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Rice Football 2023: SMU Game Week Practice Report

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Rice football hosts SMU this week in their lone matchup as AAC members. Here’s what we learned from practice this week.

Much was made of the return of the rivalry between Rice football and SMU when Rice announced their move to the AAC, but with SMU departing for the ACC this offseason, the Owls will only get this one crack at the Mustangs before they separate conferences once again. With several Dallas natives on the roster, Rice hopes to make this game count.

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This week’s roundup focuses on adjustments along the defensive line, the emergence of a potential pass-catching weapon for the offense and some thoughts on this very important matchup.

For those checking in for the first time, or those returning, a quick programming note. Special features like this are reserved for our subscribers. Have questions? You can get those answered in our monthly Q&As and get access to all practice notes, recruiting updates and features like this one when you subscribe on Patreon today.

The status of Josh Pearcy

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Rice Football 2023: SMU presser quotes and depth chart

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Rice football hosts SMU this week. Here’s what Mike Bloomgren had to say about the matchup at hand 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 Tulane game and looked ahead at their upcoming matchup with SMU.

Listen Now: The Roost Pod – Breaking down Rice Football vs UConn

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

“Having watched the film, I really think what we talked about after the game was exactly right. I couldn’t be more proud of our response after halftime, the way we played in that third quarter. Unfortunately we dug ourselves a pretty big hole against the defending conference champs. We battled and battled and we came up short.”– Mike Bloomgren on the Tulane game

“They’re lighting up the scoreboard and they’re not allowing many points to be scored against them. That’s the thing that’s most evident right now. You look at their last couple games, I think they’ve given up 10 points and scored a ton. They’re a very talented, athletic group, really in all phases.” – Mike Bloomgren on SMU

“ I think it’s important more than ever to focus on us and the things that win football games and what that looks like going forward. That was the challenge to the team, understading how talented we are and how we have everything we need in this team meeting room. I still believe the Rice Owls are the only team that can beat the Rice Owls, and there’s a lot of comfort in that as we go out and work.” – Mike Bloomgren on his team’s mentality

“My grandfather played center for them back in the 70’s. My great-grandfather was part of their four-horseman with Doak Walker. I definitely have a lot of Ponies in my family and there was a lot of pressure for me when I was getting recruited to be a Pony, but that just makes this game more exciting. I’m trying to get my grandpa to come out to the game. He’ll be in the stands” – Tight end Jack Bradley on his family connections to the SMU program

“[SMU] was my first offer and then Rice came along and offered me and I committed to Rice. One of the first things that I said to my pops was that I wish we played SMU. Three or four years later, we finally got the chance so it’s time to ball.” – Safety Plae Wyatt on SMU

Depth Chart

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Depth Chart Notes

The injury to Josh Pearcy, who’s status is currently unknown for this coming weekend, provided an opportunity to update the depth chart along the defensive line. Demone Green is now listed as the backup rush end, behind Pearcy, after spending much of the season to this point backing up Coleman Coco at defensive end.

Additionally, Michael Larbie has pushed in front of Elroyal Morris at defensive tackle. Larbie had a big sack against Tulane this past weekend. Rounding out the changes was the promotion of Jordan Campbell onto the depth chart behind Coco. Campbell has been used as a situational pass rusher for a few weeks now and should continue to see some run.

How that group is utilized this weekend will depend, in large part, on the availability of Pearcy. We’ll have more updates on his status and other plans for Saturday on Thursday with our practice report, reserved for subscribers.

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Rice Football 2023: NFL Owls Week 8 Roundup

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Rice Football is well represented on 2023 NFL rosters. Here’s the latest from the NFL Owls in action in Week 8.

There are former Rice football players scattered across the NFL. Stay tuned each week for their game results and notables from each player.

Team NFL Owl(s) Week 8 Result Week 9
Denver Broncos Elijah Garcia (DL) vs Chiefs W, 24-9 vs Chiefs
Detroit Lions Jack Fox (P) vs Raiders W, 26-14 vs Raiders (MNF)
Indianapolis Colts Kylen Granson (TE) vs Saints L, 38-27 vs Saints
Los Angeles Rams Austin Trammell (WR) at Cowboys L, 43-20 vs Cowboys
New England Patriots Calvin Anderson (OL) vs Dolphins L, 31-17 at Dolphins
Pittsburgh Steelers Chris Boswell (PK) vs Jaguars L, 20-10 vs Jaguars
Seattle Seahawks Myles Adams (DL) vs Browns W, 24-20 vs Browns
Tampa Bay Bucs Nick Leverett (OL) at Bills L, 24-18 at Bills (TNF)

Offense

Calvin Anderson – OT, Patriots

Anderson was inactive for the Patriots’ Week 8 loss to the Dolphins.

Kylen Granson – TE, Colts

Granson was not activated from the concussion protocol this week and was inactive for the Colts’ Week 8 loss to the Saints.

Nick Leverett – OT, Buccaneers

Leverett has been active for back-to-back games for the first time this season, seeing action with the Bucs’ special teams unit again this week against the Bills.

Austin Trammell – WR, Rams

Trammel registered just one punt return this week against the Cowboys, a loss of five yards.

Defense

Myles Adams – DL, Seahawks

For the second straight game, Adams was limited to special teams duties and did not see any defensive snaps.

Elijah Garcia – DL, Broncos

Garcia was inactive for Week 8. He last played for the Broncos in Week 5 against the Jets.

Special Teams

Jack Fox – P, Lions

Fox was only called upon once on Monday Night Football, delivering a 48-yard blast.

Chris Boswell – K, Steelers

The boxscore will show Boswell responsible for his first missed field goal of the season on Sunday, but that miscue comes with an asterisk. Boswell drilled a 55-yarder at the end of the half, only for a penalty to nullify the kick and force him to try from 61 yards. He missed the second attempt. Outside of that long shot, Boswell made his other field goal and an extra point.

More Owls in the NFL

From practice squads to current free agents, there are other Owls on the cusp of returning to active rosters. Find more detail on current contractual agreements and former Rice football players waiting for their next opportunity here.

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The Roost Podcast | Ep 165 – Tulane outlasts Rice Football

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Rice football ran out of time at home against Tulane, missing out on what would have been a tremendous upset by a few points and falling to 4-4 on the season.

It didn’t look like things would be that tight when Rice football fell behind 27-7 at halftime, but the Owls held Tulane to just three points in the second half, buying time for their offense to get things into gear and turn a would-be-blowout into a close game. Unfortunately, Rice came up short. What went wrong and what can they salvage moving forward? We break it down in this week’s show.

You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 165.

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. So is the brand new Luv-Ya-Owls shirt. Shop the Rice collection or pick up something else (or both)!

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Patreon

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Recapping Rice Football vs Tulane

  • Bend-but-don’t-break defense shows some gaps in the armor
  • Havoc plays almost make up for the tough start
  • JT Daniels remains really good at football
  • The offense wasn’t perfect, but remains a trustworthy unit
  • Special teams still needs to be better
  • There’s a big game coming up this weekend against SMU

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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Rice Football 2023 Game Preview: SMU

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Rice football hosts SMU this week in their lone crossover season as AAC foes. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

SMU enters this game riding high, winners of four-straight in AAC play, one of only two undefeated teams in league play with Tulane being the other. Rice football knows that all too well, falling by two points to the Green Wave last Saturday before this upcoming class of Texan squads. Here’s everything you need to know about this week’s matchup between Rice and SMU.

Kickoff time | 6:30 PM CT
Venue | Rice Stadium – Houston, TX
TV | ESPNU (Viewing Guide)
Radio | Varsity Radio App (Online)

Audio / Visual Preview

We’ll preview Rice football vs SMU on this week’s episode of the Blue and Gray Preview Show, streaming live on Wednesday at Noon 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

If the season ended today, SMU would be playing in the AAC Championship Game. It doesn’t. SMU still has some work to be done before they can have a chance to win a conference championship before departing for the ACC. That task is still manageable if they lose to Rice, but they’d have a much thinner margin for error.

On the other side, Rice football’s championship aspirations took a sizable dent last weekend against Tulane, putting bowl eligibility front and center. If Rice wants to reach six wins and clinch a bowl berth, they need two win two of their final four games and they’d rather not let things go down to the wire like they did a year ago.

Series History

All Time | SMU leads, 48-41-1
Last Five | SMU leads, 3-2
Last Meeting | Home 2012, Rice won 36-14

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Rice Football Stat Notables

Passing | Daniels – 173/272 (63.6 percent), 2362 yards, 19 TD, 6 INT
Rushing | Connors – 58 carries, 337 yards (5.8 yards per carry), 4 TD / Otoviano – 56 carries, 209 yards (3.7 yards per carry), 4 TD
Receiving | McCaffrey – 41 receptions, 692 yards (16.9 yds/rec), 8 TDs / MacNeill – 22 receptions, 290 yards (13.2 yds/rec), 2 TD
Tackles | Wyatt – 57/ Conti – 53 / Morrison – 47
Pass Breakups | Wyatt, Fresch, Taylor, Devones – 5 / Morrison -4, Jean – 3
Interceptions | Taylor -2 / Devones, Conti – 1

SMU Stat Notables

Passing | Stone – 151/254 (59.5 percent), 2138 yards, 19 TD, 5 INT
Rushing | Knighton – 83 carries, 456 yards (5.5 yards per carry), 4 TD / Johnson Jr. – 43 carries, 248 yards (5.8 ypc), 1 TD
Receiving | Kerley – 18 receptions, 319 yards (17.7 yards per reception), 2 TD / Maryland – 23 receptions, 315 yards (13.7 yds/rec), 5 TD / Bailey – 27 receptions, 311 yards (11.5 yds/rec), 0 TD
Tackles | Wilson – 44 / Nwokobia – 41 / Walker – 36
Pass Breakups | McGill, Sanders, Woods – 5 / Walker – 4
Interceptions | Six tied with one

SMU X-Factor | Protect the football

In the non-triple option category, SMU leads the AAC in turnovers lost through the first nine weeks of the regular season. Entering Saturday, they were in the Top 25 nationally in fewest turnovers, committing just seven giveaways in their first seven games. They did not turn the ball over at all against Tulsa. Their offense did the rest.

And while clean games have been the norm for the Mustangs so far this season, they haven’t been a guarantee. SMU has committed multiple turnovers twice this season, on the road against Oklahoma and on the road against TCU. SMU lost both of those games. They’ve had a plus turnover margin in every other game against FBS opponents this season.

For SMU, keeping this explosive offense on schedule has to be priority number one. Everything else will balance itself out. And Rice has shown on several occasions so far they can be dangerous if left to linger late in games. SMU best not play with fire and put the ball in the box instead of in the arms of Rice defenders.

Rice X-Factor | Get off the field

The Rice offense has had its lulls, but more often than not, it’s able to get points in bunches. If the Rice defense can generate a turnover or two and find a way to force a few punts, the Owls possess the necessary talent to win a shootout against one of the conference’s most prolific offenses.

Against Tulane, Rice forced exactly one punt and allowed Tulane to go 2-for-2 on fourth down before Pratt chucked the ball a mile high to milk clock in the final seconds of the fourth quarter. Had Rice managed even one more stop, they might be talking about one of the bigger wins in program history right now, but they’re not.

SMU hasn’t beaten themselves very often this year, and it’s probably a fool’s errand to hope for the Mustangs’  offense to stay out of sync for long. No, if Rice wants to win this one, the defense is going to have to combine its opportunistic abilities with clutch plays on third and fourth down. That might very well be the difference.

Injury Report (Subscribers only)

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One Final Thing

Rice football has a choice during this week of practice. They can choose to allow the Tulane defeat to be disappointing and move forward or allow it to be defining and impact how they move forward with four games to go. The latter obviously has the potential to be much more detrimental to their upcoming matchup with SMU than the former.

And for whatever reason, this team has shown itself to be rather resilient. It’s hard to believe they’ll let this game beat them again, but it also feels like a bit of wishful thinking to dream they’ll have all their issues ironed out before going toe-to-toe with another of the AAC’s best teams.

Beat SMU and people won’t dwell on the Tulane game or start to assume the worst as the season enters its final quartet of games. Having the added bragging rights element of a win over the Mustangs on their way out of the conference would be something for the Rice fanbase to hold on to for who knows how long until these two teams play again down the road.

So, as cliche as it sounds, Rice football has to figure out a way to go 1-0 this week. Do that, and a bowl berth starts to look much more plausible. Do that this week, and it’s hard to come up with a reason Rice can’t hang with anyone left on their schedule

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