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Rice Football rockets past McNeese State on Space Night

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Wearing space-themed jerseys, Rice football blasted past McNeese State, notching a dominant win for the Owls in their home opener.

On a night honoring the 60th anniversary of JFK’s Moon Speech, Rice football nearly reached 60 points, falling short of that sky-high total as they soared past the McNeese State Cowboys in dominant fashion. Rice dominated the scoreboard. They dominated on defense. They dominated on offense. From the time of possession to total yards and points, Rice ran away from McNeese to secure their first win of the season.

And they sure looked good doing it.

Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Early jitters fade fast

Despite the space-themed jerseys, Rice football didn’t come out of the gate like they were aiming for the moon. It took some time to get all systems operational. TJ McMahon and the offense did move the ball fairly well, but were hampered by a holding call and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that forced a punt from midfield.

McNeese gifted them possession right away with a first play fumble, but Rice went spent three fruitless plays inside the 10-yard line including a third down pass that was rocketed out of the hands of Bradley Rozner as he careened towards the goal line. Instead of a possible touchdown, Rice settled for a field goal.

The Roost Podcast: Stay tuned for the game recap this week – Rice football vs McNeese state

Then the afterburners kicked on. The defense forced their second turnover of the day on the following drive courtesy of a deflected pass that landed conveniently in the open arms of safety Treshawn Chamberlain. The offense took the baton from there, marching down the field and capping the drive off with a nine-yard touchdown run by TJ McMahon to take a commanding 17-0 lead with 10 minutes to play before halftime.

From there, it was all Owls for the remainder of the contest.

Takeaways set the tone

McNeese State handed the ball directly to Rice on their first offensive snap. Then the Cowboys turned it over on their third drive. And on their fourth drive. And on their fifth drive. In fact, the only two drives the Cowboys had in the first half that did not end in turnovers were three-and-outs in which the Owls’ average starting field position was the McNeese 43-yard line.

The highlight of the night came courtesy of Gabriel Taylor, who returned this interception 91 yards to paydirt, the third longest interception return touchdown in program history.

Rice lost the turnover battle 4-0 against USC. They won 5-0 against McNeese and scored 23 points directly off those turnovers. It was a masterful effort by the defense.

Owls won despite costly mistakes

Tight end Jack Bradley was called for holding on the first offensive play of the game. Guard Braedon Nutter was drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the same drive. He was promptly sat on the bench for the next several series with John Hughes moving to left guard and Ethan Onianwa checking in at right tackle. Then Rice punted.

On a following drive, Luke McCaffrey committed a false start, negating a wide-open touchdown reception in the second quarter. The Rice defense roughed the passer, jumpstarting a drive that saw McNeese reach the redzone for the first time of the night.

All of that happened before halftime. Rice football committed all of those offenses in a far from clean performance. They gave up a 62-yard touchdown run to start the third quarter, missing several tackles along the way. And they still won by 42 points.

Recent history has suggested that Rice needed to play a near-perfect game to thump any opponent this badly. Rice was far from perfect today but their highs far exceeded their lows. If they can clean up those mistakes and mental errors this team could make some noise in Conference USA.

Taking care of business in style

Without their starting quarterback and starting center, Rice football rolled through their home opener against McNeese State and has moved to 1-1 on the season. Injuries aside, through two games, this is where this team was expected to be if they were to keep their aspirations of a postseason trip alive. So far, so good.

Winning was the priority on Saturday night. And although Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren may be hesitant to stump for it, the style points were noticed and appreciated.

Bloomgren elected to take a timeout with less than three minutes to go before halftime so that his team could have a shot to extend their 31-0 advantage. Immediately following McNeese’s breakaway touchdown, the Owls dialed up a 75-yard touchdown strike to Bradley Rozner.

All actions indicated Rice not only wanted to win, but they wanted to make a statement.

It was heard, loud and clear. Now the bigger question looms, can they do it again?

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Running away with it

If it felt like Rice football hadn’t delivered a good thumping in some time, that’s because what the Owls did to the Cowboys on Saturday night was the most decisive victory of the Bloomgren era. And it didn’t stop there.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 124 – Rice Football vs USC Recap

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The 2022 Rice football season opened on a sour note with a blowout loss to USC. Which problems are concerning and how can this team bounce back?

Rice football started strong against the USC Trojans in Week 1 but disaster struck in the form of injuries, dropped passes and a flurry of mistakes that turned a competitive football into a rout in short order. What good (and bad) should Rice fans take from the game and what will this team look like moving forward? We tackle those questions and more on this week’s show.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 124.

Episode Notes

Housekeeping

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Rice Football vs USC game recap

  • What takeaways can you have from such a lopsided game?
  • Offense inspires confidence in early drives
  • Defense does their best against an absurd amount of skill talent
  • Encouraging showings in the trenches
  • The latest on the quarterback situation
  • What concerns linger from a blowout loss?
  • Expectations for the team moving forward

Where can you find us?

Download and subscribe to The Roost Podcast on any of your favorite podcast providers. The show is available on iTunes, GooglePlay, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and PodBean. Please consider leaving a review wherever you listen.

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Three-pack of pick-sixes doom Rice Football at USC

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Rice football was run out of Los Angeles in blowout fashion by the USC Trojans, suffering both insult and injury on their way out of town.

On Saturday evening at the Coliseum, USC and new head coach Lincoln Riley won the toss, marched down the field and scored the game’s opening touchdown. Rice football responded with a 16-play, 74-yard touchdown drive of their own, burning nearly eight minutes of clock time as they methodically marched down the field.

Then all hell broke loose. The Owls would fall in blowout fashion to the Trojans courtesy of three defensive scores allowed and another improbable, yet somehow inevitable, injury to a starting quarterback. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Owls’ offense both explosive and balanced

Before things went sideways, it only took a quick look at the Owls’ first two plays to see things were going to be different on that side of the ball this year. On their first snap of the game, Rice football lined up with two tight ends on the field, including Trey Phillippi, who had only just converted to the position last week. They ran the ball up the middle for four yards.

The next snap came from an empty formation with nobody in the backfield and no tight ends in line. Quarterback Wiley Green hit tight end Jack Bradley for nine yards and the first down. Up and down the field the Owls went, mixing spread concepts with heavy personnel until Ari Broussard delivered the exclamation point: a one-yard touchdown run on fourth down.

The Roost Podcast: Stay tuned for the game recap this week – Rice football vs UTEP

Despite being down to one proven option at tight end and a backup quarterback, Rice moved the ball down the field on a Trojan defense that, while unproven, was certainly talented. This was one of the most balanced offensive displays we’ve seen from Rice football in quite some time. The Owls finished with 134 yards passing and 146 yards rushing.

They averaged 6.4 yards per play in the first half while the game was in reach, finishing with 4.5 yards per play overall.

Picked off, again and again and again and again

It’s impossible to complement the offense without decrying an embarrassing historical feat — the first game time since 1982 in which the Trojans’ defense registered three pick-sixes.  The first occurrence seemed like bad luck. Green hit Luke McCaffrey in the hands but the ball ricocheted into the air and was hauled in by a defender with 93 yards of empty field.

The second came on a dropped pass from TJ McMahon to Bradley Rozner on the first series of the second half. Rozner would drop another pass which turned into another interception midway through the third quarter.

The third pick-six of the game (and fourth interception) came on a scrambling throw from McMahon, who was hit from behind while he threw, forcing the ball downward and into the hands of the waiting defender.

But even McMahon’s second turnover wasn’t truly a quarterback error. Right tackle Ethan Onianwa, making his first collegiate start, was beat off the edge, forcing McMahon to run right into pressure. While the offensive line had a largely positive day, it’s impossible to ignore the growing pains that come with starting such a green player in a pressure-packed environment like the Coliseum.

The scheme and game planning were solid. The execution, both on the pass-catching front and the blocking on the edge, was severely lacking.

No good, very bad luck

Although USC led 21-7 midway through the second quarter, Rice was very much still in the game following a 55-yard run up the middle by Cam Montgomery. Unfortunately, he was caught from behind before reaching paydirt and Rice found themselves facing a fourth down in the redzone. Head coach Mike Bloomgren made the right call — electing to go for it rather than settle for three — then disaster struck.

Green’s pass to Luke McCaffrey was bobbled in the air, falling into the waiting arms of a USC defender who scampered 93 yards the other way for a USC touchdown. In the process, Green was injured on the play and removed from the game.

In the span of seconds, Rice went from down by 14 with the football in the redzone to down by 21 without their starting quarterback. When one considers the exhaustive injury history the Owls’ have had at the position in recent year, it just doesn’t seem fair. But football is often unfair and sometimes the ball bounces the wrong way and injuries happen. Like two dropped passes turning into pick sixes.

Although it wasn’t enough to win the game, it was encouraging to see the team respond quickly with a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive.

Out-athleted, not schemed

Reigning Biletnikoff Trophy winner Jordan Addison beat Sean Fresch on the first play of the game, picking up a 12-yard gain and a first down. When the Trojans reached the redzone, that play was still in the mind of the Owls’ corner. Then Addison did this:

That score proved to be an omen of things to come on an afternoon in which USC would execute a nearly flawless offensive game plan led by Heisman candidate quarterback Caleb Williams. Unphased regardless of what Rice threw his way, Williams completed 16-of-19 passes in the first half. His three incompletions? A drop, a spike to kill the clock and a sideline laser with one second remaining that was ruled out of bounds.

Could the Owls have executed better on defense? Probably so to at least some degree. But Williams was clinical in his precision on Saturday. As close to perfect as one could ask a quarterback to be. And with weapons like Jordan Addison, Mario Williams and others available, that proved to be too much for Rice to overcome.

By the time the third pick-six was thrown, this game was over. It’s hard to put too much stock into anything that happened from the midpoint of the third quarter on and Rice has shown the ability to put a bad game behind them in the past.

Rice football isn’t going to face a quarterback like Williams or athletes like Addison again for a very, very long time. Even on their bad days, they won’t give their opponents three defensive scores. USC was perfect on offense and got a few breaks along the way.  Sometimes the story is that simple.

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Rice Baseball 2022: Owls rally past Houston in extras

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Rice Baseball rallied to take the lead against Houston in the 12th inning, holding on for a big win over their crosstown rivals on Tuesday.

Although the Silver Glover series had already been decided, Rice baseball entered their final midweek tilt against crosstown rival Houston with renewed focus. The Owls lost the first game to the Cougars 10-7, then dropped the second contest 8-2. That second contest kicked off a nine-game losing streak, which the Owls brought into the series finale at Schroeder Park on Tuesday night.

Last Time Out : MTSU thumps Rice baseball in Owls’ final home series

Houston struck first on an RBI single in the third inning off Rice starter Parker Smith. Rice answered quickly with a run of their own in the next half inning, driven in by this no-doubt blast from Connor Walsh:

Tied at one, both teams swapped two-run frames in the sixth inning, setting up a close contest as the fast-paced game careened into the later moments. Houston would take the lead in the bottom of the eighth, forcing the Owls into a do-or-die ninth inning where Wals, again, was the hero. He doubled, advanced to third on an error and scored on a balk to tie the game.

Garrett Zaskoda was tremendous in extras, pitching the tenth, eleventh and twelfth innings without allowing a run. Those zeroes allowed the offense, courtesy of a crucial two-out single by Jack Ben-Shoshan, to put Rice in front for the first time in the game before Zaskoda returned to close out the win.

What it means | Proof of life

It’s been a rough month for Rice baseball. Any thoughts that this team had turned the corner after a series win against Western Kentucky were quickly dashed by a string of games that were largely uncompetitive.

Win or lose, this team was supposed to show progress as the season moved onward. It hasn’t really felt like that’s been the case of late. That’s what made Tuesday’s somewhat inconsequential game so important.

No matter the record, head coach Jose Cruz Jr. indicated he hadn’t thrown in the towel just yet. When discussing the last few games after their weekend series with Middle Tennessee, Cruz Jr. was fairly frank. “I try to win every game I play,” he said. “I’m still expecting them to go out and give me high effort and get out there and try to win a ballgame.”

For the first time in more than two weeks, the Owls did it. On the road against a rival they came from behind, forced extra innings, pitched well enough to win and found the big hit when they needed it most. One good game won’t erase the weeks of disappointing play. But it is proof — however slight — that Rice baseball hasn’t quit just yet. There may still be hope here after all.

ON DECK | vs FIU (Thr-Sat)

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Rice Baseball 2022: Owls lose late inning lead, fall to Louisiana

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Rice Baseball was competitive early, but couldn’t hold on in their first of two midweek games against Louisiana on Tuesday night.

Rice baseball entered their first of two midweek games against Louisiana looking for some positive vibes and fresh momentum after four consecutive losses. Things didn’t get off to a good start as the Owls committed an error on the first play of the game, eventually learned to a pair of runs for the visiting Ragin’ Cajuns.

Although it was an inauspicious start, Rice bounced back with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning and would go on to take the lead in the third thanks to RBI hits from Nathan Becker and Manny Garza. Rather than fold, Rice quickly responded and took the lead.

Last Time Out : Rice baseball swept by Charlotte in pivotal CUSA series

That score would hold for the next several innings until Louisiana broke through. With the scored tied in the seventh, the Owls would call upon closer Matthew Linskey, who allowed the go-ahead single — the run charged to Christian Cienfuegos. Linskey would be charged with three runs of his own in the eighth, an uncharacteristically ineffective performance for one of the most consistent players on the roster.

Trailing 7-3, Rice was unable to answer. Louisiana would hold Rice off the scoreboard for the final six innings.

What it means | More missed opportunities

Louisiana outhit Rice 15-8, but the run differential was slimmer, just four. At least in part, that difference can be traced back to how well each team hit in critical run scoring opportunities. Louisiana hit .364 with two outs, .435 with runners on base and .400 with runners in scoring position.

Altogether they hit .385 for the duration of the game, meaning the Ragin’ Cajuns were more productive in the key moments than they were on average throughout the course of the game.

Rice didn’t fair nearly as well in those metrics. The Owls hit .235 overall for the game, .222 with two outs, .167 with runners on and .214 with runners in scoring position. Collectively, Rice was better on average when there was no pressure to drive anyone in.

Rice wasn’t “clutch” on Tuesday. Louisiana was. Louisiana won. Converting scoring opportunities has been a challenge for the Owls all season. Tuesday served as a reminder the nagging problem hasn’t been cleaned up yet as the season begins to wind down.

ON DECK | vs Louisiana (Wed),  vs MTSU (Fri-Sun)

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