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Retooling the offense, practice notes (11/15)

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Rice football is going to need to pull out the whole bag of tricks if they want to beat the LSU Tigers on the road, and that starts at practice.

In a season full of silver linings, the offensive adjustments and changes have been encouraging to see in practice over the last few weeks. The team isn’t sticking to the same ‘ol, same ‘ol, rather they’re adapting and adding to their repertoire week after week.

That was evident with their insertion of D’Angelo Ellis at wide receiver and the incorporation of Aston Walter in the running game, allowing Austin Walter to be split out wide. There were more wrinkles put into the gameplan for LSU this week, several of which the Owls haven’t put on tape at all this year.

There will be a few trick plays up Mike Bloomgren’s sleave, but most of the additions are schemes and plays designed to maximize the opportunities for the Owls to break big plays.

Looking for the fourth option in the passing game

Three different pass catchers — Austin Trammell, Aaron Cephus and Austin Walter — have caught 72.8 percent of the Owls’ passes this season. That speaks to the reliability of each of those players, but also the void that exists elsewhere in the offense.

None of the tight ends have really made their presence felt yet and the high hopes the coaching staff had for receiver Brendan Harmon have been put on hold via injury. D’Angelo Ellis has begun to play the lion’s share of reps on the outside and Jordan Myers is settling into the primary tight end role. Both had flashes during practice on Thursday, but someone is going to have to step up and help quarterback Shawn Stankavage.

All-Academic teams announced

Bloomgren recognized both Jorian Clark and Parker Hanusa who were named Google Cloud Academic All-District 7 team. Those selections were made by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

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10 Stats entering Owls’ game vs LSU

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Rice football has been through plenty of ups and downs in 2018. With a game against LSU looming it’s time to take a peek at some key stats.

4 – Interceptions by true freshman safety Prudy Calderon. One more than the entire team had last season.

5 – Number of players to register at least 25 carries so far this season. After relying on one lead back through his time at Stanford, several factors have led Mike Bloomgren to employ a variety of rushers. Aston Walter saw the majority of the work in the Owls’ most recent game against Louisiana Tech.

6 – Sacks by Anthony Ekpe, the most on the team and a career high. Since his breakout three-sack game against North Texas, Ekpe has 10 tackles and 1.5 sacks over his last two games.

10 – Touchdown passes for quarterback Shawn Stankavage. The most by an Owls’ quarterback since Tyler Stheling in 2016.

37-13-5 – Rice’s all-time record against LSU.  The Tigers and Owls went back and forth in the mid-’50s, but LSU has won 17 of the last 19 with one tie. The Owls’ last win came in 1980.

45 – Different players that have recorded at least one tackle this season. The volume of newcomers the Owls’ have played continues to grow every week.

45.3 – Average punt length from specialist Jack Fox. That distance leads Conference USA and ranks ninth in the nation.

48 – Tackles registered by Zach Abercrumbia this season, the most by an interior defensive lineman since Christian Covington in 2013

90 percent – Kicker Hayden Tobola has connected on 9-of-10 field goals. That accuracy leads Conference USA and ranks sixth in the nation.

600 – Receiving yards for Austin Trammell through 11 games. Trammel appeared in 12 games as a freshman in 2017 and tallied 51 receiving yards on four catches.

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Why not us? LSU press conference notes (11/13)

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Rice football faces their toughest task of the season on Saturday as they travel to Death Valley to take on the SEC’s LSU Tigers. Mike Bloomgren and the team remain confident.

There won’t be many people around the country that have a Nov. 17, 2018 matchup between Rice and LSU circled on their calendars. From a national perspective, it’s a vaunted SEC superpower against a lowly Group of 5 opponent. While that might be the trend, Rice football seeks to be the exception.

“They’re going to be more talented than us,” head coach Mike Bloomgren freely admitted in his Tuesday press conference prior to the game. “But every week in college football you see a team go into one of those places [and win].” Bloomgren said every week there’s one game that forces you to do a double-take when you check the score on your phone and gasp, “Those dudes beat them?”

Old Dominion toppled Virginia Tech, Akron beat Northwester and Eastern Washington upset Purdue. A massive upset happens every week. Why not this week? Why not Rice? Bloomgren didn’t shy away from the possibility, remarking “Nobody outside of these walls believes we can do it and we know we can.”

The key to engineering the upset starts with cleaning up mistakes from last weekend. Quarterback Sean Stankavage’s three interceptions were at the top of Bloomgren’s gripes against Louisiana Tech. The running game, primarily on the legs of Aston Walter was better, but still has a long way to go until it gets back to the level this team is capable of.

The team is confident, but measured. Safety Prudy Calderon, who picked off two passes against Louisiana Tech knows they’re in for an arduous task. LSU is a team that he described as having that “one shot capability” – something Rice has struggled with throughout this season. Calderon’s insertion into the starting lineup has helped, but the secondary as a whole will have to step up their game even further.

“Our guys are up for the challenge,” Calderon declared, echoing Bloomgren’s believe in his team and hopes for Saturday. It’s gong to be a battle. Rice knows if they’re still standing in the fourth quarter they’ll have a shot. That’s all they’re asking for.

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Prudy Calderon shines bright in tough loss to Louisiana Tech

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Rice football dropped another close fourth quarter contest, but Prudy Calderon‘s ascension provides a reason for hope in the midst of defeat.

The Rice defense had generated four interceptions entering Saturday’s road contest with Louisiana Tech. Two of those picks came by way of freshman safety Prudy Calderon, who made his first start against FIU. He doubled his career interception mark against Louisiana Tech, picking off two passes, both on the goal line to thwart potential touchdowns.

His four interceptions to date mark one more than the Owls’ interception total as an entire defense in 2017. It’s also more interceptions than seven different FBS teams had so far this season entering Week 11.

The longer he stays on the field, the more takeaways this defense gets. His teammates and his coaches have recognized how well he’s playing and continue to espouse his praises every chance they get. “I’m really proud of what Prudy’s doing,” said head coach Mike Bloomgren, “We’re just scratching the surface of what he’s going to be. And that’s really exciting to me because he’s tackling well, seeing the game well and making those plays that come to him.”

The potential of Calderon is through the roof. His vision in the open field is innate and he’s only going to get better as he refines his game. For him, confidence has always been the biggest hurdle to clear. Once he realized he could hang with the talent on the other side of the field he started making plays — he hasn’t let up yet.

Quarterback Shawn Stankavage, who struggled with turnovers himself on Saturday, noted how important it was for the defense to be playing as well as they were. His first shoutout was handed directly to Calderon  — a short but honest evaluation: “Prudy played his butt off.”

Calderon registered two picks and one tackle against Louisiana Tech. He kept this team alive and did all he could to will them to victory. He’ll point to the coaching staff and his teammates for their strong performances on Saturday, but this team doesn’t take Louisiana Tech to the wire without a phenomenal day from the freshman safety, a star in the making.

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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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