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2024 Rice Football Season Preview: Tight End

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Next up in our 2024 Rice Football Season Preview: tight end. Here’s our breakdown of the Owls’ plans for the group this season.

Perhaps the deepest room on the Rice football roster, the second and third levels of the wide receiver depth chart represent a fierce battle for playing time that will be worth following throughout fall camp and into the regular season. Replacing Luke McCaffrey is just part of the intrigue at this position which boasts a couple of experienced returns a pair of transfers and a host of players vying for more time on the field this coming season.

Rice Football Preseason Preview: Check out the rest of the series here.

This piece is part of our 2024 Rice Football Season Preview. Get access to it, as well as all other preview posts such as positional breakdowns, depth chart and schedule analysis and more when you subscribe on Patreon today. 

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** Photo credit Maria Lysaker **
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The Roost Podcast | Ep 178 – 2024 USF Preview with Seth Varnadore

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Next up as The Roost Podcast continues its AAC opponent previews: Seth Varnadore of the Bay Area Examiner dives into South Florida football in 2024.

South Florida went from bottom dweller to front runner in the span of one offseason. How reasonable have expectations gotten in Tampa? Can the Bulls compliment a high-powered offense with just enough defensive improvement to get by? Seth Varnadore of the Bay Area Examiner gives us a rundown of the Bulls and their place in the AAC pecking order this season.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 178.

Episode Notes

DCTF

The Roost Podcast is now part of the Dave Campbell’s Republic of Football Podcast Network. You’ll still get the same content with the same hosts, but now under the DCTF banner.

Homefield

We’re thrilled to partner with Homefield Apparel, the premier proprietor of college football clothing. First-time buyers can use the code ROOST for 15% off their order. The Owls hoodie is a personal favorite as is the Luv-Ya-Owls shirt. Make sure you check out the brand-new sailor hat (pictured below) as you shop the Rice collection or pick up something else (or both)!

Patreon

Get exclusive insight on Patreon. Be the first to get the inside scoop on what’s going on with Rice football and stick around for even further analysis. That includes practice updates, analysis and more. Your support matters and makes The Roost better.

Become a Patron!

Previewing 2024 USF Football with Seth Varnadore

  • Dealing with sky-high expectations
  • Alex Golesh’s roster strategy moving forward
  • The Byrum Brown show
  • Addressing the (defensive) elephant in the room
  • The Lightning Round

Where can you find us?

The Roost Podcast is part of the Dave Campbell’s Republic of Football Podcast Network. You can find this podcast and all of our partner podcasts on Apple, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.

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2024 Rice Football Opponent Season Preview: Memphis

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Memphis has been close but hasn’t won a conference title in five years. What can Rice Football expect from the Tigers in 2024?

Head Coach: Ryan Silverfield
Record at School: 31-18 (4 Yr) | Career FBS Record 31-18 (4 Yr)
Offensive Coordinator: Tim Cramsey | Defensive Coordinator: Jordon Hankins

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Expectations Rising for Mike Bloomgren, Rice Football

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Rice Football was projected to finish seventh in the AAC Preseason Media Poll, the highest preseason rank for the Owls under head coach Mike Bloomgren to date.

In recent memory, expectations have, quite literally, never been higher for Rice football. The 2024 AAC Media Poll, released during Media Days on Tuesday morning, projected Rice to finish seventh in the 14-team conference. Not only is that higher than the Owls’ were picked last year (12th), but it’s also higher than any team head coach Mike Bloomgren has coached at South Main thus far.

“To see us tied for seventh, I guess that’s improvement,” head coach Mike Bloomgren said. “But again, that’s not where I think we should be with our team and what this coaching staff and these players have built together collectively.”

Rice was never picked to finish higher than second from the bottom in the West in Conference USA’s divisional structure. In 2021, the Owls’ only year in the league without divisions, Rice was tabbed to finish 10th. For this program to overcome outside perceptions and get recognition in the middle of the pack is not insignificant. The five-spot rise is the second biggest of any team in the AAC. South Florida was the only other program in the league to climb more than two spots, moving from 13th to fourth.

Rice has been a program content to play the underdog role as they’ve built from a two-win season in 2018 to back-to-back bowl campaigns in their most recent seasons. They aren’t the favorites just yet, but those outside of South Main clearly don’t view this program as a perennial underdog any longer.

No longer is this a team expected to finish in the bottom view. First impressions might not change quickly, but something has certainly shifted when it comes to the perception of Rice football around the AAC.

The players inside the locker room have noticed the shift, too. “Talking together as a group, we feel like we should be in the championship conversation,” proclaimed veteran safety Gabe Taylor. “We can’t make no excuses this year. We have to learn how to win and make sure we take care of business one week at a time.”

At the end of the day, media polls are worth the paper they’re printed on. Outside prognostications don’t determine the actual order of finish, that’s what the games are for. And until you start winning those games with regularity, those polls will likely be a lagging indicator of the quality of the program you’ve built. Seventh is better than tenth, but it’s a far cry from first. There is work left to be done.

“I think that’s a good thing. I think the less eyes that are on us the better,” said running back Dean Connors.” We fuel off the underdogs. We have a lot of guys that weren’t highly recruited. The longer we stay like that, the better.”

If things go according to plan, Rice football might not be flying under the radar for much longer.

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American Athletic Conference Media Days Roundup

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American Athletic Conference Media Days were held this week in Arlington, Texas. Here’s a roundup of important news, quotes and insights from the event.

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Preseason Media Poll

Rank Team Points
1 Memphis (23) 409
2 UTSA (4) 368
3 Tulane (2) 362
4 South Florida 339
5 Army (1) 236
6 Florida Atlantic 228
T7 East Carolina 219
T7 Rice 219
9 North Texas 216
10 UAB 192
11 Navy 150
12 Tulsa 95
13 Charlotte 77
14 Temple 40

Mike Bloomgren and the Owls react to preseason projections

Expectations Rising for Mike Bloomgren, Rice Football

AAC Commissioner Tim Pernetti makes his opening comments

“We’re Just Talking About These Things:” AAC’s Pernetti continues to dream big

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