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The Roost Podcast | Ep 187 – Rice Football succumbs to Charlotte

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Rice football fell to 1-4 on the season and heads to the bye week reeling after a crushing loss to Charlotte.

Four FBS games and four FBS losses. It’s been an abysmal start to the Rice football season which reaches a bye week in desperate need of a reset. What went wrong against Charlotte and can any of it be fixed? We discuss and commiserate.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 187.

Episode Notes

DCTF

The Roost Podcast is now part of the Dave Campbell’s Republic of Football Podcast Network. You’ll still get the same content with the same hosts, but now under the DCTF banner.

Homefield

We’re thrilled to partner with Homefield Apparel, the premier proprietor of college football clothing. First-time buyers can use the code ROOST for 15% off their order. The Owls hoodie is a personal favorite as is the Luv-Ya-Owls shirt. Make sure you check out the brand-new sailor hat (pictured below) as you shop the Rice collection or pick up something else (or both)!

Patreon

Get exclusive insight on Patreon. Be the first to get the inside scoop on what’s going on with Rice football and stick around for even further analysis. That includes practice updates, analysis and more. Your support matters and makes The Roost better.

Become a Patron!

Recapping Rice Football vs Charlotte

  • Losing games on the margin
  • Offensive woes, defensive busts and special teams errors
  • A game Mike Bloomgren had to have
  • No real easy button to push
  • Bye week to-dos

Where can you find us?

The Roost Podcast is part of the Dave Campbell’s Republic of Football Podcast Network. You can find this podcast and all of our partner podcasts on Apple, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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Rice Football squanders fourth-quarter lead in loss Charlotte

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Rice Football had their chances to put the game away against Charlotte, but couldn’t close when it mattered most. The Owls are 1-4.

A 10-0 halftime lead was not enough as Rice football fell by a single point to Charlotte at home on Saturday night. In the final two minutes, Rice had chances to win the game on offense, but couldn’t convert a third and short. They had a chance to win on defense, but allowed a go-ahead touchdown in the final minute. They had the chance to win with special teams, but a last-second kick sailed wide.

“I think I’ve given this speech a few too many times this year,” Bloomgren said at the podium following the Owls’ fourth loss in five games. “We performed better than we have been, but when the crunch time was here in that fourth quarter we failed in all three phases and Charlotte made more plays.”

Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Trust your playmakers and let them produce

In the highest leverage moments, it’s the stars that have to shine. For Rice football right now, that means the most critical offensive moments should involve Dean Connors and EJ Warner and/or Matt Sykes. They’re not the only talented playmakers on this offense but that trio has largely been at the forefront when that offense is moving the ball well.

Warner overshot a makeable touchdown pass to Sykes on the Owls’ first possession but redeemed himself soon afterward with a nice dish to Jackson for the opening score. Connors had more rushing yards on his first touch of the game than Charlotte did in the entire first quarter.

Now, this reality comes with a very real, and very important caveat: your playmakers have to produce.

Warner hasn’t overcome his tendency to elevate throws downfield. He overshot Sykes on multiple third downs in the first half. Sykes was better this week than he was against Army a week ago, but his lack of consistency has been part of what’s gummed this offense up at times. Both have played better as the season progresses, but each would (correctly) admit they have room to grow.

Dean Connors has been and continues to be the most valuable man on this side of the ball. He only touched the ball seven times in the first half; that’s not enough. He finished with 16 touches for the game and 135 yards of total offense. Your best offensive weapon — and Connors is most certainly that — needs more of the ball.

“We got other good backs. We don’t want to just wear Dean out. If you tell me Dean is going to get 20 to 30 touches every game, that’s probably the right number,” Bloomgren said after the game. “16 total touches? Would you wanna program a few more for him? Absolutely. He’s a really good player, but the flow of the game was going the way it was.”

Rice does have other good backs, but 16 is not 30. It’s not 20 either.

Rice racked up 463 yards of total offense, their highest total against an FBS opponent yet this season. It’s not a particularly impressive number on the whole, but it’s a step in the right direction. Those playmakers have to get things going if this offense is ever going to come close to the ceiling it’s shown in previous years.

Bring out the depth

So much of the discourse this offseason around the Rice football roster centered on the depth the Owls’ had accumulated in Bloomgren’s seventh season. Unfortunately, the only way to truly evaluate that depth is to have it forced into action. The results have been mixed when former twos and threes have been thrown into the first with the first units this season, but Saturday’s win against Charlotte probably doesn’t happen without some important contributions from former backups being asked to step up.

The offense line, featuring just two players in the same position they played on opening day, consistently opened up holes for the running game. Both Dean Connors and Taji Atkins got to the second level on plays that were blocked well. Although he took a few shots, Warner wasn’t sacked.

Likewise, the defense churned out some big plays from lesser-known faces. Peyton Stevenson and made consecutive plays to help stonewall a Charlotte drive in the second quarter. Daveon Hook led the team in tackles. Mutombo had the interception and followed it with a sack. None of those three were on the two-deep against Sam Houston in Week 1.

The go-ahead fourth quarter touchdown was scored by Elijah Mojarro, who wouldn’t have been on the field had Boden Groen been healthy.

Obviously, the Owls would love to have as many of their starters back on the field as possible. A bye week with extra rest will help those efforts, but even if reinforcements do arrive, this depth matters. Especially if Rice wants to make good on some of their preseason aspirations and get things turned around.

Unfortunately, the reliance on depth has it’s downsides too. Kicker Enoch Gota missed his first do-or-die attempt of his young career, turning what could have been a celebratory night into another painful defeat.

The defense gets some of its swagger back

The Rice offense got a big play from Dean Connors but didn’t put any points on the board in the first quarter, turning the ball over inside the redzone and punting on their ensuing possession. That put the onus on the defense to make sure they kept their team in the game.

Aided by favorable field position on a few occasions, the defense delivered one of their better starts to a game this season. Blake Boenisch didn’t suit up on Saturday, but the Owls still held Charlotte to 1.2 yards per carry in the first quarter. The safety room was as depleted as it’s ever been under head coach Mike Bloomgren, but they limited Charlotte quarterback Trexler Ivey to 5-of-10 passing for 35 yards on the 49ers’ first three offensive series.

The Charlotte never got in gear under Trexler Ivey. When they did finally get the ball across the 50-yard line midway through the second quarter they were swiftly turned away by this interception from defensive lineman Joseph Mutombo, who has seen an elevated role in the defense partly because of the slew of injuries in front of him.

Charlotte finally found life under backup quarterback Deshawn Purdie, who connected on three deep passes, all of which resulted in scoring drives. That was essentially it for the Charlotte attack. Three plays. But it was enough.

As the offense works through its challenges in real time, more and more pressure is going to be put on this defense to win games. On Saturday against a woeful Charlotte offense, they came close enough but got little help from the other phases. If they can translate that to more talented opponents, Rice is going to have a fighting chance to win some games, but they’re the last bastion of hope for a team that’s hurting.

Losing on the Margin

A fourth down pass interference call against Sean Fresch changed the outcome of this game. A block in the back penalty on the ensuing possession might very well have swung the outcome, too. Both plays exemplified the dangerous tightrope Rice Football attempted to walk in this game. Rice let a bad Charlotte team stick around to the point where one blown coverage could shift the result of the game.

The best teams in the sport create margin. You can afford a bust on any particular play or phase of the game when there’s a buffer to cover those shortcomings. When you’re stuck in a one-score game, every mistake matters. Teams with more faults make more mistakes. There’s some truth to the old adage that good teams stay good and bad teams stay bad.

This is a bad football team right now.

One that, in Bloomgren’s own words “failed in all three phases” to one of the few teams left in the country that had yet to beat an FBS opponent. It’s hard to imagine a lower point than this in a season that was supposed to be a breakthrough campaign. Picked to finish in the thick of a competitive AAC, Rice football sits dead last in the standings and they have yet to play UTSA, Tulane, Memphis or South Florida.

This is a team out of excuses and out of answers. There’s a lot of soul-searching to be done during this bye week from everyone in the program. This isn’t how this season was supposed to go.

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Fourth and the Woe Zone

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 186 – Another sad recap: Rice Football loses to Army

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Rice football fell to 1-3 on the season, dropping their AAC opener at Army. Next week’s game at Charlotte is officially a must-win.

Rice football “got Army’d” on Saturday afternoon as the Black Knight ran all over the Owls who weren’t able to find any sort of rhythm on either side of the ball until it was too late. Carter and Matthew recap the debacle and share a few brief thoughts and updates on the latest in conference realignment which reared its head this week.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 186.

Episode Notes

DCTF

The Roost Podcast is now part of the Dave Campbell’s Republic of Football Podcast Network. You’ll still get the same content with the same hosts, but now under the DCTF banner.

Homefield

We’re thrilled to partner with Homefield Apparel, the premier proprietor of college football clothing. First-time buyers can use the code ROOST for 15% off their order. The Owls hoodie is a personal favorite as is the Luv-Ya-Owls shirt. Make sure you check out the brand-new sailor hat (pictured below) as you shop the Rice collection or pick up something else (or both)!

Patreon

Get exclusive insight on Patreon. Be the first to get the inside scoop on what’s going on with Rice football and stick around for even further analysis. That includes practice updates, analysis and more. Your support matters and makes The Roost better.

Become a Patron!

Recapping Rice Football vs Army

  • AAC Members mark themselves safe from conference realignment
  • Rice fans don’t have to go to Pullman, WA, congrats!
  • Undisciplined effort mars Owls’ West Point showing
  • Defense unable to overcome slue of injuries
  • EJ Warner had some moments, but neither he or the offense was consistent enough
  • It’s officially a must win game this week against Charlotte

Where can you find us?

The Roost Podcast is part of the Dave Campbell’s Republic of Football Podcast Network. You can find this podcast and all of our partner podcasts on Apple, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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Rice Football marched off the field by Army at West Point

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Rice Football fell behind early and saw their hopes drown in the Hudson River, falling on the road to Army in a one-sided affair.

Army’s clock-control offense had its way with the Rice football defense, striking early and holding on for dear life. The Owls found themselves in comeback mode — not a place a struggling offense wants to be. Things were downhill quickly from there as Rice fell to 1-3 on the season. “We got Army’d today. We didn’t do anything to stop it. Not a lot of fun to be a part of,” head coach Mike Bloomgren painfully acknowledge afterward. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Undisciplined start

Discipline was the word of the week around South Main. Everyone was quick to mention that for everything Army might lack in athleticism, they made up for in poise and discipline. This was a team that wasn’t going to beat itself. And if you didn’t do your job and stay focused, you were going to get beat.

That’s what made it particularly disheartening when the Owls were flagged for a penalty on the opening kickoff (duplicate jersey numbers) and promptly allowed a 41-yard touchdown pass just a few plays later. When it was the Owls’ turn on offense everything appeared to be going according to plan before Rice was flagged again, this time for having too many men on the field. Moved back from third and short to third and long, Rice failed to convert and punted.

The two penalties in the first two drives were preventable mental mistakes. Those things happen on occasion, even to the best of teams, but for them to happen on this particular Saturday after how much the Owls preached discipline this week was disappointing. Tack on penalties later for a snap infraction and an illegal formation and you see a team that was not as locked in as they needed to be.

“Your margin for error is going to be small against an Army team. You don’t want to give them an inch, much less five yards or any kind of first down.” Bloomgren said. “So those are the things that you do beat yourself up about, rightfully so. That’s on us. You can’t do those kind of things.”

The Owls’ reasons for concern were validated on Saturday. Rice had one possession in the first quarter and allowed Army to score on its first two possessions. As expected, Army didn’t mess up. Rice did.

Running loose

Rice and Army met most recently in 2019. In that game, Rice held Army to 14 points and 231 yards on the ground. Schematically, the Owls were well prepared for the Black Knights option attack. Since that time the Rice football roster has gotten much better, particularly in the trenches. Even though the Army rushing attack had been productive this year, there was reason to believe Rice would be able to battle it out along the lines. That wasn’t the case on Saturday.

Put simply, Army annihilated Rice on the ground. The nation’s leading rushing attack had its way with the Owls’ defense.

Army quarterback Bryson Daily ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns… in the first half. He got up to 252 total yards in the second half including a 6-for-9 day through the air with two more touchdowns, a near-flawless outing from the Black Knights’ quarterback.

Entering this game, the Rice defense wasn’t supposed to be the problem, but they had simply no answer for the quarterback run game. This won’t be the last option team that Rice faces this year. FAU’s quarterback is a powerful runner, too.

The Owls’ run defense has officially been put on notice.

Offensive sparks

If there was a silver lining to this game, and that’s a huge supposition after such a tough result, it was the brief signs of life from the Rice offense. Outside of the third down woes — we’ll get to that shortly — Rice was able to run the ball effectively and EJ Warner was more accurate in the passing game. He made a few nice throws down field on Saturday and while his receivers didn’t do him many favors, the offense did move down the field with more frequency.

It’s probably telling, though, that the most impactful offensive play involved some trickeration:

Warner consistently put too much air under the ball when he took shots down the field. His interception was almost directly caused by overshooting Matt Sykes, who isn’t a short receiver. The willingness to look down the field was there, seen on display on his touchdown pass to Sykes in the third quarter.

If he can improve his touch, there’s a chance for this side of the ball to coalesce into a productive unit. If not, this side of the ball is going to be in trouble when the running game struggles.

Must win, already

It’s too early in the season to be here, but Rice football already faces a must-win game next weekend against Charlotte. Frankly, this game against Army had already neared that territory, but there is no putting the genie back in that bottle.

Had Rice beaten Army, they’d have the prospects of a 2-0 start to conference play going into the bye, salvaging what was such a tumultuous start to the 2024 season. After how bumpy the first few weeks of this season have been, that possibility was a breath of fresh air.

Instead, Rice is playing to avoid an even more gruesome beginning to what was meant to be a breakthrough season. It’s hard to put into words how quickly this year has pivoted from a daydream to a nightmare, but the last stand officially takes place on Saturday. A win against Charlotte gets Rice into the bye week 1-1 in conference play with a lot of time to do some soul-searching. If Rice wants to go bowling for a third consecutive year, this is their chance to get off the mat.

When asked about that added pressure, Bloomgren did not shy away. “I don’t know if there’s any need to add any pressure. I think we all want to win so badly,” he said. I think our effort is great. How do we sharpen up our details? How do we sharpen up our ability to do it on game day?”

Ultimately, that’s the most important question of all and one that must be answered come next game day.

Digging deeper

Every week we’ll have a stat, storyline or key learning from the game reserved for our subscribers. Haven’t joined yet? Sign up here:

Become a Patron!

Third down woes

Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 185 – What went wrong for Rice Football vs Houston?

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Rice football followed up a big win with a crushing loss, barely getting on the scoreboard in a Bayou Bucket loss to Houston. What went wrong?

EJ Warner and the Rice Football offense were held in check, the special teams turned it over and the defense did its best to pick up the pieces. That’s not how the Owls’ hopeful defense of the Bayou Bucket was supposed to go. After rewatching the game, Matthew and Carter attempt to wade through the muck and determine what went wrong and discuss what is salvageable from this performance for the future.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 185.

Episode Notes

DCTF

The Roost Podcast is now part of the Dave Campbell’s Republic of Football Podcast Network. You’ll still get the same content with the same hosts, but now under the DCTF banner.

Homefield

We’re thrilled to partner with Homefield Apparel, the premier proprietor of college football clothing. First-time buyers can use the code ROOST for 15% off their order. The Owls hoodie is a personal favorite as is the Luv-Ya-Owls shirt. Make sure you check out the brand-new sailor hat (pictured below) as you shop the Rice collection or pick up something else (or both)!

Patreon

Get exclusive insight on Patreon. Be the first to get the inside scoop on what’s going on with Rice football and stick around for even further analysis. That includes practice updates, analysis and more. Your support matters and makes The Roost better.

Become a Patron!

Recapping Rice Football vs Houston

  • EJ Warner and the offense lay an egg
  • Protection, Receivers, Quarterback, Scheme or everything?
  • What needs to change with the offense?
  • Unpacking a quietly strong defense showing
  • The sack party continues
  • Game ball to punter Alex Bacchetta

Where can you find us?

The Roost Podcast is part of the Dave Campbell’s Republic of Football Podcast Network. You can find this podcast and all of our partner podcasts on Apple, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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