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Rice Football 2024 Game Preview: Army

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Rice football leaves the state this week for the first time this season to take on Army. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

The first AAC game can’t get here soon enough for Rice football which wrapped up the bulk of its nonconference action this past weekend with a 33-6 loss to crosstown rival Houston. Army was idle, completing their first bye week of the season after a 2-0 start to the year. Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup between Rice and Army.

Kickoff time | 11:00 PM CT
Venue | Michie Stadium – West Point, NY
TV | CBS SN (Viewing Guide)
Radio | Varsity Radio App (Online)

Audio / Visual Preview

We’ll preview Rice football vs Army on this week’s episode of the Blue and Gray Preview Show, kicking off live on Wednesday on the Rice Athletics YouTube channel. Look for a recap of the game on the site afterward as well as on The Roost Podcast, which should be released early next week.

Sizing up the contenders

The losses are already beginning to stack up for Rice football and head coach Mike Bloomgren who have suffered two painful defeats to begin what was meant to be a breakthrough season. While a road loss at West Point would be far from the most painful defeat, the Owls need to start putting numbers in the win column before things spiral further. As for Army, the Black Knights view themselves as AAC contenders and already own a conference win, taking down FAU in Week 2. A 2-0 start in a new league would put them among the leaders from the jump.

Series History

All Time | Tied, 4-4-1
Last Five | Army leads, 3-2
Last Meeting | Away 2019, Army won 14-7

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Rice Football Stat Notables

Passing | Warner – 59/95 (62.1 percent), 466 yards, 3 TD, 4 INT
Rushing | Connors – 32 carries, 197 yards (6.2 yards per carry), 5 TD / Atkins – 17 carries, 115 yards (6.8 yards per carry), 2 TD
Receiving | Sykes – 10 receptions, 127 yards (12.7 yds/rec), 1 TD / Groen – 10 receptions, 63 yards (6.3 yds/rec) / Connors – 18 receptions, 81 yards (4.5 yds/rec)
Tackles | Pearcy/Fresch – 14, Morris/Taylor – 13, Boenisch – 11
Pass Breakups | Fresech – 3, Green/Ahoia/Jean/Fresch – 1 each
Interceptions | Flowers/Williams – 1

Army Stat Notables

Passing | Daily – 4/10 (40.0 percent), 79 yards, 1 TD
Rushing | Daily – 35 carries, 195 yards (5.6 yards per carry), 2 TD / Udoh – 29 carries, 143 yards (5.0 yards per carry), 3 TD / Noah Short – 19 carries, 243 yards (12.8 yards per carry), 1 TD
Receiving | Reynolds – 2 receptions, 66 yards (33.0 yds/rec), 1 TD / Schurr – 2 receptions, 22 yards (11.0 yds/rec)
Tackles | Fortner – 12, DiDomenico – 10, Thomas – 9 
Pass Breakups | Shields – 2, DiDomenico/Modozie/Williams – 1
Interceptions | DiDomenico/Mayes/Platt – 1

Army X-Factor | Don’t get cute

A year ago Army head coach Jeff Monken dabbled in modernizing the Army scheme, moving away from the traditional option and taking to the air more often. That lasted about half a season before returning to what the Black Knights have always done best, running the ball. To that end, Army completed one pass in their thorough drubbing of Florida Atlantic in their first AAC game.

When it comes to taking on one of the conference’s other Owls, Army shouldn’t have to overthink it. Rice struggled to contain the quarterback run game against SHSU and while the Owls were better against Houston, they still were prone to give up an explosive play on the ground here and there. Against a team like Army which will stress the Owls’ schematic soundness time and time again, it might only take a few opportunities to take control of this game.

Rice X-Factor | Fix the offense, stat

Bloomgren said it best in the aftermath of the Houston defeat. “The worst thing you can do in the world against any of the academies is to go three and out because you put your defense in such a tough situation. So we’ve got to make sure we’re moving the sticks offensively, doing our part,” he said. “Also, the thing that comes with that is knowing that every offensive possession is like gold because they’re going to be minimized so much. You’re talking about getting eight nine or ten possessions in a game against an academy instead of 11 or 12. Everything’s magnified.”

That’s the reality Rice football is facing. How they go about addressing it remains to be seen. Bloomgren had some theories as to the root cause of the offensive issues so far this season, a topic addressed in detail here, but no matter the cause, an answer is essential. Rice might only get a few cracks at putting up points this weekend. They can’t afford to continue to walk away empty-handed. 

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One Final Thing

The last time this staff went to West Point they handled the option extremely well. Army won that 2019 game 14-7 and had it not been for a failed fourth down conversion and a relatively young, unproven quarterback, Rice might have walked away with a victory. The result of that game is less important to this one as was the Owls’ discipline and ability to stay fundamentally sound on defense. The 2024 version of the Rice defense is faster and more athletic which, on paper, bodes well for the Owls’ chances of rebounding this weekend.

But as any Rice football fan is painfully aware of right now, games aren’t played on paper. If they were, Rice wouldn’t have been blown off the field last weekend in their rivalry game and wouldn’t be entering conference play with a losing record. There’s evidence this team is capable of neutralizing Army’s biggest advantage, but they’re going to have to prove they can do it again before anyone feels comfortable asserting they’ve got this one in the bag.

Rice has a home game against Charlotte looming and the chance to get to their first bye week with a winning record. This team can’t afford to look past anyone, but the optics of a rebound are within the range of possibility. That all starts with getting the offense moving and finding a way to get revenge on the troops from that loss at West Point a few years back. 

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Diagnosing Offensive Dysfunction is Rice Football Priority Number 1

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Rice football has issues on offense that need to be sorted out quickly. What’s wrong and how do the Owls believe they can fix it?

Through two games against FBS opponents, the Rice football offense has been a mess. The Owls were held to 274 yards against Sam Houston before managing a paltry 159 against Houston two weeks later, most of which came in garbage time with a backup quarterback attempting to avoid a shutout. It’s been about as bad as it’s looked.

Rice travels to Army this week and doesn’t have much time to lick their wounds. A solution is needed, pronto, and to achieve that, they must first diagnose the problem. Head coach Mike Bloomgren declined to point fingers at any one player, position group of staff member following their most recent blowout defeat, but he did offer a few theories to the Owls’ offensive woes which could realistically fall into one of four categories: protection, quarterback, receiving options, and scheme.

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Rice Football smothered in Bayou Bucket loss to Houston

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Rice Football fell behind early and never threatened to catch up, ceding the Bayou Bucket to Houston after a one-year sojourn at South Main.

It had been more than 20 years since Rice football had claimed the Bayou Bucket in successive seasons. That streak will continue for quite some time longer after Saturday’s loss at TDECU Stadium. There’s one game left in the series as things stand and Rice can’t wait for another shot to redeem themselves from a rough outing in their biggest rivalry matchup. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Going Sideways

Notwithstanding their big day on the scoreboard against Texas Southern, the Rice football offense has struggled to move the ball north and south this season. They’ve largely been a horizontal offense utilizing their speed to the edges to outflank their opponents and slowly matriculate their way down the field. When you’re playing a less talented opponent, that works. When you’re playing a Big 12 team that is just as athletic as you are if not more so, it’s impossible. Rice found that out the hard way, early on.

The first three plays from scrimmage were a Dean Connors run off left tackle followed by a swing pass to Connors off the left side and then a flat out to Boden Groen. They gained seven yards and punted. EJ Warner was under a decent amount of pressure early but misfired on most of his shots down the field. Rice didn’t get any points from their offense until there were 68 seconds left in regulation.

Against FCS competition, Rice has scored 69 points. Against FBS foes the Owls have mustered just 21 in twice as many quarters.

If there was a weak link, it was hard to identify. Warner missed some receivers downfield, the protection regularly failed to give him time to work and the receivers did not generate nearly enough separation. There were moments when everything seemed to come together, but the passing game was flat and horizontal making it near impossible to sustain any meaningful drive.

Rice had one snap on the plus side of the 50 in the first half and seven such plays in the second half. They were 2-for-13 on third down. For an offense, it doesn’t get much worse than this.

The personnel is the personnel. The staff is the staff. They’ve got to figure something out, fast.

Defense staves off a massacre

In hindsight, leading the nation in sacks through two games should have been the clear indicator that this current iteration of Rice football would be led by its defense. A tough opening quarter, which included 35 total yards from the offense and a punt return score, would have been so much worse if the defense hadn’t picked up the slack.

Josh Pearcy added to that sack total on the opening drive, although that takedown probably could have been credited to a few Owls, which is a testament to just how dominant the front seven has been so far this season.

The defense was burned for a handful of chunk plays but largely limited the backbreaking Houston punches to a pair of long first-quarter runs by Re’Shaun Sanford and a screen touchdown following a special teams mistake. A 37-yard run up the gut by Donovan Smith was the cherry on top of a garbage time sundae.

Forced to carry the load for the totality of the game, the defense added three sacks to their total and did a reasonable job containing Houston quarterback Donovan Smith and the Cougars’ rushing attack, which tried its best to drain the clock as quickly as it could. It might not have been a great day from the defense as a whole, but this phase of the ball wasn’t the reason Rice lost on Saturday.

Special teams roulette

Many of the largest swings in this game came in the sometimes overlooked third phase of football. Houston’s second touchdown was a 75-yard punt return touchdown. A few series later, a muffed punt by Sean Fresch was followed by a 44-yard touchdown from the Cougars on the very next play.

The Owls’ punt return woes didn’t stop there. Tyson Thompson, Fresch’s replacement, was leveled on his first return, putting the ball on the deck. Fortunately, Rice recovered and was aided further by a targeting penalty on the Cougars. The Owls were only in need of being bailed out because Thompson failed to signal for a fair catch, perhaps hoping to make the most of a rare opportunity.

While so many of his teammates struggled, Rice punter Alex Bacchetta was a bright spot on Saturday night at TDECU Stadium. Bacchetta punted seven times in the first half and two more in the second. The Rice football program record is 12 punts in one contest, most recently achieved by Jack Fox in 2018.

Bacchetta had one bad boot, a 24-yard on his first touch of the game. The remainder of his kicks were booming blasts. He averaged 42.2 yards per punt, 44.2 yards apiece when excluding the first dud. He was superb, but special teams on a whole were way too erratic in the moments that mattered most.

Behind schedule

Beating Houston would have gotten the Owls to 2-1, par for the season according to oddsmakers, with a marquee win and a rivalry trophy retained. The loss, while not unexpected from a spread standpoint, officially puts Rice behind expectations with a road trip to Army looming.

Picked to finish in the middle of the AAC, presumably with another bowl trip in tow, it’s time to officially put all of those aspirations on hold. Rice could very well achieve both of those objectives, but the team that was talked about as a dark horse to contend for the AAC title quite frankly hasn’t shown up to play in this season. Beating an FCS squad is nice, but the remainder of the schedule is against FBS opponents, against which Rice is 0-2.

Maybe things would feel a bit more hopeful if Rice had found a way to not stub their toe in their opening game against Sam Houston, but right now this is a team with more questions than answers and there are still two more games to play before the first bye week of the season.

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Downfield, please?

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Rice Football: Behind enemy lines with a Houston Insider

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Houston is next up on the 2024 Rice football schedule so we’re going behind enemy lines with Cougs’ insider Sam Rassenfoss from the Scott and Hollman Pawdcast.

Cougs’ insider Sam Rassenfoss from the Scott and Hollman Pawdcast was kind enough to stop by and answer a few questions about the upcoming matchup between Rice Football and Houston. The answers below should shed some light on the Owls’ upcoming opponent.

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Rice Football 2024: Houston Game Week Practice Report

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Rice football takes on Houston with eyes on keeping the Bayou Bucket on South Main. Here’s what we learned from the Owls at practice this week.

Rivalry week is the best week. For Rice football, that means it’s time to battle for the Bayou Bucket against the University of Houston across town. How much does this game mean to the Owls? Veteran corner Sean Fresch, who will make his fourth start in this rivalry series on Saturday, tried to put it into words.

“I’m excited. It’s always fun to play against these guys. We don’t like them. They don’t like us. But I’m pretty sure we don’t like them a little more,” he said. I love getting to this week because all the guys are fired up, not like we don’t every week, but this week is just different, rivalry week.”

Here’s more on the game, some injury news on the Rice front and news from the practice field.

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Depth chart check

Scheduling was tight this week with Bayou Bucket activities, so there was no formal press conference. I was able to get the depth chart, though, and there are a few changes this week from the initial depth chart which Rice football has kept consistent through each of the first two games.

Rice Football, depth chart

On offense, Chad Lindberg is listed as the starting left guard, a position he held last week but has now been formalized. On defense, Plae Wyatt has been taken off the two-deep. Marcus Williams and Peyton Stevenson move up the depth chart behind him. The only other change on defense is Andrew Awe moving in front of DJ Arkansas as the Owls’ starting Mike linebacker.

Enoch Gota, who handled all placekicking duties against Texas Southern, has been moved to the top of the depth chart above Tim Horn. While there is still an OR designation, Gota is expected to be the starter against Houston. There are no other official changes, but player availability might impact how the Owls take the field on Saturday.

Stepping In

Safety Plae Wyatt announced on social media this week he would miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL, an injury he suffered in the loss against Sam Houston in Week 1. The leading tackler for the Owls last season, Wyatt’s loss is a big one for this defense. If there’s any consolation, it’s that the next man up, Marcus Williams, is far from an unknown commodity.

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