Rice Football, now 3-3, played sloppy football and cost themselves a win, falling to previously winless UConn at home.

An auspicious start turned quickly after a series of Rice football miscues turned their final non-conference game of the season into a nightmarish end to the first half of their season. The Owls have plenty of soul-searching to do during the bye week, but first, here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

The running game shows life

Prior to Saturday, Rice football had essentially punted on running the football over the first five games of the season. To be frank, they had that luxury because quarterback JT Daniels had been lights out. Rather than stay stuck to a tired script, head coach Mike Bloomgren and the Owls have adjusted their plans, leaning into a pass-happy offense that has quickly become the norm for the program this year.

But you knew at some point the ground game was going to get its chance to mount a comeback. An offensive line coach at heart, raised up under West Coast philosophies, abandoning the running game entirely was never really going to completely transpire.

In their final non-conference game of the year, the Owls’ rushing attack reached a meager 112 yards, a season-high against FBS opponents. Rice wasn’t able to lean into the pounding the rock given the circumstances, but when they did, it was marginally effective. If you’re looking for a silver lining in today’s messy result, this is probably it.

Shot themselves in both feet, again and again

It looked like Rice football was en route to a runaway win after Otoviano found paydirt for the second time in the first quarter. Then UConn scored twice in the span of 65 seconds. The blame for both touchdowns rests squarely on big mistakes by the Rice offense.

The first oops was committed by quarterback JT Daniels, who lost the football at the two-yard line when he was contacted by some combination of the UConn pass rush and an offensive lineman blocked in his direction. UConn scored two plays later.

Then, following a big return by Quinton Jackson that set Rice up in UConn territory, a swing pass to Braylen Walker was ruled a backward pass. Rice didn’t respond to the ball on the ground. UConn did, picking up the loose pigskin and racing for a 50-yard defensive touchdown. Just like that, a two-score lead turned into a one-point advantage. The lead was preserved by Peyton Stevenson, who blocked a UConn extra point.

At the end of the second quarter, a false start squandered second-and-goal from the three before a missed field goal. A muffed punt spotted UConn favorable field position, which they capitalized on midway through the third. A delay of game took them out of field goal range in the fourth, trailing by 10.

One or two mental mistakes can be overlooked. The mistakes on Saturday were overwhelming and they directly cost Rice a very winnable game.

Special teams remain an adventure

It’s been a mixed bag from the special teams this season, with a stark split in which units are performing well and which ones aren’t. Quinton Jackson and the return game have earned some flowers. They’ve been, by far, the most impactful component of the Owls’ special teams. Jackson had three returns against UConn for 90 yards, including a long of 41 that got Rice into UConn territory.

The Owls also blocked an extra point, helping them preserve an early lead when everything else started to go sideways.

The rest of the special teams has been less encouraging. Tim Horn missed a chip-shot 29-yard field goal, his fourth missed kick in his last five tries. He’s now converting less than 50 percent of his field goals on the season. That’s not good enough.

Punting hasn’t been quite as disastrous, but it hasn’t been great. Conor Hunt entered Saturday ranked ninth in net punting average out of 11 eligible AAC punters. Both of his first two punts went less than 30 yards. He’s talked about trusting his coverage and not overkicking so maybe there’s an adjustment the unit can make to improve results. As it stands right now, the results aren’t good enough.

Add a muffed punt to the mix and a holding penalty that nullified another big return from Jackson and you get one of the most disappointing days from the Rice special teams we’ve seen in quite some time.

Measuring up to expectations

Most of us aren’t scratch golfers, but that’s almost where Rice football found itself as a program through the first half of the 2023 season.

Entering the year, a plausible “best-case scenario” for the Owls looked to be a 4-2 start. Of course, that was likely assuming a Bayou Bucket loss and a win on the road against USF. Those results ended up being flipped. A win against a 0-5 UConn team would have reached that 4-2 mark. It didn’t happen.

A golden opportunity was laid in front of this team and they did not get the job done. That’s going to sting. In a year that felt like one the Owls could prove they were better than just okay, they’ve fallen right back to .500. Rice is the only team in the AAC with a Power 5 win. They’re also the only team in the country to lose to UConn, reiterating something we already more or less knew. This team is capable, but wildly inconsistent.

The coaching staff has a lot of questions to answer during their bye week. If they’re going to reach a bowl game, they need to be at least .500 in AAC play. They still have Tulane, SMU and UTSA on the schedule. That’s a tall ask for a consistent team and quite a mountain to climb for an inconsistent one.

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Rice Football trudged through a slow start and made just enough plays to earn their first-ever AAC win, topping East Carolina at home.

It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t even pretty most of the time, but Rice football found a way to come out on top. The Owls took the lead for good in the fourth quarter, then got a punishing stop courtesy of Josh Pearcy. Then another from Daveon Hook. Then another from Chike Anigbogu. Before the offense could take some knees and secure their first ever AAC win. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Complimentary football

The formula for the first few weeks of the season was pretty straightforward for Rice football: let quarterback JT Daniels cook. With him playing at his best, he carved up opposing defenses and set the tone for this entire team. There were doubts he would be able to suit up at all against ECU on Saturday. The Owls were happy they did, but even with Daniels’ at the helm, the offense was out of sync.

On the first drive, Daniels missed a wide open Dean Connors for what should have been a walk in touchdown. On the second, a tipped pass resulted in an interception. Next, an injury to backup quarterback Chase Jenkins, who had subbed in to provide a spark with his legs, gummed up the offensive gears again. Through the first 15 minutes, Rice had just 45 total offensive yards.

In prior weeks, that might have been problematic. It wasn’t against ECU thanks in large part to strong starts from the other two phases, defense and special teams. The latter set up the Owls’ first points with a long punt return from Sean Fresch and a crisp 41-yard boot from Tim Horn. Then the defense kept the game deadlocked with an interception by Chris Conti on an ECU screen pass.

This might very well be a team that goes as the offense goes, but getting contributions from the defense and special teams is going to be crucial as the season progresses. Seeing life from both units was a big plus.

Split-reps experiment yields mixed results

Jenkins took almost all of the reps during practice with the first team offense this week and looked exceptional. Head coach Mike Bloomgren told The Roost he’d earned the chance to play and, on the surface, the rationale made a lot of sense. With Daniels operating at less than 100 percent, having a chance-of-pace option as fleet of foot as Daniels seemed prudent.

The first time Jenkins touched the ball, those hopes were fulfilled with an explosive, 28-yard scamper, the longest run for Rice on the day. Unfortunately, Jenkins immediately left the field with the medical staff and quarterback-turned-receiver JoVoni Johnson was dropped for a loss on a direct snap the very next play.

When Jenkins was next able to re-enter the game he was greeted with a long field that quickly got longer. ECU seemed more prepared to see Jenkins than Rice might have been expecting, quickly getting the Owls’ into third and long backed up near their own endzone.

Having Jenkins in for a third and long in such a pressure-packed situation in lieu of a quarterback as experienced as Daniels seemed unnecessarily risky. It didn’t pay off, with Rice punting the ball after a three-and-out.

Jenkins redeemed himself in the second half with his first-career touchdown run, putting the Owls in front.

Here's the Chase Jenkins (@Chasejenkinss) touchdown. The man hit the spin button. Wow.
pic.twitter.com/BBfTY8IMvb

— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) October 1, 2023

Daniels was clearly not his usual self on Saturday. He missed a deep shot on the first drive and overthrew a pair of open receivers midway through the second. He entered halftime completing just 40 percent of his passes for 64 yards, a far cry from the man who threw for 400 yards in three quarters just a week ago.

Jenkins completed one pass on one attempt and rushed for 29 yards on three attempts with one score. Daniels was 18-of-32 (56 percent) for 232 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

When Daniels is fully healthy, there won’t be a need to throw Jenkins into games as a true freshman, beyond situations like the one above that favor his skillset. Time to develop will do him good, especially with Daniels as a mentor. When will Daniels be feeling his usual self again? That’s the question all Owls’ fans want to know.

Leaning into the bend-but-don’t break

Five weeks in, the defensive showings have congealed into a trend. The sacks and tackles for a loss are there, buoyed by some fourth down stops and turnovers. The consistency between the 20s has been sorely lacking. The age old “bend-but-don’t-break” adage looks to fit this 2023 Rice football defense like a shoe.

In the first half, Rice allowed 205 yards of offense, multiple fourth down conversions and 13 first downs. But, they had one interception, one sack, two tackles for a loss and did not allow a touchdown.

The opening drive of the second half was even more telling. ECU drove down to the one-yard line, but the Owls stonewalled the Pirates and kept them off the scoreboard entirely. After the first 35 minutes of regulation, ECU had 290 total yards, but just nine points.

The defense came close to another impressive stonewall midway through the fourth. ECU drove down the field into the redzone, appearing to falter on a third down interception. Instead, pass interference was ruled. It took ECU three additional plays to punch in their first touchdown of the night.

In the fourth quarter, this unit came alive. Had it not been for three consecutive stops in the final minutes, the Owls might not have won this game.

You play to win the game

In terms of their total team performance, that was far from an A-game from the Rice Owls. It might not have even been a B-worthy performance. Each unit had their struggles. But at the end of the day, as Bloomgren is oft to say, they scored one more point than the other team and they won the game.

Rice has come along way from where they started in the early years under Bloomgren. Winning in any capacity, is good. But more often than not, it’s taken some of the Owls’ better efforts on one side of the ball or another to get it done. This one probably won’t be held up as one of those better showings, but it will go down in the standings as a win, the Owls’ first ever in the AAC.

Pick your favorite euphemism. Winning ugly. Stole one. Got away with one. Did just enough. The end result is the same. Rice was far from their best and found a way to win. Tonight, that’ll do. Tomorrow, they can look a the film and make sure they’re better next week against UConn.

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Cashing in when you get there

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Recent Posts

• The Winding Road: Jack Ben-Shoshan’s circuitous path to the top of the Rice Baseball bullpen
• Rice Baseball inches closer to postseason with series win over Wichita State
• Rice Baseball 2025: MLB Owls Update – May 7
• Rice Baseball blows past PVAMU at home