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2018 Old Dominion Monarchs Season Preview

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Rice football will experience many firsts in the first year of the Mike Bloomgren era. They’re hoping one such first is their first win over the Old Dominion Monarchs.

Old Dominion has been a sneaky strong team since joining the FBS in 2014. The Monarchs came one win shy of a bowl berth last season, finishing 5-7. They hold  26-23 record in three seasons in Conference USA, headlined by a 10-win campaign in 2016. Several of those pieces remain on the team, although many have been supplanted with fresh talent.

Head coach Bobby Wilder enters his 10th season in Norvolk, Virginia having spanned the FCS and FBS eras of the school. During his tenure, the Monarchs are 22-9 at home and 11-18 away. That could suggest a strong finish; ODU has three-straight home games before ending their regular season on Nov. 24 against Rice on the road.

Rice and Old Dominion have met two times with the Monarchs holding a perfect 2-0 advantage in series history. Both games so far have been close, each ending in three-point victories for ODU. Here’s how the Monarchs will stack up entering 2018:

Offense

The Monarchs return the vast majority of their skill players from a year ago. Outside of former starting running back Ray Lawry and receiver Melvin Vaughn, the team is more or less intact from a year ago. That should be a good sign for ODU, but much of the burden of offensive improvement will rest on the shoulders of sophomore quarterback Steven Williams.

Reasons for optimism on that front are abundant. Williams was thrust into the fray midway through last season and had to learn on the fly. He started slow (0-6, 49.4 percent completions, four touchdowns and 11 interceptions in his first six games before ending with a bang (3-1, 68.1 percent completions, two touchdowns and no interceptions).

A step forward for Williams should push the receiving corps forward as well. Four of the Monarchs’ five leading receivers return this season and four of them averaged at least 11 yards per reception. Moving the ball downfield should be an area this offensive improves this season. Five returning starters on the offensive line should help to that end.

At running back senior Jeremy Cox should be next in line. He registered more rushing attempts that Lawry last year but wasn’t nearly as productive, averaging 4.2 yards per carry to Lawry’s 5.6 He does bring a more versatile skillset to the team, though. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound back moonlighted as an adequate pass catcher last season, catching 20 passes for 176 yards.

Defense

The defense also brings back a good amount of experience, starting up front on the defensive line. ODU was fourth in Conference USA with 31 sacks last season and lost just 5.5 of those sacks this offseason. The Monarchs have a pair of All-CUSA first team standouts on the line: defensive tackle Miles Fox and end Oshane Ximines.

If that line can generate pressure up front they’ll make things a lot easier for a secondary that had its issues a season ago. The Monarchs finished in the middle of the conference in passing yards allowed but registered only five interceptions while surrendering 18 touchdowns through the air. A veteran group led by strong safety Justin Noye and Justice Davila will be tasked with being more aggressive against the pass.

That leaves the linebackers. Marvin Branch and Jordan Young anchored the ODU defense in the middle last season, accounting for 96 and 85 tackles, respectively. They were also active against the pass, registering seven combined passes defensed.

If the defense can stay healthy, which was a problem for them at times last season, this could become one of the most improved units in Conference USA. Depth concerns prevent sky-high expectations, but the talent is definitely there for ODU in 2018.

Schedule

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Owls receiving corps greater than sum of its parts

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Rice football has a healthy dose of new faces in their wide receiving corps this year. Led by Aaron Cephus, a few other pass catchers have emerged.

Aaron Cephus is the lone name at the top of the box scores from the 2017 season. The then-freshman receiver hauled in 25 receptions for 622 yards. He’s a raw, big-bodied athlete with enormous potential. His 24.9 yards per reception led all of college football in 2017, but there’s more to Cephus than that one statistic – just like there’s more to the Rice receiving corps than that one player.

Rice football doesn’t return any other receivers, outside of Cephus, who had more than four receptions in 2017. That’s an almost incomprehensible amount of turnover, but the clean slate has opened up opportunities for several players on the roster, both old and new. If Rice is going to be successful this fall they’re going to need several of these players to step into meaningful roles.

The most likely player to emerge from that mix is sophomore wideout, Austin Trammell. Dubbed “Mr. Consistent” for his reliability and soft hands throughout camp, Trammell is one of, if not the most sure-handed player on this roster. Despite only registering four receptions for 51 yards last season, Trammell could be the early favorite to lead the Owls in receptions this year.

Trammell has spent a good amount of time out of the slot early on this fall, a place that he has excelled. His quick release and elusiveness across the middle should open up opportunities for the guys on the outside.

He’s already proven that he’s not the kind of inside man that can be covered by your average linebacker. The 5-foot-10 receiver has a quick twitch and attacks the ball over the middle, showing a certain amount of fearlessness that begs his quarterbacks to trust him with the ball in critical moments.

Head coach Mike Bloomgren couldn’t be more thrilled with the growth Trammell has shown this offseason, acknowledging that Trammell is “good at everything” and at the center of the Owls’ plans on offense this year.Rice Football

The third man who has separated himself from the pack was somewhat of a surprise this fall. True freshman Brendan Harmon is playing at too high of a level to not be on the field. That’s not just one man’s opinion.

When talking with Cephus about his strengths in the redzone Cephus turned the conversation to the talented freshman, lauding his “great ball skills” adding Harmon would “definitely be a threat” on the field this season. Trammell added to the praise, referring to Harmon as the missing piece on the outside, giving the Owls “every aspect of the passing game they need.”

More importantly, Bloomgren doubled down on both of those remarks. “He’s a redzone threat,” remarked Bloomgren of the 6-foot-5, 180-pound freshman after one of the Owls’ final practices of fall camp. “More than that,” he added, “he’s also proven he can run routes and be more physical than we thought he could be in year one. He’s going to play and he’s going to play a lot.”

Meanwhile, Harmon is humbling working on getting the ins and outs of this new offense covered. His focus this offseason has been simple: “I’ve just been trying to dedicate myself to learning the playbook so I can come in and make plays when it’s my turn,” he admitted, modestly. For Harmon, that turn might come sooner, rather than later.

He’s also proven he can run routes and be more physical than we thought he could be in year one. He’s going to play and he’s going to play a lot.Mike Bloomgren on freshman WR Brian Harmon

Those three, along with redshirt sophomore Rhett Cardwell and versatile running back and converted wide receiver Austin Walters moving into the slot out of the backfield, will be the primary wideouts this season. Cephus has the experience. Trammell has the hands. Harmon has the size. Each of them brings a unique set of skills to the field and all of them will be needed for this passing attack to improve from where it was a season ago.

So far, so good. “Everybody is doing their job,” relayed Cephus. And, as Bloomgren has stressed throughout his tenure so far, it’s all about the process. For the Rice wide receivers, the process is just beginning and soon enough it will be time to put all of those techniques and tools onto the field at game speed. Each man brings something a little different and, in this case, the sum of the whole looks to be better than the parts.

“I just want to do my best, make plays, and have fun,” summed up Harmon, excitedly before adding one all-important closing comment, “And get some wins.” It looks like the Owls might have enough weapons in their receiving corps to do just that.

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3 Days: Owls own 3 finishes inside top eight of final AP Poll

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Rice football has finished inside the top eight in the AP Poll three times in school history and inside the Top 25 nine times. Will they return to the polls any time soon?

When people discuss the ceiling for Rice football they often revert to lamenting the struggles the program has gone through in recent memory. It’s true, the 1-win campaign from a year ago was tough to stomach, but Rice football has put together several memorable campaigns, highlighted by three seasons in which the Owls finished inside the top eight of the AP Poll.

Rice landed right on the edge in 1946, finishing at No. 10 before breaking through a few years later. The incredible 1949 season prompted the construction of Rice Stadium in 1950 and has been recognized as the most successful team in school history. Rice football achieved a program-best No. 5 ranking that season, but it wasn’t long before Jess Neely has the Owls back near the top of the college football mountain.

After hovering around .500 for three years, Neely pushed the Owls back to No. 6 in the nation in 1953, capping off the year with yet another Cotton Bowl win. The 9-2 record marked the fourth time in school history that the Owls had won as many games, falling just shy of the Owls’ 10-win 1949 season.

Once more, after a three-season break from the national stage, Neely’s 1957 campaign broke into the upper echelon of the sport. That squad finished 7-4 with a loss in the Cotton Bowl. It also marked the last time that Rice would finish in the top 10 and the second-to-last time that the Owls would be ranked in the final AP Poll at all.

Outside of a 7-4 season that pushed the Owls as high as No. 7 before finishing at No. 17, Rice hasn’t come that close to finishing as a ranked squad. 10-win seasons in 2008 and 2013 both put the Owls to the edge, but untimely losses (including a Liberty Bowl loss following the 2013 campaign) kept the Owls on the outside looking in.

A Top 10 ranking isn’t as farfetched as it might sound. UCF’s storybook run last season that ended in a Peach Bowl victory over Auburn vaulted the Knights into the No. 6 spot in the final polls. That came just four years removed from a Top 10 finish under George O’Leary. Ranked teams at Rice are still within reach, as is the Top 10 if the Owls can put all the pieces together at the same time.

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2018 FIU Panthers Season Preview

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Rice football dropped a close game to Florida International in Houston last season. Can they rebound with a win over the Panthers on the road in 2018?

Florida International is coming off one of the most successful seasons in school history. The Panthers tied a school-best eight wins in 2017 under the leadership of new head coach Butch Davis. Davis has now had eight wins in four consecutive seasons.

Once the head man at Miami and later North Carolina, Davis brought a career 64.8 winning percentage to FIU. That average, when applied to an entire season, comes out to roughly to eight wins per year. That was more or less the standard for Davis before he landed at FIU. He has two sub-.500 seasons in his head coaching career.

Eight wins won’t be enough at most Power 5 schools, but FIU welcomes the improvement. The Panthers were 4-1 in one-score games a year ago, including a 17-10 win over Rice in Houston.

The 2018 FIU squad has a lot of similar pieces. Here’s how the Panthers stack up this season.

Offense

FIU finished in the middle of the pack in Conference USA in terms of total offense averaging 25.6 points per game. The bulk of their 41 total touchdowns were generated by dual-threat quarterback Alex McGough, who leaves the school No. 2 in all-time passing yardage.

McGough threw for a personal best 2,798 passing yards last season, adding 17 touchdowns through the air and five more on the ground. Additional losses for the Panthers are star wide receiver Thomas Owens and starting running back Alex Gardner. Both players were yardage and touchdown leaders at their respective positions.

Although they have several holes to fill, the bulk of the depth returns in 2018. FIU brings back four receivers who caught 20 or more passes last year led Austin Maloney.

The Panthers are equally equipped on the ground. Napoleon Maxwell and Shawndarrius Phillips combined for 185 carries, 972 rushing yards and nine touchdowns last season. They’ll be able to split the rushing duties behind one of the most experienced offensive lines in college football. The Panthers return every starter up front led by All-CUSA guard Jordan Budwig.

If sophomore quarterback James Morgan, a transfer from Bowling Green, can be effective this unit will be one of the better squads in Conference USA.

Defense

The FIU defense doesn’t enter 2018 in as good of a position as the offense. The top four and seven of the top nine leading tacklers are not returning this year, leaving fairly significant questions at every level of the defense.

The biggest unknown lies in the defensive backfield. FIU finished 13th in CUSA against the pass last season, allowing a staggering 65.3 completion percentage. Not a single player who registered an interception for FIU returns and the only meaningful addition is Rutgers grad transfer Kiy Hester at free safety. Hester registered three picks for the Scarlet Knights.

An improved pass rush might be the best recipe for improvement on the back line and that’s something that could be possible this season. An infusion of talent is inbound in the form of Georgia Tech transfer Jordan Wood and 4-star JUCO defensive tackle Tayland Humphrey. The talent was impressive enough that last year’s leader along the defensive line, Fermin Silva has been freed up to play linebacker.

Silva will pair up with returning starter Sage Lewis. Those two finished first and third on the team in quarterback hurries last season and combined for seven tackles for a loss and 12 sacks.

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5 Days: Owls remain a perfect 5-0 against Alabama and Auburn

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Rice football is undefeated against two of the most successful program in the history of college football, the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Auburn Tigers.

The SEC gets an abundance of respect for their year in and year out dominance. The Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers have won six out of the last nine national titles. That’s an impressive feat, but there is one thing neither of those schools has yet to accomplish – beat Rice.

This isn’t a half-truth and Rice hasn’t survived the SEC juggernauts by avoiding them entirely. The Owls have played Alabama three times and Auburn twice, with all five games ending in Rice victories.

Rice first played Alabama in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day 1954. The Crimson Tide had climbed as high as No. 5 in the polls that season, but Rice set them packing, emphatically. After allowing a first quarter touchdown, the Owls outscored the Tide 28-0 over the final three quarters. Dicky Moegle was the star, ripping off a pair of long touchdown runs of 79-yards and 95-yards, respectively.

The remainder of the meetings with both SEC foes came in regular season affairs. Rice beat Alabama again the following season in 1955 by a score of 20-0 and again in 1956, 20-13. All-time. Rice has outscored Alabama 68-19. Not many schools hold an advantage that significant in any margin against a team with such a storied history.

Auburn didn’t’ fair much better against Rice. Their pair of games came in back-to-back seasons. In 1937 the Owls won 13-7 before winning again in 1938 by a score of 14-0.

Rice has perfect records over 23 institutions. The inclusion of programs like the Virginia Military Institute, Centenary and Hardin Simmons on that list isn’t surprising. A perfect record against Alabama and Auburn and Colorado, Georgia, Washington and West Virginia for good measure) is a sweet slice of history for Rice football.

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