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The Roost Podcast | Ep 127 Rice Football vs UH Recap

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Rice football went toe-to-toe with Houston and came up just short. We break down the game and discuss what it means entering conference play.

It came down to the final play, but Rice football did eventually fall to Houston in a contentious battle for the Bayou Bucket. The Owls exit their nonconference portion of the schedule with a 2-2 record, but portions of this game and previous outings did more to inspire confidence than hesitation. We discuss what stood out for the Owls against the Cougs and what it means for the team moving forward.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 127.

Episode Notes

Housekeeping

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Rice Football vs Houston game recap

  • When the underdogs don’t really feel like underdogs any more
  • The offensive evolution is starting to feel more and more real
  • Amidst changes on the offensive line, Rice still moved the football successfully
  • Fundamentally sound on defense against a good offense
  • Takeaway from the totality of non-conference play
  • How confident should we be against UAB and through the remainder of the season?

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Rice Football 2022 Game Preview: UAB

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Rice football opens Conference USA play against the UAB Blazers this weekend. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

The UAB Blazers sat and home during their bye week and watched Rice football push the Houston Cougars to the brink on Saturday night. The Owls did not prevail, but they should have given the Blazers plenty to prepare for as the teams prepare to meet for the first time since Rice upset UAB in Birmingham last season. Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup.

Kickoff time | 6:30 PM CT
Venue | Rice Stadium – Houston, Tx
TV | ESPN+ (Viewing Guide)
Radio | Sports Map 94.1 (FM) / Stretch Internet (Online)

Audio / Visual Preview

We’ll preview Rice football vs UAB on this week’s episode of the Blue and Gray Preview Show, streaming live on Wednesday at Noon on the Rice Athletics YouTube channel. Look for a recap of the game on the site afterward as well as on The Roost Podcast, which should be released early next week. 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

Both UAB and Rice football enter their Week 5 contest 0-0 in conference play. The Blazers were expected to be among the favorites in the race for the conference title, the Owls were not. But the dynamics of that title hunt could change quickly. Rice is playing some of their best football in recent memory right now and they beat UAB in Birmingham last season. The Blazers are the favorites, but this one could very well go the distance.

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Series History

All Time | UAB leads, 6-4
Last Five | UAB leads, 4-1
Last Meeting | Away 2021, Rice won 30-24

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Rice Football Stat Notables

Passing | McMahon – 76/119 (63.9 percent), 976 yards, 8 TD, 7 INT
Rushing | Broussard – 60 carries, 160 yards (2.7 yards per carry), 6 TD / Montgomery – 19 carries, 152 yards (8.0 yards per carry), 0 TD
Receiving | McCaffrey – 26 receptions, 323 yards (12.4 yds/rec), 3 TD / Rozner – 13 receptions, 278 yards (21.4 yds/rec), 3 TDs / Esdale – 17 receptions, 219 yards (12.9 yds/rec), 0 TD
Tackles | Conti – 19 / Morrison – 17 / Taylor – 15
Pass Breakups | Morrison, Dunbar, Taylor, Fresch – 2 / Three others tied with one
Interceptions | Morrison, Nyakwol, Chamberlain, Taylor – 1

UAB Notables

Passing | Hopkins – 35/52 (67.3 percent), 430 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT
Rushing | McBride – 48 carries, 400 yards (8.3 yards per carry), 5 TD / Brown – 38 carries, 247 yards (6.5 ypc), 2 TD
Receiving | Palmer – 8 receptions, 110 yards (13.8 yards per reception), 0 TD / Jones – 10 receptions, 91 yards (9.1 yds/rec), 0 TD
Tackles | Wilder – 21 / Taylor – 19/  Cash – 13
Pass Breakups | McWilliams – 4 / Swoopes, Bynum – 3
Interceptions | Key – 2 / Four others tied with one

UAB X-Factor | Stop the pass

Although Rice football has preached ground and pound under the direction of head coach Mike Bloomgren, the 2022 Owls have taken to the skies. In their most recent outing against Houston, Rice threw for 334 yards, almost 100 yards more than the pass-happy Cougars.

Through four games, Rice is averaging 262.3 yards per contest compared to 211.7 per game last season. On the other hand, the Owls rushing attack has more or less held steady, dropping slightly from 149.5 yards per game last season 147.8 this year. The 2022 Owls aren’t one-dimensional anymore.

UAB’s best bet is to take that extra tool away. The Blazers have had a Top 4 run defense in Conference USA in each of the last four seasons. They were No. 1 in the conference last year. If they can hang tight with the Owls through the air they’ll have a chance to render the entire offense less explosive and less effective. Rice is going to try and take to the skies. UAB has to find a way to answer.

Rice X-Factor | Stop the run

The Owls’ to-do will be exactly the opposite. As UAB attempts to limit Rice through the air, Rice will have to find a way to stymy UAB on the ground. The Blazers enter the game with the No. 1 rushing offense in Conference USA, averaging 253.3 yards per game. Their 6.23 yards per carry ranks fifth nationally. This is a team that is going to run the football a lot.

This won’t come as a surprise for Rice defensive coordinator Brian Smith. This script matches what UAB has sought to do in their prior matchups with the Owls over the years. UAB averaged 5.8 yards per carry in this matchup last season. They weren’t able to lean on the ground game quite like they might have hoped to, only managing to run the ball 22 times for 127 yards.

If UAB can’t run the ball, their deep shots off play action become harder to sell. If that happens, Rice can pin their ears back in traditional passing situations and severely limit the entire UAB offensive approach.

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One Final Thing

With a win on Saturday, Rice football should be mentioned among the teams in contention to win a conference title. No, that’s not hyperbole. There is no singular team in Conference USA that looks head and shoulders above any other.

UAB and UTSA remain the frontrunners for obvious reasons, but if Rice can knock off the former in back-to-back seasons behind the arm of their newfound quarterback, there isn’t a team in this league they can’t beat. That’s a lot at stake for a conference opener, which precedes a much-needed bye week which will give the roster time to recuperate and get healthy.

A close loss, similar to how Rice fell to Houston, would still keep this team in that conversation, serving as another datapoint suggesting this team is much better than they were a year ago. If this team is the team they’ve led us to believe they are, there’s no reason this isn’t another good game at South Main. And if things go the right way, it could be the fourth consecutive home victory for Rice football.

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Until the clock says :00: New-look Rice Football trending upward

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Rice football ran out of time against Houston, but four quarters of the Owls vs Cougars proved this team has made significant strides.

With less than 10 seconds on the clock and the ball 60 yards from the endzone, Rice football quarterback TJ McMahon launched the ball as far as he could down the field. Tick, tick, tick. Wide receiver Bradley Rozner hauled the ball in. Tick, tick, tick. And hit the turf nine yards from the endzone. Tick, tick, tick. Then clock stopped.

Players rushed the field on both sides, but no whistle blew. Soon everyone began to look around in question. Was the game over? Not quite.

Unlike in the NFL, the clock stops with every first down at the collegiate level. McMahon’s 51-yard bomb gave the Owls one play from the nine-yard line, trailing by seven. Although he wouldn’t say so directly, head coach Mike Bloomgren intimated his intentions had the Owls scored, would have been to go for two and the win.

Instead, McMahon’s final-second pass fell to the turf incomplete. Game over.

More: Time runs out as Rice football falls to Houston

One year removed from being bludgeoned at home 44-7, Rice came one play and nine yards short of redemption. It’s a hard pill to swallow for a team that’s come this far.

“Because of how bad this game went last year. I don’t think any of us are going to feel great about a moral victory tonight,” Bloomgren said in the aftermath. “But there’s improvement, that’s pretty clear.”

At this point last season Rice had been blown out in the aforementioned game against Houston. They’d been shut out 58-0 at Texas. Sitting at 1-3, their only win came by 14 points against an FCS team that would go on to finish the season 3-8.

So to be 2-2 after two games with a win against Louisiana — which held the nation’s longest winning streak entering the game — is definitive, measurable and meaningful improvement. But it’s how that improvement has manifested itself that is most important.

Depth pays dividends

The 2021 Rice football squad was ravaged by injuries. The Owls have been slightly more fortunate this season, but still took the Cougars to the wire without: their opening day starting quarterback, multiple key wide receivers, multiple starting offensive linemen, their opening day starting edge rusher, their expected preseason No. 2 tight end and without a full complement of snaps from defensive tackle De’Braylon Carroll. Rice was short-handed against Houston. The level of play said differently.

“That’s why you recruit. That’s why you try and create as much depth as you can,” Bloomgren said. “The next men up are better. That’s one reason it keeps working. Right now the depth we’ve created is better depth and they’re guys I’m not holding my breath when they go in a game.”

“I would love to be healthy, but in Week 5 of a college football season, it is what it is. I’m glad we have guys that are capable and going in there and preparing the right way and then performing.”

More: Conference USA Week 4 Roundup

Absences that — while not spoken of as excuses — may have crippled this team in the past don’t seem to be that big of a speedbump. Trey Phillippi had never played guard in his life before taking his first practice snaps with the Owls’ starting unit on Wednesday. He started on Saturday night.

“Probably not ideal to have somebody start their first college football game at a position they’ve never played in their life against a team that’s nicknamed Sack Avenue, right?” Bloomgren asked rhetorically. Then he went on to praise Phillippi and fellow lineman Shea Baker and Clay Servin for making it work. Facing a difficult situation, the players found a way to push through.

Culture change

The depth is, unquestionably, better. But that doesn’t explain the attitude and the swagger this team has brought into their games this season.

“Usually last year’s team, we would have folded,” McMahon said, in a moment of true transparency.

He’s not wrong. There were several occasions last season where things snowballed on the Owls and games got away from them. They were shut out twice. They squandered a pair of overtime chances and came up empty. Halftime leads and even fourth quarter leads somewhat frequently went up in smoke.

Rice threw three interceptions in the first half against Louisiana. Then they fought back. Rice misplayed the opening kickoff against Houston, allowing it to roll out of bounds at the two-yard line. They saw the Houston offense score a go-ahead touchdown three times. They answered every score. Right up until they ran out of time.

Linebacker Chris Conti, who transferred from Rutgers during the offseason said it best. “I’ll be honest, I love the culture,” he relayed after the game. “Obviously, not the outcome we want today but we’ll get after it on Monday and hopefully get a conference win next Saturday.”

There’s still time

“Our guys obviously fought til the scoreboard said 0:00,” Bloomgren said. “We had the chance to win or to tie I guess at the last snap and that’s what we intended to do.”

Against Houston, the clock has hit triple zeroes. No matter how close the Owls came, the result was loss number two on the season. There are no moral victories. But… the clock hasn’t run out on what continues to look like a very promising season.

“We’re going to find a way to win these kinds of games,” Bloomgren declared.

And with eight weeks worth of football left to play, the Owls’ future continues to look as bright as ever.

“I think we’re pretty close, as far as where we want to be,” McMahon said in closing. “Obviously perfection is the goal… that starts with me.”

McMahon wasn’t perfect on Saturday, but he did throw for 334 yards, outpacing Houston quarterback Clayton Tune. Rice did a lot of things well on Saturday, registering more first downs, fewer penalties and more yards per completion. They just ran out of time.

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Rice Football 2022: Owls come up short across town vs UH

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Rice Football took Houston to the wire in the battle for the Bayou Bucket and came up just short, falling 34-27 in their nonconference finale.

Back-and-forth, back-and-forth. That was the cadence of a thrilling Bayou Bucket battle between Rice football and Houston on Saturday night. Heavy underdogs by the oddsmakers, the Owls looked every bit the Cougars’ equals until a pair of untimely fourth quarter turnovers doomed their upset bid. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Withstand the first punch

Rice football has played Houston twice during head coach Mike Bloomgren’s tenure. In 2018 the Owls kept the game close, leading at halftime 24-17. That gave the team a fighting chance despite their limited roster. That wasn’t the case in 2021. Trailing 10-0, Rice turned the ball over. Houston quickly jumped ahead 17-0 and scored on their first two drives of the second half to put the game out of reach.

Their recent struggles were irrelevant on Saturday, Rice had to find a way to survive the first punch and turn this into a heavyweight fight. It wasn’t pretty, but they hung tough in the early goings. A bad bounce on the opening kickoff forced the Owls to start their first possession from their own two-yard line. Rice got two first downs before punting, salvaging important field position. Then got the Houston offense off the field after just four plays.

The Roost Podcast: Stay tuned for the game recap this week – Rice football vs Houston

Houston would take the lead on their second offensive series, picking up a couple of first downs on their way to a 19-yard touchdown pass from Clayton Tune to Matthew Golden. Then the momentum changed.

Trailing 7-0 at the beginning of the second quarter, the Rice defense got pressure on Tune who threw into heavy traffic. The ball bounced around and fell into the hands of Myron Morrison. Four players later, Rice was in the endzone and the game was tied. Houston won the first quarter, but after 20 minutes, the game was tied. It wasn’t pretty, but it was gritty and proof this team was ready to grind one out.

Just add offense

Over the past several seasons, Rice football fans have seen some tremendous defensive performances. From the five-interception shutout against Marshall to allowing just 175 total yards to Louisiana last week, this defense has proven its worth time after time. More often than not, it’s been the offense that’s come up wanting.

Early returns from that side of the ball were encouraging. Saturday’s showing reaffirmed a new reality for the Owls’ offensive attack.

The underdogs averaged 6.0 yards per carry in the first half and were perfect in their pair of redzone appearances (extending their streak to 14 consecutive red zone trips with a score). Broussard’s short touchdown plunge might seem that impressive, but when you consider the regularity with which this team can get two yards on the ground when they need to, it’s an essential tool in the Owls’ arsenenal.

It starts and ends in the trenches

Trey Phillippi made the start at right guard for Rice football on Saturday night. His insertion into the lineup was notable for several different reasons. First, his addition to the starting lineup marked the fourth different starting offensive line combination in four games for Rice football in the midst of an offensive renaissance. More importantly, Phillippi had never played guard before in his life.

Philippi was a tackle in high school. He started his Rice career as a tackle and moved to tight end with injuries at that position early this season. His first snaps at guard in his football career happened during practice this week. His first game just concluded. As a whole, the offensive line held their own and gave Rice a chance.

Not to be outdone, the Rice defensive line had its moment. On third and one near the end of the third quarter, Houston was stonewalled at the line of scrimmage. Given the break between quarters to reconvene, the Cougars lined up to go for it again. They didn’t get it.

A Rice defensive front that was without De’Braylon Carroll for much of this game went toe-to-toe with Houston and looked every bit their equal. Houston will be playing in the Big 12 next season. Rice will be in a “Group of 5” Conference. The supposed talent gap didn’t feel that large in this game.

House Money

To say the result of Saturday’s showdown at TDECU Stadium did not matter would be entirely disingenuous. Beating a rival always matters, especially for a team that hasn’t hoisted the Bayou Bucket Trophy since 2010 with six consecutive losses in the matchup since.

No matter what the result would be, even with a loss, the Owls would have split their nonconference slate for the first time under head coach Mike Bloomgren. A win, however, had the potential to material shift the outlook of the Rice football program. That wasn’t in the cards this week.

Nevertheless, the product the Owls put on the field against the Cougars proved these two teams are more evenly matched than many may have suspected. Houston was projected to contend for an AAC title this season. Rice traded blows with them for four quarters. Are the Cougars scuttling well below expectations? It’s possible. But it seems much more likely the Owls are starting to rise up.

Rice exits this game four wins from a bowl berth. That’s an achievable target if they continue to play with this level of intensity and execution. It was a tough day across town, but the 2022 Rice Football season still has plenty more good to come.

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McMahon’s magic overcomes the odds

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Rice Football 22: UH Insider gives his take on Owls vs Cougars

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Rice Football is set for a big game this weekend against the Houston Cougars. The guys from the Scott & Hollman Pawdcast tell us what to expect.

Sam and Dustin, hosts of the Scott & Hollman Pawdcast who cover all things UH Athletics, were kind enough to stop by and answer a few questions about the upcoming matchup between Rice Football and Houston. The answers below are from Sam:

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