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Trojans Insider gives his take on Rice Football vs USC

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Rice Football opens its 2022 season this weekend against a relatively unknown but talented USC squad. USC Insider Ryan Abraham fills us in.

Ryan Abraham, owner and publisher of USCFootball.com was kind enough to stop by and answer a few questions about the upcoming matchup between Rice Football and USC.

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Rice Football 2022: USC Game Depth Chart Notes

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Rice football has released its depth chart for its season opener against USC. Here are the latest and a few notes on relevant players.

Rice Football

Who’s missing?

Rice football has had two players medically retire since fall camp began just a few weeks ago. Gavin Reinwald, who had been the Owls’ backup tight end behind Jack Bradley, saw his season end with a torn ACL midway through camp. Wide receiver Sam Crawford, who had been in the mix for a starting spot until recently, announced his medical retirement on Thursday evening.

There’s also no Cedric Patterson on this iteration. As mentioned to our subscribers earlier in the week, he is not traveling with the team to Los Angeles.

Starting Specialists

Christian VanSickle and Conor Hunt have earned starting nods at kicker and punter respectively, this week. VanSickle beat out Washington transfer Tim Horn while Hunt beat out incumbent punter Charlie Mendes.

New names

Trey Phillippi, who until recently played offensive line, is listed as the backup to Jack Bradley at tight end (with an OR designation between himself and Boden Groen. Getting him into the game on such short notice seems like a stretch, but he’s already a capable blocker, so seeing him listed this high on the depth chart could mean he may actually see some action on Saturday.

Safety Marcus Williams has been in and out of the lineup with injuries since he arrived on campus, but he’s recently cracked the two-deep.

Getting ready for the game

The Roost has plenty of content already up and running to get you ready for Rice football vs USC this weekend.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 123 – Rice Football vs USC Preview with Yogi Roth

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The 2022 Rice football season kicks off this weekend against USC. Yogi Roth of the Pac-12 Network is on the call and he joins the show this week.

Rice football opens its 2022 season against the USC Trojans on the road on Saturday on the Pac-12 Network. Yogi Roth is calling the game and stopped by the show this week to talk about the Trojans, Caleb Williams, Lincoln Riley and several of the prevailing storylines surrounding the program as the 2022 season begins.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 123.

Episode Notes

Announcements

Rice football fall camp has begun. Check out our season preview content for the Owls when you subscribe on Patreon and get access to camp reports and more.

The 2022 Conference USA Football Season Preview is available for purchase. Get the inside scoop on every C-USA team. You can get more information here.

2022 Conference USA Football Season Preview

Housekeeping

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Rice Football vs USC Game Preview with Yogi Roth

  • What to expect from USC on Saturday?
  • How good is Caleb Williams?
  • Can the USC defense handle the physicality of the Rice front
  • How will the Trojans respond to adverse conditions?
  • What can Rice football do to make USC sweat?
  • How to get Pac-12 Network and watch the game

Where can you find us?

Download and subscribe to The Roost Podcast on any of your favorite podcast providers. The show is available on iTunes, GooglePlay, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and PodBean. Please consider leaving a review wherever you listen.

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Rice Football 2022: USC Game Week Practice Report

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Rice football is days away from opening its season against USC. Here’s what we learned from the practices leading up to the game.

Following Wednesday’s practice as Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren surveyed his team as they began to pack up their things and leave the field, he offered this comment: “This is what I wanted it to look like.”

He was speaking of the Owls’ roster, of the program as a whole. He and I had talked about what this team would look like in Year 4 in Year 5 back when he first arrived at the program for the 2018 season. The depth he’d dreamed of has arrived. The speed, athleticism and raw talent is evident in so many players. And now this team is days away from being put through its first test.

With most of this week’s practice wrapped up, here’s a deep dive on all three phases, some standouts from this week and a few notes on how Rice football is preparing to take on USC.

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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.

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?
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Rice Football 2022: USC press conference quotes

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Rice football opens its 2022 season on Saturday against USC. Here’s what Mike Bloomgren and players had to say about the matchup.

Rice football Head coach Mike Bloomgren and a pair of players met with the media on Tuesday for their customary weekly availability. They previewed the USC game, discussing how grateful they were to get back on the field and their expectations for the matchup.

Unlike a typical week, Rice football did not release a depth chart along with their game notes, although that should be coming shortly. We’ll touch on that when it’s released. First, the quotes:

Press Conference Quotes

“I think (the team) is as excited as I am. I think everybody is in a great place mentally. I think everybody is fired up and everybody is excited about the opportunity to play this game with each other… I’m pleased with the level that we’re playing at. I’m pleased with the intensity that we’re practicing at. I’m pleased with the knowledge and expertise that our players have for our systems. Again, everything is a lot of fun right now. If you ask them where they are mentally, I think they would tell you that they are in a really good place.” – Mike Bloomgren on the team’s mentality right now

“I think both lines are going to be really interesting. I think our offensive line is the best that it’s ever been. I’m not surprised by where the (defensive) line is. You see what we’ve been able to do on the offensive line and the experience factor there. Shea Baker’s about to break 2,800 snaps in this game. That’s a lot of football….. with the matchups, up front is going to be really fun to see on both sides of the football. Our defensive secondary is going to be challenged. It’s Lincoln Riley and the Air Raid. It’s all of these great receivers and Caleb Williams. So there’s going to be these challenges up the field.

One thing you can never sleep on with a Lincoln Riley offense is how well they run the counter play. You look up at the end of games and they have 200-250 yards rushing. So it’s a great challenge for our defense. Offensively, Coach Tuiasosopopo has put together an unbelievable plan with the staff. I think we’re prepared to put people in great positions. I think Wiley (Green) knows exactly where they are going to be and when they are going to be there. I think it’s going to be a fun college football game.” – Mike Bloomgren on key matchups in the game 

“Now, literally at every position — you know you have the old adage of a pair and a spare. You’ve got a couple tackles you believe in, whether its offense or defense and at least one more than can go in everywhere. We’ve got receivers that we’ve just not had in the program that I think can stretch the field vertically and make contested catches over and over. I think the depth everywhere has not only made us better on game day, I think it made us better in camp.” – Mike Bloomgren on the depth of the roster

“I think we’ve got brilliant coordinators. When you give Brian Smith and Marques Tuiasosopo more time to work on you, they’re going to find things. We’ve had a lot time to go back and look at these guys’ body of work through their coaching careers’ this summer  and wach a lot of football — a lot of Oklahoma football — and we feel like we’ve got a great plan in this one too. ” – Mike Bloomgren on game planning for season openers

“I don’t think anybody has any idea what our team looks like right now. If they haven’t been to our practices, if they haven’t been to our scrimmages, I don’t know if they realize what a healthy Wiley Green and a healthy George Nyakwol means to this football team. And then you bring up De’Braylon Carroll who missed the entire season last year. You bring up Bradley Rozner who missed all but two quarters of last season. We’re different. Plus we added some really cool, fun pieces.” – Mike Bloomgren on the view of the roster from the outside 

“Having the injury this past year, it really helps you appreciate how much this game of football is and what it brings to my life and the people around me. I was blessed with a chance to come back and continue grad school here and continue to play football. There’s not much more that you can say… It’s really special. Words can’t describe how much it means to be and how excited I am to get back out on the field.” – Rice football quarterback Wiley Green on how much he appreciates his opportunity this season

“Everyone’s beatable. It just comes down to us playing our best ball. [USC WR Jordan Addison is] going to make plays but its on us to respond and keep the ship steered the right way and finish in the fourth quarter.” – Rice football safety George Nyakwol on USC wideout Jordan Addison

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