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Rice Football: 2020 Spring practice closing thoughts

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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

QB | Collins OR Johnson
RB | Otoviano
WR | Trammell, Rozner, Pitre
TE | Myers
OL | Servin (LT), Garcia OR Sheriff (LG), Klarkowski (C), Baker (RG), Woolford (RT)

Rice Football Second Team Offense

QB | McMahon
RB | Montgomery OR King
WR | Knipe, Bailey, Palmer
TE | Bull OR Bradley
OL | Ferraro (LT), Riddle (LG), Baker (C), Floyd (RG), Peterson (RT)

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 aggressive in the air, fighting for the football and winning one-one-one matchups.

On the offensive line, it’s encouraging to see Izeya Floyd running with the twos. So far, the transition seems to be going well. Klarkowski as the starting center surprised me a bit, but I attribute that more to the need for answers at guard. If someone emerges there, Baker more than likely moves back to center. JoVaun Woolford is an impressive human being. If he adds another 15 to 20 pounds this offseason he’s going to be a huge asset at the tackle spot.

Rice Football First Team Defense

DL | Schuman, Hubbard, Carrol, Orji
LB | Alldredge, Montero
CB | Devones, Thornton
Saf | Smith, Nyakwol, Chamberlain

Rice Football Second Team Defense

DL | Doddridge, Enechukwu, Garcia, Page
LB | Morrison, Grammer
CB | Bird, White
Saf | Calderon, Lockhart, Richardson

Defensive depth chart notes

The defense looks pretty cookie cutter from how Rice football ended last season. De’Braylon Carroll will slide up into a starting spot replacing the departing Myles Adams. Kenneth Orji will become the full-time man at rush end with Anthony Ekpe gone. The rest of the first team is essentially unchanged.

Myron Morrison has entrenched himself as a rotation player at linebacker. The coaches love his work ethic and he made several big plays this spring. He and Garrett Grammer will back up Antonio Montero and Blaze Alldredge.

There’s a pretty clear delineation from the first and second teams in the secondary, but the top 10 guys are solid. Rice is bringing in some talented playmakers in the secondary, but this shouldn’t be a situation where anyone is forced to play early from necessity. They’ll have to earn it, which they very well might do.

The defensive line is a spot to monitor. I loved what I saw from Kebreyun Page, and Ikenna Enechukwu has been steadily improving from last season until now. I’m not sure about the defensive end spot. Joshua Pearcy and Jacob Doddridge both took some time there during the spring.

Special Teams

There are a few certainties on special teams.

  1. Austin Trammell will be the punt returner
  2. Stanford transfer Collin Riccitelli will be the place kicker
  3. Charlie Mendes will be the punter
  4. Cam Riddle will be the long snapper

There really won’t be any competition whatsoever at those four spots. That leaves kickoffs and the holder as the only real question marks. Those auditions will continue into the fall.

Unanswered questions

1. Who is going to be the starting quarterback?

Collins and Johnson separated themselves this spring, but neither “seized the job” as coach Bloomgren has often wished of his quarterbacks. They’re both great on the ground with Collins getting a slight edge because of his size. Johnson may not be injury prone, but he’s slimmer and did get forced out of his start against Marshall last year with an injury. I still think we could have one guy before the season opener, but don’t expect the competition closed before a week or two of fall camp.

2. Which offense will Rice run?

The way Rice lined up against Army was night and day different from how they played against Middle Tennessee. Bloomgren will stick to his guns and run the football, but he’s not going to discount the success they found through the air. The offensive line might be the key determinant in how Rice attacks on offense. But we still don’t know how that unit will be pieced together quite yet.

3. Where are the gaps that incoming players need to fill?

In previous springs, it’s been fairly evident where the team needs an impact player. Given the little sample size this time, it’s hard to know which of the incoming signing class is going to have the clearest path to playing time.

I have a hunch someone is going to emerge from the running backs. Kobie Campbell and Khalan Griffin are special talents that could impact the game on special teams or as offensive weapons. On defense, I want to see what happens in the secondary. Can someone like Lamont Narcisse work his way onto the field? That might depend on a few factors. On both sides of the ball, we’ll have to wait and see what happens in the fall.

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The Roost’s 2019 Rice Football Season Superlatives

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The Roost’s 2019 Rice Football Season Superlatives exist to honor exceptions Owls who made a difference on the field this season. Here’s the complete list.

There were many individual performances worth recognizing in the 2019 Rice Football season. In addition to the more traditional awards below, make sure to check out The Roosties, the first annual award show from The Roost Podcast, which features a different angle of honors. From our favorite plays to the players we were most wrong about in the preseason, we cover some of the more creative superlatives on the show.

Defensive Newcomer of the Year — DB Naeem Smith

Full Story: Defensive Newcomer of the Year Award

Excerpt: “Smith and the secondary capped off their season with a near-perfect outing against preseason Conference USA Player of the Year Mason Fine on Senior Day. The North Texas quarterback was held without a touchdown pass, in a game in which he attempted at least 15 passes, for the first time since Sep. 16, 2017 at Iowa. Nobody keeps Fine out of the endzone, but Rice football did. And Smith was a crucial piece to that puzzle.”

Offensive Newcomer of the Year — WR Brad Rozner

Full Story: Offensive Newcomer of the Year Award

Excerpt: “The season was a collection of moments like that for Rozner. He led all of junior college in touchdowns last season. In his first year at Rice, he led the Owls’ pass catchers in scoring, too. Not only did South Main become his home, he proved he belonged on this stage time and time again.”

Rising Star — DT De’Braylon Carroll

Full Story: Rising Star Award

Excerpt: “Carroll’s impact went beyond the boxscore. Those relying on the stat sheet to project how impactful the Rice front seven will be next season are in for a surprise. Carroll will be ready and waiting for his turn. Adams has exhausted his eligibility and moved on. Rice has yet to sign any interior defensive lineman in their most recent recruiting class. The starting job is going to be Carroll’s. If he continues to play at this level he won’t fly under the radar for much longer.”

Special Team’s Player of the Year — LB Garrett Grammer

Full Story: Special Team’s Player of the Year Award

Excerpt: “Humble excellence. That’s pretty much Garrett Grammer in a nutshell. And that’s why this season, despite the string of defeats, has been so rewarding for many on this team. His efforts are the backbone of a team in the progress of pulling itself up by the bootstraps, of a collection of players working their butts off to earn a win, somehow, someway.”

Defensive Player of the Year — DB Treshawn Chamberlain

Full Story: Defensive Player of the Year

Excerpt: “Even with those impressive numbers, it’s hard to quantify the impact a player like Chamerblain had on this defense. The energy he brought to the defense this season went far beyond the x’s and o’s. Some players stay emotionally level from start to finish. Chamberlain is a guy that embraces the intensity of the game, playing with a passion, a swagger that gives him an edge.”

Offensive Player of the Year — RB Aston Walter

Full Story: Offensive Player of the Year

Excerpt: “That career ended in El Paso, Texas on the very field he lost his junior season. This time, instead of accruing another redshirt, Walter went out with a bang. He paced Rice with 149 rushing yards and one touchdown which came from 30 yards out. Things had finally come full circle. A fitting way for a player who’s career had transformed from a part-time role to a core offensive weapon.”

Team MVP — LB Blaze Alldredge

Full Story: Team MVP Award

Excerpt: “Dominant. If one were to describe Blaze Alldredge’s 2019 season in one word, that would be it. This marked the year the JUCO kid from Florida proved he belonged on the big stage. And not just belonged, that he was the Alpha on the field, patrolling the hash marks and ready to take on any challenger who dared run his direction.”

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Rice Football 2019 Special Teams Player of the Year: Garrett Grammer

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Rice football linebacker Garrett Grammer isn’t the most well-known defender, but the former long snapper is this year’s Special Teams Player of the Year.

For the first two years of his collegiate career, the average Rice football fan didn’t know who Garrett Grammer was. Fans know the starting quarterback(s). They know the stars. The most devoted Owls could probably recite the depth chart two-deep on both sides of the ball. But you won’t find many jerseys bearing the number and surname of the team’s long snapper. Much less so, his backup. That’s where the journey of the 2019 Rice Football Special Team’s Player of the Year begins.

Supplanted by Campbell Riddle in 2018 at long snapper, Grammer found himself buried on a crowded depth chart. The coaching staff hadn’t even known Grammer could snap when he arrived on campus. Now the advantage that originally secured him playing time was gone — he’d been beaten out. Not one to mope or quit, he did the only thing he knew how to do. He worked.

Fast-forward to November 3, 2019.

Marshall led Rice 10-7 in the second quarter. The Owls’ offense had shown signs of life under freshman quarterback JoVoni Johnson, but the defense knew every drive mattered. Needing a spark, Marshall quarterback Isaiah Green tossed the ball to speedy wide receiver Willie Johnson on a reverse.

The trick caught some off guard. Grammer was ready. Now a linebacker, Grammer had risen through the ranks and become a trustworthy member of the front seven. Grammer, listed as the backup to starter Antonio Montero who led the team with 11 tackles that day, made the play.

In a flash, Grammer exploded into the backfield and brought down Johnson for a loss of eight yards. Not only did the trick play not work. It backfired spectacularly.

“He’s probably the most underappreciated [line]backer we have,” said linebacker coach Scott Vestal. “If he goes in, I have no worries. It’s truly the same. The standard’s the same.”

That standard has been elevated significantly thanks to the shrewd defensive prowess of Grammer who has proven to have much more of a knack for the making plays than snuffing out a single reverse. A week prior to his moment against Marshall, Grammer laid waste to a fake punt attempt by UTSA.

Two big plays in two weeks haven’t just turned the heads of the coaching staff. Grammer’s peers are keeping tabs as well. “Garrett Grammer is a guy that I know can play,” said linebacker Blaze Alldredge. “And when you watch on film, that play that he made [against UTSA], it’s almost like he had a psychic premonition that it was coming because everybody else is running the other way and this guy is triggering downhill ready to make a play.”

Whether it’s a premonition, good luck or a combination of all of the above, Grammer chalks it up to him just doing his job. In his eyes, he was just doing what he was supposed to do on both of those big plays. Find the ball carrier and bring him down.

“I just happened to the person that made the play,” he said, almost nonchalantly recalling the blocked punt. Although he did let on there was a slew of thoughts firing off in his head as he worked. “That played didn’t last very long, right? But there’s so much stuff going through my mind at that time,” things like “Man, if I miss this tackle.” Fortunately for Grammer and for the Owls, he didn’t.

In some ways, those two moments represent the apex of Grammer’s entire Rice football career. The unassuming, lunchpail tackler had his moment in the spotlight, enjoyed it, and went back to work. But his story won’t end there, regardless of whether or not anyone else tries to outsmart the Owls’ trick play sleuth.

Grammer’s primary path onto the field, special teams, will remain his focal point moving forward. With his way to a starting linebacker job blocked by Montero (83 tackles this season) and Alldredge (second nationally in tackles for a loss with 22), Grammer’s contributions will be geared a bit more toward the “behind the scenes”-type work.

Spotlight or not, if anyone knows where No. 46 is at all times, its Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren. “He’s a guy that we rely on for a lot of things on our team. He is the special teams ace on our team. And we trust him with everything,” he said. That, in itself, would have been high praise, then Bloomgren continued, “I remember we had like one every year on our team with the [New York] Jets. At one time it was Larry Izzo, former Rice Owl.”

Izzo, whose single-season school-record 17 tackles for a loss was surpassed by Alldredge this season, had a lengthy NFL career. He made three Pro Bowls as a special teams ace and took home three Super Bowl rings. There could not be a higher compliment paid to a special teamer at Rice than simply to be mentioned in the same breath as the Owls’ legend.

Humble excellence. That’s pretty much Garrett Grammer in a nutshell. And that’s why this season, despite the string of defeats, has been so rewarding for many on this team. His efforts are the backbone of a team in the progress of pulling itself up by the bootstraps, of a collection of players working their butts off to earn a win, somehow, someway.

“When [Grammer] made that play in the UTSA game on the reverse on the fake punt our sideline couldn’t have erupted anymore,” Bloomgren recalled, “And part of it was because the result of the play, but part of it was because it was Garrett and our guys just love him and they love the way he works.”

For now, that work will be starting on every special teams unit the Owls employ. No matter the situation, the staff and his teammate know they can trust Grammer implicitly. Not only will he make the right play,  but he’ll commit every ounce of effort to each moment. That strain, that willingness to commit to the little things in hope of fulfilling his commission to do his “one-eleventh” as Rice players are wont to say, could set up another bigger moment. Like the thwarted reverse against Marshall. Or that blown-up punt against UTSA.

Fellow linebacker Antonio Montero echoed that sentiment. “[It was] probably the most joyous I’ve been this season, seeing [Grammer block the punt], because I know how hard Garrett works, how good of a play that was,” he said, smiling.” Coach Vestal said that he was up in the box jumping up and down going crazy because we know how much it means to [Grammer] and how much it means to the linebacker corps.”

“I kinda was just the guy in the right spot at the right time,” Grammer chuckled with a modest grin.

Grammer made his first career start this season against North Texas. He finished the year with 15 tackles and 2.5 tackles for a loss, none bigger than his fourth down punt stop. Rice football hopes he’ll keep his penchant for consistency going into 2020. It might just result in the one play that matters, leading to the one result both Grammer and his teammates most desire: victory.

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Rice Football: Fourth quarter lead disappears as Owls lose to UTSA

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Rice football played a back-and-forth game with UTSA that came down to the wire. For the seventh time this season, the Owls couldn’t find a way to win.

The Owls knew winning on the road wasn’t going to be easy. UTSA fought from start to finish, taking the lead with a little more than four minutes to play. With Tom Stewart at the controls, the Owls drove the length of the field and came up just short. Here are a few immediate takeaways from another heartbreaking result for Rice football.

1. Making the off week count

Bloomgren said one of the main focuses of the off week was converting third and medium, specifically third and four-to-six yards. Last year the Owls were stuck in too many third and long situations. This year the team had improved their down and distance metrics, but their conversion rate was still lacking.

Rice had their first opportunity to prove their mettle in that scenario on the first drive of the game. Quarterback Wiley Green hit trustworthy slot receiver Austin Trammell on a quick slant and moved the chains. That drive finished in three points. After failing to score on the opening drive in their first four games, Rice has now scored on their first possession in three consecutive games.

Rice converted a season-best 64% (9-of-14) third downs against UTSA, going 3-for-4 on third downs of four-to-six yards. Outside of self-inflicted wounds, Rice controlled the clock and moved the ball on offense as well as they have all season.

2. Big play Brad

You won’t find many junior college players suiting up for Rice football. The academic rigors separating South Main from those institutions represent a sizable gulf which few will successfully traverse. Making it to campus doesn’t guarantee success either. Checkered is the track record of JUCO transfers across the nation. Some pan out, some don’t.

It’s safe to say Brad Rozner has been well worth the investment.

The nation’s leading touchdown man at the JUCO level in 2018 has been a yardage machine for Rice football this season. Concerns over his slender build and questions of his ability to play physical have been put aside. All he does is make plays.

Rozner drew six pass interference flags against UAB. Rather than play the ball, the Blazers elected to tackle the playmaker before he had the chance to make a play. UTSA was less fortunate. Green targeted Rozner downfield throughout Saturday’s game. The first big gain was wiped out by a penalty flag, but the next went for 55-yards, the longest completion for the Owls this season. Green would find Pitre in the endzone later on that drive, putting Rice up 10-7 at the halftime whistle.

Who else, but Rozner again to open up the second half scoring for the Owls? He muscled the ball away from a defender in the endzone for a 19-yard grab which put him past the century mark for the game. He finished with nine catches for 138 yards, leading the team in both statistics.

3. Plenty of things to clean up

Neither UTSA or Rice had scored more than three touchdowns in any game this season. There was a high likelihood that a score in the high 20’s or low 3o’s would be enough to win this game. Rice had their opportunity to carve off a big chunk of that total on their first drive, but had to settle for a field goal after August Pitre was unable to haul in an endzone target from Green. The ball bounced off his fingertips and Rice settled for three instead of seven.

The next offensive drive didn’t go quite as smoothly. Rice burned a timeout at the start of the second quarter before the Owls had run any offensive plays. Two plays later Jovoni Johnson, who had been inserted at quarterback, failed to get the snap off in time and Rice was flagged for delay of game.

But the most painful error came following that challenging drive. After punting the ball back to UTSA, fortune smiled on the Owls for a brief moment. Naeem Smith snagged a deflected Lowell Narcisse pass and gave the Rice offense the ball at the UTSA goal line. A bad exchange between center Brian Chaffin and Green turned the ball right back over to UTSA two plays later. That was the first of two fumbled snap turnovers for Rice in the second quarter.

Green committed his third turnover on the first play of the second half, throwing right into the arms of a UTSA defender who returned it for a UTSA touchdown.

4. Boom goes the offense and the special teams

Explosive plays weren’t something the Rice offense had proven particularly adept at generated this season. In their first six games, Rice tallied 14 plays of 20 or more yards, an average of 2.3 per game. Rice had five 20-yard plays against UTSA — and that’s excluding a 40-yard bomb to Rozner called back by penalty, Rozner’s 19-yard touchdown reception and another 19 yard catch by Rozner in the third quarter.

When Rice was able to sustain drives, the big plays were a regular occurrence. So much so that two of the offenses near the bottom of the conference ended up having a shootout in San Antonio.

Chris Barnes was a weapon in the punting game, downing two punts inside the five-yard line including a 66-yard missile.

The biggest play of all is credited to reserve linebacker Garrett Grammer. Behind Blaze Alldredge and Antonio Montero on a crowded depth chart, Grammer sees most of his playing time on special teams. Late in the third quarter with UTSA backed up on their own 25-yard line, the Roadrunners attempted a fake punt. The ball carrier never gained a yard thanks to Grammer, who snuffed out the fake and brought him down for a nine-yard loss. The offense scored two plays later.

5. Regression stings

Patience can only be preached for so long without results. Saturday night’s road contest against UTSA — a game in which Rice football was favored by 5.5 points at kickoff — marks the lowest point of the 2019 season. One could argue this 0-7 start is the most disappointing moment of the Mike Bloomgren era. This team has looked better than their 0-7 record but at some point, you are what your record says you are. And the Owls’ record says this program isn’t where it expected to be.

No man will take this disappointing result harder than Bloomgren. It was he who declared a loss in this game a sign that things the Owls were not making the progress he expected. He will be the one that has to look in the mirror and decipher why this team hasn’t found a way to finish.

Bloomgren has never made excuses; he’s never pointed fingers. He won’t start now. But he will show up to work on Monday ready to play Southern Miss. The inefficiencies and problems put on display against UTSA will lead to discussions and adjustments in the weeks to come. This coaching staff and this team won’t quit.

One game isn’t reason to dismiss weeks of positive signs, but it’s undeniable this team hasn’t lived up to expectations in 2019. And they’re running out of games to prove they can. Every game from this point onward just became that much more important.

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2019 Rice Football Season Preview by The Roost

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The staff of The Roost is pleased to announce the release of the 2019 Rice Football Season Preview, a 143-page digital magazine detailing everything you could imagine about the Owls’ upcoming season.

This preview is the culmination of months of research, interviews and analysis. Consider it your one-stop-shop as you prepare for the Owls’ 2019 season.

Available as a downloadable PDF for on-the-go access, this preview contains the following:

1. A breakdown of every position group on the team

Who are the favorites to start entering fall camp? What sort of production should you expect from returning starters? Which of the incoming transfer players should make their mark the quickest? Answers to all of those questions are included, as well as notes on every single player on the 102-man roster.

2. An exclusive interview with head coach Mike Bloomgren

We sat down with coach to get his honest evaluation of where the Rice football program is right now and how he views the progress the team is making as they approach 2019. He’s sticking to a process, one which he remains confident will bring success to South Main.

3. Previews of each 2019 opponent and all 14 CUSA Teams

Supported by local beat writers and experts who cover each team, this section has a wealth of knowledge about every CUSA Team and all the Owls’ 2019 opponents.

Rice fans will want to familiarize themselves with the teams they’ll be facing this year. Get to know which players each squad will have to replace, which newcomers could make noise in 2019 and what outstanding questions those in the know have about their respective squads.

4. A complete 2019 Conference USA Football Preview

Available separately to purchase, everyone who purchases the 2019 Rice Football Season Preview will also get The Roost’s 2019 Conference USA Football Preview. We made our picks for preseason honors, top games to watch in 2019 and a closer look at how every team in the conference stacks up.

Don’t need any more convincing? Get a copy for yourself today

Buy Now

 

 

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