Garrett Grammer Archives

Rice Football 2020: Practice Notes, starting quarterback and projected depth charts

October 10, 2020 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice football has two scrimmages in the books. Mike Collins has been named the starting quarterback and the depth chart behind him is starting to materialize.

Head coach Mike Bloomgren has been cautiously optimistic in each of his previous post-practice media sessions. “We’re not where we need to be to play a football game, but thank God we’re not where we used to be,” he said following Saturday’s scrimmage. “We’ve made a lot of progress in the last week and we’ve got a lot of progress we need to make in the next two weeks.”

Among the most notable points of progress this week was the official endorsement of a starting quarterback. Grad transfer Mike Collins has officially won that job. As for takeaways from the rest of Saturday, injuries and the announcement of wide receiver Brad Rozner’s opt out took center stage.

After seeing both scrimmages and talking with those close to the program, I’ve put together my first pass at what a depth chart for the Rice football’s season opener against Middle Tennessee might look like.

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

For those on the fence when it comes to subscribing, you’ll get access to all previous practice reports and special features throughout the season. Plus, you’ll get to see which true freshmen I think could be starting against Middle Tennessee.

Defense wins the day

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Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more. React to this story on our forum.

Buy Now: The Roost’s 2020 Rice Football Season Preview and C-USA Preview

July 7, 2020 By Matthew Bartlett

The Roost is pleased to announce the release of the 2020 Rice Football Season Preview and the Conference USA Football Season Preview. These digital magazines are the one-stop-shop for every Rice and Conference USA Fan.

Buy Rice Preview

Buy C-USA Preview

The 2020 Rice Football Season Preview

This 160-page publication details everything you could imagine about Rice Football. It includes insight on the entire Rice roster as well with commentary on all 110 players on the active roster. From there the scope widens to breakdowns of every Conference USA team and all four of the Owls’ non-conference opponents. Each profile was compiled with the help from local experts who cover that beat on a daily basis with timely transfer information and any available spring updates.

As one Rice administrator dubbed it:
it’s the bible for Rice Football fans.

Get answers to questions like “Who has the leg up in the Rice quarterback battle?” or “Which incoming players could make the biggest impact?” or “Who are the top returning players Rice will face in Conference USA?”

This year’s edition included a feature story based on an interview with Athletic Director Joe Karlgaard. In the piece, we discuss how he evaluates head coach Mike Bloomgren’s coaching tenure.

The 2020 Conference USA Football Season Preview

The complete contents of the Conference USA Preview are contained within the Rice Preview. This 72-page guide includes everything Conference USA fans need to know for the upcoming season. Every team in the conference has a four-page profile. These profiles including coaching notes, pressing questions and the major storylines each squad faces this season. It also includes roster breakdowns with profiles on the biggest incoming and outgoing players.

No preview would be complete without the numbers, and this one has those in bunches. Each team section includes Conference USA metrics, returning production notes and analysis as well as stat lines for every returning player. There’s also a more detailed review of the conference’s top returning players for each major statistic. And it’s all at your fingertips rather than a dozen google searches away.

The Conference USA Preview omits the Rice-specific content like the position and player breakdowns, rising stars and more. Most Rice fans would prefer the Rice Preview whereas fans of other C-USA schools might prefer this version.

What are people saying about the Previews?

Don’t just take our word for it. Here’s what people are saying:

“The Roost’s C-USA preview has been an indispensable resource for me as I make my preparations for this season.”
“I just spent 30 minutes going through it, but barely skimmed the surface. It’s a great way to learn the new players.
“I don’t know any preview that could be more detailed than that.”
“This is worth spending the money on. Best you will get for CUSA”
“I liked everything.”

Want more?

You can always find additional Rice Football and Conference USA Football content on the website. If you enjoy the Preview and want to get further involved, consider supporting us on Patreon or check out The Roost Shop. Our subscribers get exclusive content ranging from recruiting and practice updates to special analysis. For starters, they got a copy of the Preview for free!

Buy Rice Preview

Buy C-USA Preview

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more. React to this story on our forum.

Rice Football: 2020 Spring practice closing thoughts

March 22, 2020 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice Football snuck in six spring practices before they were canceled by Conference USA. Here are a few things we learned and questions still unanswered.

My notebook is an organized mess every time Rice football practice is underway. I have notes from each session I attend. Those range from individual moments that impressed me to far-reaching questions that I’ve yet to reach a conclusion. Sometimes coaches or players can shed light on my queries, other times they’re left to ruminate until next session, next week, or longer.

More: Erica Ogwumike talks end of season, Rice career on The Roost Podcast

Rice is fortunate they got to practice at all. Several Conference USA teams called off all sessions before they ever stepped foot on the field. There are a lot of question marks scribbled in the pages from the Owls’ six spring practice sessions. In this case, some clarity is better than none.

Depth Charts

I hesitate to put out defined depth charts, especially from spring ball. Players are cycling in and out, some are learning new positions. The alignment of the team on any one play varies tremendously. Starters are easier to determine. Backups are … well, an exercise best guessing. With that caveat, take these words as being scribed in pencil.

Rice Football First Team Offense

Rice Football Second Team Offense

Offensive depth chart notes

I hate OR designations, but I really do believe there are several open spots on the offense right now. Quarterback is the most obvious. If Rice football had to play tomorrow, I’d bet Mike Collins is the guy, but it’s close. That’s not to say he stole the show this spring — he and JoVoni Johnson were both solid — but I like Collins’ combination of size and elusiveness. I’m still looking to see who can make more consistent plays downfield between those two. The more accurate passer could win the job in fall camp.

Cam Montgomery looks really good. Really good. Rice had a deep backfield last year and Montgomery fumbled away some of his opportunities, leaving him buried on the bench. He’s probably the fastest player on the team right now (or at least in the top five). He’ll be the third down and pass catching back. There’s plenty of room for Jawan King to carve out a role as well.

Not much changed on the pass catching front outside of some good plays from sophomore tight end Jack Bradley. He was on a very short list of true freshman that played every game. They’d like to see him more involved this year. August Pitre had a great showing, too. He was much more agg