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

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Rice football knows what’s at stake this week against Western Kentucky. Here’s what Mike Bloomgren had to say about the matchup, updates and depth chart notes.

Head coach Mike Bloomgren and a pair of players met with the media for their customary weekly availability. They discussed the tough loss to Charlotte and laid out expectations and their prep work for their game against Western Kentucky next week. We’ll include updates from Bloomgren and those players, then dig further into the details of the Rice football depth chart and what the team looks like on the field headed into the weekend.

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Rice football has found stability at the quarterback position after injuries and lineup adjustments. With that settled and no major injury updates looming, the lineup is starting to normalize. First, the quotes:

Press Conference Quotes

“I think for three and two-thirds quarters, we played about as well as we needed to. We certainly left some opportunities out there like you always do. We played good enough to win and we weren’t able to capitalize down the stretch and that’s really disappointing.” – Mike Bloomgren on the Charlotte loss

“We know [Western Kentucky] have a dominant offense. They have a great quarterback and they have been playing as good a defense as they have all year. They’re creating turnovers. They’re really playing solid in all three phases. They’re really good on special teams. They get after it on special teams. So, it’s going to be an unbelievable challenge for us.” – Mike Bloomgren on the Western Kentucky game

“I really think the past few weeks, it’s just been getting the five dudes together, gelling more as these five guys. And then also, it’s just a testament to our coaching. We’ve talked about it before. We have probably five or six elite level offensive line coaches just in this building. We’re really a product of our training when it comes to our coaching. And every week that we’ve gotten better, I would say as part of it is every week, our coaches have worked harder. So I think that’s a big testament to some of our recent successes.” – Guard Cole Garcia on the growth of the offensive line

“They’re going to throw the ball a lot. So we got to get back there. And [defensive line] coach [Cedric] Calhoun always says ‘put it on us’. The d-line is going to always give 100 percent effort and try and get some pressure on the QB to help on our DBs.” – Defensive end Miles Adams on Western Kentucky

Depth Chart

There are no changes to the official Rice football depth chart this week.

Rice Football

Secondary is on notice

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Rice Football 2021: NFL Owls Week 9 Stats Update

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Rice Football is well represented on 2021 NFL rosters. Here’s the latest from the NFL Owls in action in Week 9.

There are former Rice football players scattered across the NFL. Stay tuned each week for their game results and notables from each player.

Team NFL Owl(s) Week 9 Result Week 10
LA Chargers Christian Covington (DL) at Philadelphia W, 27-24 vs Minnesota
Denver Calvin Anderson (OL)
Bryce Callahan (CB)		 at Dallas W, 30-16 vs Philadelphia
Pittsburgh Chris Boswell (PK) vs Chicago W, 29-27 vs Detroit
Detroit Jack Fox (P) — OFF —  — at Pittsburgh
Tampa Bay Nick Leverett (OL) — OFF —  — at Washington
Indianapolis Andrew Sendejo (Saf) vs NY Jets (Thr) W, 45-30 vs Jacksonville

Offense

Calvin Anderson – OT, Broncos

After working as a reserve for the early portion of the season, Calvin Anderson drew his first start this week, filling in for injured Garrett Bolles. It was the third start of his career and the most snaps he’s played in a singular game to date.

Nick Leverett – OT, Buccaneers

Leverett and the Buccaneers were on bye in Week 9. They resume play in Week 10 at the Washington Football Team.

Defense

Bryce Callahan – CB, Broncos

Callahan suffered a knee injury in Week 8 and was unable to return to the game, subsequently being placed on IR. He will miss at least three games.

Christian Covington – DL, Chargers

Covington had four tackles in the Chargers’ Week 9 win over the Eagles. He has recorded multiple tackles in every game he’s played so far this season.

Andrew Sendejo – S, Colts

Sendejo drew his fifth start of the year for the Colts in their Thursday Night Football win over the Jets, telling three tackles. He’s now reached three or more tackles in all but one start this season.

Special Teams

Jack Fox – P, Lions

Fox and the Lions were on bye in Week 9. They resume play in Week 10 at Pittsburgh.

Chris Boswell – K, Steelers

Boswell bounced back from an injury suffered on a fake field goal and suited up for the Steelers’ Monday Night Football game against the Bears. He missed one of three extra points on the night, but redeemed himself by making three field goals, two of which were from distances beyond fifty yards while the third was the game-winner in the final seconds.

He also recovered a fumble.

More Owls in the NFL

From practice squads to current free agents, there are other Owls on the cusp of returning to active rosters. Find more detail on current contractual agreements and former Rice football players waiting for their next opportunity here.

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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
    • Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on your platform of choice. Every little bit helps.
    • Check out the Blue and Gray Preview Show every Wednesday at Noon, hosted by Matthew and Rice radio broadcaster JP Heath on the Rice Athletics Youtube Channel
    • Please support us on Patreon. Be the first to get the inside scoop on what’s going on with Rice football and stick around for even further analysis. That includes updates from fall camp, practices and more.
      Become a Patron!
  • 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?

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 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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