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Rice Football 2020: Spring Practice Week 2 Notes

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Two weeks of Rice football spring practice are in the books. We’ve got standouts on both sides of the ball and updates on the quarterback battle in this week’s notes.

The first scrimmage of spring ball is in the books. Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren liked what he saw. “I think we’re probably a little bit ahead in both systems. And I guess we should be,” Bloomgren said, “Offensively right now, from an assignment standpoint, we’re probably a little bit better [than last spring]. We’re doing things better.”

The offense finished with a handful of touchdowns drives. No field goals were kicked, all units went for it on fourth down. When adding in for those additional scoring opportunities, the defense edged the offense by a factor of roughly 2-to-1.

Like last year, the defense was clearly the more formidable unit. But this time the offense was able to celebrate touchdowns and explosive plays somewhat regularly — it wasn’t a “once in a blue moon” kind of success. That’s not to say the offense has grown by leaps and bounds. At this point, even baby steps has to be taken with some eagerness.

Bloomgren credits the wins on both sides of the ball, at least in part, to the understanding of the scheme and familiarity with what the coaching staff is asking players to do. “I think that I now have more than my 10 assistant coaches,” he surmised. “I’ve got old heads that have played a lot of football in this system that are coaching younger guys, because they’re so willing to and they so want to help and they just want to make our football team better.”

Quarterbacks

How the quarterbacks perform will continue to be the focal point of the spring. As of now, there appears to be a slight bit of separation occurring. Mike Collins took the majority of the reps with the first team offense during the scrimmage. JoVoni Johnson also saw action with the starters, too, albeit less time with the ones than Collins.

TJ McMahon and Wiley Green were mostly in charge of second and third team duties behind the aforementioned Collins and Johnson. Those two have the leg up in terms of experience, both at the D1 level and, in Johnson’s case, running the Owls’ offense.

The Roost Podcast | Evan Kravetz and C-USA Asst. Commissioner Clifton Douglas

Collins flashed early on in the scrimmage. There was a sequence where he took a keeper around the left side of the line, sprinting 30 yards up the sideline for a first down. He then followed that by hitting a receiver in the flat who caught a block and raced another 30 yards up the field. Rice has 18 plays of 30 yards or more in 12 games last season. Stringing two such plays together in succession was eye-popping.

Johnson had his moments too. Although it’s probably fair to say the offense looked marginally more fluid under Collins, it was Johnson who led the only touchdown drive with the first team offense. He drove the team the length of the field, setting up a fourth-and-goal touchdown run.

Both have struggled with accuracy, particularly on throws down the field. Their advantages come through their legs. Collins is surprisingly mobile for such a big frame and what Johnson is capable of doing on the ground has been well documented on the field already.

Bloomgren’s evaluation remained level. “There was some good and bad with all of them,” he said. Translation: there’s no announcement on a definitive QB1 in the works any time soon.

Competition on the offensive line

This is the first spring during Bloomgren’s tenure that the Owls have had a surplus of players along the offensive line. Rice football is running with a full two-deep, plus some during spring. Only center/guard Shea Baker is pulling double duty, primarily because of his versatility rather than a lack of options.

Here’s roughly what the first team (bold) and second team looked like during the first scrimmage

Left Tackle – Clay Servin | Derek Ferraro
Left Guard – Cole Garcia | Adam Sheriff
Center – Isaac Klarkowski | Shea Baker
Right Guard – Shea Baker | Izeya Floyd
Right Tackle – Brandt Peterson | Jovaun Woolford

The most notable shift is at the right tackle spot where Brandt Peterson is getting an extended look. Bloomgren praised his efforts this spring, saying Peterson is playing “the best football he’s ever played since I’ve been here.” That’s high praise from a man who cut his teeth coaching the offensive line.

Jovaun Woolford is having a great spring as well, so how the starting line shakes out is still very much so a work in progress. Woolford seems to be transitioning well. He said he feels as if he hasn’t missed a beat. “It’s a lot like Colgate, a lot of ground and pound which I like to do.” He’s shuffled back and forth with the first and second team so far.

At left guard, a few guys have been in the mix. Cole Garcia, Adam Sheriff and Regan Riddle have all been seen some reps. That spot is TBD as well. Meanwhile, the shift to the offensive side of the ball is going well for Izeya Floyd. He’s already cracked the two-deep and is running with the second-team as a guard.

Kindling sparks

Explosive plays came at a premium for Rice football in 2019. The defense is still ahead, but there have been a few breaks in their aura of superiority. Several of the offense’s best moments came on singular plays.

  • Cam Montgomery broke two 50+ yard touchdowns, one on the ground and the other via a screen pass. He’s fast, and his acceleration is incredible. Fully healthy with a thinned out depth chart ahead of him, he could see more run if he continues to protect the football
  • Jawan King ripped off a 50-yard touchdown run of his own.
  • Jack Bradley hauled in a 40+ yard reception on a beautifully thrown ball by Wiley Green. He went up over the defender and snatched the ball with his hands. His development will be one to follow in a crowded tight end room.

Standouts on defense

There was some concern on the defensive line with Floyd moving to offense. The young guys on defense are doing just fine. Beyond the usual suspects on the first team, Kebreyun Page has been wreaking havoc off the edge.

The linebacking corps are going to be special. Blaze Alldredge and Antonio Montero are as good as advertised, but Myron Morrison is coming on strong as well. Garrett Grammer is as steady as ever, giving Rice football plenty of options in the middle of the field.

In the secondary, Kirk Lockhart and Jason White have caught my eye on multiple occasions. Lockhart plays tough and has delivered some jarring blows from the safety spot. White constantly outplays his smaller stature, making plays on the ball against receivers who have the height advantage over him. He’s a guy I could see sticking as a slot corner.

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Rice Football: 10 Takeaways from 2019 season

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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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The Roost’s 2019 Rice Football Season Superlatives

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The Roost’s 2019 Rice Football Season Superlatives exist to honor exceptional Owls who made a difference on the field this season. Here’s the complete list.

There were many individual performances worth recognizing in the 2019 Rice Football season. In addition to the more traditional awards below, make sure to check out The Roosties, the first annual award show from The Roost Podcast, which features a different angle of honors. From our favorite plays to the players we were most wrong about in the preseason, we cover some of the more creative superlatives on the show.

Defensive Newcomer of the Year — DB Naeem Smith

Full Story: Defensive Newcomer of the Year Award

Excerpt: “Smith and the secondary capped off their season with a near-perfect outing against preseason Conference USA Player of the Year Mason Fine on Senior Day. The North Texas quarterback was held without a touchdown pass, in a game in which he attempted at least 15 passes, for the first time since Sep. 16, 2017 at Iowa. Nobody keeps Fine out of the endzone, but Rice football did. And Smith was a crucial piece to that puzzle.”

Offensive Newcomer of the Year — WR Bradley Rozner

Full Story: Offensive Newcomer of the Year Award

Excerpt: “The season was a collection of moments like that for Rozner. He led all of junior college in touchdowns last season. In his first year at Rice, he led the Owls’ pass catchers in scoring, too. Not only did South Main become his home, he proved he belonged on this stage time and time again.”

Rising Star — DT De’Braylon Carroll

Full Story: Rising Star Award

Excerpt: “Carroll’s impact went beyond the boxscore. Those relying on the stat sheet to project how impactful the Rice front seven will be next season are in for a surprise. Carroll will be ready and waiting for his turn. Adams has exhausted his eligibility and moved on. Rice has yet to sign any interior defensive lineman in their most recent recruiting class. The starting job is going to be Carroll’s. If he continues to play at this level he won’t fly under the radar for much longer.”

Special Team’s Player of the Year — LB Garrett Grammer

Full Story: Special Team’s Player of the Year Award

Excerpt: “Humble excellence. That’s pretty much Garrett Grammer in a nutshell. And that’s why this season, despite the string of defeats, has been so rewarding for many on this team. His efforts are the backbone of a team in the progress of pulling itself up by the bootstraps, of a collection of players working their butts off to earn a win, somehow, someway.”

Defensive Player of the Year — DB Treshawn Chamberlain

Full Story: Defensive Player of the Year

Excerpt: “Even with those impressive numbers, it’s hard to quantify the impact a player like Chamerblain had on this defense. The energy he brought to the defense this season went far beyond the x’s and o’s. Some players stay emotionally level from start to finish. Chamberlain is a guy that embraces the intensity of the game, playing with a passion, a swagger that gives him an edge.”

Offensive Player of the Year — RB Aston Walter

Full Story: Offensive Player of the Year

Excerpt: “That career ended in El Paso, Texas on the very field he lost his junior season. This time, instead of accruing another redshirt, Walter went out with a bang. He paced Rice with 149 rushing yards and one touchdown which came from 30 yards out. Things had finally come full circle. A fitting way for a player who’s career had transformed from a part-time role to a core offensive weapon.”

Team MVP — LB Blaze Alldredge

Full Story: Team MVP Award

Excerpt: “Dominant. If one were to describe Blaze Alldredge’s 2019 season in one word, that would be it. This marked the year the JUCO kid from Florida proved he belonged on the big stage. And not just belonged, that he was the Alpha on the field, patrolling the hash marks and ready to take on any challenger who dared run his direction.”

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Rice Football 2019 Team MVP: Blaze Alldredge

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Blaze Alldredge was the enforcer who helped turn the defense into a dominant force and an easy selection for the 2019 Rice Football Team MVP

The path Blaze Alldredge took to Rice football stardom was anything but conventional. Alldredge played his high school ball in Florida before enrolling in a California junior college out of high school, betting that he could earn more prestigious offers down the line after another year of work. Despite registering 88 tackles and two interceptions in his freshman campaign, his choices were equally sparse.

As National Signing Day came and went, a return to junior college seemed imminent. Then Rice Football head coach Mike Bloomgren picked up the phone and invited Alldredge to come visit South Main. From that moment on, everything changed for Alldredge and for Rice.

Alldredge joined the Owls in mid-June without any fanfare. He instead he quietly inserted himself into classes and prepared for fall camp. Beginning the year as a backup, he worked his way into the rotation and was a starter by midseason. He’s not flying under the radar anymore. A late addition to Bloomgren’s first recruiting class, Alldredge has become the very ethos of the Rice football defense.

“I always knew the player I was. I was just waiting for my opportunity,” Alldredge said, reveling in the full circle his career had already taken. After registering 65 tackles in his inaugural D1 season, Alldredge became a certified rockstar on the field in 2019.

The sum total of his 12 performances was outstanding. The Owls’ starting linebacker notched 102 tackles, four sacks, a fumble, a fumble recovery and two passes defended. Of those 102 tackles, 21.5 came behind the line of scrimmage.

Alldredge’s 21.5 tackles for a loss were second-most in the nation, a half tackle more than presumptive No. 1 overall NFL draft pick Chase Young from Ohio State. He broke Larry Izzo’s school record for TFLs by a linebacker and finished a half tackle shy of Brian Womac’s school-record 22 TFLs in 2017. He spent as much time in the backfield as any Rice player did this season.

The nation took notice. By midseason Alldredge was retroactively added to the Nagurski Award watchlist, the equivalent of the Heisman Trophy for defensive players. He was the only Rice player named to the All Conference-USA first team.

There’s not much more he could have done on the field this season, but it’s what he did outside the white lines that made all the difference.

Just in case his incredible athleticism wasn’t enough, Alldredge committed to outworking everyone. Defensive coordinator Brian Smith said Alldredge “transformed his body in the offseason,” floored by how seriously he took the workout regimen. He dropped his body fat percentage to personal bests and finished neck-and-neck with fellow linebacker Antonio Montero in the team’s offseason workout competitions.

“Fatigue isn’t something that we even process in this program,” Alldredge said following the defenses’ signature game-winning final series against North Texas. “I’m never tired going onto the field,” he said, “I’m ready when my number’s called. I think everyone on the defense kind of embraces that same mentality that we’re not going to shy away from the limelight. We’re not going to make excuses that we’re too tired. We want to be on the field because we want to show how dominant we are.”

Dominant. If one were to describe Blaze Alldredge’s 2019 season in one word, that would be it. This marked the year the JUCO kid from Florida proved he belonged on the big stage. And not just belonged, that he was the Alpha on the field, patrolling the hash marks and ready to take on any challenger who dared run his direction.

He’s not done. As soon as the whistle sounded on the team’s third-consecutive victory Alldredge began his preparations for an even better 2020. “A big part about me choosing to come to Rice was [strength and conditioning coach] Hans [Straub]. When I met with him and I talked to him I was so excited for the chance to have somebody guide me toward where I wanted to take my body,” he said, “And truthfully, he’s going to do it again. So we gotta watch out for this next offseason.”

A player that impressive, with that kind of drive and another offseason to get better? Conference USA didn’t have an answer for Alldredge in 2019. His trajectory, and the trajectory of Rice football, is sky high.

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Rice Football 2019 Special Teams Player of the Year: Garrett Grammer

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Rice football linebacker Garrett Grammer isn’t the most well-known defender, but the former long snapper is this year’s Special Teams Player of the Year.

For the first two years of his collegiate career, the average Rice football fan didn’t know who Garrett Grammer was. Fans know the starting quarterback(s). They know the stars. The most devoted Owls could probably recite the depth chart two-deep on both sides of the ball. But you won’t find many jerseys bearing the number and surname of the team’s long snapper. Much less so, his backup. That’s where the journey of the 2019 Rice Football Special Team’s Player of the Year begins.

Supplanted by Campbell Riddle in 2018 at long snapper, Grammer found himself buried on a crowded depth chart. The coaching staff hadn’t even known Grammer could snap when he arrived on campus. Now the advantage that originally secured him playing time was gone — he’d been beaten out. Not one to mope or quit, he did the only thing he knew how to do. He worked.

Fast-forward to November 3, 2019.

Marshall led Rice 10-7 in the second quarter. The Owls’ offense had shown signs of life under freshman quarterback JoVoni Johnson, but the defense knew every drive mattered. Needing a spark, Marshall quarterback Isaiah Green tossed the ball to speedy wide receiver Willie Johnson on a reverse.

The trick caught some off guard. Grammer was ready. Now a linebacker, Grammer had risen through the ranks and become a trustworthy member of the front seven. Grammer, listed as the backup to starter Antonio Montero who led the team with 11 tackles that day, made the play.

In a flash, Grammer exploded into the backfield and brought down Johnson for a loss of eight yards. Not only did the trick play not work. It backfired spectacularly.

“He’s probably the most underappreciated [line]backer we have,” said linebacker coach Scott Vestal. “If he goes in, I have no worries. It’s truly the same. The standard’s the same.”

That standard has been elevated significantly thanks to the shrewd defensive prowess of Grammer who has proven to have much more of a knack for the making plays than snuffing out a single reverse. A week prior to his moment against Marshall, Grammer laid waste to a fake punt attempt by UTSA.

Two big plays in two weeks haven’t just turned the heads of the coaching staff. Grammer’s peers are keeping tabs as well. “Garrett Grammer is a guy that I know can play,” said linebacker Blaze Alldredge. “And when you watch on film, that play that he made [against UTSA], it’s almost like he had a psychic premonition that it was coming because everybody else is running the other way and this guy is triggering downhill ready to make a play.”

Whether it’s a premonition, good luck or a combination of all of the above, Grammer chalks it up to him just doing his job. In his eyes, he was just doing what he was supposed to do on both of those big plays. Find the ball carrier and bring him down.

“I just happened to the person that made the play,” he said, almost nonchalantly recalling the blocked punt. Although he did let on there was a slew of thoughts firing off in his head as he worked. “That played didn’t last very long, right? But there’s so much stuff going through my mind at that time,” things like “Man, if I miss this tackle.” Fortunately for Grammer and for the Owls, he didn’t.

In some ways, those two moments represent the apex of Grammer’s entire Rice football career. The unassuming, lunchpail tackler had his moment in the spotlight, enjoyed it, and went back to work. But his story won’t end there, regardless of whether or not anyone else tries to outsmart the Owls’ trick play sleuth.

Grammer’s primary path onto the field, special teams, will remain his focal point moving forward. With his way to a starting linebacker job blocked by Montero (83 tackles this season) and Alldredge (second nationally in tackles for a loss with 22), Grammer’s contributions will be geared a bit more toward the “behind the scenes”-type work.

Spotlight or not, if anyone knows where No. 46 is at all times, its Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren. “He’s a guy that we rely on for a lot of things on our team. He is the special teams ace on our team. And we trust him with everything,” he said. That, in itself, would have been high praise, then Bloomgren continued, “I remember we had like one every year on our team with the [New York] Jets. At one time it was Larry Izzo, former Rice Owl.”

Izzo, whose single-season school-record 17 tackles for a loss was surpassed by Alldredge this season, had a lengthy NFL career. He made three Pro Bowls as a special teams ace and took home three Super Bowl rings. There could not be a higher compliment paid to a special teamer at Rice than simply to be mentioned in the same breath as the Owls’ legend.

Humble excellence. That’s pretty much Garrett Grammer in a nutshell. And that’s why this season, despite the string of defeats, has been so rewarding for many on this team. His efforts are the backbone of a team in the progress of pulling itself up by the bootstraps, of a collection of players working their butts off to earn a win, somehow, someway.

“When [Grammer] made that play in the UTSA game on the reverse on the fake punt our sideline couldn’t have erupted anymore,” Bloomgren recalled, “And part of it was because the result of the play, but part of it was because it was Garrett and our guys just love him and they love the way he works.”

For now, that work will be starting on every special teams unit the Owls employ. No matter the situation, the staff and his teammate know they can trust Grammer implicitly. Not only will he make the right play,  but he’ll commit every ounce of effort to each moment. That strain, that willingness to commit to the little things in hope of fulfilling his commission to do his “one-eleventh” as Rice players are wont to say, could set up another bigger moment. Like the thwarted reverse against Marshall. Or that blown-up punt against UTSA.

Fellow linebacker Antonio Montero echoed that sentiment. “[It was] probably the most joyous I’ve been this season, seeing [Grammer block the punt], because I know how hard Garrett works, how good of a play that was,” he said, smiling.” Coach Vestal said that he was up in the box jumping up and down going crazy because we know how much it means to [Grammer] and how much it means to the linebacker corps.”

“I kinda was just the guy in the right spot at the right time,” Grammer chuckled with a modest grin.

Grammer made his first career start this season against North Texas. He finished the year with 15 tackles and 2.5 tackles for a loss, none bigger than his fourth down punt stop. Rice football hopes he’ll keep his penchant for consistency going into 2020. It might just result in the one play that matters, leading to the one result both Grammer and his teammates most desire: victory.

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