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

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Rice football opens its home slate on Saturday against Houston. 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 Houston. 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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This week, there was considerable attention given to the quarterback spot. There was one notable development on that front in practice, as well as a few updates on a score of players that left the Arkansas game early. First, the quotes:

Press Conference Quotes

“I think it’s it’s always special. Anytime you play anybody in state, but especially in your own city. So many of our kids know guys on that team and played with them in high school or played against them in high school. I think that’s really fun.

I’ve been so fortunate in my career, to be a part of some great rivalries, whether you talk about Florida-Florida State or Florida State-Miami, or Alabama-Auburn, or Stanford-Cal or Stanford-Oregon at that time. They’re always fun.

You wish you could take the same approach and you wish you could be able to just do your routine. But there’s something that happens when you go out there and you’re amped up against a rival. As long as we use it for good, we’ll be really happy about that. So I know there’s going to be more emotions. I know there’s going to be excitement that builds towards this game. And I guess quite frankly, there should be. It’s a big game in the fourth largest city in America.” – Mike Bloomgren on Bayou Bucket rivalry game

“Both of them took reps with the ones yesterday, both of them are all working towards it. And we’re gonna see how we come out of this thing. I think both those guys have the ability to lead a college football team and we’re going to keep working to see who the is the best fit and gives our team the best opportunity to go forward.” – Mike Bloomgren on the QB battle

“Both teams are going through a lot of changes in the past three years. But as far as our team goes, I think we’ve played our brand of football all the way through since Coach Bloom got here. We’ve played with intellectual brutality in our minds. And I think you saw that in 2018. And you’ll see a better, more refined version of that, coming in 2021.

We’ve got guys in better spots; we’ve got a more talented roster across the board. We’ve got coaches that have been in system longer. Coaches that are used to calling games longer. We’ve got coach Tui going into his second game as a Rice Owl.” – Tight end Jaeger Bull on the differences in UH and Rice teams from 2018 to now

“Being a Houstonian, I really look forward to this game. It’s about time we take this win and pretty much say that we own the city of Houston because we do. We haven’t been able to get the win just yet, but this week we will.”  – Safety George Nyakwol on the team’s confidence this week

Depth Chart

The Rice football depth chart did not change from the Arkansas game. There will most certainly be changes, but no players were officially ruled out as of Tuesday.

Rice football, depth chart

Expected Depth Chart Changes and injuries

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Rice Football 2021: Arkansas presser quotes, practice notes and QB news

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Rice football opens its 2021 season at Arkansas. Here’s what Mike Bloomgren had to say about it and some notes from the first official depth chart.

This is the first of a couple of updates coming this week as Rice football prepares to take on Arkansas. Stay tuned for more on projected quarterback usage and more in the days ahead.

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Head coach Mike Bloomgren addressed the media this week prior to the Owls’ game against the Arkansas Razorbacks. A few players chimed in as well. We’ll start with some high points from the presser then hit on the depth chart changes and additional notes from practice.

Press Conference Quotes

“I think it’s got us in a place where we’re very excited looking at a number of spots on our roster where we’ve got more depth than we’ve ever had. We had competitions in spots where we never could really get the competition to be what it needed to be.” – Mike Bloomgren on growth in fall camp

“My comfort level is to have a starter and to have him take every rep in practice. That’s not where we are right now. The people at Arkansas are going to see two quarterbacks this weekend because they’ve earned the right to do it. They can do everything in our offense, but one of them is a little more dynamic when he’s running with the football.” – Mike Bloomgren on the QB battle

“I don’t want to put a ceiling on Jake Bailey, but what I will tell you is that same ascension you saw last year we saw and that it’s really progressed even more this offseason. His confidence as a football player, his confidence and knowledge in this offense has been really good. I’m excited to have him on the field. Obviously, I think its natural to compare him to some Austin Trammell type role because Austin was our go-to guy and a guy we targeted a lot of plays for on third down.” – Mike Bloomgren on Jake Bailey’s role in the offense

“Unfortunately I had to take off some time, being a little banged up in the spring, so getting back to a fall camp and getting back out there with my guys [is great]. It’s fun to be involved [from the sideline], but there’s nothing like actually doing it and it makes it a lot easier to lead when you can lead by example instead of being the guy on the sidelines trying to tell them to do better. I’ve had a great time and I feel really good.” – Defensive lineman Trey Schuman on returning from injuries

“The depth is the depth is definitely incredible. Guys like [Bradley] Rozner, guys like August Pitre who are going to be huge contributors to the offense this year, it’s a blessing to get to take the field with them every day… And then the guys know behind us, we just have amazing depth. It’s just really incredible, being able to have those guys to share the moments with. It definitely brings my confidence up as well, having my brother’s behind me.”  – Wide receiver Jake Bailey on the depth at wide receiver

Depth Chart

Here’s an updated depth chart from Rice football heading into the Arkansas game.

Rice football, depth chart

Depth Chart Reaction and notables

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Rice Football 2020 Practice Notes, Presser Quotes and UTEP prep

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Rice football is eager to get back on the field this weekend and face UTEP. Here are the latest practice notes and press conference quotes.

It was tough sledding for Rice football in Denton, falling to 1-2 on the season with the disappointing road loss. The team returns home to Rice Stadium this week to face UTEP, which enters the game 3-4 with a chance to return to .500 by the end of November. The Owls would like to prevent them from getting there a climb back to .500 themselves.

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The team had some thoughts to share on last week. We’ve selected a few quotes from the Owls’ midweek press conference. Then we’ve got a few more updates on what’s in store for the Owls in the coming days and weeks.

Press Conference Quotes

“They played a very, very physical brand of football. They imposed their will on us in all areas. We had a couple of turnovers that were really, really costly and absolutely affected the outcome of the game, and we’ve got to play better. I don’t think it’s that we got to play harder, we’ve got to play better. We’ve got to play more disciplined. And we got to be better with our techniques.” – Mike Bloomgren on the North Texas game

“Obviously we started really fast, just like we wanted to — we were firing on all cylinders. We had multiple turnovers, which obviously that’s never good, we’ll never win like that so that’s obviously the things we need to clean up the most. We got to keep the ball off the turf. And then we got to hit our shots when we take them. And we did a pretty good job at it but we have to keep working, keep finding that connection, keep getting that rhythm and we will get those will go our way.” – WR Jake Bailey on the offensive performance vs North Texas

“We’ve done a pretty good job stopping the run, especially getting off blocks and making plays, just creating negative plays because those are game-changers. I feel like we’re doing a pretty good job, and we can definitely improve on that. I feel like if we continue to practice hard and come to work every day we’ll continue to get better.” – DL De’Braylon Carroll on the defensive performance this season 

Depth Chart Notes

Here’s an updated depth chart from Rice football heading into the UTEP game.

Running back Juma Otoviano was expected to be back this weekend, but his name is absent from the depth chart this week. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him go through pre-game warmups and have his status evaluated again at that point. Ikenna Enechukwu and Trey Schuman have flip-flopped at the defensive end spot, but the OR designation remains. We’ll most likely see both of them.

Looking ahead

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Rice Football 2020 Practice Notes, Presser Quotes and the next men up

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After another postponement, Rice football is ready to take the field again, hopefully as soon as this weekend against North Texas. Here are the latest practice notes and press conference quotes.

Rice football is two weeks removed from their most recent football. Oddly enough, the Owls’ first game against Middle Tennessee was the week following a matchup between North Texas and Middle Tennessee. The Mean Green haven’t returned to the field since.

Owls’ head coach Mike Bloomgren met with the media today to share some of his thoughts on the game ahead.

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There is a lot of encouraging news on the injury front. Bloomgren said the team didn’t have “many people left to get healthy.” That should include a few starters returning to the field soon as well as a practice sighting on the offensive side of the ball. Injuries and depth chart fluidity has afforded several players additional opportunities. We’ve also got some notes on a few guys that have stepped up in the interim.

Press Conference Quotes

“We want to make this the most exclusive offer in the country… one out of every four offers is committed to you or signing with you, we feel good about that because we get a chance to really develop real relationships, get to know the parents, the families and otherwise.” – Director of Recruiting Alex Brown on the upcoming 2021 class

With the way we prepare and with our process and what it’s all about, I don’t know if I’m real excited about those possibilities… I really would like more than 48 hours of notice that you saw UCLA and Cal last week. I certainly think that that would cause a lot of coaches in this building not to sleep for 48 hours. But hey, we’ll make it work if that’s the case. We want to play a game. And right now, we’re certainly planning on playing Seth Littrell and North Texas.” – Mike Bloomgren on the possibility of last-minute scheduling changes

“I think they probably found their guy in Jason Bean, and he’s the one that we’re going to prepare to stop. If Austin [Aune] jumps in there, their offense won’t change too much. They’re still going to try to find number one Jaelon Darden, and they should.” – Bloomgren on the North Texas offense

Who’s back and who’s not

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Rice Football 2020: Post Southern Miss presser and practice notes

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There’s a lot going on in the world of Rice football. Here’s a rundown of the weekly press conference and an update from practice headed into the UTSA game.

The season is back in full swing and we’ve got a full slate of Rice football updates on deck for everyone this week. I’ll include a few snippets from today’s press conference here as well as updates from practice on Monday. The players were off on Tuesday for the Election.

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Press conference notes and quotes

Head coach Mike Bloomgren did note a few players of the week following the victory:

  • Defensive Player of the Game – Chike Anigbogu
  • Offensive Player of the Game – Austin Trammell
  • Special Teams Player of the Game – Charlie Mendes
  • Offense Scout Team Player of the Week – Caleb James
  • Defense Scout Team Player of the Week – TJ McMahon
  • Special Teams Player of the Week – Terreance Ellis

“Anytime you are giving up big plays the way we did in the first game, that’s never a good thing. I think we talked a lot about eliminating the big plays, keeping it in front of us, and I think the guys got the message and we played a lot better in those critical situations at the end of the half and on third down.” – Brian Smith on the what the defense did differently from game one to game two

It felt good to get a win, it really did. It felt great to get a win on Saturday. An incredible effort from start to finish from our guys. I think, really the opening kickoff all the way through the fourth quarter you saw a lot of strain, a lot of physicality. And I can’t say enough about how proud I am of that team for continuing to work the way they did.” – Bloomgren on the Owls’ first win of 2020

“Mike [Collins] is the biggest change. It’s the best play we’ve had out of a quarterback in our time here… Mike is changing the game for our football team. He’s giving everybody a chance to showcase their talent. And it sure doesn’t hurt that the offensive line and the blocking unit is giving him time as well. Everything’s working together, but if I were to identify one change, so far, it would be Mike Collins.” – Bloomgren on the biggest change in the offense from last year to this year

“Two games in, we’re in a good spot… I just don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves I think we’ve got so much we can improve on right now. Yes, we’re better, but that was a pretty low bar. I want to see how good this offense can perform.” – Bloomgren on how the offense meets his expectations

Practice updates and Southern Miss takeaways

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