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Rice Football: Jack Fox dazzles in NFL debut with Lions

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Jack Fox made Rice Football fans proud in his NFL debut, excelling as the starting punter and kickoff specialist for the Detroit Lions.

Former Rice Football punter Jack Fox kicked played in his first NFL game this weekend. He showed no signs of any first-game jitters, blasting the opening kickoff for a touchback to start the game. He would go on to excel in a variety of roles in his pro debut.

Fox tallied two other touchbacks, put six kickoffs into the endzone. He had two punts travel more than 50 yards, both of which were downed inside the 15-yard line. He also handled holding duties for kicker Matt Prater. If that wasn’t enough already, he registered his first career tackle on kick coverage.

“Honestly I think I built it up in my head leading up to the game,” Fox said. “When I got on the field it just felt like a normal football game. But still a cool experience.”

For Fox, it took a “redshirt” year to master the finer details of the punting profession. A season spent on and off practice squads combined with an offseason working out with fellow specialists in Birmingham (at what has been dubbed the Punter Conclave on Fox’s recent appearance on The Roost Podcast) ended in a heated battle for the starting job in Detroit. Fox won the job at the end of camp. He proved on Sunday he was more than deserving.

Despite Fox’s efforts, the Lions were unable to win the game. Running back D’Andre Swift dropped what would have been the go-ahead touchdown pass from in the closing seconds. Had he hauled it in, the Lions would have won and made Fox’s NFL debut that much sweeter. Even still, Fox had a stellar start to what continues to look like a promising professional career.

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Rice Football Recruiting: Owls hand out two new 2021 offers

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Two offers were extended this week to prospective members of the 2021 Rice Football recruiting class, one on each side of the ball.

For the first time in roughly a month, Rice football extended new offers toward members of the 2021 class. Prior to the Owls offering this pair, Rice hadn’t offered anyone since offers to wide receiver MJ Singleton and offensive lineman Graham Keating on August 7.

You can find the latest on all of the Owls’ offers for this class as well links to highlights, recruiting services and commitment profiles on our Offer Tracker. This list is updated daily and reserved for our subscribers.

WR Peyton Stevenson – Demopolis, AL

The Owls don’t have a wide receiver in the fold in this class yet but they have a few uncommitted targets they’re still working on. In particular, the roster needs someone with size to fill the outside role behind Brad Rozner in the future.

Stevenson fits that mold. He’s 6-foot-3, 190-pounds with some vertical ability. He’s versatile, also lining up at corner and some quarterback. No matter where the ball is, he’s ready and willing to push through contact.

Rice was the first FBS school to offer Stevenson. Prior to the Owls, his existing offers included Jacksonville State, North Alabama and Culver-Stockton.

DL AJ Sargent – Wichita Falls, TX

Size also seems to be a priority for the Owls along the offensive line. Current commits Elroyal Morris (6-foot-2, 270-pounds) and Blake Boenisch (6-foot-3, 300 pounds) make for a sturdy foundation up front. Rice would like to add another big guy to that mix in Sargent

Standing 6-foot-1 and weighing 290 pounds, Sargent is able to make plays from the interior as well as the outside. Missouri State was the only school to offer him before the Owls swooped in this week.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 50 – Rice schedule, LA Tech outbreak, Hopson’s firing

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Rice football’s schedule was only a piece of a wild week in Conference USA that also included a COVID-19 outbreak and a coaching change.

We might have to wait a little bit longer for Rice football to take the field. In this week’s episode, Carter and Matthew talk through what changes could be coming to the Rice schedule and where the Owls stand when it comes to playing football this fall. Then they hit on the outbreak at Louisiana Tech and the postponement of the Bulldogs’ season opener.

That might have been enough, but the rest of Conference USA had other plans. Jamie Arrington and Jason Bailey from To The Top Talk Podcast stopped by to breakdown Jay Hopson’s departure from Southern Miss after just one game.

You can always find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 50.

Episode 50 Notes

  • Housekeeping — Schedule news and other updates are coming fast and furious. Make sure you hit the button and subscribe on Patreon so you don’t miss what’s happening. You would have been the first to know about the looming schedule changes this past week and more As always, thanks to all of you who have followed the show on Twitter and left a review on iTunes. It’s quick, but it makes a difference.

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  • Rice football postpones practice
    • No practice this week means to games before the Owls bye week
    • What do the Owls hope to achieve with this delay?
    • What would a potential further-delayed season look like?
  • Louisiana Tech forced to cancel opener 
    • Impact from Hurricane Laura impacts Louisiana Tech’s players returning to campus
    • 38 positive tests on Tuesday force the postponement of the Baylor game
  • To The Top Talk talks Southern Miss football
    • Jamie and Jason take us behind the curtain of Jay Hopson’s decision to step down
    • Potential coaching candidates ranging from interim Scotty Walden to Hugh Freeze

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 2020: Owls in the NFL – Preseason Update

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Rice Football is well represented on 2020 NFL rosters. Here’s where each of the NFL Owls stand prior to the beginning of the season.

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

Week 1 schedule

Denver (Anderson, Callahan) vs Tennessee
Pittsburgh (Boswell, McDonald) vs New York Giants
Seattle (Willson) vs Atlanta
Cincinnati (Covington) vs Los Angeles Chargers
Detroit (Fox) vs Chicago
Houston (Gaines) vs Kansas City
Cleveland (Sendejo) vs Baltimore

Offense

Calvin Anderson – OT, Broncos

Anderson signed with the Broncos midway through last season but never saw game action. He’s back on the roster this year and listed as the backup to Garett Bolles at left tackle on the team’s first official depth chart.

Vance McDonald – TE, Steelers

McDonald is entering his fourth season in Pittsburgh, the longest stint he’s had with any one team since entering the league in 2013. His 38 receptions last year were the second-most in his career, but his 273 receiving yards were below his the 610 he posted the season prior. With Big Ben back, McDonald’s impact on the offense should tick back upward.

Luke Willson – TE, Seahawks

Willson was brought back to Seattle for his blocking ability. He’s an excellent addition to protect quarterback Russell Wilson with the ability to slip out and catch a few passes as well. He caught eight balls in eight games with the Seahawks last season while grading out as Pro Football Focus’ 13th best pass-blocking tight end.

Defense

Bryce Callahan – CB, Broncos

Callahan missed the entire 2019 season with injuries but is back and ready to see his first snaps as a Denver Bronco despite signing with the team November of 2019. He had six pass breakups and two interceptions in each of his last two seasons with the Bears, encompassing a total of 25 games.

Christian Covington – DL, Bengals

Covington signed with the Broncos this offseason as a free agent but didn’t spend much time in the Mile High City. He was traded to Cincinnati in the final days of training camp, reuniting him with fellow Owl James Casey, the Bengals tight ends coach. Covington is coming off a productive season in Dallas with six starts, one sack and a career-best 28 tackles.

Phillip Gaines – CB, Texans

Gaines appeared in five games with the Texans last season after joining the team following brief stints with the Bills and Browns. An ankle injury ended his season prematurely and could impact his availability for the start of the 2020 season. He practiced over the weekend after missing some time the week prior.

Andrew Sendejo – Saf, Browns

Sendejo spent time with the Vikings and the Eagles last season, totaling four passes defended, three interceptions and 45 total tackles. He won the starting free safety job during camp and projects to start alongside Karl Joseph in the defensive backfield for Cleveland this year.

Special Teams

Chris Boswell – K, Steelers

Boswell connected on 28-of-28 extra points last season and 29-of-31 field goals. He was perfect from inside 40-yards. He entered 2020 with a career field goal percentage of 87 percent.

Jack Fox – P, Lions

Fox beat out Auburn grad Arryn Siposs for the starting punting job in Detroit this offseason. When he takes the field on Sunday he’ll play in his very first regular season game after seeing some preseason action with the Chiefs last year.

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: What’s going on with the Owls’ 2020 schedule?

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The future of the 2020 Rice Football season remains unclear. Here’s the latest on the Owls and the outlook for their schedule.

There has been a lot of buzz this weekend about the future of the 2020 Rice Football season, specifically the Owls’ October 3 game against Marshall.

When the news of Rice delaying practice came out on Sunday I told subscribers there was a high likelihood Rice would not be playing that game as scheduled. If Rice isn’t practicing, they’re not going to play football in four weeks’ time. That game, as well as the game against UAB, would be postponed.

On Monday evening, reports surfaced that Rice had indeed postponed their games against Marshall and UAB. In all likelihood, we’ll get to that scenario. And I can understand the angst in Hungtington, WV and Birmingham, AL. I believe both games will be postponed. It just hasn’t happened yet.

Per a source, Rice has not made any official changes to their 8-game schedule. The Owls will make an official decision on those games in the coming days.

Listen: The Roost Podcast – C-USA Preview

The “best case scenario” would be for Rice to postpone games against Marshall and UAB and slot one of those two teams into a game on Dec. 5, a weekend originally reserved for the conference championship game, but already noted as being flexible. UAB would be the preference there, allowing Rice to round out a complete West Division schedule. The Championship game would be played on Dec. 12.

The “worst case scenario” would be a complete cancelation of those games and the 2020 Rice football season. I do not believe Rice would have afforded themselves the opportunity to play football this fall after their scheduled bye week if there wasn’t a distinct possibility they could return to the field.

The method with which they’ve chosen to push back the decision is what seems to have drawn the most scorn. This weekend would have been an appropriate time to make a go or no-go decision on the season, but that can was kicked further down the road. We’ll see where it settles in a few more days.

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