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The Roost Podcast | Ep 99 – Charlotte tops Rice football in OT

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Rice football dropped another overtime affair, this time falling on the road to Charlotte, squandering a 10-point fourth quarter lead.

On what was one of the more efficient offensive days Rice football has had in some time, questionable decision making a porous pass defense led to another painful overtime defeat. Rice watched a fourth quarter lead disappear, falling to 3-6 on the season. What’s next for this team and what should be made of the defeat in Charlotte? Carter and Matthew break down the good and the bad.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 99.

Episode Notes

  • Housekeeping
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  • Rice football vs Charlotte Review 
    • Rice football kicking woes continue
    • Jake Constantine, Jake Bailey and Ari Broussard provide plenty of punch on offense
    • How often should this team be going for it on fourth down?
    • Is there a feasible solution for the secondary’s woes?
    • Can Rice recover from another gut punch in overtime?
    • What’s at stake next weekend against Western Kentucky?

Where can you find us?

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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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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.

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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 runs out of gas in overtime loss to Charlotte

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Rice Football had a two-score lead in the second half, but couldn’t hang on, dropping another overtime heartbreaker against a conference foe.

The road has been kind to Rice football in recent years. Some of the Owls’ biggest wins — their upset of Marshall last season and their victory over UAB earlier this year — have come away from Rice Stadium. That road rally did not hold true on Saturday. After falling behind in the first half, the Owls took control in the second stanza before watching Charlotte punch back to force overtime and eventually win.

Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Owls overcome a shaky start

The opening sequence went almost as well as could have been expected for Rice football against Charlotte. The Owls’ defense forced a punt, giving the offense possession just beyond the midfield stripe. A couple of crisp passes from Jake Constantine and powerful runs from Ari Broussard and Jordan Myers pushed them inside the Charlotte 20 yard line.

Rice had already converted on fourth-and-one in the drive, extending their fourth-down conversion streak to 10 in a row. But on fourth-and-one from the 17-yard line, Rice trotted out the field goal unit and missed, again. The miss was the third consecutive kick that did not go through the uprights for the Rice special teams unit, with blame attributable to everyone from the snapper, to the holder to the kicker himself.

The Roost Podcast: Stay tuned for the game recap this week 

Second-guessing decisions that didn’t work out is the purest form of armchair quarterback that exists. And while it’s easy to say Rice should have done something else, it’s the decision-making process that’s puzzling.

If Rice had already shown themselves to be extremely adept at converting on fourth-and-short on that drive and they knew their special teams unit was struggling, was the 10-yard difference between the spot of that kick and the spot of their previous fourth-down conversion? Charlotte took over, drove the length of the field and took the lead.

If the short-yardage offense works and the kicking game doesn’t, perhaps that should impact how the Owls attack their opponents going forward. It noticeably did from that point onward.

What is the plan on special teams?

After that miss, Rice seemed more cognizant of their fourth-down decisions moving forward. The Owls would trust their offense rather than their kicking game on the next three similar decisions.

On fourth-and-six from the Charlotte 32, Jake Constantine found Jake Bailey for a 10-yard gain and a first down rather than lining up to try a 49-yard field goal.

The next drive, on fourth-and-three from the Charlotte 26, Constantine couldn’t hit Cedric Patterson on a fourth-down pass and Rice turned it over on doubts. The alternative would have been a 43-yard field goal.

Then, with 22-seconds before the halftime whistle, Constantine dropped a ball into the waiting arms of August Pitre who couldn’t hang on in the endzone as he hit the turf. Rice turned it over on downs rather than settle for a 47-yard field goal from the Charlotte 30.

It wouldn’t be fair to question the lack of fourth down aggression at the beginning of the game and then bemoan unsuccessful attempts from that point onward. Constantine’s pass to Pitre should have been held on to for what would have been the game-tying score. The process was fine. But that does beg one more question. How close does Rice need to be to trust their kicker?

Can Rice convert a 40-yard field goal if they have to? Right now, it’s hard to know for sure.

Rice has its running back

Ari Broussard has gotten more and more involved as the season has progressed, and for good reason. Broussard entered the game leading all Rice running backs with a healthy 4.3 yards per carry. He set a career-high on the ground two weeks ago when he rumbled for 65 yards on 16 carries. He almost outdid that mark on one drive against Charlotte, gaining 57 yards on one second-quarter drive.

Good blocking helps. Exhibit A: Broussard’s first career touchdown run.

But even though the line did seem to have a better day than they did last week against North Texas, Broussard kept finding a way to get the extra yard and fall forward. After carrying the Owls the bulk of the way, Rice turned to him with the game on the line in the fourth quarter. He delivered a 17-yard run. When he left the field, Rice was quickly forced to punt.

Broussard had 97 yards before halftime. He finished with 186 yards on 20 carries and two touchdown runs. Handing him the ball 30 times a game probably isn’t a viable long term solution, but it’s hard to imagine anyone else out-carrying him down the stretch. He’s been that good.

Running out of time

The transitive property does not apply to college football. Yet after seeing Charlotte get dusted in each of their two previous games, there was nothing leading into their game with Rice that made this challenge seem insurmountable. And coming on the heels of an overtime loss to North Texas, Rice needed this.

Sitting at 3-5 with four games to play, a bowl game berth was in reach. And although this wasn’t mathematically a make-or-break contest to get Rice to six wins, it sure felt like one.

Consistency has been the elephant in the room for Rice football this season. Resiliency has been their calling card. With their backs against the wall in need of a bounce-back once again, this team responded, but they couldn’t hang on. Now they have to win their final three games (vs WKU, at UTEP, vs Louisiana Tech) to reach the postseason. That’s a tall task, and now they’ve lost their margin of error.

Special teams needs a lot of work. The defense bent and eventually broke. The offense has to improve in the redzone, but has the horses (Constantine, Bailey, Broussard) to get the ball down the field with regularity. There’s a lot to do and Rice football is running out of time.

Digging deeper

Every week we’ll have a stat, storyline or key learning from the game reserved for our subscribers.

Is the front seven heating up?

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Rice Football: Jake Bailey’s breakout only just beginning

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Jake Bailey had a breakout performance for Rice football in their overtime loss to North Texas, but for him, those heroics could be just the beginning.

Everyone looks great in the offseason. Guys always seem to be in “the best shape of their career” and coaches rave about the “mental reps” their players took during the offseason. Those narratives are swiftly put to the test when the season arrives and sooner or later, reality happens.

Rice football wide receiver Jake Bailey was “that guy” this offseason. It was hard to leave practice without someone — either a Rice football staff member or one of his teammates — making sure to mention just how good Bailey looked on the field. During media days, team captain Jordan Myers called Bailey an “even better replacement for Austin Trammell.”, former Rice captain and current NFL player with the Atlanta Falcons. High praise, indeed.

Then Bailey took the field and quietly began to prove his coaches and teammates right. After a modest start, Bailey had seven catches for 65 yards in the team’s first win, a victory over Texas Southern. He had five grabs for 83 yards and his first touchdown of the season a week later against Southern Miss.

On Saturday against North Texas, Bailey exploded for a career-best 10 receptions and 143 receiving yards. Austin Trammell’s career-best receiving day? 143 yards.

The Roost Podcast: Debriefing Rice football vs North Texas and C-USA news

Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren didn’t link Bailey directly to Trammell, but he did make sure to call out the impact No. 11 has had this season. “He’s showing me the ability to make plays, no matter when he’s covered or not,” Bloomgren said of Bailey. “Heck of a player, still developing but really filling a lot of those roles we had hoped in the slot and beyond.”

Bailey admitted he wasn’t even keeping track of all those receptions as it was happening. “I wasn’t aware of the touches and the yards,” he said. “I’m thinking about winning the game. How can I help my team?”

Against North Texas, Bailey helped by being the go-to option for quarterback Jake Constantine in crunch time. Bailey caught a touchdown to tie the game on the Owls’ first possession of the fourth quarter. Then, trailing by seven with under two minutes to go, Bailey made a diving, fingertip grab on fourth and long that gained 36 yards and helped spark another game-tying score.

When Rice football needed a play, Bailey was there to help. “Every single day we talk about strain, giving that extra inch, extra fight,” Bailey said. “We always have a little more to give and that that’s all that was, just in that moment trying to do everything, anything I could to help my team win.”

Rice didn’t win this time but had it not been for Bailey’s heroics, they don’t even make it to overtime in the first place. Now that Bailey’s flashed his potential, he’ll continue to be asked to come through in the clutch time and time again. That’s a big responsibility, but so is being the go-to guy on fourth down with the game on the line.

“It’s pressure,” Bailey admitted, “but it’s definitely invited. When there’s pressure in the situation that means you’re doing something important. That means you’re doing something where people have to look at you, expect from you. It’s always a great place to be. I think pressure is a privilege.”

In this case, with that privilege come accolades. Bailey was named to the Pro Football Focus National Team of the Week for his efforts, slotting in alongside Heisman Trophy hopefuls like Oklahoma’s Caleb Williams and Michigan State’s Kenneth Walker.

If Bailey has put his name on a list with talents of that caliber — all the while his coach hints that we might have only scratched the surface of what Bailey can become — what’s next?

Never one to seek the attention for himself, Bailey defected the spotlight, focusing instead on the entire Rice football receiving corps. “I just can’t wait to see what we can do,” He remarked. “Hopefully, we answer when our number’s called.”

Operator, Jake Bailey, please. We’d like an encore.

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Rice Football 2021: Charlotte presser quotes, updates and depth chart

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Rice football plays Charlotte next in a battle of 2-2 C-USA foes. Here’s what Mike Bloomgren had to say about the matchup, injury updates and depth chart notes.

This is the first of a couple of updates coming this week as Rice football prepares to take on  Charlotte. 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 will be forced to make a quarterback change once again. We’ll dive into the move from Wiley Green to Jake Constantine and how this impacts the Owls this week. First, the quotes:

Press Conference Quotes

“I was really proud of how the guys attacked it (in practice). Thought they were locked into the game plan. And I was disappointed to see it not fully translate on Saturday. There were parts of it that were good. They were individual players that were really good, but certainly thought we had opportunities in every phase that we could have played better and probably would have been able to win the game had we played better.” – Mike Bloomgren on the North Texas loss

“Obviously, Wiley [Green’s] injury on our first offensive drive of the game was tough. It was tough for everybody. It was tough for me. It was tough to see Wiley hurting. He’s one of our rocks and I don’t think there was anybody on our team who wasn’t rocked by his injury. It took us a little bit of time to get past that. We eventually did. We worked through it as a team and we started playing football again.

“An update on Wiley; he will be out this week. I did talk to him. He is in great spirits. His message to the team was to go do what we said we were going to do, which is go earn an opportunity to play in a bowl game. That’s what we’re going to try to do for him.” – Mike Bloomgren on Wiley Green

“Moving forward with Jake Constantine as our starter, I thought that, again, once he got settled in, he played some good really good football. He had a great me-to-you factor with Jake Bailey and I thought Jake made some tremendous plays for us. Staying alive and then making plays when the ball was in the air to keep some drives alive and to help us end up in the box. So that was great.” – Mike Bloomgren on Jake Constantine

Depth Chart

The Rice football depth chart has one minor tweak this week, and one rather large one:

Rice Football

Quarterback changes, again

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