The source for Rice sports news

  • Football
    • Recruiting
    • Offer Tracker
    • Roster
    • Schedule
    • NFL Owls
  • Premium
    • Patreon
    • Season Preview
    • Join / FAQ
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Store
    • News
    • Basketball
    • Baseball
    • About
    • Contact
  • Login

Rice Football 2025 Spring Practice Notebook 8: Defensive Takeaways

April 30, 2025 By Matthew Bartlett

Now led by defensive coordinator Jon Kay, the Rice football defense made strides this spring. Here are a few things that stood out the most.

The Rice football defense lost a lot of leaders to graduation this offseason. Having a familiar face in Jon Kay take over as the coordinator helps, but there was still plenty of dust to knock off as the Owls went through spring practices over the last several weeks. With new staff and new players, the program had plenty to work on from a defensive perspective.

More: Rice Football Spring Game Takeaways

“I think there’s a fair amount of new,” Kay said, addressing those changes during the offseason. This spring practice review tackles some of that new, some of the old and takes a more holistic look at what this side of the ball looks like with spring practices complete.

Ty Morris, you’re up

Subscriber content. Please login to see the full post or visit our Patreon page.
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?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts
  • 2025 Rice Football Opponent Season Preview: North Texas
  • College Football Returning Production woes in the AAC
  • 2025 Rice Football Opponent Season Preview: UTSA
  • The Roost Podcast | Ep 203 – 2025 Rice Football Opponent Previews: North Texas

Filed Under: Featured, Football, Premium Tagged With: practice notes, Rice Football, spring practice

Rice Football 2025 Spring Practice Notebook 7: Offensive Takeaways

April 21, 2025 By Matthew Bartlett

The new-look Rice football offense was installed this spring and we learned a lot about what this side of the ball will look like under head coach Scott Abell.

It was mostly encouraging news regarding the Rice football offense as head coach Scott Abell and his staff started installation this spring. In his words, they got “probably 60 percent” of the way toward where they need to be while he’d been hoping for the group to get to 75 percent by the end of the spring.

More: Rice Football Spring Game Takeaways

“The meat and potatoes are in,” he teased, reinforcing the team had gotten the bones of the offense installed. With those pieces in place, it’s time to step back and make an assessment of how this side of the ball is doing and what we learned from it during the spring.

Off to the races

Subscriber content. Please login to see the full post or visit our Patreon page.
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?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts
  • 2025 Rice Football Opponent Season Preview: North Texas
  • College Football Returning Production woes in the AAC
  • 2025 Rice Football Opponent Season Preview: UTSA
  • The Roost Podcast | Ep 203 – 2025 Rice Football Opponent Previews: North Texas

Filed Under: Archive, Football, Premium Tagged With: practice notes, Rice Football, spring practice

New-look offense shines at 2025 Rice Football Spring Game

April 12, 2025 By Matthew Bartlett

The 2025 Rice football spring practices concluded on Saturday with the spring game, a more condensed version this year, but still rich with things to learn.

An open quarterback competition, a new offense and plenty of new faces made for an exciting night at Historic Rice Stadium for the Owls’ first spring game under head coach Scott Abell on Saturday night. Marketed as more of an open practice, the Owls went through some drills before going through a handful of drives in front of the assembled crowed.

More: Spring Practice Notebook 6 — Big moves in the trenches

This update focuses on what took place in that scrimmage, hitting on some takeaways from the game and how those items compare to the totality of the spring.

Mission Accomplished

Subscriber content. Please login to see the full post or visit our Patreon page.
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?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts
  • 2025 Rice Football Opponent Season Preview: North Texas
  • College Football Returning Production woes in the AAC
  • 2025 Rice Football Opponent Season Preview: UTSA
  • The Roost Podcast | Ep 203 – 2025 Rice Football Opponent Previews: North Texas

Filed Under: Archive, Football, Premium Tagged With: Aaron Turner, AJ Padgett, Braylen Walker, Chase Allen, Chase Jenkins, Christian Edgar, D'Andre Hardeman, Daelen Alexander, Drew Devillier, Enoch Gota, practice notes, Quinton Jackson, Reese Keeney, Rice Football, Semaj Pierre, spring practice, Taji Atkins, Tyson Thompson, Tyvonn Byars

Rice Football 2025 Spring Practice Notebook 6: In the Trenches

April 10, 2025 By Matthew Bartlett

The Rice football offensive line has impressed this spring as the group evolves into the Owls’ new offensive scheme one practice at a time.

Watching the offensive line transition from a West Coast scheme to a spread option offense has been one of the more intriguing journeys of Rice football spring practice. Every group has been learning a new language and a new way of doing things, but the way the offensive line has had to adapt and how effectively they’ve turned the page has been notable.

More: Spring Practice Notebook 5 — Slot School

This update dives into the progress the offensive line has made, what’s going to look different when it comes to how they’ll play on Saturdays and an early look at what players are lining up where this spring.

Impressing up front

Subscriber content. Please login to see the full post or visit our Patreon page.
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?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts
  • 2025 Rice Football Opponent Season Preview: North Texas
  • College Football Returning Production woes in the AAC
  • 2025 Rice Football Opponent Season Preview: UTSA
  • The Roost Podcast | Ep 203 – 2025 Rice Football Opponent Previews: North Texas

Filed Under: Archive, Football, Premium Tagged With: Blake Boenisch, Brad Baur, Cole Morgan, David Stickle, Davion Hook, John Long, Luke Miller, Luke Needham, Marcus Williams, Patrick Valent, Peyton Farmer, practice notes, Rice Football, spring practice, Ty Morris, Tyson Thompson, Weston Kropp

Rice Football 2025 Spring Practice Notebook 5: Slot School

April 6, 2025 By Matthew Bartlett

There’s been a lot to learn with this new-look Rice Football offense during spring practices, including the introduction of a new position: slot.

Keeping track of where players are lining up and where they go after the snap has been an adventure in the new offense Rice football is installing this spring. Head coach Scott Abell, renowned for his offensive system, has engineered a scheme that is fascinating to watch, but sometimes hard to follow. That confusion often stems from the slot position and how many different ways it’s utilized in this offense.

More: Spring Practice Notebook 4 — QB Battle and Scrimmage Thoughts

This update dives into what that slot position does, how the Owls use it in the offense and which players are going to be lining up at that position in the fall.

This article has been temporarily unlocked.

So…. what’s a slot?

No position has been more fascinating to follow this spring than the one most recently added to the Rice football depth chart: Slot. Coached by Austin Eisenhofer, nominally the Insider Wide Receivers coach according to the Rice football online roster, the slot position promises to bring plenty of flash and excitement to South Main.

“The slot position kind of does everything,” Eisenhofer explained. “A lot of blocking, a lot of pass catching, a lot of rushing the ball.”

That all-encompassing definition might even undersell the level of versatility the Owls require from this position. It’s not uncommon to see a slot player go out on a route on one play, take a sweep around one side on the next play, and then operate as the trailing man in an option run on the play after that. Their interchangeability with the running back position has been fascinating to watch.

In so many ways, this position is an amalgamation of so many skillsets into a true all-purpose offensive tool.

More: Latest Rice football recruiting offers

“We’re insider receivers and we do more skills of a receiver than anything else,” Eisenhofer said, “But at the end of the day it’s a lot of guys that in high school they were labeled as A-T-H. They can affect the game in so many ways. I think that’s fun for anyone.”

For some in the recruiting world, ATH or “Athlete” is a designation given to players with athletic ability, but no true position. It’s the “other” option for players talented enough to play at this level, but without a specified skillset at any singular spot. For this offense to take those “other” pieces and turn them into key cogs in this offensive system is amusing.

A few players like Cincinnati transfer Aaron Turner — brother of offensive assistant Eli Turner, who played for Abell at Davidson — knew what they were getting into when this position was assigned to them over the winter. The rest are truly starting from scratch, adjusting to so many different ways to get the football beyond the traditional throw and catch down field.

“They’ve taken to it probably quicker than I could have even expected,” Eisenhofer praised. “All they’re worried about is they want to be good. They want to learn it. They understand it’s a process.”

Climbing the depth chart

We’re still a ways from settling on any firm offensive depth chart, but there are a few faces that have risen through the ranks at this position during camp. The aforementioned Turner is the first name to mention. He was the first pass catcher Abell cited when discussing standout individuals following last Saturday’s scrimmage as Abell noted that Turner “seemed to be making plays every day.”

Given his familiarity with the coaching staff and how the Owls’ prioritized him in the portal, his ascension probably shouldn’t come as a surprise. He’s not the only player to stand out at this spot during the spring, though. Redshirt freshman Owen Carter has receiver as many, if not more reps with the starting group.

Roost Podcast: Breaking down the Rice baseball in-season hiring of David Pierce

A high school standout at Cy Fair, Carter’s presence was minimal on Saturday’s last fall, redshirting while appearing in two games. To say he’s taken a step forward since then and embraced this new-look offense would be an understatement. He’s been fun to watch and someone worth keeping an eye on moving forward.

It’ll be hard to determine how many “starting” wide receiver spots they’ll be, especially given how much this offense will vary from formation to formation, but Carter, Turner and Braylen Walker (playing the true wide receiver spot in this offense, not slot) have been by far the most common triumvirate on the field so far.

Odds and Ends

  • Not only does there appear a ways to go for settling on a starting five on the offensive line, positions remain fluid. There was a sequence of plays last week where I watched one lineman play go from guard, to the tackle spot on the opposite side to the other guard spot in the span of three plays. The intra-drive fluidity is likely a quirk of practice, but that doesn’t make it any less hard to terse out.
  • Quinton Jackson broke off a 65-yard touchdown run in Wednesday’s practice. The speed possessed by him and Taji Atkins, along with the depth at the running back position should make for an exciting year for the ground game.
  • There are no fullbacks in this offense in the traditional sense, but that doesn’t mean the Owls’ fullbacks have completely disappeared. Micah Barnett and Rhys Phillips have transitioned to tight end. Phillips missed a good chunk of last season, so it’s been fun to see him get in the mix at full speed.
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts
  • 2025 Rice Football Opponent Season Preview: North Texas
  • College Football Returning Production woes in the AAC
  • 2025 Rice Football Opponent Season Preview: UTSA
  • The Roost Podcast | Ep 203 – 2025 Rice Football Opponent Previews: North Texas

Filed Under: Archive, Football, Premium, Reserve Tagged With: Aaron Turner, Braylen Walker, Micah Barnett, Owen Carter, practice notes, Quinton Jackson, Rhys Phillips, Rice Football, spring practice, Taji Atkins

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 32
  • Next Page »
  1. Item 1
  2. Item 2
  3. Item 3
  4. Item 4
  5. Item 5
  • 2025 Rice Football Season Preview, Rice Football
  • Jack Ben-Shoshan, Rice Baseball
  • Rice Baseball, David Pierce
  • Rice Football
  • “He’s a Bulldog”: Parker Smith’s Journey to Rice Baseball Ace
Become a patron at Patreon!
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter