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Saying thanks to the Owls’ seniors

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Rice football says thanks to 20 seniors that put their heart and soul into this program. They will be formally recognized on Senior Day against Old Dominion.

On Senior Day the Owls will recognize 20 players from a variety of places and roles in the Rice football program. All 20 of those players have already or will graduate with degrees. That’s a tremendous accomplishment of which head coach Mike Bloomgren and the staff take much pride.

Austin Walter is one of several players that will be missed next year and beyond. His on-field efforts have energized an offense that needed a spark. “It’s bittersweet,” said Walter as he reminisced on his last game wearing blue and grey, “This has probably been my best statistical year, but I’m not as happy because I wanted to leave a legacy as a team.”

One win through the first 12 games of the season doesn’t adequately portray the importance of what Walter and others have done to build this culture. They’ve led well through a coaching change and set up the younger classes for success down the road. “Looking back at it, there’s nothing I regret,” recounted Walter.

The wins have been hard to come but head coach Mike Bloomgren is confident the effort of players like Walter have not been put forth in vain. He believes the ripple effects of their labor will go well beyond the on-field product in 2018. “I don’t know if I can articulate how much I’ve appreciated these seniors and how much they’ve done to help advance our mission,” he said, speaking confidently of the leadership and cultural foundation this class has built into the Rice program.

Each of the 20 members being recognized Saturday has made their mark on this program. Some will look to further their playing careers at the next level, many will look elsewhere. Regardless of where their next step will take them, thank you, seniors, for all you’ve done for Rice Football.

Players being recognized on Senior Day

Lawrence Cimino – cornerback

  • 5 career appearances (none in 2018)
  • Earned scholarship for 2018 season

Jorian Clark – cornerback

  • Played in 11 of 12 games in 2018 with two starts
  • 2018 stats: 17 tackles, two pass breakups

Josh Cummings – cornerback

  • Played in 11 of 12 games in 2018 with no starts
  • 2018 stats: 5 tackles

Brandon Douglas-Dotson – cornerback

  • Played in 11 of 12 games in 2018 with nine starts
  • 2018 stats: 13 tackles (2 TFL), two pass breakups

Jack Fox – punter/specialist

  • Played all 12 games in 2018 with 12 starts
  • 2018 stats: 45.6 average punt distance, 25 inside the 20, 24 punts of 50+ yards, 5-of-12 field goals, 20-of-20 PATs

Giovani Gentosi – fullback

  • Graduate transfer from UCLA
  • Played all 12 games in 2018 with three starts
  • 2018 stats: six carries for 39 yards, four receptions for 27 yards

Parker Hanusa – defensive lineman

  • Played 11 of 12 games in 2018 with no starts
  • 2018 stats: 13 tackles

Cameron Johnson – wide receiver

  • 9 career appearances (none in 2018)
  • Former walk on who earned a scholarship

Trevor Long – wide receiver / special teams

  • 16 career appearances (none in 2018)

Clayton Malcomb – long snapper

  • 10 career appearances (none in 2018)

Andrew Mike

  • Graduate transfer from Florida
  • 2018 stats: 5 appearances

Martin Nwakamma – linebacker

  • Played in 11 of 12 games in 2018 with four starts
  • 2018 stats: 14 tackles (2 TFL), one fumble recovery, one pass breakup

Sam Pierce – offensive line

  • Played all 12 games in 2018 with 12 starts
  • One of eight players to start every game for Rice this season

Graysen Schantz – defensive end

  • Played all 12 games in 2018 with 12 starts
  • 2018 stats: 48 tackles (4 TFL), one fumble recovery

Shawn Stankavage – quarterback

  • Played in 9 games of 12 games in 2018 with 9 starts
  • 2018 stats: 1,328 passing yards, 10 touchdowns, 10 interceptions

Samuel Stewart – running back

  • 28 career appearances (none in 2018)
  • 1605 career all-purpose yards, 10 touchdowns

Carl Thompson – defensive line

  • 18 career appearances (none in 2018)
  • 32 career tackles, 1.5 sacks

Haden Tobola – kicker/specialist

  • 9 appearances in 2018 with no starts
  • 2018 stats: 10-of-11 field goals, career-long 51-yards vs LSU

Austin Walter – running back / wide receiver

  • 12 appearances in 2018 with 4 starts
  • 2018 stats: 557 rushing yards, 501 receiving yards, six total touchdowns

Brady Wright – defensive end

  • 11 appearances in 2018 with no starts
  • 2018 stats: two tackles
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Owls four-quarter effort falls short against Louisiana Tech

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Rice football was within one score in the fourth quarter but couldn’t keep pace with Louisiana Tech, falling on the road in Week 11.

Rice traded punches with Louisiana Tech, alternate scores for most of the night right up until the fourth quarter. Hayden Tobola knocked through a pair of field goals and Austin Walter delivered the Owls’ longest touchdown of the season.

Too many turnovers (three) and another poor outing on third down (3-for-15) marred a hard-fought effort that came up short on the road. Here are a few immediate thoughts:

1. Stay in the ring

Head coach Mike Bloomgren said his team was “mentally highjacked” through the first two quarters against UTEP. The Owls’ opponent hit a big play and instantly sucked the energy out of the team. They got it back after halftime, but by then it was too late, the deficit had grown too wide.

The challenge entering the Louisiana Tech game was simple: stay in the ring. Louisiana Tech was going to land some punches, the question was how would Rice respond?

This week assistant head coach Pete Lembo said his team needs to find 11 guys on each side of the field that don’t blink, guys that are able to go onto the next play and put the past behind him. They might not have two sets of 11 yet, but they have one: Prudy Calderon

Calderon saw a pass sneak through his grasp for a 34-yard gain that put Louisiana Tech into Rice territory. On the very next play, Calderon squared up another deep pass, intercepting it and returning it 30 yards.

The two plays were a microcosm of what Intellectual Brutality is supposed to be. Their opponent threw a haymaker. Rice punched back.

2. Quarterback play

Rice has been dealt a rough hand when it comes to the health of their quarterbacks this season. Shawn Stankavage, Evan Marshman and Wiley Green have all seen meaningful snaps. Marshman is out for the season with a hand injury leaving Stankavage, Green and Jackson Tyner the remaining options at quarterback.

Stankavage overcame what was initially diagnosed as a season-ending injury to return to the field against Louisiana Tech. Some rust from the month away from the field was expected, what wasn’t expected was a steady dose of Parker Towns. The scout team quarterback for much of the year, Towns was involved on several apparent read-option plays, completing one pass for 10 yards.

He was mixed in throughout the game, partly because of the up and down play of Stankavage. As Stankavage settled in the Owls offense picked up. His best pass of the night came on the first drive of the second half, a 68-yard bomb to Austin Walter which gave the Owls a 10-7 lead.

Stankavage finished 18-of-32 passing for 216 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. He had his moments, but his tendency to force passes and turn the ball over is an issue that needs to be addressed.

3. What happened to the rushing attack?

Rice began the season committed to the run game and while they haven’t gone away from the ground the effectiveness has declined. They averaged 201.6 yards per game on the ground through their first five games and 77.4 yards per game in their next five. They’ve had eight fewer carries per game in the second half, but the production has dropped precipitously.

Things didn’t improve on the ground against Louisiana Tech. Rice carried the ball 29 times for 100 yards with Aston Walter leading the way with a career-high with 17 carries. Austin Walter, Emmanuel Esukpa, Nashon Ellerbee, and Juma Otoviano had all been featured at different points this season, but all rushers outside of Walter combined for 28 yards on the ground.

The offensive line has been hit or miss, and not even the elusiveness of the Walter brothers has been enough to spark the running game. Wildcat packages have been scattered in. For the most part, they haven’t been born significant fruit either. This is meant to be a run-first offense and the inability to make headway on the ground is frustrating.

4. There’s still too much bend in the Rice defense

Rice was strong up the middle for the majority of this game. The defensive line limited the yards Louisiana Tech was able to get on the ground, with the exception of three drive-ending touchdown runs by Louisiana Tech running back Jaqwis Dancy.

In all three instances, Louisiana Tech picked up a first down in the redzone and the Rice defense was scrambling back to get set. Dancy capitalized, bursting through the line and getting into the endzone from 11-yards, 1-yard and 18-yards out.

The same give and take way visible through the air. The Rice corners played a strong game but were victims of a few big plays down the field. There have been games where opposing wide receivers ran free and torched this defense with ease. There were defensive lapses against Louisiana Tech too, but there were also some incredible catches made by Louisiana Tech receivers.

The biggest play was a 49-yard snag by Adrian Hardy. The coverage wasn’t perfect and Hardy made the challenging catch. Dancy scored on the next play.

This defense is getting close to playing at a high level, but they’ve still got a ways to go.

5. All four quarters

Rice trailed Louisiana Tech by eight points midway through the fourth quarter. The offense hadn’t played perfect, neither had the defense. But this was a one-score game until the final minutes when Louisiana Tech put a late score on the board to put this game out of reach.

Playing four quarters has been the focal point of this team all season. After being outscored 70-3 in the first quarter in their last three road games against Louisiana Tech the Owls kept the score deadlocked at zero after one. Rice got the offense going in the second, missing a field goal, but going into the locker room down 7-3.

Rice got points in the third and fourth quarters, too. The defense struggled to hold, but they fought until the very end. Calderon had his second interception in the final two minutes and Rice responded with one more score. There is work to be done, but Rice played all four quarters. Finally.

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Rally falls short as Owls drop Homecoming game to UTEP

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Rice football missed a golden opportunity for their first Conference USA win, falling to UTEP on Homecoming at Rice Stadium.

This one stung a bit. Neither the Rice offense nor the defense woke up before halftime, putting the team into a 24-point hole that was too deep to overcome. After two promising outings against FIU and North Texas, the Owls’ slow start against previously winless UTEP ruthlessly cut down all goodwill built over the previous weeks only to build it up way too late.

Rice football now sits at 1-9, still winless in conference play with three games remaining on the year. It’s safe to say that’s nowhere close to how many hoped the Mike Bloomgren era would begin at South Main. Here’s a bit more on the good and the bad from Saturday’s performance.

1. The secondary is caught between a rock and a hard place

UTEP came out guns blazing. The Miners went over the top, completing a 42-yard deep shot on the first play of the game. That was the first of several deep passes attempted and completed by the Owls’ opponent on Saturday. The need for help on the back end has been well documented and UTEP did well to expose a known deficiency.

What they did even better though, was balance their deep shots with easy completions. For every long shot quarterback Kai Locksley threw the Miners had two or three dink and dunk passes. It felt like every time the defense had kept the ball in front of them the Miners would go right back over the top. This rhythm kept the Rice defense off balance from the opening whistle.

Justin Bickham and Brandon Douglas-Dotson both struggled to keep pace with receivers on the outside. One on one coverage, even with safety help, remains a problem for this unit. By the time the game ended it was Collin Whitaker and Tyrae Thornton playing most of the snaps. The Miners were trying to bleed the clock and the pass rush had picked up significantly at that point, but its worth noting both played well.

2. If you can’t tackle, you can’t win

The secondary has had their issues, but the biggest bone to pick with the defensive performance on Saturday was the tackling. You can’t boil down a game to one play, but take a look at this UTEP touchdown run midway through the second quarter.

https://twitter.com/swcroundup/status/1058818539694575617

Roe Wilkins has his arms wrapped around Quardraiz Wadley’s waist. A few other Rice defenders get hands on him as well. The initial push from the defensive line could have been enough to force UTEP to kick the field goal on fourth down. Instead, the Miners get the score. Wadley is a talented athlete and he made several big plays on Saturday, but the poor tackling did the Owls no favors.

It’s not a one man problem. If the defensive staff could pinpoint the breakdowns to one man he’d long since have been relegated the bench. It’s a collective issue that has plagued the Owls all season and continued against UTEP. Poor tackling makes even the least talented players look like superstars. The UTEP offense looked to be a well-oiled machine throughout the entirety of the first half.

3. Starting a true freshman quarterback is going to have highs and lows

In a perfect world, Wiley Green probably isn’t the starting quarterback for the Rice Owls, yet. There’s a lot of things to like about Green and the talent and arm strength make him should get Rice fans excited for the future. If the coaching staff is able to develop him and he can add some muscle in the offseason he stands a good chance to be the frontrunner for the starting job in 2019.

In the meantime, he’s still a true freshman playing meaningful D1 football for the first time in his life. The greenness of Green showed Saturday. He wasn’t asked to do too much through the air, but he overthrew way too many receivers. Austin Walter and Austin Trammell were safety nets, ready for short completions to help their young passer. He just couldn’t get them the ball, particularly when faced with pressure.

The upside of Green couldn’t be any clearer than the Owls final drive before halftime. With 19 seconds on the clock Green hit two long passes, each to Austin Walter, driving the offense 50-yards in 16 seconds to set up a field goal as the clock expired.

Green was masterful on his fourth quarter touchdown, delivering a perfect pass over the top of the coverage and into the outstretched arms of Trammell (below). He doubled down, hitting Trammell on a 53-yard bomb for a touchdown on a fourth down scramble.

https://twitter.com/swcroundup/status/1058842310409101313

It took him a while to knock off the dust and get going. He finished 17-of-32 for 313 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. There’s no doubt he has a long way to go, but Green is going to be a very good quarterback. Give him time.

4. Optics matter, to an extent

There were several recruits on campus for this game who were looking to see signs of progress from Rice on Saturday. Letting the clock expire as big losers on your home field would have been a bad look, to say the least. The fact that this ended up being a close game doesn’t impact the box score but does go a long way for those watching.

Simply put, perception is important. The administration that hired Bloomgren and helped put this team together understands and believes in the process. The decision makers are not going to make hasty decisions and bail on this team, nor should they.

But recruiting isn’t a battle for the well-reasoned administrators, it’s a fight for 17-year-old and 18-year-old kids. Thankfully in Rice’s case, the Owls are targetting those who, hopefully, can look past an immediate result and understand the bigger picture. That bigger picture includes an offense which, when the second half rolled around, proved it has the pieces to move the ball effectively.

Several of the priority targets on the Owls’ 2019 and 2020 wish lists could contribute to this team right now. There are depth concerns at a variety of positions and the allure of early playing time and a unified culture are going to get some important signatures on National Signing Day. A loss to UTEP on your home field stings, and it should. Nevertheless, if Rice can make progress on the recruiting front despite the noise, things will get better.

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Austin Walter gives Owls’ offense reason for hope

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Rice football had a rough outing against Wake Forest, but senior running back Austin Walter did his part, leaving the game with more than one huge play.

Austin Walter entered Rice football’s Week 5 game against Wake Forest fourth in the country in All-Purpose yards, trailing two players that had already played their fifth game. Pound for pound, there isn’t another athlete that impacts the game as much as he does. That was even more evident after Walter tallied another 256 yards against the Demon Deacons.

Walter had two kickoff returns for 69 yards, led the Owls in receiving with five catches for 32 yards and a touchdown, and led the team in rushing with 18 carries, 165 yards and a score on the ground. When he touches the ball, magic happens. Let’s walk through three of his biggest plays:

https://twitter.com/swcroundup/status/1046152169714536453

1. The 47-yard run

The offensive line had another up and down day, but they guys up front deserve as much credit as Walter for this big run in the third quarter. When Walter got the handoff from quarterback Shawn Stankavage he had a big hole to run through with nearly 15 yards of open space between him and the Wake Forest safety over the top.

The corner over pursued, wide receiver Aaron Cephus made a big block and Walter turned on the jets, nearly outrunning the rest of the secondary completely before he was pushed out of bounds after a big gain. His speed and commitment to his cuts, paired with excellent blocking, set up the Owls’ biggest play of the game.

https://twitter.com/swcroundup/status/1046152594782072832

2. The shovel pass

Offensive coordinator Jerry Mack deserves a pat on the back for this play call. In their hurry to get into the backfield the Wake Forest defensive line creates a pocket for Austin Walter in the middle of the field. Stankavage completes the pitch and catch, but Walter explodes once the ball is secured in his hands.

A Wake Forest linebacker trails Walter, but can’t get a hand on him as Walter disappears up the middle. Somehow a safety is able to split a pair of would-be blockers, but Walter makes a shoe-shaking cut that leaves the defender on the ground as he waltzes into the endzone.

https://twitter.com/swcroundup/status/1046156096396816384

3. The all-effort touchdown

Even though the score was still decidedly one-sided in the Demon Deacons’ favor, Austin Walter’s motor never slowed. The shifty back exploded out of the I-Formation, beating an unblocked linebacker by running through an arm tackle around his shoulders.

Still engaged with the first defender, Walter kept his legs moving and his eyes upfield. That enabled him to pick up his blockers and make one more cut. Then he was off to the races. The Wake Forest safety should have been able to at least force him out of bounds, but by the time he realized what angle he’d need to take, Walter was already past him.

The Rice football offense has work to do before it’s truly functioning at the highest level it’s capable of, but until that happens, Austin Walter is here to smooth out the rough spots. He’s a home run threat waiting to happen and he’s pretty hard to tackle. Give him one block, he’ll get 10 yards. Give him two, and he might just take it to the house — it doesn’t matter if he’s eight-yards away from the endzone or 80, he scores touchdowns..

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