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Bye week comes at right time for Owls

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Rice football took advantage of an early-season bye to focus on fundamentals and discipline, both areas that will pay huge dividends for the Owls this fall.

Sitting at 1-2, the 2018 Rice football season is far from over. With 10 games still to play, the Owls are only just beginning what they hope will be a promising campaign. The bulk of their games will come after their Week 3 bye week.

Sandwiched between road trips to Hawaii and Southern Miss, Rice players and coaches have had a much-needed extra week during the middle of the season’s grind. The coaches have jetted off all over the country, recruiting from Califonia to D.C. Players have stayed home, using the time to focus on their craft.

The leadership of this young team knows the timing of this break couldn’t have been better. “It gives us a chance to see what we did early on and fix that for the rest of the season,” acknowledged safety George Nyakwol, remarking that he the team progress significantly simply by “focusing on technique and going back to the fundamentals.”

Quarterback Shawn Stankavage was equally confident, if not more so. “I think the bye week really helped us get locked in and turn this thing around… we’re close, we’re in these games, we’re just not pulling away at the end.”

In order to make that final play or two to push them over the edge, the team needs to continue to pursue excellence in everything they do. That starts with practice and extends to game day. “When we execute during the week, Saturday’s are easy,” Stankavage said. To get there, the Owls are focusing on the little things, leaving no stone unturned.

The bye week was extra time for a team still learning to continue ironing out the kinks. Neither side of the ball is going to be transformed overnight, but Rice football got a lot better this week — little by little.

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Stock up, stock down for Owls’ remaining 2018 opponents

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Conference USA football is off to a strong start. Here’s how Rice football’s future opponents are trending through Week 3 of the 2018 season.

Stock Down – Southern Miss (1-1)

Results (1-1): vs Jackson State (W), vs UL-Monroe (L)

Rice’s next opponent had their Week 3 game against Appalachian State canceled because of Hurricane Florence.  There only two previous games didn’t exactly inspire confidence in the Eagles. Formerly suspended quarterback Kwadre Griggs will be active for this game, but it’s still unclear how much playing time he’ll get. That’s a lot of question marks.

Stock Up – Wake Forest (2-1)

Results: @ Tulane (W), vs Towson (W), vs Boston College (L)

Wake Forest had a long list of departures to replace this fall including a few key pieces in the secondary and their starting quarterback. In place of John Wolford, Sam Hartman has been serviceable, completing 55.3 percent of his passes and averaging 278 yards and two touchdown passes per game. Their only loss of the season came against a potent BC offense and the Demon Deacons took them down to the wire.

Stock Even – UTSA (0-3)

Results: @ Arizona St (L), vs Baylor (L), @ Kansas St (L)

UTSA deserves some credit for daring to do something no other Conference USA squad did this year, play three Power 5 opponents in their first three games. UTSA lost all three games, but the testing they received to start their seasons will pay dividends down the road. A win would have been nice, but there’s no reason for the Roadrunners to be too concerned about their season quite yet.

Stock Up  – UAB (2-1)

Results: vs Savannah St (W), @ Coastal Carolina (L), vs Tulane (W)

UAB captured the hearts of the nation in their recent return to football. Removed from that fresh jolt, the Blazers have been up and down. This was one of the toughest teams to peg entering the year, and they’ve held their own through three games. Spencer Brown is becoming a workhorse on the ground, coming near 300 yards rushing with two scores so far this season.

Stock Up – FIU (1-1)

Results: vs Indiana (L), @ Old Dominion (W), vs UMass (W)

Butch Davis has built some sturdy program over his varied stops, and FIU is becoming one more feather in his cap. The Panthers gave Indiana a run for their money and continue to present opponents with a balanced offensive attack led by quarterback James Morgan and stable of capable running backs. This team is ahead of schedule.

Stock Up – North Texas (3-0)

Results: vs SMU (W), vs Incarnate Word (W), @ Arkansas (W)

The arm of Mason Fine is among the best in Conference USA. He took his gunslinging talents on the road to Arkansas and threw it all over an SEC defense. Arkansas isn’t the cream of the crop in their conference, but they’re still a talented team. Nobody has been able to keep up with the Mean Green so far.

Stock Even – UTEP (0-3)

Results: vs Northern Arizona (L), @ UNLV (L), @ Tennessee (L)

There’s not much more to see here. UTEP was expected to be bad this season and they’re started out the year with losses to NAU, UNLV and Tennessee. The schedule doesn’t get easier with Conference play starting soon, and that could make for another frustrating year for the Miners and their fans.

Stock Up  – Louisiana Tech (2-0)

Results: @ South Alabama (W), vs Southern (W)

It’s hard to start better than undefeated. Louisiana Tech has taken care of business, but the schedule is about to get a lot more challenging. Road trips to LSU and North Texas in the next two weeks make it hard to get too excited, but watching their host of big-play receivers go deep is plenty of fun for the time being.

Stock Up  – LSU (3-0)

Results: vs Miami (W), vs SE Louisiana (W), @ Auburn (W)

There isn’t a team in the entire nation with a better resume right now than the LSU Tigers. After blowing out Miami in Week 1 the Tigers came from behind to take down Auburn in Week 3. An elite defensive unit with enough quarterback play from Joe Burrow has turned this team into an unexpected force in the SEC.

Stock Down – Old Dominion (0-3)

Results: @ Liberty (W), vs FIU (L), @ Charlotte (L)

Liberty is in its first year as an FBS program. Charlotte is projected to finish near the bottom of the CUSA East. The FIU loss isn’t too egregious, but the body of work does not look impressive in the slightest. Old Dominion has some time to turn things around, but the early returns aren’t very promising.

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Early season grades for the Special Teams entering the bye week

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Rice football is three games into the 2018 season. Here’s how the Owls’ special teams grade out entering the Owls’ bye in Week 3.

Punting: A+

First off, Jack Fox is a stud. Mike Bloomgren has been saying it all season, and it certainly is worth repeating. Fox’s impact on the Owls this season is hard to quantify, but the Ray Guy watchlist candidate has blasted 14 punts so far with only one rolling into the endzone for a touchback.

The value Fox provides to this team was made crystal clear in the fourth quarter against Hawaii. With the Owls trailing 28-22, a Rice drive stalled out on the 35-yard line. Next, Fox boomed a 64-yard punt all the way to the Hawaii 1-yard line. The defense had already forced a safety on the 1-yard line earlier in the game, putting the momentum squarely in the Owls’ favor. In that instance, the defense faltered and surrendered the winning touchdown. Nevertheless, Fox did his job — and then some.

Fox’s 45.0 net punting mark is tied for the sixth-best in the nation. He’s the only CUSA punter inside the top 15 in that metric and will be a weapon for the Owls as they enter conference play.

Kicking:  B

Mike Bloomgren is traditional as far as college football goes in several ways. His approach to the kicking game is not one of them. Fox can drill the ball from deep, that’s not secret, but rather than give him exclusive work as the team’s primary punter and kicker, Rice has employed a tandem field goal crew.

According to the analytics, the team gathered this offseason, Hayden Tabola is more accurate from the right hash at closer ranges. Bloomgren has said he’ll trust Fox with anything longer than 45-yards out, but he’s going to continue to give Tabola work in those situations. Against

The Houston game was the only real blemish on this duo. Fox missed two long kicks and Tabola failed to convert one of his tries. That left nine points on the board in a game that was within one score midway through the fourth quarter. Together, Rice is 7-of-11 in their field goals, which is right around the national average. Considering the amount of talent this duo has, the results will be expected to trend upwards in the next portion of the season.

Punt and Kickoff Returns Defense: A+

The efficiency of the return defense speaks is quite literally second to none. Rice has allowed one punt to returned this season, and the return man lost two yards. The punt return unit also has a fumble recovery to their credit, courtesy of a long blast off the foot of Fox that Houston return man Bryson Smith wasn’t able to haul in.

The defense on kickoff returns has been nearly as impressive. Rice ranks 24th in the nation in that metric, allowing 15.7 yards per kickoff. When you have Fox drilling balls to the edge of the endzone, a 15-yard return isn’t all that impressive and usually sets the Owls’ opponents up for mediocre field position at best.

Punt and Kickoff Returns: B-

Where the Owls do stand to improve is their own return game. Rice has only had the chance to return two punts, and collectively netted -2 yards on those opportunities. There hasn’t been space created by the return unit to give their playmakers the chance to make plays. Austin Trammell, the team’s primary punt returner has the elusiveness to get downfield. He just needs to be given the chance.

Kickoff returns have been a different story. Through two games the Owls were doing well in this aspect of special teams, but Austin Walter helped elevate this grade with a tremendous outing against Hawaii. The Owls gave up some points against the Rainbow Warriors, but the kick return unit spotted the offense excellent field position. Walter averaged 29.4 yards per return that game with a long of 46 yards.

What do you think? How would you grade each position group, and why? Leave your answer in the comments.
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Early season grades for the Defense entering the bye week

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Rice football is three games into the 2018 season. Here’s how the Owls’ offense grades out entering the Owls’ bye in Week 3.

Defensive line: B-

Led by Zach Abercrumbia, Elijah Garcia and Roe Wilkins, the defensive line profiled to be the deepest position group on the team entering the 2018 season. The talent hasn’t gone anywhere; this trio still shows flashes of game-breaking ability. But the production hasn’t quite lived up to expectations.

Rice has fives sacks this season, with one of those being credited to Wilkins on the line. Wilkins also has the only forced fumble from this unit and two tackles for a loss. Garcia has one tackle for a loss and Abercrumbia ranks third on the team with 13 tackles. All good results, and if this were another unit on the defense that level or production would be fine. But this group is capable of playing at the higher standard.

Rice has surrendered 13 plays (four rushing, nine passing) of 30 yards or more, the most of any team in the nation. Big plays of that magnitude result in breakdowns from more than one level of the defense, but it all starts up front.

The secondary can trace some of their issues to the play of front seven. If the Owls can get more push from their playmakers up from the back end of their defense will receiver some much-needed relief. Simply put, if the most talented unit of the defense doesn’t produce at an elite level the rest of the defense will be susceptible to big plays. That’s what has happened so far in the Owls’ first three contests.

Linebackers:  B+

If the defensive line was the unit with the greatest level of expectation entering the season the linebacker group has been the most compelling. Dylan Silcox leads the team with 21 tackles. He also has a sack and a fumble recovery.

Silcox has a veteran core surrounding him, each of whom has had their moments. Graysen Schantz, Martin Nwakamma and Anthony Ekpe have been the steady presence this unit needs. The only real knock on their performance thus far has been their collectively tackling.

Three of the top seven tacklers on this team are members of the secondary. That’s something that this group needs to fix going forward. Runners can’t continue to get past them, and they’ll have help.

The linebacker corps features the most promising collection of young talent on this defense. Antonio Montero and Treshawn Chamberlain were two of the biggest risers in fall camp. They’ve continued to live up to the hype during this young season and will start to push the veterans for playing time soon. Each has one tackle so far, but Chamerblain made his count, sacking Hawaii quarterback Cole McDonald.

The combination of youth and experience this unit brings is exciting. The potential to take another step forward and finish as the best unit on the defense by the end of the year is absolutely within the realm of possibility.

Secondary: D+

Let’s cut to the chase. The stats for this unit aren’t pretty. It’s no secret the secondary has struggled out of the gate, but yardage totals alone don’t tell the full story. Both Douglas-Doctson and TyRae Thornton have dealt with early season injuries and the lack of continuity on the back end hasn’t done the unit any favors.

Then there are the opponents. To act like Houston and Hawaii are your run-of-the-mill balanced college football offenses is simply naive. These are two high-tempo, fast-paced units that are going to put up a lot of yards and a lot of points against several strong defenses this season.

There’s no denying they did their fair share of damage against Owls. Houston threw for 320 yards and three touchdowns. Hawaii racked up 319 yards and four scores through the air. Both performances were damaging, but Rice faired better than several other FBS opponents.

Hawaii’s Cole McDonald threw for 436 yards and six touchdowns against Navy. Houston’s D’Eriq King carved up Arizona for 254 yards and four aerial scores.

The secondary needs to get better — Rice still doesn’t have an interception on the season. But let’s not jump overboard until we see how this unit performances against some offenses that aren’t putting up video game numbers on everyone they play.

What do you think? How would you grade each position group, and why? Leave your answer in the comments.
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Early season grades for the Offense entering the bye week

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Rice football is three games into the 2018 season. Here’s how the Owls’ offense grades out entering the Owls’ bye in Week 3.

Quarterbacks: A

Midway through fall camp, this was a three-man race. Wow has the position come a long way. Entering the bye Rice has their starter and a competent backup with a defined role. Not only have the Owls solidified their depth chart, they’ve uncovered a hidden gem in Shawn Stankavage.

Against Houston, Stankavage posted the best performance by a Rice quarterback since Tyler Stheling lit up Prairie View in 2016. Stankavage threw for 204 yards and three scores against the Cougars. Then he one-upped himself, tossing two touchdowns in a 299-yard performance against Hawaii. Stankvages’s 546 yards through three games are just shy of last year’s leading passer Miklo Small. He threw for 623 yards through the air in 2017, a total which he accrued in six appearances.

Having Jackson Tyner‘s power arm in reserve is icing on the cake. Tyner came in cold against Houston and dropped a 36-yard dime to Austin Walter to convert a big third down. That poise under pressure is uncommon and gives this coaching staff confidence in a position that entered the fall with lots of question marks.

Running backs: A+

Emmanuel “National Noise” Esupka enters the bye week second in the nation in rushing yardage, trailing only Heisman Trophy hopeful Jonathan Taylor of the Wisconsin Badgers. Coach Bloomgren hinted during the offseason that he’d be heavily involved in the offense, but the volume of carries he’s received is tremendous.

Esupka is averaging 22 carries per game, a pace that’s almost two carries higher than Heisman-runner up Bryce Love averaged in Bloomgren’s Stanford offense in 2017. Are you noticing a trend? If Esupka continues to hear his name mentioned alongside the likes of elite playmakers like Taylor and Love the Rice offense is going to be in good shape.

A star tailback would be enough, but the complementary pieces make this backfield one of the best at its position in Conference USA. Austin Walter has stepped up in big moments too, as has his brother Aston. It was Aston, who converted a crucial third down against Prairie View that enabled the Rice come-from-behind victory, their first win of the season.

Offensive line: C+

SEC transfer Andrew Mike’s inability to crack the two-deep this fall was surprising, giving reason to be optimistic about the Owls’ depth along the line. Shea Baker has been a bright spot at center, but the rest of the unit has had their ups and downs. Collectively, the push at the point of attack needs to be more consistent.

Power running is supposed to be the hallmark of this team’s offensive identity. Rice faced fourth-and-inches on the goalline against Hawaii and failed to convert. The ball got into Esupka’s hands, but he was met in the backfield and dropped just short of the endzone. That one anecdotal story doesn’t completely convey three game’s worth of play, but it’s part of a picture that needs improvement.

Rice allowed 21 tackles for a loss over their first three contests, a rate of seven TFLs allowed per game. The Owls are tied for 93rd in the nation in that mark, giving further color to their struggles up front.

Pass blocking has been fairly consistent — Rice has allowed six sacks over their first three games. Some hiccups are to be expected as a new unit gels together, but it hasn’t come anywhere near the point of concern. When Stankavage or Tyner drops back to pass they have enough time to survey their targets and make the throw. On that front, the line has done just fine.

Tight Ends and Fullbacks: B-

The heavy personnel is a new wrinkle to the Rice offense in 2018. Gone are the four wide receiver sets, instead the Owls have employed more two-back sets and more than once have lined up without any wide receivers on the field. Both Jaeger Bull and Jordan Meyers have grabbed touchdowns, but the biggest contribution from this position group has been on the ground.

From a run blocking perspective, it’s challenging divorce the fullback from the performance of the offensive line without diving deep into the film. For the most part, Will Phillips and UCLA transfer Giovanni Gentosi and have been able to put a hat on a hat and open up running lanes for Esupka and Co. The struggles on that front rest more on the offensive line than the fullbacks. The same can be said for the tight ends.

Wide receivers: B-

The success of the Rice wide receivers has been more a byproduct of great quarterback play than game-changing performances by any one player. Rice had one returning pass catcher that registered more than four catches in 2017, leaving the position wide open for someone to become the go-to guy. So far, the Owls are still looking.

Through three games a few wideouts have had moments, but no one has emerged as the type of game-breaking target that can take this offense to the next level. As for who could step up in the remaining weeks, both Aaron Cephus and Brendan Harmon have plenty of big-play potential. Harmon hauled in a redzone score against Houston but hasn’t been much of a factor in the Owls’ other games to this point. As he learns the offense his touches should go up.

In the near term, it’s Cephus who stands the best chance to break out. A year removed from leading the nation in yards per reception, Cephus ranks 15th the same metric among players with 10 or more receptions in 2018. Raw talent has never been the issue for Cephus, it’s been consistency. When he’s locked in, he can snatch the ball away from anybody. His jump ball ability will be utilized more and more as the offense progresses.

Sophomore Austin Trammell has been a much-needed safety net over the middle, racking up 17 catches for 190 yards, primarily out of the slot. His contributions on special teams and on third down shouldn’t be lost in the shuffle of other big plays.

What do you think? How would you grade each position group, and why? Leave your answer in the comments.
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