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Buy Now: The Roost’s 2020 Rice Football Season Preview and C-USA Preview

July 7, 2020 By Matthew Bartlett

The Roost is pleased to announce the release of the 2020 Rice Football Season Preview and the Conference USA Football Season Preview. These digital magazines are the one-stop-shop for every Rice and Conference USA Fan.

Buy Rice Preview
Buy C-USA Preview

The 2020 Rice Football Season Preview

This 160-page publication details everything you could imagine about Rice Football. It includes insight on the entire Rice roster as well with commentary on all 110 players on the active roster. From there the scope widens to breakdowns of every Conference USA team and all four of the Owls’ non-conference opponents. Each profile was compiled with the help from local experts who cover that beat on a daily basis with timely transfer information and any available spring updates.

As one Rice administrator dubbed it:
it’s the bible for Rice Football fans.

Get answers to questions like “Who has the leg up in the Rice quarterback battle?” or “Which incoming players could make the biggest impact?” or “Who are the top returning players Rice will face in Conference USA?”

This year’s edition included a feature story based on an interview with Athletic Director Joe Karlgaard. In the piece, we discuss how he evaluates head coach Mike Bloomgren’s coaching tenure.

The 2020 Conference USA Football Season Preview

The complete contents of the Conference USA Preview are contained within the Rice Preview. This 72-page guide includes everything Conference USA fans need to know for the upcoming season. Every team in the conference has a four-page profile. These profiles including coaching notes, pressing questions and the major storylines each squad faces this season. It also includes roster breakdowns with profiles on the biggest incoming and outgoing players.

No preview would be complete without the numbers, and this one has those in bunches. Each team section includes Conference USA metrics, returning production notes and analysis as well as stat lines for every returning player. There’s also a more detailed review of the conference’s top returning players for each major statistic. And it’s all at your fingertips rather than a dozen google searches away.

The Conference USA Preview omits the Rice-specific content like the position and player breakdowns, rising stars and more. Most Rice fans would prefer the Rice Preview whereas fans of other C-USA schools might prefer this version.

What are people saying about the Previews?

Don’t just take our word for it. Here’s what people are saying:

  • “The Roost’s C-USA preview has been an indispensable resource for me as I make my preparations for this season.”
  • “I just spent 30 minutes going through it, but barely skimmed the surface. It’s a great way to learn the new players.
  • “I don’t know any preview that could be more detailed than that.”
  • “This is worth spending the money on. Best you will get for CUSA”
  • “I liked everything.”

Want more?

You can always find additional Rice Football and Conference USA Football content on the website. If you enjoy the Preview and want to get further involved, consider supporting us on Patreon or check out The Roost Shop. Our subscribers get exclusive content ranging from recruiting and practice updates to special analysis. For starters, they got a copy of the Preview for free!

Buy Rice Preview
Buy C-USA Preview
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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Filed Under: Featured, Archive, Football Tagged With: Adam Sheriff, Adrian Bickham, Andrew Awe, Andrew Bird, Andrew Mason, Andrew Tsangeos, Antonio Montero, Ari Broussard, August Pitre, Austin Conrad, Austin Trammell, Ayden Noriega, Bennett Mecom, Blaze Alldredge, Bradley Rozner, Braedon Nutter, Brandt Peterson, Brendan Suckley, Brian Hibbard, Caleb Chappelle, Caleb James, Cam Montgomery, Cam Riddle, Cameron Valentine, Casey Tawa, Charlie Mendes, Chike Anigbogu, Chris Boudreaux, Christian McStravick, Clay Servin, Cole Garcia, Cole Latos, Collin Riccitelli, Collin Whitaker, Connor Hughes, De'Braylon Carroll, Derek Ferraro, Elijah Garcia, Evan Marshman, Gabe Taylor, Garrett Braden, Garrett Grammer, George Nyakwol, Geron Hargon, Harry Witt, Hunter Hanley, Isaac Klarkowski, Isaiah Richardson, Izeya Floyd, Jack Bradley, Jacob Doddridge, Jacob Grams, Jaeger Bull, Jake Bailey, Jalen Reeves, Jaren Banks, Jashon Palmer, Jason White, JaVante Hubbard, Jawan King, Jerry Johnson, Jonah Doddridge, Jonathan Sanchez, Jordan Dunbar, Jordan Myers, Josh Pearcy, Jovaun Woolford, Jovoni Johnson, Juma Otoviano, Kebreyun Page, Kenneth Orji, Khalan Griffin, Kirk Lockhart, Kobie Campbell, Lamont Narcisse, Luke Armstrong, Matthew Sams, Michael Haack, Mike Collins, Mike Leone, Miles Adams, Miles Mccord, Myron Morrison, Naeem Smith, Nate Kamper, Nick McQuarry, Nick Wagman, Parker Towns, Payton Lovell, Plae Wyatt, Prudy Calderon, Regan Riddle, Robbie Blosser, Robert French, Ryan Wallace, Sean Fresch, Shea Baker, Terreance Ellis, TJ McMahon, Tre'shon Devones, Treshawn Chamberlain, Trey Phillippi, Trey Schuman, Tyrae Thornton, Van Heitmann, Wiley Green, Will Harrison, Will Martinez, Zane Knipe

Rice Football: The Evolution of the 2019 Offense

May 18, 2020 By Carter

The Rice football offense changed over the course of the 2019 season, but to what degree? Carter Spires breaks down what changed and what remained the same.

We’re entering that time of the year where we’d be most starved for football content even in a normal year—which 2020 is most assuredly not. So with that in mind, here’s the first installment of a new project I’m working on, documenting the evolution of Rice’s offense in 2019 and beyond.

In this piece, we’ll be looking at how Rice’s offense changed in 2019 after Offensive Coordinator Jerry Mack took a greater role in the offense following Mike Bloomgren’s declaration of “Something will change” after the Southern Miss game. Future installments will include a data-driven look at the QB candidates for 2020 and a Film Room on TCU transfer Mike Collins’ time as the starter in Fort Worth in 2018.

Using the Wake Forest game as a “before” sample and the MTSU game as the “after,” I charted every offensive play from those games. I looked for things like personnel, formation, pre-snap motion, and whether the quarterback was in the shotgun or under center. By taking a quantitative look at these aspects of offensive design, I hope to give a clearer picture of what Mack’s influence on the offense was and perhaps what this portends for Rice’s offense in 2020 and beyond.

The Roost Podcast: Listen now to our Extended Offseason Interview Series

It’s simple enough to say that Mack will push Rice’s offense in a more “modern” or “spread” direction, compared to the under-center, heavy-personnel, run-focused offenses Bloomgren ran at Stanford, but charting these elements gives us a more detailed look at what exactly that means.

The included sample from the Wake Forest game comprises 63 plays. That’s every Rice offensive play up to the point where Wake took a 41-14 lead early in the 4th quarter. After that point Rice began playing almost exclusively from the shotgun and passing heavily, as offenses tend to do when they’re down big. I excluded this set of plays from the sample, because they were so situationally-influenced as to not represent Rice’s “normal” offense at this time. Additionally, the first 14 plays of the Wake game were quarterbacked by Wiley Green, after which Tom Stewart took over. The MTSU sample includes 65 plays, covering the entire game, all of which featured Tom Stewart at QB (aside from three Wildcat plays).

As a final note, I can’t guarantee that the charting here is 100% accurate, due mostly to poor quality video and TV camera angles. (In particular, it was sometimes difficult to tell exactly which players were lined up wide, and thus whether Rice was in 11 or 12 personnel). But I’m confident I charted these plays accurately enough to depict the way the offense was called in these two games.

Under Center vs. Shotgun

Perhaps the simplest thing we can chart is where the QB lines up. More often that not he’ll be under center or in the shotgun. Rice did use the pistol formation, with the QB shallower than in shotgun and the running back directly behind him in 2019, but not that I saw in either of these two games.

Having your QB under center is more old school. It facilitates both traditional running plays (by allowing the RB to have some downhill momentum at the handoff) and play-action passes (the fakes are generally easier for the QB to sell than in the shotgun). The shotgun is generally considered better for most passing plays. It allows the QB to have a better view of the defense both before and during the play and by putting more space between him and the pass rush. It’s also necessary to have your QB in the shotgun to run RPOs and spread option plays like the zone read, staples of many or most modern offenses.

In the Wake sample, Rice was under center 46% of the time and in the shotgun about 54% of the time. In the MTSU game, Rice was under center 27.7% of the plays and in the shotgun 72.3% of the time. The three Wildcat plays were charted as shotgun. [Note: all percentages rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent.]

This is a pretty stark difference! Keeping the QB under center is relatively rare in college football now. Many offenses don’t do so at all. In the Wake game, Rice stayed relatively true to Bloomgren’s Stanford roots. The Owls lined Green or Stewart up under center nearly half the time. By contrast, they did so with Stewart in the MTSU game only about a quarter of the time (though again that’s still more than most teams do).

Personnel

Personnel packages are typically denoted by a two-digit system. (Those of you who have read my Film Room columns will be familiar with it). The first digit is the number of running backs or fullbacks and the second is the number of tight ends. The number of wide receivers is five minus the sum of the two digits (since the other six offensive players are typically the QB and the OL). So 11 personnel, the most common personnel group at essentially all levels of football now, means 1 back, 1 tight end, and 3 wide receivers.

There are several possible combinations, of course, and during the data collection I charted them in pretty granular fashion. I charted 10, 11, 12, 20, and 21 groupings individually. I lumped 22, 23, and 32 groupings together as “heavy” packages. But for drawing conclusions, I think it’s more instructive to bin them into two groups: 10, 11, 12, and 20 personnel in one (which I’ll call the “spread” packages) and 21 and the “heavy” packages in the other (which we can just again call “heavy”).

How Rice used personnel

A quick primer on why some of those groupings are where they are: all of the 20 personnel plays (six from MTSU, two from Wake) had the QB in the shotgun with a running back on either side and three receivers. The 12 personnel plays were all from the shotgun as well. Most had at least one of those tight ends split wide. (Only 9 of 28 total 12-personnel plays between the two games had both TEs tight to the formation, either inline or at H-back).

So what’s the tally? In the Wake sample, Rice used “spread” personnel 54% of the time and “heavy” personnel 46% of the time. In the MTSU game, they used spread personnel on 64.6% of plays and heavy personnel on the other 35.4%. Not as big a difference as the under center/shotgun splits, but still a fairly significant one.

Formation

Perhaps more instructive than personnel is the formation. I charted those in three bins based on the number of players lined up as receivers. (n.b., *not* the number of players who are “wide receivers” on the roster). Four- or five-wide sets were labeled as “spread” formations. Three-wide sets were labeled as “base” formations (reflecting the prevalence of these formations). Two-or-fewer-wide sets were labeled as “heavy” formations. There are a million more granular and specific ways to describe formations, of course, but I think this way is instructive enough for our purposes and could be charted with relative ease and speed.

We can describe in some broad ways how these formations reflect the intent and goals of offenses that use them. Sets with two or fewer receivers will seek to gain advantages in the run game by outmanning the defense at the point of attack, using a large number of blockers. This also allows the outside receivers to get one-on-one matchups. That’s advantageous if you have, say, 6’5” Bradley Rozner on a shorter cornerback.

How Rice used formations

Four- and five-wide sets seek to spread defenses out, giving more space for receivers to get open. This also forces the defense to keep fewer (and often lighter) players in the box. That can open things up for the run game as well. Three-wide sets are the most balanced. They allow offenses to put several players into the pass formation without compromising the number of blockers or pass protectors much.

In the Wake sample, Rice used base formations on 33.3% of plays, spread formations 15.9%, and heavy formations 50.8%. In the MTSU game, Rice used base formations 52.3% of the time, spread formations 6.2%, and heavy formations 41.5%.

The big takeaway lines up exactly with what we expect: Rice significantly bumped its usage of three-wide sets under Mack’s influence in the MTSU game, with a notable drop in the number of two-or-one-wide sets.

The odd part is that Rice actually used four-or-five-wide “spread” sets *more* in the Wake game, by a fairly notable percentage. I think there are two explanations for this. The first (and easily the most important) is game state. About half of the “spread” plays in my Wake sample occurred late in the game, when Rice was down 34-14. While they had not totally abandoned the “Stanford offense” stuff by this point, the deficit and dwindling clock were clearly influencing playcalling by this point. If you limit to say, the first half of that game, when Rice was either tied with Wake or trailing by 10 points or less most of the time, Rice only ran three plays in a “spread” formation.

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It may also have been influenced by player usage. It’s not noted in the section above because of the way I grouped them together, but Rice actually used 11 personnel more in the Wake sample than in the MTSU game. (The increase in “spread” personnel was driven largely by a big uptick in 12 personnel plays).

Early in the season, August Pitre had a clear role as the third wide receiver. By the time of the MTSU game, it had become clear that the only two players the staff truly were going to consistently trust as receivers were Rozner and Austin Trammell. (The two combined for almost 65% of Rice’s total receptions in 2019). They may have been hesitant to use sets with four or five players wide but only two of those players being true wide receivers (especially as Jake Bailey and Zane Knipe continued to battle injuries late into the season).

Motion

The final thing I tracked that’s worth noting here is the use of pre-snap shifts and motions. To clarify, a “shift” is when a player changes positions before the snap, such as a running back splitting out wide. They must be set in the new position for at least one second before the ball is snapped. “Motion” means that a player is moving at the time the ball is snapped. Such actions are legal as long as the player is not moving toward the line of scrimmage. Both types were lumped together in one count during data collection here.

In general, an offense that shifts or motions before the snap is either trying to catch the defense off-guard or out of position at the snap by forcing them to adjust on the fly, and/or trying to force the defense to declare its coverage. The way a defense responds to shifts or motion will often reveal whether they’re playing zone or man coverage, or possibly whether they’re playing two high safeties or just one.

In the Wake sample, I counted only three times when Rice used motion or a shift, just 4.1% of plays. In the MTSU sample, I counted 13 such plays, for exactly 20%. Not a particularly high percentage of the plays, but still a significant increase.

What Didn’t Change

In a nutshell, Mike Bloomgren loves to run the ball and use fullbacks. In addition to the above, I also charted whether each play was a run or pass—a *called* run or pass. More specifically, sacks and scrambles were charted as passes. I did not attempt to track which plays were RPOs—and the number of plays in the I-formation.

Rice actually ran the ball more in the MTSU game. (58% of plays compared to 52% in the Wake sample, though again I think that can be largely attributed to game state). In addition, Rice used the I-formation or some variant of it (QB under center, RB deep, at least one FB in between QB and RB) on 100% of their under-center plays in both games.

Conclusions

We didn’t need to do all this charting to just say that Rice’s offense got “more spread” or “more modern” for the last four games of the season. But this exercise does allow us to be much more precise in describing how it changed. I think it was valuable just for that.

It’s also worth noting that, while I didn’t chart the exact play each time, the types of plays Rice ran didn’t really change, just the proportions. The RPOs and spread option runs that became more prevalent late in the season were there early. (I highlighted the Glance RPO in my Wake film room and Tom Stewart scored on a zone read keeper in that game as well).

The ultra-heavy sets and power toss plays that Rice relied on early in the season didn’t disappear. The proportions of those plays (and the formations/personnel groupings used to run them) just altered, which of course makes sense. They weren’t going to install a new offense overnight. They were just going to do more of what their players were comfortable with.

Film Room Archives: Read more breakdowns from Carter

It’s that last point that it’s important as we go forward—do what your players are comfortable with. Tom Stewart took the reins for the majority of the 2019 season. Naturally, the staff had to maximize what he did best coming out of a modern spread system at Harvard. If TCU transfer Mike Collins is the 2020 starter, it’s likely the offense will continue to look as it did over the last third of 2019. If JoVoni Johnson takes the reins, the coaches may install more plays resembling the multi-TE pistol option plays he ran at Conway HS in Arkansas. They used a bit of that style in his one start against Marshall last year.

It’s great to have a wide repertoire of plays, formations, and personnel groupings in your arsenal as Rice does. The Owls are clearly blending the old school approach of Bloomgren’s Stanford offense with modern spread principles brought by Jerry Mack. But it can make finding the right blend of those disparate styles a challenge. More still, it can be difficult to strike the balance between teaching players new things that could make them more successful or sticking to what they already know.

Rice found the winning combination over the last section of the 2019 season. Can they do it again with a new quarterback in 2020? Time will tell.

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Filed Under: Featured, Football Tagged With: Austin Trammell, Bradley Rozner, film room, Jake Bailey, Jovoni Johnson, Tom Stewart, Zane Knipe

Rice Football: 2020 Spring practice closing thoughts

March 22, 2020 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice Football snuck in six spring practices before they were canceled by Conference USA. Here are a few things we learned and questions still unanswered.

My notebook is an organized mess every time Rice football practice is underway. I have notes from each session I attend. Those range from individual moments that impressed me to far-reaching questions that I’ve yet to reach a conclusion. Sometimes coaches or players can shed light on my queries, other times they’re left to ruminate until next session, next week, or longer.

More: Erica Ogwumike talks end of season, Rice career on The Roost Podcast

Rice is fortunate they got to practice at all. Several Conference USA teams called off all sessions before they ever stepped foot on the field. There are a lot of question marks scribbled in the pages from the Owls’ six spring practice sessions. In this case, some clarity is better than none.

Depth Charts

I hesitate to put out defined depth charts, especially from spring ball. Players are cycling in and out, some are learning new positions. The alignment of the team on any one play varies tremendously. Starters are easier to determine. Backups are … well, an exercise best guessing. With that caveat, take these words as being scribed in pencil.

Rice Football First Team Offense

QB | Collins OR Johnson
RB | Otoviano
WR | Trammell, Rozner, Pitre
TE | Myers
OL | Servin (LT), Garcia OR Sheriff (LG), Klarkowski (C), Baker (RG), Woolford (RT)

Rice Football Second Team Offense

QB | McMahon
RB | Montgomery OR King
WR | Knipe, Bailey, Palmer
TE | Bull OR Bradley
OL | Ferraro (LT), Riddle (LG), Baker (C), Floyd (RG), Peterson (RT)

Offensive depth chart notes

I hate OR designations, but I really do believe there are several open spots on the offense right now. Quarterback is the most obvious. If Rice football had to play tomorrow, I’d bet Mike Collins is the guy, but it’s close. That’s not to say he stole the show this spring — he and JoVoni Johnson were both solid — but I like Collins’ combination of size and elusiveness. I’m still looking to see who can make more consistent plays downfield between those two. The more accurate passer could win the job in fall camp.

Cam Montgomery looks really good. Really good. Rice had a deep backfield last year and Montgomery fumbled away some of his opportunities, leaving him buried on the bench. He’s probably the fastest player on the team right now (or at least in the top five). He’ll be the third down and pass catching back. There’s plenty of room for Jawan King to carve out a role as well.

Not much changed on the pass catching front outside of some good plays from sophomore tight end Jack Bradley. He was on a very short list of true freshman that played every game. They’d like to see him more involved this year. August Pitre had a great showing, too. He was much more aggressive in the air, fighting for the football and winning one-one-one matchups.

On the offensive line, it’s encouraging to see Izeya Floyd running with the twos. So far, the transition seems to be going well. Klarkowski as the starting center surprised me a bit, but I attribute that more to the need for answers at guard. If someone emerges there, Baker more than likely moves back to center. JoVaun Woolford is an impressive human being. If he adds another 15 to 20 pounds this offseason he’s going to be a huge asset at the tackle spot.

Rice Football First Team Defense

DL | Schuman, Hubbard, Carrol, Orji
LB | Alldredge, Montero
CB | Devones, Thornton
Saf | Smith, Nyakwol, Chamberlain

Rice Football Second Team Defense

DL | Doddridge, Enechukwu, Garcia, Page
LB | Morrison, Grammer
CB | Bird, White
Saf | Calderon, Lockhart, Richardson

Defensive depth chart notes

The defense looks pretty cookie cutter from how Rice football ended last season. De’Braylon Carroll will slide up into a starting spot replacing the departing Myles Adams. Kenneth Orji will become the full-time man at rush end with Anthony Ekpe gone. The rest of the first team is essentially unchanged.

Myron Morrison has entrenched himself as a rotation player at linebacker. The coaches love his work ethic and he made several big plays this spring. He and Garrett Grammer will back up Antonio Montero and Blaze Alldredge.

There’s a pretty clear delineation from the first and second teams in the secondary, but the top 10 guys are solid. Rice is bringing in some talented playmakers in the secondary, but this shouldn’t be a situation where anyone is forced to play early from necessity. They’ll have to earn it, which they very well might do.

The defensive line is a spot to monitor. I loved what I saw from Kebreyun Page, and Ikenna Enechukwu has been steadily improving from last season until now. I’m not sure about the defensive end spot. Joshua Pearcy and Jacob Doddridge both took some time there during the spring.

Special Teams

There are a few certainties on special teams.

  1. Austin Trammell will be the punt returner
  2. Stanford transfer Collin Riccitelli will be the place kicker
  3. Charlie Mendes will be the punter
  4. Cam Riddle will be the long snapper

There really won’t be any competition whatsoever at those four spots. That leaves kickoffs and the holder as the only real question marks. Those auditions will continue into the fall.

Unanswered questions

1. Who is going to be the starting quarterback?

Collins and Johnson separated themselves this spring, but neither “seized the job” as coach Bloomgren has often wished of his quarterbacks. They’re both great on the ground with Collins getting a slight edge because of his size. Johnson may not be injury prone, but he’s slimmer and did get forced out of his start against Marshall last year with an injury. I still think we could have one guy before the season opener, but don’t expect the competition closed before a week or two of fall camp.

2. Which offense will Rice run?

The way Rice lined up against Army was night and day different from how they played against Middle Tennessee. Bloomgren will stick to his guns and run the football, but he’s not going to discount the success they found through the air. The offensive line might be the key determinant in how Rice attacks on offense. But we still don’t know how that unit will be pieced together quite yet.

3. Where are the gaps that incoming players need to fill?

In previous springs, it’s been fairly evident where the team needs an impact player. Given the little sample size this time, it’s hard to know which of the incoming signing class is going to have the clearest path to playing time.

I have a hunch someone is going to emerge from the running backs. Kobie Campbell and Khalan Griffin are special talents that could impact the game on special teams or as offensive weapons. On defense, I want to see what happens in the secondary. Can someone like Lamont Narcisse work his way onto the field? That might depend on a few factors. On both sides of the ball, we’ll have to wait and see what happens in the fall.

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Filed Under: Featured, Archive, Football, Premium Tagged With: Adam Sheriff, Andrew Bird, Antonio Montero, August Pitre, Austin Trammell, Blaze Alldredge, Bradley Rozner, Brandt Peterson, Cam Montgomery, Cam Riddle, Charlie Mendes, Clay Servin, Cole Garcia, Collin Riccitelli, De'Braylon Carroll, Derek Ferraro, Elijah Garcia, Garrett Grammer, George Nyakwol, Isaac Klarkowski, Isaiah Richardson, Izeya Floyd, Jack Bradley, Jacob Doddridge, Jaeger Bull, Jake Bailey, Jashon Palmer, Jason White, JaVante Hubbard, Jawan King, Jordan Myers, Jovaun Woolford, Jovoni Johnson, Juma Otoviano, Kebreyun Page, Kenneth Orji, Kirk Lockhart, Mike Collins, Myron Morrison, Naeem Smith, Prudy Calderon, Regan Riddle, Rice Football, Shea Baker, TJ McMahon, Tre'shon Devones, Treshawn Chamberlain, Trey Schuman, Tyrae Thornton, Zane Knipe

Rice Football: 10 Takeaways from 2019 season

January 15, 2020 By Matthew Bartlett

The 2019 Rice Football season has come and gone. Spring ball will be here soon, but first a look back at what we learned about this team last season.

The 2019 college football season ended with purple and gold confetti falling from the rafters of the New Orleans Super Dome. Rice Football will host the defending champion LSU Tigers at NRG Stadium in 2020. Before we get there, a few observations about what we learned about the Owls this season and what might need to change moving forward.

The good

1. The Rice defense is the real deal

The Owls held eventual top-10 Baylor scoreless in the second half and jumped out to a 20-0 lead 0n North Texas, eventually beating the Mean Green on the back of some spectacular defensive plays. They shored up their most glaring deficiency, the long ball, and found a way to limit some of the most prolific passers in Conference USA. A year removed from finishing 11th in total defense against C-USA foes, Rice improved to sixth in 2019.

2. This team has star power

Not only has Mike Bloomgren retooled the roster with D1-caliber players, but he’s also added names that people outside of South Main will know. Players like Austin Trammell, Bradley Rozner, Blaze Alldredge and Treshawn Chamberlain are stars in Conference USA. All earned postseason honors of some sort, with Alldredge being named first-team All C-USA by the conference and Pro Football Focus. Better still, all are slated to return next season.

3. The Owls have hit on the vast majority of their transfer targets

With the exception of offensive lineman Andrew Mike, a transfer from Florida in Bloomgren’s first season, Rice has hit home run after home run in the Transfer Portal. They’ve gone three-for-three with JUCO additions (Alldredge, Rozner and Naeem Smith) and gotten game-winning production from graduate transfers across the offense. There should be more additions on this front in the coming weeks.

4. The 2020 schedule gets a lot easier

Rice football gets Army at home next season while swapping out a slate of three Power 5 opponents for LSU, an FCS school (Lamar) and Houston. It’s plausible the 2019 team could have won at least a couple of additional games against the 2020 schedule, and Rice returns the vast majority of their overall production.

5. Rice proved they can win with offense and with defense

Rice beat North Texas with suffocating defense, keeping one of Conference USA’s best quarterbacks out of the endzone. A week later they beat UTEP with offense, rallying from a halftime deficit to win on the road. As good as the defense was, this team wasn’t one-dimensional in their wins.

Areas of concern

6. Inconsistent quarterback play remains a problem
  1. Shawn Stankavage
  2. Jackson Tyner
  3. Evan Marshman
  4. Wiley Green
  5. Parker Towns
  6. Tom Stewart
  7. JoVoni Johnson

Throw in wildcat quarterback Juma Otoviano and you’ve got way too long of a list. Rice hasn’t managed to keep the same hands under center for an entire season yet since Mike Bloomgren arrived at South Main. Awful injury luck has been a component of the quarterback quandary, but poor play has been equally culpable. If Rice football is going to take the next step, finding ONE passer for 2020 is a must. They’ll have a few to choose from: Green, grad transfer Mike Collins and JUCO transfer TJ McMahon.

7. The rest of the receiving corps never broke out

Rice is never going to post numbers akin to the spread offenses that have become ubiquitous with today’s spread offenses. That said, the ratio of pass catching options skewed to an extreme this season. Only two Rice receivers (Bradley Rozner and Austin Trammell) caught at least 20 passes. August Pitre third with 17, less than 1.5 per game. Jake Bailey was limited to a part-time role. Zane Knipe wasn’t healthy. None of the pass catching tight ends we’d hope to see materialized into consistent options. Whoever plays quarterback will need more than two options in the passing game.

8. The offensive identity seems uncertain

The Rice offense that started the season 0-9 looked fairly foreign from the version that ended the season 0-3. A lot of the core concepts were there, but the influence of offensive coordinator Jerry Mack was undeniable. Mack said after the season they’d retain as much of that simplicity as possible, but Bloomgren was careful to note they weren’t going to throw out the playbook either. What that means for 2020 is anybody’s guess.

9. It’s hard to consistently hit on transfers

Last year Rice brought in seven transfers who were expected to compete for starting jobs. Each of them — Tom Stewart, Naeem Smith, Bradley Rozner, Brian Chaffin, Justin Gooseberry, Nick Leverett and Charlie Booker — either started or were important contributors. The hit rate was as close to 100 percent as could have been reasonably expected. Doing that well in the transfer market for two years in a row is really hard to do.

10. Expectations are rising

Two wins in Bloomgren’s first season was okay. Three wins, and the fashion in which they came, were proof the Owls were headed in the right direction. 2020 is when everything is supposed to come together. The staff expects to be in a bowl game next winter, and that’s probably the baseline for the trajectory this team has set through two seasons.

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Filed Under: Football, Archive, Featured Tagged With: August Pitre, Austin Trammell, Blaze Alldredge, Bradley Rozner, Brian Chaffin, Charlie Booker, Jake Bailey, Jovoni Johnson, Justin Gooseberry, Naeem Smith, Nick Leverett, Rice Football, TJ McMahon, Treshawn Chamberlain, Wiley Green, Zane Knipe

Rice Football Film Room 2019: UTEP Review

December 6, 2019 By Carter

Rice football finished out the season on a three-game winning streak, making for an exciting finale in our 2019 film room series.

Hey y’all! Welcome back to the final Rice Football Film Room of the 2019 season. We’ll highlight one play to Austin Trammell that I just enjoyed, and two plays by redshirt freshmen that show how bright the future is for the Rice offense.

Texas Flood

Setup

About midway through the third quarter, Rice is down 16–14. The Owls have the ball 1st & 10 at the UTEP 34. They’re in 12 personnel from the shotgun: Aston Walter is the back, Jaeger Bull is the inline TE to the left, Jordan Myers is at H-back to the right, and Trammell and Bradley Rozner are wide to the right with Trammell in the slot. UTEP’s in a 3-3-5 look with one deep safety on defense.

The Play

Rice goes max protect, keeping 7 guys (the OL, Walter, and Bull) in to protect. That’s more than enough, because UTEP drops all the linebackers and DBs, leaving only the three DL to rush. Eight in coverage vs three guys running routes should make things easy on UTEP in coverage here.

Rice is running a route combination commonly referred to as a Flood concept, which involves running three routes of different depths all to the same side of the field. The idea is to stretch the defense vertically, and it’s particularly effective against a zone coverage like this one (which appears to be a variation on Cover 3). For the QB, the reads go high to low: first the go route from the outside receiver; next the out route from the slot; and finally the flat route from (in this case) the H-back.

Here, the outside corner sinks into his deep zone and stays over the top of Rozner, taking that read away. So Stewart’s next read is Trammell, who runs a double move, faking a post route before breaking back into a deep out. Both inside DBs to that side are preoccupied watching Myers in the flat (the apex guy falls over, but Trammell is long past him by the time that happens), and the deep safety is in no position to get over in time to defend an out route. So Austin finds a nice open spot in the zone, and the ball should go to him

Stewart does a great job of reading this play. He’s got the ball out right as Trammell is breaking back toward the sideline. His ball placement isn’t perfect; ideally you’d lead Trammell to the sideline with this throw. But Trammell shows fantastic body control, smoothly turning back to the ball and then continuing the spin to carry himself upfield without ever really breaking stride. Nothing special about this play. Just a well-run concept, a good read by Stewart, and a great play by Trammell.

The Need for Speed

Setup

Having kicked a field goal on the prior possession, Rice has the lead 17-16 and has the ball 1st & 10 at its own 48. The Owls are in 11 personnel, with Walter next to Stewart in the shotgun. Rozner is the X receiver to the boundary, and Trammell, Myers, and true freshman speedster Zane Knipe are in a bunch trips set, tight to the formation. UTEP is again in a 3-3-5 type look with a single deep safety.

The Play

Rice shows play action. Stewart fakes a handoff and Myers comes across the formation to sell split zone action. But ultimately we again end up with three rushers against seven blockers, though this time, with Myers charged with coming all the way across to block the edge rusher, the rush nearly gets home anyway. Walter helps out, though, and the two of them divert the rusher upfield in time for Stewart to step up and make the throw.

I can’t get a full picture of this concept since the camera doesn’t go wide enough, but it looks like Stewart’s first read may have been Trammell, because he looks that way for a while before coming back to Knipe. Here, since Rozner was the only receiver to the boundary, his go route completely clears out his side of the field.

With Knipe darting across the field on a dig route, he ends up wide open, with nobody even in his ZIP code by the time the ball arrives. The throw’s a bit late, but we can forgive Tom for that, because it’s not easy to get the ball out in time for a guy with Knipe’s raw speed. In any case, the placement’s a little better, and Zane turns it smoothly upfield for a big gain. The gif cuts off there (sorry, it was long already), but Knipe nearly manages to stiff arm the safety and get to the end zone. An offseason in the weight room might just fix that!

JoVoni on the Rise

Setup

Just one play later, Rice has it 2nd & Goal at the 8. The Owls are in a shotgun 12 personnel look, with Rozner and Trammell wide, Myers and Bull both inline to the left, and JoVoni Johnson and Walter in the backfield. UTEP responds with what’s basically a nine-man box and man coverage on the two receivers.

The Play

I picked this one because it’s the first of Johnson’s two TD runs and they were both the same play: QB power. This is exactly the same blocking scheme as the numerous big plays we’ve seen Rice get from that 22 personnel power toss play, but by having the QB carry the ball, the RB act as lead blocker, and subbing in another receiver, we now have one less guy in the box for the same number of blockers.

And y’all this one is blocked perfectly. From Myers inward, the TEs and OL completely wall off the defense inside, and there are basically two guys who can make the play. One gets erased by Shea Baker, the pulling guard. The other is expertly cut blocked by Walter. Johnson waltzes into the end zone.

Two plays by two freshmen who, eligibility-wise, will still be freshmen next year. Big things are coming for this Rice offense.

And finally, I just wanted to thank y’all for sticking with me and this column for the year. It’s been a blast doing it, and the work I’ve put in has made me a smarter football fan. I hope y’all have enjoyed it as well.

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Filed Under: Featured, Archive, Football Tagged With: Aston Walter, Austin Trammell, Bradley Rozner, film room, Jaeger Bull, Jordan Myers, Jovoni Johnson, Rice Football, Shea Baker, Zane Knipe

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