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Fumbled Away: Rice football only has itself to blame for North Texas loss

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The first game back from consecutive postponements didn’t go well for Rice football, who made too many mistakes to earn a conference win on the road.

Rice football entered their game against North Texas with a specific plan on defense. They weren’t going to let Jaelon Darden beat them through the air and they weren’t going to let Jason Bean beat them on the ground. Both of those players scored touchdowns, but each was held relatively in check save for one big play apiece.

Had Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren been offered that—a sub .500 completion percentage day from Bean and one touchdown reception for the nation’s leading receiver—he would have taken it in a heartbeat.

To some extent, Rice football got what they hoped for on that side of the ball. 27 points surrendered to the conference’s top scoring offense makes for a relatively successful day, no matter how the points were accumulated.

The offensive side of the ball was a completely different story.

Recap: Owls fall flat in loss to North Texas

When asked to sum it up, Bloomgren seemed a bit perplexed. “It felt like game one all over again,” he said. “For 10 minutes, we played our kind of football and did the things that we need to do. And then I have no idea what switched.”

That confusion extended beyond Bloomgren’s perception. The Rice offense, which had scored 30+ points in four of their last five games dating back to last season, couldn’t maintain that trajectory.

Rice marched down the field on its’ first two possessions, scoring 10 points. They didn’t add any more until the final 10 seconds of regulation when it was far too late.

North Texas had seven sacks, the most-ever under coach Seth Littrell. Rice fumbled four times, turning the ball over twice. The special teams committed their third turnover on a punt in three games. Any adjustments that were made failed to overcome the missteps.

Rice football had three weeks to iron out their own mistakes on offense and came up short.

Defensive captain Blaze Alldredge couldn’t have been more clear. His words speak to the faults of the entire team, even if he was referring specifically to his side of the ball. “At the end of the day, it’s  not about what they did,” he said, “It’s about what we didn’t do.”

Rice football didn’t play well enough to win against North Texas. They did against Southern Miss and they didn’t against Middle Tennessee. Sometimes it is that easy. Rice has the talent to beat any team in Conference USA, but do they have the consistency and the discipline? That’s something Bloomgren and Co. have to fix. This team has too much potential to fumble away.

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Rice Football: Owls fall flat in loss to North Texas

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Rice Football started fast and faded just as quickly as the Owls drop to 1-2 on the season following a road loss to North Texas.

Expectations were high when Rice football finally returned to the gridiron after a two-week delay. The Owls had suffered consecutive postponements following an uplifting 30-6 win at Southern Miss, snuffing out any momentum the Owls could have hoped to carry into their game against North Texas.

Rice came out strong and faded fast, resulting in a humbling road loss to North Texas. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game.

Messy, messy, messy

Rice fumbled FOUR times in the first half. That’s an inexcusable turnover count for a full game, let alone the first 30 minutes of action. The mistakes turned what looked to be a runaway day for the Rice offense into an ugly slugfest against what began as a flailing North Texas attack.

The Owls’ lost one fumble in the redzone. Soon after, Mike Collins put a ball behind Jake Bailey in the endzone on fourth down. If he throws that in front of Bailey, it’s a 17-0 Rice lead. Instead, North Texas takes over and a 66-yard Jason Bean touchdown run cuts the Rice lead to 10-7. Turnovers plus turnovers on downs put Rice in a bad spot.

The muffed punt was the third instance of the usually sharp Rice special teams unit turning it over in the Owls’ first three games. North Texas fired a line-drive ball toward Austin Trammell, who was hit immediately upon fielding the ball, almost as if he didn’t expect the quick contact. Again, North Texas capitalized, with a go-ahead touchdown on the ensuing possession.

The offense has looked good. But if they can’t eliminate the self-inflicted mistakes, it’s not going to matter. That goes for the special teams too, who saw an 80+ yard punt return touchdown called back by an uncharacteristic penalty.

The offensive line meets its match

Through their first two games, the Rice offensive line had played extremely well. Ball carriers weren’t getting hit in the backfield and Mike Collins was given clean pockets to work. There were plenty of instances of those things against North Texas, but the frequency of open spaces significantly lessened.

North Texas defensive tackle Dion Novil was a monster. His power on the interior of the line seemed to catch the Owls off guard. He routinely impacted Collins in the pocket, highlighted by an impressive sequence at the end of the first half. He pushed the center into Collins on the second-to-last play of the game to force a hurried throw. Novil then followed up with an unblocked sack on the following play to end the half.

Rice has held up well against powerful interior rushers before. They’ve seen plenty over the past several seasons. They were just flat out beat up front. That left Rice throwing into pressure against a shallow zone all day.

The secondary is going to be alright

Rice received good news this week with the return of Kirk Lockhart, Treshawn Chamberlain, and Andrew Bird. Adding the extra experience was a huge boost to a unit that had been up and down to start the season.

The Owls needed all their reinforcements, and then some. Starting corner Tre’shon Devones was not on the field to start the second half.

When Miles McCord was being attended to on the sideline following a diving attempt, reserve corner Chris Boudreaux, who converted from wide receiver, was forced into the game in the redzone. Naturally, the ball was quickly thrown his way, but he held his ground and helped Rice force a quick field goal. McCord and Bird were both on the field to finish the game.

Not silent, but flat

The Rice offense had been dynamite early on this season. Rice entered the North Texas game coming off back-to-back 30+ point performances. It seemed clear that the offense was better than it had been in the past, but it was hard to christen them good without at least one more game of data.

They came out sharp against North Texas, but mistakes and the shaky performance on the offensive line proved this unit still has some work to do before they make the jump. This touchdown from Collins to Trammell proved how good the unit can be when they’re clicking:

But the inability to solve the North Texas defense proved more troublesome. After the Owls’ hot start, North Texas deployed basically the same scheme. They kept defenders near the box, crashing the line on run plays and dropping them into a zone if the Owls passed. Rice wasn’t able to solve that wrinkle, and they paid for it dearly.

The blueprint is out now for the rest of Conference USA. Rice is going to see this defensive style deployed against them again. They’ll have to be ready.

Digging deeper

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Rice Football: 2021 WR Jayden Folmar commits to Owls

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Bolstering the receiving corps was a priority for the 2021 Rice Football recruiting class. New commit Jayden Folmar will do just that.

Adding playmakers has always been a priority for Rice football on the recruiting trail. The Owls already had a few pass-catchers in the fold in their 2021 class, but they couldn’t pass up the opportunity to add another. New Dothan wide receiver Jayden Folmar has committed to the Owls.

The Owls were the first non-military program to program to extend him an offer. Folmar chose the Owls over offers from Air Force and Army. He is the fourth commit in the 2021 Rice football recruiting class from the state of Alabama and the second wide receiver. He joins fellow wideout Peyton Stevenson as well as safeties Marcus Williams and Joshua Williams from the Yellowhammer State.

Once he had his offer, it didn’t take him long to pull the trigger. His commitment came less than 24 hours after he received his offer. The trend of quick decisions isn’t new. Folmar is the third member of the current class to make his decision within a week, joining offensive lineman Ethan Onianwa and safety Joshua Williams.

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Folmar hasn’t received a rating from 247 Sports as of yet, but his addition will bolster a recruiting class that already ranks inside the top 100 nationally and fourth-best in Conference USA. Rice remains on pace for another big year on the recruiting front.

Folmar has an impressive combination of vertical ability and reliable hands. the 6-foot-1 wideout can high point the football and will be a threat on the outside for the Owls for years to come. For a bigger guy, he’s pretty fleet of foot, too. He can make a move on the edge and burst downfield while maintaining the focus necessary to make catches in traffic.

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Rice Football Practice Notes 2020: What to look for after the off weeks

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Rice football has suffered back-to-back postponements. The bulk of the schemes will be the same, but improvements have been made over the last two weeks.

A lot can change in three weeks. That was true of Rice football from the start to end of fall camp. Players came in and out of the lineup, adjustments were made. This time Rice has the added benefit of live reps as a baseline.

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To be clear, I don’t expect seismic change when Rice takes the field next (hopefully on Saturday against North Texas). But there have been a few things over the last few weeks of practice that should look different, most of them for the better.

A breakout from the trenches

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 61 – Rice Football vs North Texas Preview

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Following two consecutive postponements, Carter and Matthew and look ahead at Rice football’s upcoming game against North Texas.

After playing two games, Rice football has suffered two consecutive postponements. The most recent lost game, which we reference briefly on this podcast, came against Louisiana Tech. The Owls will hope for better fortune this coming weekend against North Texas.

Carter and Matthew walkthrough the schedule as it’s current constructed and what contingencies are left for Rice. Then they look ahead at the game against North Texas and break down how Rice matches up with the Mean Green.

You can always find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 61.

Episode 61 Notes

  • Housekeeping — Don’t miss this opportunity to subscribe on Patreon. You’ll get practice reports, film room sessions, recruiting news and the latest analysis and updates on all things relating to Rice Athletics.
    Become a Patron!
  • Conference USA news and notes
    • Three C-USA games postponed already for the upcoming weekend
    • Rice and C-USA are running out of open dates for postponed games
  • Rice Football vs LA Tech postponed
    • Rice has now lost games against LA Tech and UTSA
    • Second postponement from a Rice opponent since the season began
    • Decision was announced on Thursday before the game
    • No clear indication on rescheduling plan
  • Rice Football vs North Texas game preview
    • More on Jason Bean, the presumed starter, in this week’s film room
    • Jaelon Darden leads the nation in touchdown receptions, despite only playing five games
    • North Texas run defense is attrocious. Could this be a breakout spot for Juma Otoviano or Khalan Griffin?

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