before the Blazers pulled away in the second half.

2. Opening things up on offense

Rice snapped the ball in a five wide formation twice in the first quarter, including the very first play of the game. Wiley Green went downfield on the first play, looking for Bradley Rozner who drew a flag for defensive holding. The Owls converted the second five wide play on a post to Jake Bailey before it was called back on a hold by Rice.

Neither play will show up in the box score because of the penalties, but both were a clear indication Rice is willing to open up the offense and try some new things.

It wasn’t just new formations; Rice noticeably took more shots downfield than they had in previous weeks. Green was actively scanning further than the line of scrimmage and he connected on a few throws that traveled vertically down the field, rather than trusting his receivers to do most of the work after the catch.

Green had a season-high 161 yards passing, two touchdowns and somewhere around 100 yards of pass interference penalties along the way.

3. Secondary shows some leaks

UAB running back Spencer Brown left the ball after the first drive of the game. Not only was Brown a critical piece to the Blazers offense, he became the school’s all-time leading rusher this season. Without him in the game the Blazers took to the air, finding plenty of early success.

Quarterback Tyler Johnston connected on touchdown passes of 46-, 36- and 57-yards in the first half. UAB’s longest score driving lasted 2:41.

This wasn’t the first team to test Rice deep. Wake Forest took shots, so did Baylor. Rice had given up a few deep balls, but the secondary seemed nowhere near as suspect as it did last season when the Owls surrendered an average of 2.5 pass plays of 30 yards per game allowed. Entering the UAB game Rice had given up eight such plays, an average 1.6 per contest, a mark that sits roughly in the middle of C-USA.

Even with the imperfect pass defense, the Owls hung around. George Nyakwol registered the Owls’ first interception of the season in the closing minutes of the first half. Treshawn Chamberlain added to the total with a third quarter pick.

4. Loud and clear

An emphasis on downfield passing wasn’t the only noticeable change with the Rice offense on Saturday. The Owls played an aggressive brand of football. Even when Rice didn’t complete their passes down the field they forced UAB into uncomfortable situations. The opposing secondary was littered with flags all night for defensive holding and pass interference.

A few other decisions stood out. Trailing by seven in the second quarter, Rice went for it on fourth and 10 from the UAB 36 yard line. Not only did they get it, they finished the drive with Green’s first touchdown of the season — an endzone jump ball to Brad Rozner.

In like fashion, Rice rolled the dice before the halftime whistle. After getting possession of the ball with 90 seconds to play, Rice chose to push down the field rather than run off the final seconds. The Owls made it to midfield and did not score, but the decision not to neal the ball was a tone-setter for what this offense could become.

5. Messy, messy, messy

UAB didn’t play a perfect game by any means. Multiple turnovers and flags all over the defensive secondary made it a relatively sloppy night for the home team. Then the rain — which somehow managed to stay away for nearly the entirety of the hour and a half lightning delay — began to come down in buckets.

Conveniently for the Blazers, Mother Nature opened the heavens around the time the home team had scored their second touchdown of the third quarter. Trailing by two scores, The Rice offense never got back in sync. Tom Stewart, inserted for his running ability, put the ball on the deck.

Including two rain-induced fumbles, the Owls tallied a season-high four giveaways. Rice also committed six penalties for 65 yards. That was bad, but not early as careless as UAB’s 167 yards of penalties. You can’t write a loss off based on weather, but there’s no doubt the rain played a significant factor in the second half of this game.

Rice football has played too well over the past month to not have any wins to show for themselves. A lengthy weather delay and sudden pouring rain made this most recent defeat a soggy one. There’s a lot of hurt in the Owls’ locker room right now making this the perfect time for an off week and a cooling off period.

We’re not taking a break

Rice football has the week off, but there will still be content going up on the site and on the podcast. A portion of next week’s episode is up for y’all to decide. Carter and I are going to work through some of your questions in a mailbag segment. We’ll cover everything from the UAB game to midseason thoughts and beyond.

Leave a question in the comments here or on the podcast post, shoot it to us on Twiter or email it to [email protected].

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Rice Football Film Room: LA Tech review and UAB preview

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The Week 5 edition of the Rice Football film room centers on Rice’s overtime loss to Louisiana Tech and their upcoming Week 6 opponent, UAB.

Hey y’all, Carter here, and welcome back the Rice Football Film Room. This week, we’ll take a quick look back at the heartbreaker against Louisiana Tech, before moving on to a couple plays from UAB quarterback Tyler Johnston III to get an idea of what the Owls will face in my hometown of Birmingham this week.

LA Tech

How the Rice Offense Should Look!

Rice’s offense, unfortunately, couldn’t get the job done Saturday night despite a stellar effort from the defense. That seems to be a theme this season. Still, in the first two drives we saw an extended glimpse of what the staff wants this offense to look like, and they were extremely effective in executing on those drives. Let’s take a look at Aston Walter’s first touchdown run.

Rice Football

Setup

We’re less than five minutes into the first quarter, and Rice has marched the ball downfield to the LA Tech 16-yard line on its opening drive. The Owls are in 22 personnel, with both Jaeger Bull and Jordan Myers on the left side of the line, Wiley Green under center, and FB Brendan Suckley and Walter in the I formation. LA Tech has three down linemen, three more guys walked up to the line, and four other guys in or close to the box to match Rice’s heavy personnel.

The Play

It’s a power toss, with Suckley kicking out the edge defender and RG Shea Baker pulling to lead the way for Walter. The OL do their jobs well. LG Nick Leverett does get driven back, but he stays engaged long enough to keep his man from blowing up the play (it’s not how you start a block—it’s how you finish it!). Suckley seals his man outside, Bull drives his two yards deep, Myers redirects his inside, and the gap is there for Baker to lead Walter through.

Amusingly, the LB that would’ve been Baker’s responsibility gets caught in the wash, and he never ends up having to block anyone at all. Bull’s man eventually manages to disengage, but only after he’s several yards downfield. At that point, Walter has built up too much speed for him to make the tackle. It’s a touchdown for Rice.

Great run blocking doesn’t mean every defender gets pancaked, especially when there are as many bodies involved as there are on this play. A lot of times it’s just about everybody doing their job just long enough to give the ballcarrier a chance to make the play. If Rice’s linemen, fullbacks, and tight ends can have the level of execution play in and play out that they did on these first two drives, they’ll be tough for C-USA teams to stop.

UAB

UAB’s defense has led the way for them so far, with the Blazers in the top 15 in the country in both total and scoring defense thus far. Those measures aren’t opponent- or tempo-adjusted (UAB hasn’t played any Power 5 opponents so far as compared to Rice’s three), but it’s safe to say they’re playing well on that side of the ball. The offense has lagged behind some—RB Spencer Brown (19.5 carries a game) and QB Tyler Johnston III (10.5 carries a game) are averaging a combined 3.4 yards per carry.

The Blazers use that ground game to set up aggressive play-action shots from Johnston. They’re at the best when he’s executing those, as he did in their 35-3 victory over South Alabama, when he threw for 313 yards and 3 TDs. But if he’s not on his game, that aggression can backfire, as it did in his 4-INT performance in their 20-13 loss to WKU last week. Let’s take a look at a play from each game to show the good and the bad for Johnston.

You Win Some . . .

Rice Football

Setup

It’s early in the first quarter against South Alabama (no score yet), and UAB has the ball 1st and 10 on their own 33. UAB’s in 12 personnel, with an inline TE to the boundary and an H-back, the RB, and two receivers to the field. USA’s in nickel personnel, showing a split safety look.

The Play

It’s a play-action rollout, cutting the field in half for Johnston. As the camera pans to Johnston, we lose sight of the receivers and DBs, but UAB looks to be running some form of the smash concept, with the outside receiver’s underneath route drawing the corner in to let the inside receiver Kendall Parham isolate on a safety with his corner route. This is exactly what happens, and Parham beats the safety cleanly. Johnston hits him over the top, and it’s a long touchdown for UAB.

Notice that Johnston hesitates a bit before throwing the ball once he finishes his rollout, but he drives the ball well enough that Parham only has to slow a little bit to catch it. The safety almost catches him afterwards, but Parham slips through his diving tackle attempt. It didn’t hurt Johnston here, but that hesitation can be costly for quarterbacks, as we’ll see in the next clip.

. . . You Lose Some

Rice football, film room

Setup

We’re about halfway through the 1st quarter of what will eventually be a tight loss for UAB. The Blazers have the ball 1st and 10 at about their own 38, up 3-0. They’re in 11 personnel, with two receivers to the field and a single receiver, the back, and an H-back to the boundary. WKU’s in nickel personnel with a split safety look.

The Play

It’s play action again, and Johnston is looking to hit the post route by the #2 receiver (the slot) to the field side. WKU drops into what looks to be Cover 4, commonly known as Quarters. It’s a 4-deep, 3-under look which is a very common way of defending spread offenses (which most college football offenses are now, of course) in today’s game. It’s predicated on having safeties who can read their keys quickly and flow downhill against the run, while also being athletic enough to play man on vertical routes by the inside receivers.

Here, the outside receivers release vertically, so the corners play man on them. The safeties read the releases of the No. 2 receivers (the slot and the H-back). If they go vertical up the seams, the safeties have them in man. The slot does so, so the free safety bails deep to stay over the top of his route. The H-back stays in to block, so the strong safety stays put and reads the QB. Meanwhile, the nickelback and the SAM (strongside) linebacker head to their zones in the flats. The MIKE, No. 36 Kyle Bailey, sinks back into the shallow middle (the “middle hook”) zone.

More: Why Intellectual Brutality remains a staple of the Rice offense

Johnston wants the slot receiver on the post route. Neither of the safeties have really bit on the play action and there are no, so he needs to throw it in front of the sinking free safety, but away from the strong safety, who’s read his eyes and is breaking hard underneath the route. Bailey, the MLB, takes a few steps forward on the run action, and I think that’s what keys Johnston to make the pass. Here’s what he sees as he reaches the end of his dropback.

Decision time

Rice Football, film room

The slot hasn’t made his cut yet, but the ball has to come out now. This is what we mean when we talk about throwing with anticipation. A great QB has to know when the ball needs to get to a receiver and trust that his guy will be there when it does. If Johnstown throws now and is accurate, the ball will get to his receiver right after he’s broken toward the middle of the field, with space to run away from the FS, who is still sinking to keep from getting beat. Neither the MIKE nor the SS will have time to get under the throw before it arrives.

But Johnston hesitates at the top of his drop, and that makes the difference. Bailey, who does a great job of recovering, has time to drop back into his zone and turn his eyes back to the QB in time to snag the ball.. Additionally, the SS has had time to break under the throw and probably would have made the pick if Bailey hadn’t. If Johnston releases the ball on time, he has space to fit this throw in. As it is, the receiver is essentially triple-covered by the time the ball arrives. It’s the first of four picks on the day for UAB’s QB.

More: Check out the game preview for Rice vs UAB

Now, I don’t mean to pick on Johnston here. Even very very talented QBs can take a long time to develop the skill to make anticipatory throws—Oklahoma QB Jalen Hurts, who’s putting up superhuman stats so far this year, struggled to get the ball out on time during his first two years at Alabama. And UAB’s offense has him making very aggressive throws, which means that his INT numbers are going to be higher than they would in a safer system.

My point though, is I think Rice football has a really good shot of nabbing their first interception (maybe more) on Saturday. If the Owls’ DBs can be in tight coverage as they have most of the year, UAB’s aggressive throws and Johnston’s slow trigger will give them some opportunities to turn the ball over and maybe spark some life into their offense as well.

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Rice Football: Mistakes cost Owls in overtime loss to LA Tech

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Despite never trailing in regulation, Rice Football dropped their conference opener in overtime to Louisiana Tech in agonizing fashion.

Two quick touchdowns, a full 60 minutes of defensive intensity and just enough oomph at the end couldn’t push Rice over Louisiana Tech on Saturday night. Here are a few immediate thoughts from the loss:

Picture perfect start

Entering Saturday’s game with Louisiana Tech, Rice hadn’t done well with their opening possessions: punt, fumble, punt, punt. Not only did the Owls reverse that trend quickly against the Bulldogs they looked almost as good as they have on offense all season.

Rice picked up three first downs, averaging 7.7 yards per play. Wiley Green was 3-for-3 for 31 yards, overcoming second and 24 following an uncharacteristic bad snap in the middle of the drive. Aston Walter finished things with a 16-yard run for the Owls first lead of the 2019 season.

The second drive went the same way. Green moved the offense methodically down the field and Walter punched it in yet again. The theory entering this game was fairly straightforward; against an evenly matched opponent, the Rice offense should succeed. On Saturday, Rice proved they could. They just couldn’t sustain the success.

Running with a vengeance

The return of tackles Clay Servin and Justin Gooseberry to the lineup paid tremendous dividends against Louisiana Tech. After struggling to average three yards per carry in their previous three games, Rice moved the ball on the ground with great success all night. Once they get fullback Reagan Williams back on the field that efficiency could get even better.

With that healthy line paving the way, Aston Walter had a career game. The sixth-year senior rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns, shattering a previous career-best 72 yards, a mark he’d matched on three separate occasions.

Charlie Booker racked up 70 yards on 21 carries, becoming the battering ram the Owls needed in the second half. Altogether, the Rice running backs averaged 4.4 yards per carry. That’s closer the kind of stat line the Owls need to see going forward, but the Owls can do better.

Rice defense stands tall again, and again, and again

As the offensive line and running game took control of the line of scrimmage on their side of the ball, the defensive front seven clamped down in parallel. J’Mar Smith and the Louisiana Tech offense looked hampered for the duration of this game.

There weren’t many clean pockets and Smith, forcing him to be perfect when he had time to throw. That’s a high bar to set for any quarterback, even a four-year starter like Smith. The Louisiana Tech offense had to resort to shorter throws and crossing routes, failing to connect on the majority of their long plays downfield.

Entering Saturday night, Smith’s longest passes of the season were 26 yards (vs Texas), 40 yards (vs Grambling State), 49 yards (vs Bowling Green) and 54 yards (vs FIU). Smith’s longest completion against Rice went for 22 yards to star wideout Adrian Hardy.

That lack of downfield success can be traced back to that dominant front seven. Rice registered three sacks on the night (including freshman De’Brayon Carroll’s first) and five quarterback hits.

Too many self-inflicted wounds

Rice has shown improvement over the course of the season, but they’re still too inconsistent on the offensive side of the ball to continually shoot themselves in the foot. Here are a few of the errors that cost Rice a game they controlled for the majority of its duration:

  • A bad snap cost Rice 14 yards of possession
  • Tom Stewart threw an interception in the endzone.
  • Rice fumbled four times
  • Will Harrison missed a 36-yard field goal.
  • Rice committed five penalties for 40 yards.
  • The defense allowed Justin Henderson to run 26-yard untouched for a touchdown
  • Austin Trammell dropped a third-down pass early in the fourth quarter
  • Rice was held to a field goal on the first possession of overtime

To have that many mistakes and still be in a position to win is a great start. More so, it’s proof that this team has a lot of work to do to get to where they want to be. After their first two drives, this felt like a game Rice could win, maybe even that they should win. Then the offense went inexplicably ice cold.

Just like the loss to Army and the loss to Baylor, Rice walks away from this game with a bad taste in their mouth. They were close, again, but couldn’t play sound enough for 60 minutes to turn walk away with the victory.

It’s Wiley Green’s job to lose

Wiley Green was near flawless in his first two drives, completing 6-of-7 passes for 62 yards and leading the offense on back-to-back touchdown drives.

As planned, Stewart entered the game on the Owls’ third offensive possession. His first drive went three and out including a pass that just missed an open receiver. Rice drove down inside the redzone on Stewart’s second drive, overcoming a fumble from Stewart in the process. That final drive ended with a poor decision by Stewart, who was intercepted in the endzone on a throw into heavy traffic.

Credit Bloomgren to sticking with his guns and playing both guys, but it’s hard to argue with what Green was able to with this offense. After looking stagnant for the better part of four games, Green got things going and led the Owls on all three of their scoring drives.

Barring injury, Green seems to give the Owls their best chance to win going forward.

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2019 Rice Football Season Preview by The Roost

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The staff of The Roost is pleased to announce the release of the 2019 Rice Football Season Preview, a 143-page digital magazine detailing everything you could imagine about the Owls’ upcoming season.

This preview is the culmination of months of research, interviews and analysis. Consider it your one-stop-shop as you prepare for the Owls’ 2019 season.

Available as a downloadable PDF for on-the-go access, this preview contains the following:

1. A breakdown of every position group on the team

Who are the favorites to start entering fall camp? What sort of production should you expect from returning starters? Which of the incoming transfer players should make their mark the quickest? Answers to all of those questions are included, as well as notes on every single player on the 102-man roster.

2. An exclusive interview with head coach Mike Bloomgren

We sat down with coach to get his honest evaluation of where the Rice football program is right now and how he views the progress the team is making as they approach 2019. He’s sticking to a process, one which he remains confident will bring success to South Main.

3. Previews of each 2019 opponent and all 14 CUSA Teams

Supported by local beat writers and experts who cover each team, this section has a wealth of knowledge about every CUSA Team and all the Owls’ 2019 opponents.

Rice fans will want to familiarize themselves with the teams they’ll be facing this year. Get to know which players each squad will have to replace, which newcomers could make noise in 2019 and what outstanding questions those in the know have about their respective squads.

4. A complete 2019 Conference USA Football Preview

Available separately to purchase, everyone who purchases the 2019 Rice Football Season Preview will also get The Roost’s 2019 Conference USA Football Preview. We made our picks for preseason honors, top games to watch in 2019 and a closer look at how every team in the conference stacks up.

Don’t need any more convincing? Get a copy for yourself today

Buy Now

 

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