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Rice Football 2020: Owls in the NFL Week 9 Update

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Rice Football is well represented on 2020 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.

Week 9 results

Pittsburgh (Boswell, McDonald) def. Dallas, 24-19
Cleveland (Sendejo) — BYE
Cincinnati (Covington) — BYE
Atlanta def. Denver (Anderson, Callahan), 34-27
Minnesota def. Detroit (Fox), 34-20
Houston (Gaines) def. Jacksonville, 27-25
Buffalo def. Seattle (Willson), 44-34 

Offense

Calvin Anderson – OT, Broncos

Anderson once again saw action for the Broncos on special teams in the team’s Week 9 loss to the Falcons. The Broncos visit the Raiders in Week 10.

Vance McDonald – TE, Steelers

McDonald hauled in the only pass thrown his way on Saturday for two yards. He’s caught at least one pass in six of Pittsburgh’s eight games this season. The Steelers host the Bengals in Week 10.

Austin Walter – RB, 49ers

Walter made his 2020 debut this past weekend, being called up from the practice squad prior to the 49ers’ Thursday Night Football game against the Packers. Walter had three kick returns for 64 yards with a long of 34 yards. The 49ers visit the Saints in Week 10.

Defense and Special Teams

Chris Boswell – K, Steelers

Boswell is already climbing the Steelers’ all-time scoring ranks, but this week he added another achievement to his growing list of accolades, drilling a franchise-long 59-yard field goal. He finished the game two-for-two on field goals, but missed a pair of extra-point attempts, one of which was blocked.

The Steelers host the Bengals in Week 10.

Bryce Callahan – CB, Broncos

Callahan missed the Broncos’ Week 9 game against the Falcons with an ankle injury. The Broncos visit the Raiders in Week 10.

Christian Covington – DL, Bengals

The Bengals were off in Week 9. They visit the Steelers in Week 10.

Jack Fox – P, Lions

Fox wasn’t very busy in the Lions’ Week 9 loss to the Vikings. He punted twice with a long of 56-yards. The Lions host the Washington Football Team in Week 10.

Phillip Gaines – CB, Texans

Gaines had six tackles in the Texans’ Week 9 victory over the Jaguars, including four solo. The Texans visit the Browns in Week 10.

Andrew Sendejo – Saf, Browns

The Browns were off in Week 9. They host the Texans in Week 10.

More Owls in the NFL

From practice squads to current free agents, there are others 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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Rice Football 2020 Game Preview: Louisiana Tech

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Rice Football and Louisiana Tech played to the wire last season. Could this year be different? How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

Neither Rice football nor Louisiana Tech saw action this past Saturday, although both were originally scheduled to play. North Texas pulled out of its game with Louisiana Tech and UTSA left Rice without an opponent. Fresh from a week of rest, both schools will be eager to get back to the field this coming Saturday.

Broadcast Info

Kickoff time | 2:30 PM CT
Venu | Joe Aillet Stadium – Ruston, LA
TV | ESPN3 (Streaming)
Radio | Sports Map 94.1 (FM) / Stretch Internet (Online)

Audio Preview

We’ll preview Rice football vs Louisiana Tech on Episode 60 of The Roost Podcast which will be released on Thursday. 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.)

Visual Preview

Make sure you check out Inside the Hedges, a weekly show with myself and former Rice football quarterback Taylor McHargue. Watch it live on Wednesday nights at 7:00 p.m. here or watch it at your leisure on the Rice Athletics Youtube page.

Join the Conversation

What are your keys to victory this week? What pitfalls must the Owls avoid? Did you like that third down call? Share your thoughts on the matchup on the forum and make sure you tune in Saturday for our live game blog keeping track of every score and key moment.

Sizing up the contenders

Rice football is off to an encouraging start, but their delayed season and recent postponement leave the Owls with just two games under their belt entering the Nov. 14 road trip to Ruston, LA. Rice hasn’t won in Ruston since 2013, the year they won their most recent conference championship. A win would put them near the top of the standings, necessary with potential games against divisional leaders UAB and Marshall still on deck.

Louisiana Tech also has conference championship aspirations, but they have less wiggle room to work with than the Owls. The Bulldogs already have two conference losses and narrowly escaped Houston with a win last year.

Series History

All Time | Louisiana Tech leads 9-4
Last Five | Louisiana Tech leads 5-0
Last Meeting | Home 2019, Louisiana Tech won 20-14

Rice Stat Notables

Passing | Collins – 30/52 (57.7 percent), 475 yards passing, 8 TD, 1 INT
Rushing | Otoviano – 45 carries, 195 yards (4.3 yards per carry)
Receiving | Trammell – 10 receptions, 219 yards (21.9 yards per reception), 5 TD | Myers – 6 receptions, 65 yards (10.8 yards per reception)
Tackles | Alldredge – 21, Montero – 17, Garcia – 13
Pass Breakups/Interceptions | Devones – 1 PBU / McCord – 1 INT

Louisiana Tech Stat Notables

Passing | Anthony – 110/176 (62.5), 1208 yards passing, 13 TD, 4 INT | Allen – 52/75 (69.3), 482 yards passing, 4 TD, 3 INT
Rushing | Tucker – 82 carries, 336 yards (4.1 yards per carry), 2 TD
Receiving | Hardy – 33 receptions, 440 yards (13.3 yards per reception), 4 TD | Harris – 23 receptions, 223 yards (9.7 yards per reception), 3 TD
Tackles | Grubbs – 72, Baldwin – 64, Williamson – 45
Pass Breakups/Interceptions | Woods – 5 PBU, Williamson – 3 INT

Louisiana Tech X-Factor | How many quarterbacks?

Luke Anthony started the season for Louisiana Tech. Aaron Allen is the most recent of the Bulldogs’ quarterbacks to complete a pass. And it’s not quite as simple as Anthony being benched in favor or Allen, both have been in and out of the lineup over the course of the year. Shuffling passers isn’t an ideal long-term solution, certainly not against a secondary that quieted Jack Abraham last time out.

The challenge for Louisiana Tech head coach is the lack of separation. Both guys have shown flashes and both have had rough outings. The tandem have left the Bulldogs with a middle-of-the-road offense, averaging 26.4 points in conference play.

With the rushing attack ranked dead last in C-USA and the Rice run defense being particularly stout, Louisiana Tech absolutely has to find a quarterback that can attack Rice downfield. Otherwise, it’ll be tough sledding, even at home.

Rice X-Factor | Bring the pressure

Rice only registered one sack against Southern Miss, but the Eagles’ quarterback Jack Abraham felt the pressure before being knocked out of the game before halftime. Sacks have been hard to come by for this Rice front seven in recent years, but the early showings in 2020 have been positive.

Neither Louisiana Tech quarterback possess the mobility of someone like Middle Tennessee’s Asher O’Hara. If the Owls can pin their ears back and go after the passer they’ll have a better chance of producing a repeat performance of their last time out. Over the past three seasons, O’Hara remains the only current starting C-USA quarterback to throw for multiple touchdowns on the Rice defense.

Injury Report (Subscribers only)

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Need More?

The Roost’s 2020 Rice Football Season Preview has four pages dedicated to every opponent the Owls face. There are depth charts, important new arrivals and depth chart breakdowns for every team in Conference USA. Better yet, it’s not just speculation, each profile was created with insight from local experts who cover those teams day in and day out. Pick up your copy today and get four pages and more than 1,000 words on every foe.

Pick ‘Em Contest

If you haven’t yet, make sure you submit your entry for The Roost’s weekly pick’em challenge. Choose an answer to each of the six questions below and submit them on the forum thread to enter.

  1. Will Rice commit more than four accepted penalties?
    Yes / No
  2. How many third downs will Louisiana Tech convert?
    Over 8.5 / Under 8.5
  3. Which team registers the longest play from scrimmage?
    Rice / Louisiana Tech (or tie)
  4. How many players throw a pass in this game
    Over 2.5 / Under 2.5
  5. How many Rice wide receivers catch at least three passes?
    One / Two / Three / Four or more
  6. Who wins?
    Rice / Louisiana Tech

One Final Thing

Louisiana Tech is going to pose a tougher challenge to Rice than UTSA. The Bulldogs have been up and down this year, but their road win over UAB speaks volumes. This is a team that can hit the high notes when they’re playing well, and one that has historically been able to capitalize on Rice mistakes.

Rice has the opportunity to seize some real momentum with games against North Texas and UTEP on deck. They best not look too far ahead, though, because in this strange, shortened season, every opportunity is magnified. At no fault of your own, you might not play the next game.

There have been a lot of firsts for Mike Bloomgren and his staff this year. Back-to-back 30 point games was a nice starting. The first win over a (presumptively) bowl-bound team would be a nice feather to add to the cap. It’s the next hill to climb, but one that doesn’t feel insurmountable.

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Rice Football: Takeaways from UTSA game postponement

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Rice football’s game against UTSA has been postponed by COVID-19 concerns at UTSA. How will that impact the Owls in the long and near term?

Entering their third week of action, Rice football had yet to have a game postponed by an active COVID-19 issue. Head coach Mike Bloomgren first learned there was a potential storm brewing on Thursday night when AD Joe Karlgaard informed him there was a positive test and contact tracing underway at UTSA.

Bloomgren set up a meeting with his team for Friday morning. In the hours in between, the warning of a potential cancellation became reality. Bloomgren was tasked with delivering the bad news, and he wanted to make sure the team heard it from him first.

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“To some degree, I wanted to make the weather.” Bloomgren said, “I wanted to make them understand that as disappointed as we are, we’ve got to flush it, and we’ve got to move on to LA Tech.”

The abrupt change will have ramifications on Rice that stretch beyond this week. Most notably, on these two specific fronts.

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BREAKING: Rice Football vs UTSA postponed

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Rice football will not play UTSA on Saturday. Instead, the game has been postponed due to COVID-19 issues at UTSA.

For the first time since resuming its season on Oct. 24, Rice football has had a game taken off its schedule. The Owls were expected to play UTSA on Saturday, Nov. 7, but the teams announced the game will not be played due to COVID-19 issues at UTSA. The Rice team was informed of the news for the first time early Friday morning.

The teams do not share any opponent dates. Both schools were originally available on Dec. 5 and Dec. 12, but Conference USA filled those dates for Rice just this week. Rice is now scheduled to play Marshall on Dec. 5 and UAB on Dec. 12.

There has been no word from the league office as to whether or not divisional games would take precedent in a situation like this. If they do, the move could actually be a net positive for Rice. The Owls could presumably swap the Marshall game for UTSA and potentially get multiple defensive starters back against Louisiana Tech.

The postponement of the UTSA game marks the sixth announced scheduling change this fall and the ninth game to be added or removed fro the Owls’ schedule. Rice has also seen the postponement of games against Houston and Army, LSU, Lamar, Marshall and UAB, plus the rescheduling of the Marshall and UAB games.

Podcast: Breaking down Rice Football’s win over Southern Miss

For now, Rice joins a group of 12 Conference USA schools to have at least one game postponed so far this season. Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee, both of which have played seven games, are the only C-USA schools that have yet to experience a midweek turn of events like this.

Rice football will take the field next on Nov. 14 at Louisiana Tech. The next home game is scheduled for No.v 28 against UTEP. With the cancellation, the Owls will now go more than a month without a home game at Rice Stadium. As things currently stand, Rice would still have the opportunity to play enough games to qualify for the Conference USA Championship Game on Dec. 18.

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Rice Football vs UTSA: Q&A with UTSA Insider’s JJ Perez

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Rice Football squares off with UTSA this weekend. UTSA Insider JJ Perez tells us what to expect from the Roadrunners on Saturday.

1. What’s the plan for UTSA at quarterback this week?

It has been tumultuous at quarterback for the Roadrunners this season. The day one starter Frank Harris suffered a knee injury in the third game of this 2020 campaign. Since then, it’s been up and down. At various points this season, UTSA has gone through all four of their experienced signal callers.

Josh Adkins suffered a broken collar bone against BYU. Lowell Narcisse suffered a break in his leg against Army. And Jordan Weeks was unavailable to play in the two games prior to last week. Harris returned to the starting role several weeks ago. He’ll get the start this week against Rice.

Last week against FAU, Harris and the entire offense struggled at times. Weeks came into the game late. It’s likely UTSA will stick with Harris for much of the game. But with Weeks going through a normal practice workload for the first time is several games, you have to wonder how much rope Harris will have if the offense continues to struggle.

2. Which UTSA offense will Rice see? The One that scored 50 against Texas State or the one that scored 3 against FAU?

UTSA offense has struggled in the last two of the last three games. FAU stacked the box last week and didn’t let All-American running back Sincere McCormick get going. The Roadrunners were forced to try to pass the ball the down field and they simply could not connect on any of those attempts. They were close on a few tries. Both Harris at QB and the wide receivers would tell you that they should have landed a few big passing this past week.

That, along with the play of the offensive line, is the difference is the up and down play of the offensive unit. Last week’s game vs FAU was probably the worst offensive performance of the season. While I don’t look for UTSA to put up the numbers they did early in the season, I do believe we’ll see an offensive uptick this week.

3. What’s been the biggest reason for UTSA’s successes on defense this year?

It starts with the defensive line. That unit has been dominant at times this season. The Roadrunners play 3-4 base scheme. UTSA rotates those three down linemen aggressively. And that unit has been able to apply pressure and stop the run. That’s allowed the linebackers to stay home and do their thing.

The biggest surprise of the defensive is the pass coverage in the secondary. Early in the season, that was the biggest weakness of the team. Through eight games, UTSA’s defensive backfield has improved and are now solid against the pass.

Defensive Coordinator Tyrone Nix came to UTSA from Mississippi. His pedigree and experience as a coordinator has been noticeable this season. And his defensive unit has adopted his hard-nose demeanor.

4. Following the hot start, UTSA has lost four of five. What’s the confidence level in the program right now?

Last week was a big opportunity for UTSA to take the next step against FAU, the defending league champion. But it didn’t happen. The Roadrunners’ schedule the last five games have been a gauntlet. UTSA hung tough against top opponents. And they even won a game against La Tech they probably wouldn’t have won in the past.

The team is also banged up. Playing eight straight games without a bye week has taken a toll. So while the record isn’t as good as they may want, the 4-4 record is probably an accurate reflection of where they are right now, which is a decent team that has done some good stuff and done some bad stuff, and are still adapting and learning under a first-year coaching staff.

5. What’s your prediction for the game? Can UTSA extend their winning streak over Rice?

UTSA has won five straight matchups against Rice. But this series has always felt more close than all-time series records indicate. The Roadrunners and Owls have played some classics throughout the years. UTSA has played more games but are also more injured while Rice is more fresh but would probably like a little more game reps than they’ve had at this point in the season. I think we’ll be in store for a barn burner Saturday. I think it’s too close to call but I will predict UTSA wins a one score game.

Give JJ a follow on Twitter and check out the great work by UTSA Insiders as we get ready for Rice Football vs UTSA this weekend.

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