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The Roost’s 2022 Rice Football Season Superlatives

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The Roost’s 2022 Rice Football Season Superlatives exist to honor exceptional Owls who made a difference on the field this season. Here’s the complete list.

There were many individual performances worth recognizing in the 2022 Rice Football season. In addition to the more traditional awards below, make sure to check out The Roosties, our fourth annual award show from The Roost Podcast, which features a different angle of honors. From our favorite plays to the players that surprised us the most, we cover some of the more creative superlatives on the show.

Offensive Newcomer of the Year — WR Isaiah Esdale | Full Story

Excerpt: “Esdale would go on to catch 42 passes as a Rice Owl. 25 of them went for a first down. 13 of them were for 15+ yards or longer. He was a chain mover and a big-play maker, coming through in clutch moments time and time again. While Bradley Rozner and Luke McCaffrey were the wideouts that most often found paydirt and racked up the yards, Esdale’s contribution was clutchness.”

Defensive Newcomer of the Year — LB Chris Conti | Full Story

Excerpt: “After a parade of reliable all-conference caliber linebackers that have passed through the Rice football locker room in recent years, finding someone who could fill those shoes was a daunting task. The Owls found at least one such man in Conti. And fortunately enough, he still has two more seasons of eligibility to make a difference at South Main.”

Sp. Teams Players of the Year  — PK Christian VanSickle | Full Story

Excerpt: “In that span, he made six kicks from beyond 30 yards. Rice had one such make all of last season. He had four go through the pipes from 40+ yards away. And this after attempting his first collegiate field goal last season. For someone brand new to the position to give his team the utmost level of reliability was truly remarkable.”

Rising Star — DL Blake Boenisch | Full Story

Excerpt: “The kid is a freak of nature,” fellow teammate and captain Trey Schuman said of Boenisch. “He’s 6-3, 330 and can move. It’s not every day that you see somebody like him. Really the thing about Blake is his maturation process has been insane.”

Iron Man — OL Shea Baker | Full Story

Excerpt: “When Baker donned his helmet for the final time against Southern Miss in the Lending Tree Bowl he put an exclamation point on a Rice football record that won’t soon be broken, if ever. Baker leaves Rice as the all-time leader in career starts, making 53 starts over his six-year career.”

Off. Player of the Year — WR Luke McCaffrey | Full Story

Excerpt: “The emergence of McCaffrey coincided with an offensive awakening that never seemed to be fully realized. Rice football is better with McCaffrey on the field and the Owls are fortunate he’s got more eligibility to spend catching football at South Main.”

Def. Player of the Year — LB Josh Pearcy | Full Story

Excerpt: “Pearcy would go on to make more plays, including tying a season-high seven tackles with one sack and 1.5 tackles for a loss in the Owls’ Lending Tree Bowl matchup with Southern Miss. All three of those measures tied or lead the team outright. In another big moment, Pearcy showed up. Because that’s what great players do.”

Off. Player of the Year — WR Bradley Rozner | Full Story

Excerpt: “Making it back to the field in any capacity and contributing to the offense would have been a relief for Rozner who hadn’t seen the field in such a long time. Becoming a go-to game-breaker was even more impressive. In many ways, it’s just like that game-winning score against UTEP. Someone gave Rozner a chance. He did the rest.”

Check out the 2021 Rice Football Season Superlatives here.

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Rice Football 2022 Offensive Newcomer of the Year: Isaiah Esdale

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Rice football rebuilt its offense during the offseason, bulking up the receiving corps and finding a playmaker in Isaiah Esdale.

After playing a part-time role at West Virginia before he arrived in Houston, Isaiah Esdale wanted to make his final season count. “I want to break records,” he said with a serious smile upon his arrival. While the big records might not have fallen, Esdale carved out his portion of history and earned his spot as our 2022 Rice Football Offensive Newcomer of the Year.

Like his play, Esdale’s path to Houston was an extremely positive surprise. The team had a loaded wide receiver depth chart and didn’t appear to be in the market to add another pass catcher. Then he entered the Transfer Portal and Rice couldn’t pass up the opportunity to bring him in.

On the day he committed to come to Rice, head coach Mike Bloomgren described him as a guy “that absolutely made 50/50 balls more like 80/20 balls.” Wide receivers coach Mike Kershaw joked that he didn’t know how he was going to get so many different receivers on the field at the same time, but Esdale would make plays. Esdale was clearly a talented player, but where would he fit in this offense?

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Then two things happened. Injuries cropped up in the receiver room, knocking out fellow transfer Sam Crawford for the season as well as the loss of Cedric Patterson going for an extended period of time, too. While the room was thinning out, Esdale was producing. He flashed in practice, making plays at all levels of the field.

It was crystal clear by the midpoint of fall camp that he had earned a spot on the field. How big that role would become would come down to him.

Esdale would go on to catch 42 passes as a Rice Owl. 25 of them went for a first down. 13 of them were for 15+ yards or longer. He was a chain mover and a big-play maker, coming through in clutch moments time and time again. While Bradley Rozner and Luke McCaffrey were the wideouts that most often found paydirt and racked up the yards, Esdale’s contribution was clutchness.

“When you need a big catch, when you need a big play, he’s coming through,” Bloomgren said. “He makes things look easy, including those big-time catches in big-time situations.”

More: Defensive Newcomer of the Year — LB Chris Conti

And even more impressive still, Esdale accounted for almost a third of that production with an injured hand. The veteran wideout got hurt at the beginning of the Western Kentucky game and would wear a split on one finger during practice for the next two weeks. One would have never been able to tell by watching his play on Saturdays.

“Isaiah’s not going to be bothered by this stuff. Isaiah is going to be fine,” Bloomgren said following the Western Kentucky game in which Esdale was banged up. “I don’t think anything is going to keep him from playing.”

Bloomgren would be right. Esdale finished the season and kept producing. After battling through injuries midseason that limited his practice time during the week, Esdale persevered and continued to show tremendous toughness, catching his only two touchdowns as an Owl in the Lending Tree Bowl, both of which came on plays of, you guessed it, 25+ yards. Rice football doesn’t get to where it did this season without his contributions.


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Rice Football 2022: WKU Game Week Practice Report

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Rice football travels to WKU this week with bowl aspirations in their sights. Here’s what we learned from practice this week.

The final quarter of a rigorous 2022 Rice football schedule begins this week with a road trip to Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers are just ahead of the Owls in the current conference standings with both teams in need of one more win to reach bowl eligibility (WKU needs seven wins this year because of their 13th game with a trip to Hawaii).

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This week’s roundup focuses in on a new adversary the Owls are facing this week, stakes for this game, the offensive line, special teams adjustments, a few individual standouts and more.

For those checking in for the first time, or those returning, a quick programming note. Special features like this are reserved for our subscribers. Have questions? You can get those answered in our monthly Q&As and get access to all practice notes, recruiting updates and features like this one when you subscribe on Patreon today.

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Rice Football 2022: WKU presser quotes and depth chart

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Rice football visits Western Kentucky this week. Here’s what Mike Bloomgren had to say about the matchup at hand and a few depth chart notes.

Head coach Mike Bloomgren and a pair of players met with the media for their customary weekly availability. They recapped the UTEP win and looked at the week ahead, detailing what they’re expecting to see when Western Kentucky takes the field.

More: Rice Football – Blue and Gray Preview Show

We touch on those items, then dig into the Rice football depth chart and what the team looks like heading into the weekend. First, the quotes:

Press Conference Quotes

“It was pretty cool for our team to get that win; to have the response that we needed and to do the things that we needed to do on a short week and make sure that we were prepared for that game on Thursday night. Our guys had to be pros. They had to take every walkthrough like it was a game rep and I’m really proud of the fact that they did that. After watching the film, I think we’re doing a lot of good things for the team. There’s no doubt about that.” – Mike Bloomgren on the UTEP win

“When you talk about Austin Reed, you talk about a winner. He’s a guy who won a Division II national title at West Florida. He’s doing a great job. This offense looks a little different with him in there. His willingness to run and the fact that he really is a duel threat, so I think he brings a lot to the table. They’re moving the sticks at a great rate and they’re putting the ball in the box. Against a conference opponent, they scored 73 points. That’s pretty crazy in 2022.” – Mike Bloomgren on WKU quarterback Austin Reed

“The bottom line for our defense right now is that on first and second down, I think we’re doing some really productive things. But, there’s still too many times where we get someone in third-and-long and we’re allowing them to move the sticks. That’s something that we’re continuing to work on. You look back at the last two games; to have a third-and-14 and a third-and-16 and they’re converted on the ground, that’s not what we want. We want to still rally and make those plays. In each of those examples, you either had somebody miss an assignment or get a hand on the ball carrier where it would have been well short of the first down marker and we didn’t make the play. We just have to continue to trust and believe in what Coach Smith is presenting and we have to make the plays that are there for us and we’ll be just fine. ” – Mike Bloomgren on adjustments needed for the Rice defense

“We’re resilient team and we can we can play through anything. We practice hard. The things that we go through in practice, the things we went through in the summer, it all comes into play now. When you got a tough game, a tight game, when it’s close you got to look to the guy next to you to make a play. And I think we’re capable of doing that and obviously you saw it on Thursday. Players are gonna make plays. That’s what we do.” – Defensive lineman Quent Titre on what he’s learned about this team 

“I’m fine with it. I thrive in that siatuon, all the pressure. When you’re up against the corner and you know you need somebody to make that play, that’s my favorite situation because that’s when you shine. That’s when everybody sees it. I like being in that position, I think that’s a fun position to be in.” – Wide receiver Isaiah Esdale on his role in the offense 

Depth Chart

Depth Chart Notes

The only changes to the depth chart this week appear to be procedural. The offensive line is now listed as they started the game against UTEP, with Isaac Klarkowksi returning to center and Shea Baker sliding over to left guard in place of John Hughes. The only other adjustment is the removal of Ari Broussard, who has missed the past two games with injuries. It’ll be Juma Otoviano and Cameron Montgomery atop the depth chart this week as expected.

Punt return is the other change. Luke McCaffrey was given a shot last week, but he fumbled. The next man up will be Isaiah Esdale. The WVU transfer has worked at punt return throughout the season, but hasn’t been tasked with the assignment in a game just yet. That could change on Saturday.

Some questions remain as to the availability of others currently listed on the depth chart that did not play in prior weeks, namely safety George Nyakwol and receiver Cedric Patterson. We’ll have more updates on both players and their projected availability in our practice notes later in the week (available to our subscribers).


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Last minute rally lifts Rice Football past UTEP for big win

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Rice Football delivers the wining score in the final moments, dashing past UTEP to secure a much-needed win at home.

Thursday’s nationally televised game against all the makings of a bowl-elimination bout between Rice football and the UTEP Miners. The Owls had had the upper hand in the series, particularly at home, winning nine of 12 in Houston. On Thursday night, Rice added one more important victory to the tally. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Withstand the first punch

On the first play from scrimmage, UTEP quarterback Gavin Hardison tried to thread a ball through a mass of blue and gray-clad defenders. Gabriel Taylor was nearly there to meet it, but was unable to make the one-handed stab to force a quick turnover. Instead, UTEP recovered and marched quickly down the field, going 78-yards in 3:13, deflating a defense in need of that instant jolt of confidence.

Down 7-0, Rice was forced to settle for a field goal on their first offensive possession as quarterback TJ McMahon was sacked on third and short inside the redzone. When Rice kicked the ball back to UTEP down by four, it felt like the rubber was about to meet the road. Was UTEP’s early touchdown — just their second touchdown in the first quarter this year — a fluke? Or would the defense figure it out?

The defense responded with a quick three-and-out and their second sack of the day. Then they found their groove. They got pressure. They forced three-and-outs (four on the day). Trey Schuman snuffed out a reverse for a loss of yards. The defense responded to a fumbled punt return with a stop and a 51-yard field goal try after the offense fizzled inside their own five-yard line. For the first time in weeks, they looked good. Not great. But good.

To say the Rice defense was “back” would be overly generous, but the unit that took the field on Thursday night looked a heck of a lot more like the one the Owls have gotten used to seeing in recent years. If they can find a way to get off the field on third down, they might just be dangerous.

Return of the big play

On the other side of the ball, the offense responded in kind. Rice had four pass plays of 15+ yards in four quarters against Charlotte last weekend. They reached that total just three minutes into the second quarter against UTEP and continued to gain yards in chunks. Bradley Rozner reached the century mark for the fifth time this season.

The Owls ended the game with 502 total yards and a slew of big plays. There were eight pass plays of 15+ yards and five run plays of 10+ yards. The offense was legitimately explosive.

What made the performance particularly compelling was the sheer quantity of contributors. Rozner, Luke McCaffrey, Isaiah Esdale, Kobie Campbell and Jack Bradley each had critical catches that extended drives or scored points. Cam Montgomery, Juma Otviano, TJ McMahon and McCaffrey each made big plays on the ground. Uriah West had his first touchdown as an Owl. Eveything just seemed to come together.

And then… the dagger!

The steady emergence of TJ McMahon

When McMahon took the field against UTEP for his eighth consecutive start, he reached a place no quarterback had gone before under Bloomgren at Rice. The previous record for consecutive starts (seven) was held by Shawn Stankavage, who led the way in the first seven games of Bloomgren’s tenure at South Main in 2018 before being injured.

McMahon already led all Rice quarterbacks under Bloomgren in passing touchdowns entering this game. He added two more to up his Rice total to 20. He also leads all of Bloomgren’s passers in interceptions, including an inexplicable additional tipped-pass pick against UTEP, a recurring nightmare that Rice fans can’t seem to escape.

After the Charlotte loss, McMahon said his job this week was “to make sure this game doesn’t beat us twice.” He did that tonight, leading his team down the field with regularity with a bit more of a boost from the running game than he’d had in recent weeks.

It’s been clearly established for several weeks now that Rice had its guy. As McMahon continues to progress, the hope for the future builds.

Breathing room

Two weeks ago, Rice football was 4-3. Being a game above .500 and two wins away from securing bowl eligibility was a breath of fresh air for the Owls, who have fought through their fair share of hardships to get to that point.

That was two weeks ago, and it feels like the program has been through a much more circuitous journey than one could have imagined in just a fortnight’s worth of time. Splitting a two-game homestand against Charlotte and UTEP was disappointing, considering the success Rice football has had to this point. But even still, the Owls have earned three chances to clinch a bowl berth.

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

It’s not time to start booking tickets to spend Christmas in Hawaii or the holiday season in the Bahamas quite yet. But the situation is objectively more positive than it could have been had Rice not found a way to win this football game, and win it in the manner they did. The Owls have been far from perfect this year, but they have been resilient.

Following a loss, Rice football is 4-0 this season. And now instead of being forced to grapple with the real possibility of their one-time storybook season ending in a nightmare, Rice has hope again. Hope can be a dangerous this at times, but right now, it’s exactly what the Owls need. That, and one more win down the stretch. But they’ll focus on that final W tomorrow.

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When in doubt, be clutch

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