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31 Days: It’s time for Owls to start picking off some passes

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Rice football tallied six takeaways over 12 games in 2017 which contributed to one of the worst turnover margins in school history.

The turnover battle was not kind to the Owls in 2017. In truth, it hasn’t been favorable for some time. Since winning the conference title in 2013 the Owls have regressed significantly in turnover margin. Last season the Owls hit rock bottom. Their six total turnovers forced were not only the worst mark in Conference USA, it was the fewest turnovers forced in Division I football.

Rice was one of only four programs last season that forced fewer than 10 takeaways. They finished tied for fourth-worst in giveaways with 29. All told Rice finished with a dismal turnover margin of -23. Including the Owls’ 2017 season, there have been only six instances in which a team finished with a turnover margin -20 or worse since 2000.

In 1977 Rice registered an outstanding 51 takeaways, including 31 interceptions. Spread across 11 contests, the Owls averaged 2.8 interceptions per game. That’s a world of difference when juxtaposed with the three interceptions the 2017 squad accumulated in 12 games. Here’s how the record-setting 1977 season compared to the five most recent seasons:

Season INT Gain Fumbles Gain Total Takeaways INT Lost Fumbles Lost Total Turnovers Turnover Margin
2017 3 3 6 16 13 29 -23
2016 5 6 11 10 8 18 -7
2015 2 8 10 9 13 22 -12
2014 9 11 20 8 4 12 8
2013 14 12 26 9 10 19 7
1977 31 20 51 10 10 20 31

The numbers are pretty jarring and they speak to why Mike Bloomgren was brought in as the new head coach. Although he’s cut his teeth on the offensive side of the ball he still plans to bring the Stanford brand of football, centered on power running and physical defense, to South Main. It won’t be hard to improve on last season’s results, but it’s safe to say the tip drill will be incorporated into practices more frequently moving forward.

Rice doesn’t need to climb all the way up to +31, but getting out of the negatives would go a long way toward making the Owls competitive on a weekly basis in 2018.

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32 Days: Owls proud owners of 32 ties in school history

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Rice football hasn’t registered a tie in more than two decades. Even then, draws were a rare occurrence. The Owls have played 32 tied games in school history.

The tie has quickly become a footnote in college football history. Outside of soccer, which has had mixed interest in the United States at best, ties don’t frequently make appearances on any level of professional or collegiate sports. Rice football is no exception to that trend.

Entering the 2018 season Rice football has finished 269 consecutive games without a tie. That string of tie-less outcomes dates back to a 21-all finish against Army on Sept. 30, 1995. The result was a near-miss for the Owls, who were coached by Ken Hatfield at the time. With Rice leading by three points in the final moments, Army placekicker  J. Parker booted through a 44-yard field goal to bring the score even. The final whistle sounded and the game was ended without a deciding point ever being scored.

At the time, no provision for overtime existed. That game was the 32nd tie in school history and the last time the Owls would leave a gem unresolved ever — at least according to the current college football overtime rules that were implemented in 1996. That season, the year following the Army-Rice draw, overtime was instituted. If the game ended without a winner teams would trade possessions starting at the 25-yard line until the score was no longer equal. Since then, draws have faded away from the lexicon of the modern college football fan.

Even when a tie was possible it was still an extremely rare occurrence. From 1970 to 1994 Rice tallied four tied games, a rate of 1.5 percent or three times for every 200 games. Now, the tie is nothing but ancient history, but it remains an interesting anecdote, a quirky part of Rice football history.

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2018 Prairie View A&M Panthers Season Preview

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Rice football kicks off the 2018 season with a home game against the Prairie View A&M Panthers. Can the Panthers challenge the Owls on their home turf?

Since moving on from the Southwestern Conference in 1996 Rice football has gone through some difficult stretches. Some years were tough, but none were as draining as the 80-game losing streak the Prairie View A&M Panthers accrued from 1991 to 1998. PVAMU has come a long way since then, showing enough improvement to warrant the construction of a new stadium, completed in 2016.

Head coach Willie Simmons shockingly resigned following the 2017 season to take over at his Alma Mater, Florida A&M. In his place, Prairie View A&M hired former Grambling State offensive coordinator Eric Dooley as the school’s 33rd head coach. He inherits a program that finished 6-5 last year, their third consecutive winning season.

The 2018 game between PVAMU and Rice marks the second meeting in the series. Rice won the first contest in 2016 by the final score of 65-44.

Offense

Any missteps the Panthers have suffered over the last several years have not fallen upon the offense. PVAMU has been a consistent offensive power in the SWAC for several years, most recently on the arm and legs of quarterback Neiko Hollins. Following a marvelous freshman season, Hollins was set to lead the Panthers in 2018 before announcing his decision to transfer late this summer.

Hollins earned the starting job midway through last season. Even with the late start he finished second in the conference in passing touchdowns and third in passing touchdowns. PVAMU, which had begun the season 2-3, finished 4-2 under his leadership. He’ll be a tough man to replace.

In his place, PVAMU will turn to redshirt junior Jalen Morton. Morton appeared in six games last season, completing 8-of-17 passes for 107 yards and a touchdown. He’ll be asked to spread the ball around to playmakers on the outside and could surpass those season-long statistics early on against Rice.

Joining Morton on offense will be junior running back Dawonya Tucker who rushed for 531 yards and five touchdowns as a complimentary piece to All-SWAC running back Sta’Fon McCray. McCray has since moved on leaving Tucker and Kansas State transfer Bernard Goodwater as the primary ballcarriers moving forward.

There will be plenty of new faces in the receiving corps too. Markus Hardy, the Panthers’ leading returning receiver, registered 14 catches, 280 yards and three touchdowns in 2017. The focus should shift to Trinity Valley College transfer Tristen Wallace, a former four-star recruit who was dismissed from Oregon before making his way through the JUCO ranks to PVAMU.

Defense

At a bare minimum, the Prairie View A&M defense will need to hold the line in 2018. The Panthers were hot and cold on defense last season before ending the year on a bit of a hot streak. They held three of their last five opponents to 17 points or fewer.

Defensive coordinator Henry Miller is the new man in charge and he inherits a cupboard, that while not overflowing with riches, has some key pieces that could be difference makers for the Panthers next season. Junior defensive back Ju’Anthony Parker picked off four passes in 2017, two of which he returned for touchdowns. Joining him in the defensive backfield is junior Reggie Stubblefield who tallied eight pass breakups a year ago.

In the front seven, linebacker Anthony Stubbs is the name to know. He picked up 69 tackles (eight for a loss) in 2017 and promises to have an equally productive 2018 season.

Schedule

Date Opponent
8/25/2018 Rice
9/2/2018 North Carolina Central
9/8/2018 Sam Houston
9/15/2018 UNLV
9/22/2018 Arkansas – Pine Bluff
9/29/2018 Grambling State
10/13/2018 Southern
10/27/2018 Alcorn State
11/3/2018 Jackson State
11/17/2018 Alabama State
11/24/2018 Texas Southern
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2018 Wake Forest Demon Deacons Season Preview

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Rice football will venture outside the confines of Conference USA for a road test against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in 2018.

For the third time in school history, Rice football will square off with Wake Forest. The Owls beat the Demon Deacons in their last meeting on the gridiron, 33-17 in September of 1990. The two school’s only other meeting came the year prior to that, a 17-17 tie.

Wake Forest finished 8-5 last season, capping off their 2018 campaign with a shootout victory over Texas A&M in the Belk Bowl. Head coach Dave Clawson has consistently produced competitive football teams in a division which has produced a College Football Playoff team every year since the playoff was established in 201. They’ll get the Owls on the end of a four-game homestand whereas Rice will be playing their third straight road game.

After allowing 34 points against the Demon Deacons in series history the Owls will look to keep their undefeated streak alive in 2018. To do that they’ll have to limit one of the ACC’s surprisingly potent offenses.

Offense

Replacing quarterback John Wolford is the biggest challenge for the Demon Deacons in 2018. The four-year starter finished third in school history in career passing yards, throwing for 8,794 yards from 2014 to 2017. Kendall Hinton will be asked to lead the offense in his stead. Hinton started two games in 2015 and one in 2016. Although he hasn’t had much meaningful game action he’ll have the benefit of one of the most experienced offensive lines in the ACC to protect him.

Wake Forest didn’t have a single offensive lineman named to any of the All-ACC teams from 2012-2016. Last season they had three – center Ryan Anderson, left guard Phil Haynes and left tackle Justin Herron. The Deacs will add a trio of experienced running backs behind them, led by Matt Colburn who came 61 yards shy of a 1,000-yard season in 2017.

As for pass catchers, limiting the amount of damage caused by Greg Dortch will be a priority. As a redshirt freshman last fall, Dortch became the first player in school history with four receiving touchdowns in a single game. He’s joined by a host of other options in an offense that generally likes to spread the ball out. Seven different players had 10+ receptions last season.

Defense

The loss of defensive coordinator Mike Elko to Notre Dame following the 2016 season saw the Deacs take a step backward in defensive effectiveness. They slipped from 22.2 points per game in 2016 to 28.3 points per game in 2017. They return six starters this season – the front seven was hit noticeably hard.

Wake Forest will have to replace defensive ends Duke Ejiofor and Wendell Dunn as well as their backups. Incoming freshman end Mike Allen has shown promise in spring action, but he has big shoes to fill including 6.5 sacks combined between Ejiofor and Dunn. He’ll join the only returning starting linebacker, Demetrius Kemp, the last remaining piece from a linebacker unit that included two of the team’s three leading tacklers in 2017.

Where the Deacs will be most dangerous is the secondary. Even with the loss of Jessie Bates to the NFL, Wake Forest will have plenty of speed on the back end in 2018. Corner Essang Bassey led the ACC in pass breakups a year ago. Cameron Glenn led the team in tackles. Both are back and should be fixtures of the Deacs’ defense this year.

Schedule

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35 Days: Owls must take season 10 yards at a time in 2018

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Rice football hasn’t won a game over the last three seasons when they’ve accumulated less than 20 first downs. That’s a number that needs to change for the Owls to move forward.

There is a time and a place for intricate offensive schemes, trickery and creative playcalling. The razzle-dazzle always sparks Oohs and Aahs in the crowd when it works, but the effort that goes into installing such unique play calls can often outweigh the rewards. Before Rice football tries to get complicated they need to get back to mastering the basics: first downs.

The first down might be the simplest concept in all of football. Teams have four (although traditionally three) downs to get 10 yards. If they can’t do that the other team takes over. Keeping possession and driving down the field will not only enable the Owls to score but will limit the opportunities for their opponent. Shortening the game against some of the high-powered offenses they’ll face in 2018 is a good place to start.

The 1979 and 1992 Owls each demonstrated the ideal outcome of this philosophy, each against the Houston Cougars. Both teams accumulated 35 first downs in their respective games against UH, a record that still stands to this day. The last Rice team to top 30 fresh sets of chains came in a loss to 42-28 Texas in 2015. Had the Owls not spotted the Longhorns two easy touchdowns on poor special teams plays in the first quarter they might have had enough offensive success to topple the college football giant.

Rice has played 36 games over the last three seasons. They reached 20 first downs in exactly half of those contests, 18. Over that period Rice is 0-18 when achieving less than 20 first downs. They’re 9-9 when getting 20 first downs or more. Those numbers could not be any more disparate.

If Rice wants to get more points they need to find a way to move the ball. That goes back to fundamentals, the basics and traditional hard-nosed football. There will be plenty of time for flair later. For now, let’s get the first down.

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