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Rice Football 2021: Owls hitting their stride in practice prep for Southern Miss

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Rice football got some pieces back this week as it preps for its conference opener against Southern Miss. The latest from practice, here.

Things are starting to settle in for Rice football. Fresh off their first win of the season with several players expected to return to the field after missing time with injuries, spirits were high on South Main this week. This update will hit on those key returning pieces and discuss how Rice will approach the wide receiver and quarterback positions this week against Southern Miss.

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For those checking in for the first time, or those returning, a quick programming note. Practice reports are reserved for our subscribers. If you want updates on how Rice football plans to deploy its quarterbacks, position battles, standouts, injuries and more, this is your go-to source. You can get access to all practice notes, recruiting updates and special features like this one when you subscribe to our All-American Tier on Patreon today.

Cedric Patterson takes the lead

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Rice Football 2021: Spring Practice Week 3 Notebook

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Rice football has one scrimmage in the books and continues to work. Here are some growing pains and high points from Week 3 of spring ball.

Overall, Rice Football head coach Mike Bloomgren was optimistic following the first scrimmage of the spring. โ€œI look at our team in totality and we are better in terms of our knowledge of the system,” he said. “There’s less missed assignments everywhere on the field. And we move faster to and from the ball.โ€

That progress has come with some highs and a few lows. This team is, as Bloomgren dubbed it, “an exciting work in progress.”

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For those that might have missed it, you can check out the initial depth chart reactions as well as the Week 1 and Week 2 practice notebooks. Not subscribed? The Roost will have you covered every step of the way this spring and beyond. Subscribers get access to all practice notes, recruiting updates and special features. Subscribe on Patreon and get access to it all today.

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Rice Football 2020 Practice Notes: Presser quotes and o-line growth

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Rice football took advantage of the off week to rest up and get healthy. The Owls are working toward this week’s game at Louisiana Tech.

There was plenty to observe and talk about as Rice football got back to practice after an unexpected free Saturday following the postponement of the UTSA game. Head coach Mike Bloomgren shared his thoughts on the future of that matchup. I recapped those thoughts, shared a few quotes from Tuesday’s press conference and dug into some observations from the Rice o-line at practice this week.

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UTSA postponement

At this point, both UTSA and Rice have made it abundantly clear who they want to be playing on Dec. 5. The Owls were originally free that day before Conference USA slated Marshall into that open weekend only days before the Rice vs UTSA game was postponed.

UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor has gone on record saying he wants to see that game rescheduled. Bloomgren echoed those sentiments on Tuesday, sayingย “if we had our choice, we’d love to play the team down the road.” Bloomgren reiterated that would ultimately be a conference decision.

Notes and Quotes

“We all love the rhythm of a college football season. We love the routine, but 2020 has been anything but routine, as we all know. And something we’ve asked our players for is flexibility and adaptability … I would love to get into a routine for the next six or seven weeks … but at the same time I think we’re probably going to have more opportunities where we’ve gotta be flexible.” – Mike Bloomgren on the unexpected schedule change

“We’ve been in the system — this is our third year — now it’s just like riding a bike … They’re great young men. They have great balance on and off the field and when we come in here it’s just football.” – Defensive line coach Cedric Calhoun on the improvements this year

I know that we’ve been really efficient on first and second down and then that’s allowed us to be really efficient on third down. I think it’s been a really notable thing from this season. We’ve had a couple third and shorts that we converted on. It’s something we take a lot of pride in. But I also think what you’re seeing is that we’re finding ourselves being pretty dang dynamic, because we’re being so efficient on first and second down… if we do our job up front, this offense is really going to shine.” – Sanders Davis on the overall – on the growth of the offense

Giving some love to the offensive line

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Rice Football Recruiting: 2020 National Signing Day Live Blog

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The 2020 Rice Football Recruiting class will add to their already impressive class on National Signing Day. Stay here for live updates as they happen.

We’ll have all the latest news and notes from National Signing Day updated throughout the day. The 2020 Rice Football Recruiting class had 17 players signed prior to today and should up that total significantly.

Stay tuned for news on the four commits as well as any potential new additions making announcements on Wednesday. There will be some fireworks you don’t want to miss.

Closing thoughts on the 2020 Rice Football recruiting class

Rice Football Recruiting: 2020 National Signing Day Recap

10:30 p.m.

The class is (mostly) done and I’ve got a lot of notes to work through on the full class. Here’s some quick thoughts from coach Bloomgren.

I’ve also updated the class breakdowns. Read more about the defensive signees here:

Rice Football Recruiting: Breaking down the 2020 signees – Defense

And more on the offensive signees here:

Rice Football Recruiting: Breaking down the 2020 signees – Offense and Special Teams

11:45 a.m.

That’s a wrap… sort of

Rice should address the class as a whole later this afternoon. At this point, I don’t have any concerns about any previously announced players getting in. Gotta make the graphic at some point. Overall, this is a very good haul. I’ll have more notes on the class as a whole later on.

10:40 a.m.

Looks like we should update the all-time recruiting ranks. In the past two classes, Bloomgren’s staff has signed four of the top 13 players in program history

  1. DB Gabe Taylor (2020, .8599)
  2. RB Shane Turner (2008, .8590)
  3. CB Jeremy Eddington (2010, .8590)
  4. CB Fred Jackson (2010, .8556)
  5. DT Zach Abercrumbia (2015, .8534)
  6. Saf Gabe Baker (2010, .8528)
  7. ATH Jake Bailey (2019, .8516)
  8. K Chris Boswell (2009, .8510)
  9. CB Lamont Narcisse (2020, .8499)
  10. RB Samuel Stewart (2014, .8484)
  11. Saf Jaylon Finner (2011, .8466)
  12. LB DJ Green (2013, .8459)
  13. CB Sean Fresch (2020, .8449)

10:11 a.m.

The Stanford pipeline continues to flow. Transfer kicker Collin Riccitelli is in.

Rice Football Recruiting: Stanford kicker Collin Riccitelli transfers to Owls

9:20 a.m.

JUCO linebacker Jaren Banks, who committed earlier this week, has turned in his paperwork. He’s officially an Owl.

Rice Football Recruiting 2020: Owls to add JUCO LB Jaren Banks

9:16 a.m.

Had to wait until the West coast woke up for our next wave of signees. The new name here is Calabasas corner Lamont Narcisse. He signs with Rice after a hard fight from Washington State. He is also a Top-10 rated player in the Owls’ 247 Sports history.

Rice Football Recruiting 2020: Corner Lamont Narcisse commits to Owls

6:40 a.m.

While we wait for the next one in, here’s a snapshot of the top commits the Owls have signed with their class and 247 Sports rating. Three of the top 12 will be on campus this upcoming season.

  1. DB Gabe Taylor (2020, .8599)
  2. RB Shane Turner (2008, .8590)
  3. CB Jeremy Eddington (2010, .8590)
  4. CB Fred Jackson (2010, .8556)
  5. DT Zach Abercrumbia (2015, .8534)
  6. Saf Gabe Baker (2010, .8528)
  7. ATH Jake Bailey (2019, .8516)
  8. K Chris Boswell (2009, .8510)
  9. RB Samuel Stewart (2014, .8484)
  10. Saf Jaylon Finner (2011, .8466)
  11. LB DJ Green (2013, .8459)
  12. CB Sean Fresch (2020, .8449)

6:19 a.m.

Rice football just signed the highest-rated player in program history. Welcome aboard Gabe Taylor!

Rice Football Recruiting 2020: DB Gabe Taylor commits to Owls

Wednesday — 5:59 a.m.

Players are allowed to sign at 7:00 a.m. local time, which means the East Coast is up first in just a few minutes. Stay tuned, Rice is going to start out strong.

Tuesday night

Most of the 2020 Rice Football recruiting class has been nailed down prior to the start of the Early Signing Period. The most recent list is available here where you can read profiles on the most notable players. Of those committed players — which range from transfers to walk ons — here’s the list of those who did not sign in December. We’ll be keeping an eye on these names Wednesday morning.

  • LB Andrew Awe – Mansfield, TX
  • LB Jaren Banks – New Mexico Military Institute (JUCO)
  • WR Caleb Chappelle – The Woodlands, TX
  • DB Jonah Doddridge – Southlake, TX
  • LB Terreance Ellis – Pearland, TX
  • WR Michael Haack – El Paso, TX
  • FB Brian Hibbard – Baton Rouge, LA
  • OL Payton Lovell – Trophy Club, TX
  • K Collin Riccitelli – Stanford
  • OL Charlie Stone – Austin, TX
  • WR Casey Tawa – West Linn, OR

Make sure to stay tuned on Twitter and follow our live blog here during the day for updates. Get the latest list of the 2020 Rice Football Recruiting commits by clicking the tracker below.

Rice Football, Rice Football Recruiting

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