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Owls four-quarter effort falls short against Louisiana Tech

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Rice football was within one score in the fourth quarter but couldn’t keep pace with Louisiana Tech, falling on the road in Week 11.

Rice traded punches with Louisiana Tech, alternate scores for most of the night right up until the fourth quarter. Hayden Tobola knocked through a pair of field goals and Austin Walter delivered the Owls’ longest touchdown of the season.

Too many turnovers (three) and another poor outing on third down (3-for-15) marred a hard-fought effort that came up short on the road. Here are a few immediate thoughts:

1. Stay in the ring

Head coach Mike Bloomgren said his team was “mentally highjacked” through the first two quarters against UTEP. The Owls’ opponent hit a big play and instantly sucked the energy out of the team. They got it back after halftime, but by then it was too late, the deficit had grown too wide.

The challenge entering the Louisiana Tech game was simple: stay in the ring. Louisiana Tech was going to land some punches, the question was how would Rice respond?

This week assistant head coach Pete Lembo said his team needs to find 11 guys on each side of the field that don’t blink, guys that are able to go onto the next play and put the past behind him. They might not have two sets of 11 yet, but they have one: Prudy Calderon

Calderon saw a pass sneak through his grasp for a 34-yard gain that put Louisiana Tech into Rice territory. On the very next play, Calderon squared up another deep pass, intercepting it and returning it 30 yards.

The two plays were a microcosm of what Intellectual Brutality is supposed to be. Their opponent threw a haymaker. Rice punched back.

2. Quarterback play

Rice has been dealt a rough hand when it comes to the health of their quarterbacks this season. Shawn Stankavage, Evan Marshman and Wiley Green have all seen meaningful snaps. Marshman is out for the season with a hand injury leaving Stankavage, Green and Jackson Tyner the remaining options at quarterback.

Stankavage overcame what was initially diagnosed as a season-ending injury to return to the field against Louisiana Tech. Some rust from the month away from the field was expected, what wasn’t expected was a steady dose of Parker Towns. The scout team quarterback for much of the year, Towns was involved on several apparent read-option plays, completing one pass for 10 yards.

He was mixed in throughout the game, partly because of the up and down play of Stankavage. As Stankavage settled in the Owls offense picked up. His best pass of the night came on the first drive of the second half, a 68-yard bomb to Austin Walter which gave the Owls a 10-7 lead.

Stankavage finished 18-of-32 passing for 216 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. He had his moments, but his tendency to force passes and turn the ball over is an issue that needs to be addressed.

3. What happened to the rushing attack?

Rice began the season committed to the run game and while they haven’t gone away from the ground the effectiveness has declined. They averaged 201.6 yards per game on the ground through their first five games and 77.4 yards per game in their next five. They’ve had eight fewer carries per game in the second half, but the production has dropped precipitously.

Things didn’t improve on the ground against Louisiana Tech. Rice carried the ball 29 times for 100 yards with Aston Walter leading the way with a career-high with 17 carries. Austin Walter, Emmanuel Esukpa, Nashon Ellerbee, and Juma Otoviano had all been featured at different points this season, but all rushers outside of Walter combined for 28 yards on the ground.

The offensive line has been hit or miss, and not even the elusiveness of the Walter brothers has been enough to spark the running game. Wildcat packages have been scattered in. For the most part, they haven’t been born significant fruit either. This is meant to be a run-first offense and the inability to make headway on the ground is frustrating.

4. There’s still too much bend in the Rice defense

Rice was strong up the middle for the majority of this game. The defensive line limited the yards Louisiana Tech was able to get on the ground, with the exception of three drive-ending touchdown runs by Louisiana Tech running back Jaqwis Dancy.

In all three instances, Louisiana Tech picked up a first down in the redzone and the Rice defense was scrambling back to get set. Dancy capitalized, bursting through the line and getting into the endzone from 11-yards, 1-yard and 18-yards out.

The same give and take way visible through the air. The Rice corners played a strong game but were victims of a few big plays down the field. There have been games where opposing wide receivers ran free and torched this defense with ease. There were defensive lapses against Louisiana Tech too, but there were also some incredible catches made by Louisiana Tech receivers.

The biggest play was a 49-yard snag by Adrian Hardy. The coverage wasn’t perfect and Hardy made the challenging catch. Dancy scored on the next play.

This defense is getting close to playing at a high level, but they’ve still got a ways to go.

5. All four quarters

Rice trailed Louisiana Tech by eight points midway through the fourth quarter. The offense hadn’t played perfect, neither had the defense. But this was a one-score game until the final minutes when Louisiana Tech put a late score on the board to put this game out of reach.

Playing four quarters has been the focal point of this team all season. After being outscored 70-3 in the first quarter in their last three road games against Louisiana Tech the Owls kept the score deadlocked at zero after one. Rice got the offense going in the second, missing a field goal, but going into the locker room down 7-3.

Rice got points in the third and fourth quarters, too. The defense struggled to hold, but they fought until the very end. Calderon had his second interception in the final two minutes and Rice responded with one more score. There is work to be done, but Rice played all four quarters. Finally.

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Shawn Stankavage is grateful to return to football

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Rice football has their starting quarterback back. After fearing the worst, Shawn Stankavage will return to the field against Louisiana Tech.

“I thought my career might be over.” That’s the grim reality Rice quarterback Shawn Stankavage was dealing with in his North Carolina home only a few weeks ago. After getting a second opinion and rehabbing vigorously, he’ll start once again for the Owls against Louisiana Tech on Saturday.

Stankavage views the second chance as a blessing, saying “sometimes when you lose something, you realize how much you miss it.” He realized he missed the gridiron, and his teammates have welcomed him back with open arms.

Through his first seven appearances with the Owls, Stankavage threw for 1,011 yards nine touchdowns and seven interceptions. He has not seen action since his injury against UAB, but doesn’t anticipate any rust as he readjusts to the offense.

Although he’s been unable to play, Stankavage has been actively involved in meetings and with the team on the practice field. He’s been in the huddle alongside Evan Marshman and Wiley Green as they took their turns at the starter’s job. He’ll slide back into the QB1 spot moving forward. Tyner will be the backup with Green available if necessary.

The offense has gone through quite the journey over the month Stankavage been unavailable. It’s started moving in the right direction once again thanks to big days from Austin Trammell and Aaron Cephus, but Stankavage remains confident the unit can and will get better. “There’s still more plays to be made,” he said, talking expectantly of what the on-field results could be as the unit grows.

Stankavage knows he’s not the missing piece that will turn this offense around overnight, but he understands where this team has been and he remains confident in the direction they’re going. The process without the desired result is frustrating, but one win is all it will take to reenergize this program. “When you win, people start believing,” Stankavage said. “We’re close.”

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Austin Trammell, the “blueprint” for Owls moving forward

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Sophomore Rice football wide receiver Austin Trammell has been a steady hand in a time of offensive turmoil for the Owls this season. Can he add to a career year?

Wide receiver Austin Trammell touched the ball 18 times, racking up 133 total yards as a true freshman last season. His sophomore performance has blown those numbers out of the water. Trammell’s most recent high point was a career game against UTEP in which he caught eight passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns.

From a role player to a superstar, Trammell’s humble, hard-working mentality exemplifies the kind of person and athlete Rice football needs to win. “Austin Trammell is absolutely the way I would build a football player, the way I want to build Rice football players. I would clone him and play him at center and left guard and right tackle if I could,” said head coach Mike Bloomgren about a player he dubbed “Mr. Consistent” earlier this season.

The team has experienced their highs and lows, so has Trammell. But how he has responded over the last month has been one of the brightest spots in a tough stretch for the Owls. Trammell says he “just had to refocus and come back to working hard every day.” That hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed, and it’s raised the level of this entire offense.

Austin Trammell is absolutely the way I would build a football player, the way I want to build Rice football players. I would clone him and play him at center and left guard and right tackle if I could

Rice was held out of the endzone against UTSA and UAB. In the three games that follow Trammell has amassed a team-high 23 receptions, 263 yards and two scores. His fight and effort are what this team needs. Bloomgren called him the “blueprint” of the type of players he wants to build his program around, doubling down by saying “we can win with Austin Trammell’s across the board.”

For now, they only have one Austin Trammell. He’s bought in and doing everything he can to bring people along with him. His effort and intensity continue to be instrumental in the psyche of the offense and should give Rice fans hope for the future. The Owls might not have had much success on the scoreboard yet, but they have one Austin Trammell, and he’s on a mission to flip that script.

 

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Youth movement continues, LaTech Press conference quotes (11/6)

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Rice football suffered a tough loss to UTEP in Week 10. Mike Bloomgren recaps the loss and looks forward to Louisiana Tech in Week 11.

On the rough start against UTEP

That’s absolutely something we have to get out of these kids minds – the soft attitude of letting one play affect the next. We’ve got to be able to move on to the next play. We’ve got to be mentally tough. We’ve got to understand what we can control in that moment, what’s important in that moment, and not what just happened.

On how the team has responded this week

We’re continuing to stress our process and demand that these guys do it our way. To these kid’s credit they came back in the building yesterday, they watched the film, they listened to me talk about the things that win football games… and then they went out on the practice field and worked.

On the health of starting quarterback Shawn Stankavage

Senior quarterback Shawn Stankavage, our day one starter, is going to be able to return from injury this week a lot faster than everybody thought.. we expect him to start [the rest of this] season. We’re excited to have Sean’s leadership and experience back in the huddle.

On the impact of the new redshirt rule on the program going forward

Some of these freshmen are playing 60-80 plays a game. It’s going to pay dividends, I know it is… the redshirt rule is awesome in that regard… I think going into spring ball knowing the tempo of what a college football game feels like instead of knowing what a practice feels like has so much value.

On Louisiana Tech’s star defensive end Jaylon Ferguson

Jaylon Ferguson is as good of a defensive end as I’ve seen in this conference… he’s how you would design a defensive end on the Madden video game. He’s going to be a great challenge for all of our tackles and backs and tight ends to get a chance to block.

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Quarterback Shawn Stankavage to start vs Louisiana Tech

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Rice football has a new quarterback again, sort of. Former starter Shawn Stankavage has been cleared to play against Louisiana Tech in Week 11.

Shawn Stanakavage went down in the Owls’ game against UAB and returned to the field with a boot on his foot. Redshirt freshman Evan Marshman took over the offense for the next seven-ish quarters of the season before suffering a hand injury that will keep him sidelined for the rest of the 2018 season.

Marshman ceded the job to true freshman Wiley Green who started the last two games against North Texas and UTEP. Green has a lot of raw talent and continues to show promise, throwing for more than 300 yards and two touchdowns against the Miners. As one of the last healthy passers remaining on the roster, Green was expected to be the starter for the remainder of the season.

Then the Rice coaching staff got some unexpected, but welcome, good news. Stankavage, the Owls’ original QB1 who had been written off as lost for the season, returned to practice on Monday. He’s expected to participate fully in team drills on Tuesday and through the rest of the week.

“He’s worked his butt off,” said Mike Bloomgren who affirmed he doesn’t believe starters should lose their job to injury. Stankavage has been on the field during practice, in the meetings and doing everything to prepare short of putting on a helmet. The limitation was his body, which has healed at a rate that caught most everyone around the program off guard. That might be the first welcomed surprise the Owls have received this season.

For Stankavage, it’s one more opportunity to play college football. In seven appearances for Rice this season he threw nine touchdowns and seven interceptions. He’ll be trusted with the reigns from this point forward and tasked with moving an offense that has been hot and cold all season. If he can turn the corner, this offense might too.

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