Next up for Rice football: the season opener against Sam Houston State. Here’s what Mike Bloomgren had to say about the matchup and a few depth chart notes.
Head coach Mike Bloomgren and a set of players met with the media for their customary weekly availability. They recapped the past few weeks of practice and looked ahead at their upcoming matchup with Sam Houston State at home.
More: Game Preview: Rice Football vs Sam Houston State
We touch on those items, then dig into the Rice football depth chart and what the team looks like heading into the weekend. First, the quotes:
Press Conference Quotes
.@RiceFootball head coach Mike Bloomgren opens his first midweek presser of the season assessing the tragic events on campus on Monday. pic.twitter.com/Jt7mN2bAx2
— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) August 27, 2024
“I think KC Keeler is a very, very good football coach. I think that’s very evident by every place he’s ever been. You don’t have to look any further than the five games that they lost last year by one score and they were so close on so many of those things. And so again, they’re building a great program.”– Mike Bloomgren on Sam Houston and coach KC Keeler
“We’ve kind of got a depth chart we believe in. We’ve got some twos and even some threes that can help us. That’s what’s going to be hard is getting an airplane big enough to take everybody to our road games, so that we can have the ones that deserve to play on special teams, play on special teams and then ones on [offense and defense] as well.” – Mike Bloomgren on the Rice football roster
“There is a lot of strategy. It changes a lot of things from an analytic standpoint, certainly the end the game scenarios and the number of times a team can get the ball back. I told our team don’t be surprised at all for a team to get two possessions, now, if they get the ball outside of two minutes. So you could be up by 14 and not be incredibly comfortable, unless you’re going to be in a position to end the game in a four-minute drive for the offense or get another takeaway on the defense. So it’s going to extend games.” – Mike Bloomgren on the two minute timeout
“My path was a little less clear than most. I wasn’t as constantly developed at the same spot. I was moved back and forth. I worked with a couple different position coaches but never once did I feel like there was anything other than the highest desire for me to be a successful human being in this program and player and I feel like I’m proud to be the person I am right now because of the people around me and the coaches and the leadership and the players that helped me get to that point.” – Defensive tackle Izeya Floyd on his path at Rice
“It’s just been so fun to grow with them since I got here, just trying to work together, find our best chemistry that we can so when we do go on the field we have the success that we all want. It’s been really cool to get a lot of guys step up and grow from the spring and even to fall camp, just different guys that you’ve seen the progression that they’ve made every single day in the work that they’ve put in and just can’t wait to get the ball in those guys hands and let them roll and have a front row seat to watch it.” – Quarterback EJ Warner on getting to know the Owls’ receiving corps
Depth Chart
Depth Chart Notes
If you’ve been following the coverage on the site this summer, there shouldn’t be a ton of surprises. If you haven’t go ahead and remedy that first by subscribing to The Roost here to get access to all our premium content the rest of the way. That said, there are a few things that stand out from this first pass of an official depth chart, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.
First, Drew Devillier was named backup quarterback over AJ Padgett, who has struggled in camp this fall. We hinted that Padgett falling down the depth chart might be a possibility, but it’s still somewhat unusual to see a true freshman beat out two veterans out of the gate.
Bloomgren called the decision one that his staff “didn’t take really likely, anytime you’re going to put a freshman as your No. 2 quarterback over guys who have played in football games” but made it clear that the numbers backed up Devillier as the better option and that Bloomgren was “really, really impressed not just with how he studied and how he processed, but also his cool demeanor.”
The wide receiver room is the other area of note. Drayden Dickman’s rise throughout camp has catapulted him ahead of Kobie Campbell in the ranks. That’s a good sign for an up-and-coming player like himself. Bloomgren made it seem as if Matt Sykes and Rawson MacNeill were neck and neck and would rotate fairly evenly at the X spot. As for the Z position, Braylen Walker is an intriguing riser to watch.
Stay tuned for further updates this week with the latest on the injury front as well as a deeper look at how the receiving corps might be used in Week 1.
