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Projections expect gradual improvement for Owls in 2018

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For the first time this decade, Rice football is undergoing a head coaching change. With the new regime comes uncertainty, especially from those on the outside looking in.

Rice football is in uncharted territory and the outside world doesn’t know what to do about it. The Owls haven’t hired a new head coach since they brought David Baliff on board in 2007. After a 3-9 season they road with him through the highs (10-win seasons in 2008, 2013) and the lows (below .500 seven times in 11 seasons) until opting for a change following the 2017 season. Rice nabbed Mike Bloomgren away from Stanford and he’ll be tasked with righting the ship.

The first year for most coaches involves a lot of feeling out and scheme installation. Rice won’t be expected to vie for a conference title out of the gate, but the Owls’ new head man bring with him plenty of energy and excitement. If he pushes the right buttons Rice football could surprise the “experts” in 2018.

Various media sources are putting out their projections for the upcoming season and a common theme of gradual improvement is beginning to solidify. Here’s a few notable win-loss projections for the Owls:

Rice bottomed out last season. Before finishing 1-11 in 2017 the Owls had won at least two games every year since 2005. The 11 losses marked only the third time in school history in which the Owls had suffered that many defeats. Although going 0-13 is possible on paper, the vast majority of publications believe the Owls will have enough oomph to defeat, at a minimum, UTEP and Prairie View A&M.

Bloomgren’s claim to fame is his recruiting prowess. He’s locked in one commitment so far, and will be expected to bolster his upcoming recruiting class throughout the season. If he can increase the talent profile at Rice over the next few seasons that projected win total will start to rise.

 

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Mike Bloomgren tasked with restoring Rice to relevancy

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Rice football made waves when they hired former Stanford offensive coordinator Mike Bloomgren as their new head coach. Is he the difference maker the Owls have been waiting for?

Change spurs progress. That’s what Rice Owl fans have hung their collective hats on entering the 2018 season. For the first time in more than a decade the Owls have a new face at the helm of their team, Mike Bloomgren, the former offensive coordinator for the Stanford Cardinal. He’s been tasked with restoring a proud team to relevancy. The embers of hope have been jostled. Now it’s up to Bloomgren to fan them into flame.

Bloomgren brings an impressive track record to Houston. After beginning his coaching career in 1999 as a graduate assistant at Alabama, the well traveled coach has made stops at Catawba College, Delta State, the New York Jets and Stanford. In his most recent stop with the Cardinal he served as the offensive coordinator for one of the most consistent offenses in the country.

Under Bloomgren’s direction the Cardinal offense tallied a school record 2,904 rushing yards in 2013, his third year at Stanford and his first year as the offensive coordinator. He coached up Heisman contenders Christian McCaffrey and Bryce Love. The Owls witnessed how lethal a Bloomgren’s offense can be first hand, watching Love rush for 180 yards on just 13 carries in their season opener in Sydney, Australia last season. The architect of an elite, dynamic rushing scheme, Bloomgren brings an abundance of potential to the Owls’ offensive attack.

Raising the talent level immediately

The success Bloomgren has found hasn’t been limited to the football field. He’s one of the best recruiters in the nation and promises to raise the talent profile at Rice. Faced with similar academic standards at Stanford, Bloomgren’s Cardinal finished outside the top 50 recruiting classes just once, frequently climbing into the top 20 classes in the nation.

His best class came in 2014. Headlined by Solomon Thomas, Christian McCaffrey and Keller Chryst, the 2014 unit was ranked No. 13 in the nation. In 2014 Rivals.com named Bloomgren a National Recruiter of the Year. He received a similar designation again in 2016, being named a top 25 recruiter by again that season. Some guys understand how the game works, and that’s a skill that will translate from the Pac-12 to Conference USA.

To put things further into perspective, the Owls haven’t finished inside the top 100 classes since 2014 and it’s not because schools outside of the Power 5 can’t recruit at a high level. At least one school from outside the Power 5 conferences has finished with a top 50 recruiting class in five of the last nine seasons with some teams climbing as high as No. 42 overall, South Florida in 2014.

All it takes to crack the top 50 are a handful of blue chip recruits (players rated 4-stars or better). Bloomgren averaged seven such players in his six years as the offensive coordinator at Stanford. He’ll already be among the best recruiters in Conference USA if he can get one or two blue chip players to campus a season. Bloomgren has proven that he can get the big names.

The future starts now

Why not Rice? There was an era of college football not too long ago where football powerhouses controlled the sport. It’s true that the heavyweights still hold sway over much of college football today, but the gap is closing quickly. UCF completed the only undefeated season in 2017, besting SEC West Champion Auburn along the way. In their first year back from the dissolution of their football program, UAB tied for second in the Conference USA West and finished with eight wins, the best mark in program history.

Sometimes all a program needs is the right man in charge. Look at what Alabama has done with Nick Saban and UCF accomplished with Scott Frost. The Tide have churned out national championships at an alarming rate while the Knights when from 0-12 to 13-0 in a two-year span. Rice isn’t relegated to being an also ran. The program has officially made their push to return to prominence. With Mike Bloomgren leading the way, that could happen sooner than anyone on the outside is expecting.

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Schedule set for every 2018 conference game

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Rice football officially has a countdown. The season opener against Prarie View A&M will start at 6:00 p.m. CT on Saturday, Aug. 25.

The dates haven’t changed, but kickoff times and viewing details have been finalized for the majority of the Rice football games in 2018.

Once again, Rice will get an early start. Their opening game against Prarie View is scheduled for “Week 0”, which traditionally was the final week of the offseason before the first weekend of games started in early September. That should mean no distractions for fans, as only a handful of other games are scheduled that Saturday – most teams will play their first contests on Sept. 1.

For the first time since 2015, Rice will open and close their season at Rice Stadium. That makes for a few longer road trips in between the home games, including just one home game, against Houston, in the entire month of September.

Another benefit for fans this year are several late kickoffs. The Owls only have one day game on the docket through the start of October. Keeping out of the summer sun as long as possible will be a plus. Rice hosts Houston at 12:00 p.m. in their second game of the year.

Rice will have a number of their games broadcast on ESPN’s new streaming service ESPN+. That means every game is going to be televised in some form or fashion, for a fee. Costs for ESPN+ currently run $5 per month, separate from your cable bill. ESPN+ is available online and on most streaming devices (Roku, Amazon Fire stick, etc.).

Away games at Hawaii, Wake Forest and LSU have yet to be finalized. Those details will be released as the calendar gets closer.

The full schedule, including broadcast information and start times is available here.

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No clear answer at quarterback for Owls in 2018

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Rice football has several options, but no sure-fire answer at the quarterback position entering the 2018 season. Who will get the starting nod?

Sam Glaesmann was named the starting quarterback at the beginning of the 2017 season but lasted only three games before suffering an injury to his non-throwing shoulder. That opened the floodgates for what would become a rotating carousel of passers for the Owls which would continue throughout the remainder of the season. Jackson Tyner and Miklo Smalls both saw extensive playing time, but neither emerged as a bonafide QB1.

Rice played multiple quarterbacks in six of their 12 games. That lack of continuity is not a recipe for success and, understandably, getting the quarterback situation sorted out as quickly as possible will be a top priority for head coach Mike Bloomgren. Here are the options he has to work with in 2018.

Three returning quarterbacks

Sam Glaesmann

The path of least resistance would be to roll with last year’s initial starter Sam Glaesmann. He accounted for three touchdowns through the air and another three scores on the ground, making him the only returning passer with at least as many touchdowns (six) as interceptions (six). He led the Owls to their only win of the 2017 season, a 31-14 runaway victory over UTEP on the road.

Glaesmann’s vice is his accuracy. He completed 44.4 percent of his passes last season, only notching double-digit completions once, against UTEP. The running game will remain the Owls’ bread and butter, but whomever earns the starting quarterback job must be able to complete the majority of his passes.

Jackson Tyner

Glaesmann’s initial replacement last season was redshirt sophomore Jackson Tyner. After a slow start he chucked it all over the yard against FIU, Pittsburgh and Army, combing for 488 of his 598 yards of the season in those three contests. Tyner attempted and completed more passes (46) than either of the other two passers, but he also had the most incomplete passes (51) and threw five interceptions.

Accuracy is something that’s hard to fix. Tyner showed the willingness to take risks and hurl the ball down field, but like Glaesmann, he missed his mark more often than he found it. His 13.0 yards per attempt and 13.0 yards per completion were both last among the Rice quarterbacks.

Despite his shortcomings, Tyner is the most veteran option available to coach Bloomgren. The now redshirt junior has as many appearances as both Smalls and Glaesmann combined. Field experience won’t win you a job, but there’s something to be said for having “been there and done that”.

Miklo Smalls

The most versatile option at Bloomgren’s disposal could be returning sophomore Miklo Smalls. Taking over the starting job late in the 2017 season, Smalls finished as the team leader in passing yards (623), touchdown passes (three) and quarterback rating 118.2. No other passer saw the field during the final three games of the season. It seemed clear he had won the trust of the previous staff, but Bloomgren will evaluate the entire group with an open mind.

Following the publishing of this piece Miklo Smalls announced his intention to transfer from Rice to Independence C.C. in Kansas.

Three fresh faces

Evan Marshmann

The only other quarterback returning this season is redshirt sophomore Evan Marshmann. A Houston native, Marshmann walked last season after a productive career at Houston Christian. He showcased extensive mobility in high school, making his upside as a dual threat intriguing. Tyner is the least mobile of the three passers that played last season, whereas Glasemann and Smalls each averaged more than six rushes per game.

Shawn Stankavage

Bloomgren brought in one graduate transfer quarterback this offseason, former Vanderbilt backup Shawn Stankavage. The junior attempted one pass, a completion for six yards, during his time with the Commodores. With Kyle Shurmur entrenched as the starter Stankavage decided it was in his best interests to move on to Rice and join a crowded quarterback room that lacks one definitive starter.

Wiley Green

True freshman Wiley Green, a 2-star recruit from Prestonwood Christian in Plano, Tx, was the only quarterback who signed with the Owls’ 2018 class. Green turned down offers from Baylor, Arizona and Boise State to play for the Owls. The lack of experience against collegiate competition isn’t ideal, but he did throw 47 touchdowns and eight interceptions during his senior season.

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Defensive End Justin Moore becomes first commitment of 2019 class

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The 2019 Rice football recruiting class has its first commitment. Defensive end Justin Moore pledged himself to the Owls in early April.

Mike Bloomgren was introduced as the head coach at Rice in early December, a few days before the inaugural early signing period. Six players signed with his staff in December and the Owls added 12 more signees on National Signing Day in February – a full class, but one that came together over the span of weeks rather than months. The 2019 class will make the first year cycle that Bloomgren has charge of from start to finish.

Bloomgren has his first commitment of that 2019 class — Justin Moore of Trinity Christian Academy committed to Rice on April 4. The 6-foot-3, 240 pound defensive end chose Rice over offers from Arkansas State, Louisiana Monroe and Texas State.

https://twitter.com/bigmoore00/status/981695456521719808

247 Sports rates Moore as a 2-star recruit, although he isn’t ranked on their composite index. Since one service has him ranked there’s a chance he could wind up on other services down the road. Even if other recruiting services haven’t given him much love, a few other big programs have. Since his commitment, Air Force and Texas Tech have offered Moore but he’s still locked in to his original pledge to the Owls.

This will be a good test for Bloomgren’s recruiting prowess. Hailed as an ace recruiter, can Bloomgren keep a coveted player in the fold when another D1 school in the state comes knocking? Texas Tech was the first, but others could soon follow if Moore produces on the field during his senior season.

If Bloomgren is able to convince Moore to stick around he’ll have his first building block on the defensive line for the 2019 class. Rice needs to find someone to take over for the departed Brian Womac, who signed has since signed with the Los Angeles Rams. The quick, yet powerful edge rusher out of Addison, Tx is raw, but flashes plenty of intriguing potential.

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