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Rice Football: 5 Owls participate in NFL Pro Day

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Rice football hosted its 2022 NFL Pro Day on Friday, allowing players to showcase themselves in the presence of NFL scouts.

At least 11 NFL teams flocked to Rice Stadium on April 1 to watch five Rice football players showcase their talents in a variety of athletic testing exercises and positional drills. Additional players from nearby programs such as Houston Baptist and Lamar also participated alongside those Owls.

Scouts from the following teams were present: 49ers, Browns, Broncos, Colts, Jaguars, Jets, Panthers, Patriots, Seahawks and Texans. Rice football alums Myles Adams and Emmanuel Ellerbee were in attendance to support those working out, as were a host of current Rice players who cheered loudly during the athletic testing events inside the Brian Patterson Center weight room.

More: Reviewing Luke McCaffrey’s move to wide receiver

Notable results for Rice athletes included a 40.5-inch vertical jump by safety Naeem Smith, 28 bench press reps by offensive lineman Jovaun Woolford and 25 bench reps from defensive lineman Elijah Garcia.

Below are a few updates from the players following their workouts, featuring their own sales pitches to NFL teams as well as their thoughts on their Pro Day performances as a whole. Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren also shared a few words.

The Numbers

Jordan Myers
  • 40 Yard Dash: 4.69
  • Vertical Jump: 32.5″
  • Broad Jump: 9’7″
Naeem Smith
  • 40 Yard Dash: 4.68
  • Vertical Jump: 40.5″
  • Broad Jump: 10’1″
Jake Constantine
  • 40 Yard Dash: 4.81
  • Vertical Jump: 30″
  • Broad Jump: 8’8″
Jovaun Woolford
  • Bench Press: 28 reps
  • Vertical Jump: 26.5″
  • Broad Jump: 8’3″
Elijah Garcia
  • 40 Yard Dash: 4.96
  • Vertical Jump: 30″
  • Bench Press: 25 reps

What They’re Saying

 


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Rice Football 2021 Game Preview: Western Kentucky

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If Rice Football wants to achieve their postseason aspirations, they’ll need to get past Western Kentucky. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

For the second consecutive Saturday, Rice football lost an overtime game. This one was different though. Instead of trailing for the duration, Rice had a two-score lead and was unable to finish. Meanwhile, Western Kentucky was taking care of business against Middle Tennessee, their fourth win in a row. Can Rice right the slide? Will the Hilltoppers stumble? Here’s what you need to know:

Kickoff time | 1:00 PM CT
Venue | Rice Stadium – Houston, TX
TV | ESPN+
Radio | Sports Map 94.1 (FM) / Stretch Internet (Online)

Audio / Visual Preview

We’ll preview Rice football vs WKU on this week’s episode of the Blue and Gray Preview Show, streaming live on Wednesday at Noon on the Rice Athletics YouTube channel. You can also catch the recap of last week’s game on The Roost Podcast, which should be released shortly. Find us on the podcast page or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. (And consider leaving us a 5-star review while you’re at it.)

Sizing up the contenders

There’s a lot on the line for both teams at Rice Stadium on Saturday. The home team has reached do-or-die status when it comes to their bowl game aspirations. Sitting at 3-6 with three games to go, Rice has to be perfect down the stretch and that starts with Charlotte.

As linebacker Antonio Montero pointed out after the Charlotte loss, while the circumstances are far from ideal, “3-0, my sophomore year we did it,” he recalled. “It’s not impossible at all. Very, very possible, actually. There’s not a conference team that we can’t beat.”

On the other side of the field, Western Kentucky can clinch a bowl berth of their own and keep pace with Marshall for the top spot in the East Division standings.

Series History

All Time | WKU leads Rice, 2-0
Last Five | WKU leads Rice, 2-0
Last Meeting | Away 2016, WKU won 46-14

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Get access to practice reports, analysis and special features during the week when you subscribe to our All-American Tier on Patreon today. If you want updates on how Rice football plans to deploy its quarterbacks, position battles, standouts, injuries and more, this is your go-to source. A few sections of this preview are reserved for those subscribers. Don’t miss out! Join now!

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Rice Stat Notables

Passing | Constantine – 84/131 (64.1 percent), 1059 yards, 5 TD, 3 INT
Rushing | Broussard – 87 carries, 473 yards (5.4 yards per carry), 2 TD / Myers – 89 carries, 334 yards (3.8 yards per carry), 8 TD
Receiving | Bailey – 46 receptions, 576 yards (12.5 yds/rec), 2 TD / Patterson – 24 receptions, 341 yards (14.2 yds/rec), 2 TD
Tackles | Montero – 60 / Garcia – 49 / Smith – 48
Pass Breakups | Dunbar – 6, McCord – 5, Smith – 4
Interceptions | Smith/Nyakwol – 2, Four others tied with one

Western Kentucky Stat Notables

Passing | Zappe – 308/441 (69.8 percent), 3688 yards passing, 37 TD, 6 INT
Rushing | Cofield – 64 carries, 321 yards (5.0 yards per carry), 4 TD / Whittington – 60 carries, 317 yards (5.3 ypc), 1 TD
Receiving | Sterns – 104 receptions, 1276 yards (12.3 yards per reception), 11 TD / Tinsley – 43 receptions, 680 yards (15.8 yds/rec), 6 TD
Tackles | Kincade – 62 / Malone – 62 / Ignont – 43
Interceptions | Cain/Bishop -2, Seven tied with one apiece
Pass Breakups | Ignont – 6, Edwards – 4, Four others tied with three apiece

WKU X-Factor | Keep your foot on the gas

Rice doesn’t want this to turn into a shootout. The Owls did win a 48-34 affair with Texas Southern earlier this season, but their ideal style of game is much lower-scoring. They want to maximize time of possession, grind out the clock and win on the margins. Falling behind early, as they did recently in losses to UTSA and North Texas, can be dangerous.

The Owls struggled in the kicking game too, missing three straight field goals between the end of the North Texas game and the start of the Charlotte contest. They then proceeded to go for it on fourth down in areas of the field where a long field goal might be an option.

If Rice struggles when they fall behind and the Owls have learned towards a “touchdown or bust” offensive philosophy, all Western Kentucky has to do is keep putting points on the board. Force Rice to play the style of game they don’t want to play and, more importantly, to execute at a high rate on their third and fourth down conversions in the redzone. That’s been a pain point for Rice in recent weeks.

Rice X-Factor | Force Bailey Zappe to make mistakes

Western Kentucky is far and away the most proficient offense in Conference USA. They’re going to score points and Bailey Zappe is going to attack down the field early and often. The Rice secondary had the chance to win the game against Charlotte but couldn’t limit the 49ers on their final fourth quarter drive nor could they stop the bleeding in overtime.

If the secondary can’t contain Zappe, they need to make him mortal. Rice forced 11 turnovers in 12 games in 2019, 0.92 per game. They had nine in five games in 2020, 1.80 per game. This season, they’ve forced 11 in nine games, 1.20 per game. They’ve finished better than +1 in the turnover margin once, that came against Southern Miss, a game they won at home.

Relying on turnovers and big plays to win games can’t be the entirety of the Owls’ game plan, but it’s going to have play some role in the outcome. Even an offense this good has its hiccups. Rice absolutely has to expose those and make it count when they do.

Pick ‘Em Contest (Subscribers only)

Make sure you submit your entry for The Roost’s weekly pick’em challenge. There will be swag and prizes for the top finishers at the end of the season. Choose an answer to each of the six questions below and comment on this post on the Patreon page to enter. It’s that easy.

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One Final Thing

For better or worse, Rice football will know for sure whether or not their postseason hopes remain alive after this weekend. Western Kentucky is a good football team, and possibly if not probably the best team remaining on the Owls’ schedule. If they can upset the Hilltoppers, they’ll have a chance to run the table. They’ve beaten good teams before, and fairly recently at that, but they’re out of wiggle room.

“Some of the games we may be a favorite, some of the games we may be an underdog, but it doesn’t really matter,” Bloomgren said of this upcoming stretch. It’s going to come down to how we play and how we finish. But we’re good enough. We’re going to be good enough to win these games. Now when we get to that deep water that we talk about and work for, now we’ve got to finish.”

The UAB upset proved this team is good enough. Their ability to rally from behind against North Texas and force overtime proved they could fight back, even on a bad day. But when it’s come to execution, this team hasn’t been able to weather the storm. Now they’re on their last chance.


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Rice Football 2021 Game Preview: Charlotte

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Rice Football needs a bounce-back win in the worst way as they travel to Charlotte for a Week 10 tilt. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

Both Charlotte and Rice football would rather forget their last trips to the gridiron. Charlotte was dismantled by Western Kentucky, falling on the road by a final score of 45-13. Rice played their opponent, North Texas, much closer, but an overtime loss was no more satisfying given the expectations they carried into the game. Both teams need a reset in the worst way. Here’s what you need to know:

Kickoff time | 2:30 PM CT
Venue | Jerry Richardson Stadium – Charlotte, NC
TV | ESPN+
Radio | Sports Map 94.1 (FM) / Stretch Internet (Online)

Audio / Visual Preview

We’ll preview Rice football vs Charlotte this week’s episode of the Blue and Gray Preview Show, streaming live on Wednesday at Noon on the Rice Athletics YouTube channel. You can also catch the recap of last week’s game on The Roost Podcast, which should be released shortly. Find us on the podcast page or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. (And consider leaving us a 5-star review while you’re at it.)

Sizing up the contenders

Charlotte and Rice each enter this game .500 in C-USA action with four more games to play. The winner is still probably on the outside looking in regarding a potential trip to the conference championship game, but the loser is in danger of tumbling even further down the standings.

Each program has flashed moments of success. Charlotte upset Duke earlier in the season. Rice knocked off UAB. Neither has been able to channel those everything-went-right games into the type of consistency they need to regularly win conference games so far. After being viewed as up-and-coming programs entering the 2020 season, this game has the potential to reinforce those aspirations or crush them, depending on who ends up on which side of the result.

Series History

All Time | Rice leads Charlotte, 2-0
Last Five | Rice leads Charlotte, 2-0
Last Meeting | Away 2016, Rice won 22-21

Get the Inside Scoop

Get access to practice reports, analysis and special features during the week when you subscribe to our All-American Tier on Patreon today. If you want updates on how Rice football plans to deploy its quarterbacks, position battles, standouts, injuries and more, this is your go-to source. A few sections of this preview are reserved for those subscribers. Don’t miss out! Join now!

Become a Patron!

Rice Stat Notables

Passing | Constantine – 65/96 (67.7 percent), 806 yards, 5 TD, 2 INT
Rushing | Myers – 82 carries, 316 yards (3.9 yards per carry), 7 TD
Receiving | Bailey – 39 receptions, 433 yards (11.1 yds/rec), 2 TD / Patterson – 20 receptions, 296 yards (14.8 yds/rec), 2 TD
Tackles | Montero – 54 / Smith – 44 / Garcia – 44
Pass Breakups | McCord/Dunbar – 5, Smith – 4
Interceptions | Smith/Nyakwol – 2, Four others tied with one

Charlotte Stat Notables

Passing | Reynolds – 127/192 (66.2 percent), 1537 yards passing, 16 TD, 5 INT
Rushing | Camp – 74 carries, 451 yards (6.1 yards per carry), 3 TD / Byrd – 92 carries, 375 yards (4.1 ypc), 1 TD
Receiving | DuBose – 37 receptions, 561 yards (15.2 yards per reception), 5 TD / Tucker – 40 receptions, 553 yards (13.8 yds/rec), 2 TD
Tackles | Murray – 55 / Watts – 45 / Alexander – 41
Interceptions | Alexander -2, Two tied with one apiece
Pass Breakups | Creamer – 4, Rogers – 3, Ursery – 3

Charlotte X-Factor | Take a few shots, and convert on them

Charlotte has one of the better “intermediate” offenses in Conference USA. The 49ers aren’t quite explosive — they’ve tallied six plays of 30+ yards against conference foes, tied for the second-fewest in Conference USA — but they have a knack for getting 10 yards, and they do it almost as well as anyone else in the league.

Charlotte’s 62 plays of 10+ yards rank third in Conference USA play. While they don’t hit home runs very often, they’ll nickel and dime defenses all the way down the field. If they do start producing players further down the field, the offense can get dangerous, quickly.

A veteran quarterback and two playmaking wide receivers have the ability to give the Rice defense all sorts of trouble. If they do, not only will they be ready to trade punches with the Owls, they might be able to deliver a few knockout blows of their own.

Rice X-Factor | Jake Constantine

Constantine hasn’t been perfect this season, but he’s been a key piece in two of the Owls’ three wins this year. He rallied the team last week, showing off some schoolyard improvisation skills to will the team down the field and force overtime.

With Wiley Green likely to miss extended time after suffering an ankle injury last week and the running game struggling to get going this year, Constantine is going to have to take charge. If he doesn’t, it’s hard to decipher how the Rice offense is going to find enough success to win on the road without his help.

If he plays as well as he’s played up to this point, Rice will put points on the board. And that’s something Charlotte does not want any part of this year. The 49ers rank second to last in conference play, allowing 38.8 points per game.

Pick ‘Em Contest (Subscribers only)

Make sure you submit your entry for The Roost’s weekly pick’em challenge. There will be swag and prizes for the top finishers at the end of the season. Choose an answer to each of the six questions below and comment on this post on the Patreon page to enter. It’s that easy.

Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?

Injury Report (Subscribers only)

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One Final Thing

Up until last week, Rice hadn’t lost a game to someone they were “supposed to beat” and they’d engineered one of their most memorable upsets in recent memory when they took down UAB on the road. Not that oddsmakers would have had faith in the Owls before, but now they’ve put Rice back in the underdog role. Given how this team faired last week, easing up the pressure can’t be a bad thing.

Still, this team has to be feeling some pressure. They’re on the precipice of losing control of a postseason bowl appearance. To get there, Rice needs to win three of four, a feat they’ve done once already this year. They haven’t won three in a row yet, though, a feat the Owls’ haven’t achieved since the final three games of the 2019 season. For a team that has been erratic from week to week, preserving that margin of error seems like an absolute necessity.

Whether it’s a coincidence or not that the Owls have been more proficient on the road than they have been at home doesn’t really matter. All that matters right now is finding a way to win this game. After the UAB win, it was easy to think ahead at what could be. Now that luxury has passed and all eyes have to be on Charlotte. The wiggle room is running out.


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Rice Football 2021: Offense preps for encore as UNT game looms

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It was a positive week of practice for Rice football as they prepare for North Texas. Halfway through the season, the Owls are finding their rhythm.

Who wasn’t on the field was almost as big of a story for Rice football this week as who would be available. The depth chart will have differences based on availability, but those who will go have been active on the practice field this week.

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For those checking in for the first time, or those returning, a quick programming note. Practice reports are reserved for our subscribers. If you want updates on how Rice football plans to deploy its quarterbacks, position battles, standouts, injuries and more, this is your go-to source. You can get access to all practice notes, recruiting updates and special features like this one when you subscribe to our All-American Tier on Patreon today.

Finding the right ryhthm in the backfield

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Rice Football 2021: Southern Miss presser quotes, practice notes and depth chart

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Rice football kicks off conference play this weekend against Southern Miss. Here’s what Mike Bloomgren had to say about it, injury updates and practice notes.

This is the first of a couple of updates coming this week as Rice football prepares to take on Southern Miss. We’ll include updates from head coach Mike Bloomgren’s midweek press conference, then dig further into the details on the depth chart and what the team looks like on the field headed into the weekend.

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Rice football found some answers at quarterback this past week and looks to be getting a bit healthier as conference play rolls around. One of those newly healthy players is back at the top of the depth chart this week. We’ll tackle that addition as well as a few developments from practice early this week. First, the quotes:

Press Conference Quotes

“I feel like we took some real steps forward as an offense. I think that’s a big thing for us to do. 620 yards, making explosive plays, being able to be efficient at the quarterback position — those are things that we’ve struggled to do over time. It’s really good to go into conference play knowing we’re on an upswing. That gives me a lot of comfort.

Knowing that our defense — we’ve been missing a couple of pieces in the past couple of weeks, but we should get some of those back — that’s really encouraging to me too. Special teams: we’re just continuing to grow. So what do I know? I know that we’re a team that is playing really hard for each other and at times playing really well, but we’ve got to become a consistent bunch for 60 minutes.” – Mike Bloomgren on what he learned about the team in nonconference play

“Defensively, we made a lot of adjustments during the game. I felt like they made a lot of plays. We were really close on a lot of things but kind of a step behind on getting those things done. I don’t think it’s anything we can’t get fixed this week and that’s what we’re working towards. Coach (Brian) Smith is really doing a great job with the defense, getting everyone on the same page. We’re going to try to get out there and look like our defense for 60 minutes. That’s the goal this week.” – Mike Bloomgren on the defense

“Great education and running the football. It’s pretty simple. I went to Colgate Unversity which was about greater education and running the football, so finding something that had they same type of patterrn and being able to get a great degree from it, that was pretty much a no-brainer. ” – Jovaun Woolford on what drew him to Rice

“It’s definitely a lot of fun, actually, just switching around positions on the d-line. Playing end, playing rush, playing tackle, playing nose — I’ve really played all four [positions] this season, I feel like. All the other guys on the d-line are what Coach Calhoun calls ‘bilingual’. It just makes us a lot more adaptable for to whenever sudden change situations come up in a game and makes us a better team in general.” – Ikenna Enechukwu on the versatility of the defensive line

Depth Chart

The Rice football depth chart shifted in response to last week’s performance and a key injury along the offensive line. Hopefully, there will be some more stability from this point onward. Bloomgren hinted he’d like to get to that point in his comments this week. “There’s no more experimenting going on right now,” he said. “We’ve got a group that we trust and we’re going to go forward with those guys.”

Secondary shifts after TSU’s passing outburst

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