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Rice Football: First glimpse at probable 2021 returners

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Rice Football players have returned to campus for offseason activities, giving us our first clear indication of who intends to return for 2021.

Rice Football welcomed its players back to campus on Friday following the winter break. In a typical year, this wouldn’t be much in the way of an event, rather a mere formality. It is anything but in 2021, which still bears the marks of an unpredictable 2020 season.

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What makes this year so unique is the additional year of eligibility afforded to all players who otherwise would have finished their careers in December. Those who have moved on needn’t worry about the offseason conditioning programs or spring practice. That means, for the first time, we have a fuzzy list of who will most likely be on the roster in 2021.

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Rice Football Recruiting: Flight School 21 wows as National Signing Day nears

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The 2021 Rice Football recruiting class is winding down, but the future Owls still in action have been impressing on the gridiron.

It’s been a relatively calm few weeks for the 2021 Rice Football recruiting class. The Owls have only added two new players to the fold since the Early Signing Period, both transfers.

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New Mexico transfer wide receiver Tre Patterson made his pledge to the Owls in mid-December, just after the Owls signed the majority of their class. Quarterback Jake Constantine made his announcement on January 5, a few days after being offered on New Year’s Day. That tandem will be among the last few additions to this class, which is starting to fill out quite nicely.

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Rice Football 2020: NFL Owls Divisional Round 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 the Divisional Round.

There are former Rice football players scattered across the NFL. Stay tuned each week for their game results and notables from each player. Four Rice football alums made the playoffs this year.

Divisional Round Schedule

Green Bay def. Los Angeles Rams, 32-18
Buffalo def. Baltimore, 17-3
Tampa Bay def. New Orleans, 30-20
Kansas City def. Cleveland (Sendejo), 22-17

Championship Round Schedule

Buffalo at Kansas City, Sunday – 2:05 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Green Bay, Sunday – 5:40 p.m.

NFL Owls Update

Luke Willson, Chris Boswell and Vance McDonald were each eliminated from the NFL Playoffs in the Wild Card Round. Willson’s Seahawks fell to the Rams. Boswell and McDonald’s Steelers were bounced by the Browns.

Andrew Sendejo – Saf, Browns

Sendejo played in both of the Browns’ playoff games this season. He had five tackles and one pass deflection in their victory over the Steelers in the Wild Card Round. On Sunday against the Chiefs, he had one tackle. The Browns have been eliminated. Sendejo finishes the year with 72 total tackles and three pass deflections.

Offseason Owls

Jack Fox picked up more accolades this week, being named an NFL’s second-team All-Pro selection. He was the only Owl to receive All-Pro honors.

Former Rice football defensive lineman Myles Adams has signed a futures contract with the Seahawks. Adams spent time with the Panthers’ practice squad this year before signing with the Seahawks practice squad at the end of the season.

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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Rice Football: linebacker Blaze Alldredge enters Transfer Portal

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Rice Football linebacker Blaze Alldredge has entered the Transfer Portal. He will be missed at South Main.

The first few weeks of the offseason passed quietly for Rice football. The Owls picked up a few additional recruits, but for the most part, things were quiet on South Main. That silence was broken this week with two big news items regarding two of the most influential players on the 2020 team.

Wide receiver Austin Trammell will play in the College Gridiron Showcase, marking the end of his collegiate career as he aspires to a pro career. It appears that Trammell’s teammate and fellow team captain Blaze Alldredge will not return to South Main in 2021 either, instead, he has chosen to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal, confirmed by The Roost.

A senior this past fall, Alldredge came to Rice from junior college. He’ll take advantage of the blanket waiver extended to all athletes that participated in FBS football in the fall, giving him one more year of collegiate eligibility.

The list of accolades Alldredge amassed in three years at South Main is staggering. He finished second in the nation in tackles for a loss during his junior season, receiving all-conference honors in each of the past two seasons. He’s been among the best at his position in Conference USA since he arrived. Now, presumably, he’ll use his post-graduate season at a Power 5 program.

Alldredge is the most notable player to enter the portal following the season. So far, Chris Boudreaux, Jonathan Sanchez and jawan King are the only other Owls to enter. Like Alldredge, both Boudreaux and Sanchez would be graduate transfers.

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Rice Football: 10 Takeaways from 2020 season

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The 2020 Rice football season was filled with highs and lows. After time to reflect, what can we take away from the Owls’ five-game campaign?

From rocky beginnings to the National Championship Game, the 2020 season is finally in the books. Rice football participated in five games, experiencing the full range of emotions. There was the quadruple-doink and an upset for the ages.

For those that haven’t relive some of the highpoints in the season with The Roosties, an annual Rice football awards show from The Roost Podcast. You can also check out our 2020 Rice Football Team Superlatives, featuring more traditional awards like Team MVP, Offense and Defensive Player of the Year and more.

And with that, a few final thoughts on the 2020 season with some forward-thinking questions about how the Owls’ former season will impact the ones to come.

1. Rice proved they can score

Rice football played 24 games against FBS opponents in Bloomgren’s first two seasons at South Main. The Owl reached 30 points in just two of those contests. Those two occasions came in the midst of their three game winning streak that capped off the 2019 season. Rice opened 2020 with back-to-back 30-point performances. That marks five outings of 30 or more points in the Owls’ most recent eight games compared to zero in the first 21. That’s a pretty stark difference.

2. Rice has some weapons on offense

Part of the reason for further optimism with the offense is the playmakers Rice will return in 2020. Even if they do lose senior Austin Trammell, wideout Jake Bailey proved to be a chain mover and a big play threat this season. Andrew Mason showed sparks. Running backs Juma Otoviano and Khalan Griffin were both productive. And more talent is on the way, especially in the wide receiving corps.

3. This defense could be the best in C-USA

The 20-0 shutout on the road at Marshall will forever be etched among the best wins Rice has seen in this century. The list of accolades and firsts from that game was exhausting (in a good way), but the performance also served as an exclamation point on work Rice was already building. Rice finished third in scoring defense, fourth against the run, sixth against the pass and third in total defense this season. And they have lots of depth returning in 2021.

4. The Transfer Portal has been kind to the Owls

Hitting on more than half of your transfers is a fairly robust number. Rice has batted much closer to 1.000 in Bloomgren’s tenure than many might realize. Mike Collins was tremendous in his three games. Former JUCO addition Miles McCord was a crucial starter for the Rice secondary this year. Jovaun Woolford played well on the offensive line. Once more, Rice filled the holes they needed with talented additions from the portal.

5. Rice is close

Rice won by three scores in both of their wins in 2020. They lost by a touchdown or less in two contests and fell by 10 points in the other. A cruel field goal bounce separated the Owls from a 2-3 season and a possible bowl berth. The Owls’ only 10 point win in 2019 came in their season finale against UTEP. They lost by more than a touchdown five times in nine defeats. The wins are getting better and the losses are getting closer. A few better bounces and the record should come around, too.

Rice Football, postseason survey

Areas of Concern

6. The offense wasn’t nearly as good without Mike Collins

The drop off in production was stark when Mike Collins was not on the field. When JoVoni Johnson and Wiley Green were taking snaps the same offense that averaged 30 points per game with Collins dropped to 14.5 offensive points per game without him. If Collins does not return in 2020, Rice is going to have to find a way to get better production out of the quarterback spot. The addition of another grad transfer quarterback certainly suggests that room may look different in 2021.

7. The running game hasn’t really broken out

Rice averaged 2.8 yards per carry this season, a fair deal below the 3.5 and 3.9 yards per carry they averaged in 2019 and 2018, respectively. For an offense as committed to moving the chains on the ground, coming in below three yards per carry should sound some alarms. That number is skewed to some degree, by a disastrous game against North Texas, but Rice didn’t run the ball particularly well against UAB either.

8. Rice saved all their turnovers for one game

The Rice defense picked off six passes in 12 games in 2019. They had five in one afternoon against Marshall in 2020. Beyond that, Rice only had one other interception in four additional games. They added three fumble recoveries. Turnovers are somewhat of a fluky stat, but Rice has consistently finished in the bottom half of the league in takeaways in recent years.

9. Too many special teams mistakes

Rice has been among the league leaders in special teams over the last three years. NFL Pro Bowler Jack Fox helped the Owls get there, but the rest of the coverage and return units have done their part even with him in the pros. The return units did not deliver this season. Rice fumbled three punts and had a return touchdown called back via penalty.

10. Uncertain 2021 roster makeup

2020 was circled as the year Rice would have all of their proverbial ducks in a row. Then the pandemic hit. Then the injuries came. Rice did the most with what they had, snatching a marquee win, but it wasn’t quite the season anyone expected. The senior class has another free year of eligibility, should they chose to exercise it. The unknown of who will (and won’t) be back, makes it hard to look to far into what rosters will look like in 2021.

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