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Shutout and Shutdown: Rice football stuns undefeated Marshall

December 5, 2020 By Matthew Bartlett

On a chilly Saturday morning, Rice Football stunned the college football world, knocking off an undefeated, ranked Marshall squad on the road.

For the first time since 1995, Rice football pitched a shutout. On that day 25 years ago, Rice blanked UNLV 38-0. Fast-forward to 2020 where the Owls have now held No. 15 Marshall off the scoreboard in the biggest win of the Mike Bloomgren era. Marshall had never been shut out at Joan C. Edwards Stadium. Now they have.

The last time Rice shutout a ranked opponent? October 22, 1960, when they beat No. 16 Texas, 7-0.

In some ways, the 2020 Owls’ 20-0 win over a ranked Marshall team came out of nowhere. But for those watching the program quietly add talent and take the right steps, it served as validation for three years of hard work. There will be plenty more to unpack from this win in the days to come, for now, a few immediate reactions from the Owls’ big win.

Playing against the odds

Rice had lost its last 32 games against ranked opponents entering their game against Marshall. If that wasn’t enough to qualify as adversity, the absences of quarterback Mike Collins, wide receiver Austin Trammell and linebacker Antonio Montero upped the challenge by a significant margin.

Depending on where you looked, Rice was somewhere between a 21 and a 25 point underdog on Saturday. They weren’t expected to keep it close, let alone contend. Surprise.

When the deck is stacked against you to that degree, you need two things: execution and luck. Rice got both on Saturday. They kept Marshall quarterback Grant Wells off balance from the start, forcing five interceptions.

On the luck front, they were extremely fortunate to receive the latest flag I’ve ever seen throw on a fake punt attempt. Charlie Mendes caught the snap and threw a deep shot down the left sideline. The ball fell to the turf, primarily because the Marshall defender was mugging the would-be Rice receiver. Initially, no flag was thrown, but after a brief conference, the officials changed their minds. Rice got three points off the reversal, extending their lead to two scores, 10-0.

A questionable fumble call against Jake Bailey in the second half and a missed field goal were two of the unluckier moments for the Owls, but for the most part, Rice took advantage of their opportunities and left themselves enough breathing room to overcome those obstacles.

Dominant defense sets the tone

Despite the odds, Rice was not intimidated. They did just about everything right to engineer the upset.

The Owls held on fourth down on Marshall’s opening possession. The forced turnover on downs marked the 13th consecutive game in which Rice had kept their opponent scoreless on their opening drive. Check.

They extended the defensive success by controlling the clock on offense and shutting out Marshall in the first quarter. Rice has yet to allow a point in the first quarter this season. Check.

You could tell the physicality and the effort was different. The defense featured a few creative blitz combinations, but for the most part, it was a strong game from the Rice defensive line against a vaunted Marshall offensive line.

Bloomgren said Marshall’s biggest strength was their ability to line up and “whip the dude in front of them”. Rice just didn’t let that happen. Quite the opposite, in fact. In every phase of the game, Rice football whipped Marshall.

If the play-to-play grind wasn’t enough, safety Naeem Smith delivered the knockout blow in his first action of the season, putting Rice ahead 20-0 on this pick-six.

PICK-SIX, NAEEM SMITH.pic.twitter.com/D2rNtLNHsw

— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) December 5, 2020

Rice had six interceptions in 12 games last season. Blaze Alldredge, Josh Pearcy, Andrew Bird, Treshawn Chamberlain and Smith each had a pick on Saturday against a quarterback that had only thrown four in seven games this season.

Special, special teams

Rice muffed three punts in their first three games and suffered the infamous quadruple-doink against Middle Tennessee. That phase of the game had thwarted the Owls’ chances this season. Against Marshall, they were crucial to the Owls’ success.

Collin Riccitelli converted two of three field goals. Mendes’ execution of the fake punt pass set Rice up for a score. Mendes pinned Marshall deep on one of his few punts of the day. Then, with Marshall backed up in their own endzone, Bailey returned a punt to the Marshall to the Marshall 27 to set up another score.

The coverage units were lights out. When they did punt, Mendes was masterful. Apart from a missed field goal, this unit played some of their best football of the entire season.

Signature win

Months ago when we thought Rice football would be playing a full 12 game season, a bowl game was set as the expectation for this team. If the Owls could achieve that it would be proof the team was making progress and heading in the right direction.

When that schedule was scrapped, the means of evaluating progress became much more challenging. For one, we didn’t know how many games Rice would play this year. We didn’t know who those games would be against. And we didn’t know which players Rice would have. Losing Brad Rozner to an injury before the Owls first game compounded things even more.

But this win—knocking off a ranked opponent on the road without your starting quarterback and best wide receiver—proves “the process” as Bloomgren likes to call it, is working. Rice just beat the best team in Conference USA. They’ve proved they can do it. Now they need to show that effort and poise consistently.

Digging deeper (Subscribers only)

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Filed Under: Featured, Archive, Football, Premium Tagged With: Andrew Bird, Antonio Montero, Austin Trammell, Blaze Alldredge, Charlie Mendes, Collin Riccitelli, game recap, Jake Bailey, Kenneth Orji, Mike Collins, Naeem Smith, Rice Football, Treshawn Chamberlain

All treats, no tricks: Rice Football crushes Southern Miss on Halloween

October 31, 2020 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice Football put together a complete team performance as the Owls took down Southern Miss on the road for their first win of the 2020 season.

There was plenty of frustration following Rice football’s season-opening loss to Middle Tennessee. The Owls did so many things well, but mental lapses and killer turnovers ended in a heartbreaking defeat.

The Owls took out all of that angst against Southern Miss. From the opening kickoff, Rice dominated Southern Miss. The atmosphere of The Rock turned quiet quickly as Rice found success on offense and defense, scoring points and forcing turnovers in what looked to be one of the most complete team performances of the Mike Bloomgren era.

The win moves Rice to 1-1 on the season, staying a perfect 1-0 against teams from the C-USA West. Here are a few immediate thoughts with an exciting nugget for our subscribers on the end.

Defense starts start strong

You couldn’t have asked for a much better start on defense than Rice got on Saturday, especially considering the circumstances. Neither Kirk Lockhart or Treshawn Chamberlain made the trip to Hattiesburg, further depleting a secondary already running low on bodies.

Southern Miss didn’t waste any time, going straight at the Rice secondary early in the game. It was true freshman Gabe Taylor with a fourth down breakup to stop the Golden Eagles’ first drive. On the second drive, Miles McCord picked off Southern Miss quarterback Jack Abraham, his first career interception.

The defense gave up yards, 85 total on the first two Southern Miss drives, but no points. That’s a recipe for success, especially with so many important pieces absent.

The third Southern Miss drive went three and out as the clock ran out to end the first quarter. Rice has now held their last 11 opponents scoreless on their first possession of the game and has not allowed a point in the first quarter this season.

Seem good? Here’s the first half drive chart for the Southern Miss offense: Downs, Interception, 3-and-Out, Fumble, Field Goal, Fumble, 3-and-Out, Field Goal.

Offensive explosion

It was fairly evident things were off to a good start when Rice ripped off first downs on four consecutive plays on the way to a 14-play scoring drive in the first quarter. The Collin Riccitelli field goal marked the fifth consecutive game in which Rice had scored first, but settling for three points after first and goal from the five was disappointing.

From that point onward, Rice didn’t squander many possessions. Mike Collins hit Austin Trammell for a 72-yard touchdown on the following possession.

Long live Austin Trammellpic.twitter.com/kcxeW5s4Fi

— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) October 31, 2020

The very next play, Collins found Jake Bailey for a 25-yard touchdown reception.

Jake Bailey with the first TD catch of his @RiceFootball career. #GoOwls pic.twitter.com/krLy3L9mYq

— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) October 31, 2020

Rice averaged 17.9 points per game last season. Despite the loss of so many receivers, the addition of Collins and strong play from the offensive line have elevated this offense to heights previously unknown in the Bloomgren era. Rice has scored 64 points in their first two games. For reference, it took the Owls five games to reach that point threshold in 2019.

Takeaways help

Both the defense and the offense had fantastic outings against Southern Miss, but those strong days were amplified by takeaways. After losing the turnover battle 3-1 against Middle Tennessee, Rice had three takeaways on Saturday to one for Southern Miss. Better still, Rice scored 17 points on possessions immediately following a Southern Miss turnover.

The Owls’ lone misstep came at the end of the second quarter. The Rice punt coverage unit bumped into return man Jordan Myers, causing a fumble. The mistake cost Rice three points before half, not nearly as damaging as it could have been.

Turnovers amplify production. If the Rice offense wasn’t clicking, they wouldn’t have proven as impactful as they ended up becoming. Combing those turnovers with a dangerous offensive attack proved too much for Southern Miss to handle.

All gas no breaks

The lack of aggressiveness in overtime last week against Middle Tennessee proved costly when Riccitelli’s kick sailed just a few inches too close to the post. There wasn’t an ounce of passivity in the gameplan the Owls’ employed on Saturday. Rice had their foot on the gas from the first possession and never waived.

The team was playing so well that Bloomgren elected to call timeouts to give the team another chance at points in the final minute before halftime. The move would backfire when the Owls’ fumbled on what looked to be a mistake from the coverage unit, but the message was clear: we’re not slowing down.

You saw that aggressiveness repeatedly. Following a special teams fumble from Southern Miss, Collins immediately went to the endzone and found Jake Bailey for a touchdown. Rice rolled the dice on fourth down early in the second half, failing to convert, but showing the intent to go for the jugular and put the game out of reach.

There were execution problems, but no one can accuse this team of playing it too conservative or too safe. And the results, well, Rice picked up its first win in Hattiesburg since 2014 and move to 1-1 on the season.

Digging deeper

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Filed Under: Featured, Football Tagged With: Austin Trammell, Collin Riccitelli, Gabe Taylor, game recap, Jake Bailey, Jordan Myers, Mike Collins, Miles Mccord, Rice Football

Rice Football 2020 Practice Notes: Post MTSU presser, changes and injuries

October 27, 2020 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice football returned to the practice field this week determined to put the MTSU game behind them. Here’s where things stand headed into Week 9.

The season is back in full swing and we’ve got a full slate of Rice football updates on deck for everyone this week. I’ll include a few snippets from today’s press conference here as well as updates from practice on Monday.

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Press conference notes and quotes

“Last week’s game obviously didn’t go the way we wanted it to. There’s no denying that. We didn’t get the result we wanted and we’re in a results-oriented business. The hard part about that is I look at it, and I thought our kids played incredibly hard from the start of the game, through overtime, through both overtimes. But as we said, the outcome wasn’t what we wanted. There’s a lot of things we need to clean up between game one and game two so that we don’t feel that way again. And that’s exactly what we’re trying to do. We’re committed to doing that.” –  Coach Mike Bloomgren

“I think what hurt us most on the defensive end is when we got a little more passive … that’s just the wrong mentality for us to have. That’s not who we are. We’re aggressive. We’re dominant. And just taking our foot off the gas pedal at all, is just not who we are.” – LB Blaze Alldredge

Looking back at it, we left way too many points on the board. The game should never have been that close. We should never have been in the position to need to score a last second touchdown, and that falls on me. But, talking to the offensive line, and the running backs and the receivers and everybody, we all know that we left too many points on the board, and we just got to get fixed.” – QB Mike Collins

What to look for this week from practice

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Filed Under: Premium, Archive, Football Tagged With: Andrew Bird, Andrew Mason, August Pitre, Austin Trammell, Blaze Alldredge, Collin Riccitelli, George Nyakwol, Jack Bradley, Jaeger Bull, Jake Bailey, Jason White, Jordan Myers, Mike Collins, Naeem Smith, practice notes, Rice Football

Rice Football 2020 Practice Notes: Quarterbacks, specialists and injuries

October 6, 2020 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice football is nearly halfway through fall camp. The quarterback situation is clearing up but the running back depth chart is heating up.

On Monday, Rice football had its first practice following Scrimmage No. 1. That extra session, combined with time to break down the scrimmage film, gave head coach Mike Bloomgren a better feel for where the team stands as the midpoint of fall camp approaches.

Practice updates reserved for subscribers. Sign in to see this content or visit our Patreon page.

The quarterback situation is starting to crystalize, but Khalan Griffin is making the running back depth chart extremely hard to parse out. I’ve got more notes on both position battles, how the special teams situation is looking right now and an update on injuries including three players that I haven’t seen take the field for the Owls this fall.

Timetable for a QB1 decision

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  • Rice Baseball season ends with AAC Tournament loss to FAU

Filed Under: Football, Archive, Featured, Premium Tagged With: Ari Broussard, August Pitre, Austin Trammell, Bradley Rozner, Braedon Nutter, Brendan Suckley, Brian Hibbard, Charlie Mendes, Chike Anigbogu, Cole Garcia, Collin Riccitelli, George Nyakwol, Isaac Klarkowski, Jake Bailey, Jason White, Jawan King, Jovoni Johnson, Juma Otoviano, Kebreyun Page, Khalan Griffin, Kobie Campbell, Mike Collins, Naeem Smith, practice notes, Rice Football, Treshawn Chamberlain, Trey Schuman, Zane Knipe

Rice Football 2020 Practice Report: First depth chart and injury updates

September 28, 2020 By Matthew Bartlett

The first depth chart of the 2020 Rice Football season has been published. There weren’t many surprises, but some of those starters weren’t at practice.

I won’t bury the lede, here’s the first depth chart for Rice Football this season. For the most part, it’s chalk. The upperclassmen and vets are in the same spots as they were last season with the freshmen and new names at the bottom of the ranks with room to move upward in the next couple of weeks.

Beyond the depth chart, this update has some important injury updates, including a key player that Rice might be without for a significant amount of time. Later in the week, I’ll have a few early camp standouts.

Practice updates reserved for subscribers. Sign in to see this content or visit our Patreon page.

Rice Football, depth chart

Depth chart takeaways

1. Special Teams

If Jordan Myers really does take over the primary punt return duties this year he’ll be one of the first tight ends to fill that role that I can remember. An OR designation at the punter spot was also somewhat of a surprise. It’s still going to be Charlie Mendes’ job to lose, but it sounds like it’s going to be a real battle between the redshirt freshmen and Stanford transfer Collin Riccitelli.

2. Quarterback

If it wasn’t evident before, this is officially a two-horse race. As mentioned in the previous update, the man out in front early is

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Filed Under: Featured, Football, Premium Tagged With: Andrew Bird, Andrew Mason, August Pitre, Austin Trammell, Bradley Rozner, Caleb Chappelle, Cam Montgomery, Charlie Mendes, Christian McStravick, Collin Riccitelli, Jake Bailey, Jason White, Jordan Myers, Mike Collins, Naeem Smith, practice notes, Prudy Calderon, Rice Football, Tre'shon Devones, Treshawn Chamberlain, Zane Knipe

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