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Rice Football 2022: Louisiana Game Week Practice Report

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Rice football plays Louisiana this week, which comes to Houston riding a 15-game winning streak. Here’s what we learned from this week’s practices.

Saturday can’t get here soon enough. Rice football is eagerly awaiting another chance to get on the field after a thorough drubbing of McNeese State last weekend. This week’s opponent. Louisiana, promises to be a much tougher out.

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The Owls have been hard at work to make corrections from last weekend’s missteps and implement their game plan for the Ragin’ Cajuns. Along the way there have been some shakeups within a few position groups, injuries and a few learnings to pass along prior to Week 3.

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Rice Football 2022: McNeese State Game Week Practice Report

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Rice football will play its home opener this coming weekend against McNeese State. Here’s what we learned from this week’s practices.

As he’s said in prior years, head coach Mike Bloomgren reiterated expectations this week that his team would take a big step forward between Game 1 and Game 2. When asked Thursday if he’d seen that progression, he seemed elated. “They’ve been focused. They’ve been great. They’ve given it in the heat. They’ve worked their butts off,” he said about his team.

With four days of practice in the books and a more manageable opponent looming in McNeese State, the mood around South Main remained upbeat this week. Here are a few important takeaways from practice this week and a couple of nuggets on how Rice football might choose to attack this coming Saturday.

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USC Onslaught a wake-up call for bruised, yet resolute Rice football

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Rice football started strong but stumbled to a lopsided finish in their season opener against USC, prompting the Owls to find a solution before next week.

“To say that things snowballed is probably an understatement.”

When Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren uttered those words following a 66-14 rout at the hands of the USC Trojans on Saturday night, the admission wasn’t surprising. Even heading into the game — Rice was a 32.5-point underdog on the road — it would have been foreseeable to envision a scenario in which a Top 15 program with a Heisman-caliber quarterback outplayed the Owls.

But nobody could have envisioned how the onslaught unfolded.

“There are four plays that really led to this game going the way that it did,” Bloomgren followed, making direct reference to the four interceptions thrown by Rice quarterbacks. Yes, quarterbacks, plural, because the Owls had their starter knocked from the game with an injury for the fifth time in their last 10 games.

If you want to talk about statistics more staggering than three pick-sixes in a single game, five injured quarterbacks in 10 games come pretty close.

There is no official diagnosis of Green’s injury nor is there an established timeline for his return. Once more, Rice football doesn’t have a lot of answers.

“This is a tough pill to swallow,” safety George Nyakwol said. “This is just a good wake-up call for us to prepare us for the rest of the season.”

Likewise somber, offensive lineman Shea Baker was already moving on to the next game. “We’ll watch the film, learn from our mistakes, not repeat the same mistakes and move on,” he said with a defiant resolve.

The offensive line undoubtedly has improvements to make in the running game as well as in pass protection. As Nyakwol would also go on to admit, the Owls’ tackling could stand to improve as well. There are lots of little tweaks to be made and things to correct before they take the field again next week against McNeese State.

But regardless of who is on the field or who is playing quarterback, three tipped pass interceptions that went in and out of the receiver’s hands, as Bloomgren himself described it — that won’t do. “You gotta be able to throw and catch,” Bloomgren said point blank. “We’re playing college football.”

Whatever happened on Saturday from the second quarter on was a miserable excuse for a college football game. It was a slaughter, brought on by correctable errors by players who have already proven they can play much better than they did against the Trojans.

To that end, Bloomgren’s final refrain seems believable, if not somewhat likely.

“I don’t see anything that’s terminal. I’m not gunna hang my head on this thing,” he declared. “I still think we are a very, very good football team and I think we showed that in spurts today but certainly not for a complete game.”

Rice football hosts McNeese State on Saturday, September 10. They will be expected to win.

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Rice Football 2022 Fall Camp Notebook 2: Assessing the Offense

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Offensive Coordinator Marques Tuiasosopo unpacked his plans and outstanding questions for the Rice football offense as the Owls start fall camp.

On Saturday, Rice football practiced with pads for the first time during fall camp, giving the skill position players their chance to perform against real coverages and real pressure. For many, it was the opening stanza of a three-week-long interview with precious starting spots on the line. It was also the first of six consecutive practice days following which the team will host a meaningful scrimmage.

More: Rice Football Preseason Preview Series

In his second season at South Main, Rice football offensive coordinator Marques Tuiasosopo is eager to make the most of every period. He was kind enough to sit down with The Roost to debrief what he’s seen so far and share expectations and key storylines he’ll be paying attention to as fall camp progresses.

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Rice Football 2022 Season Preview: Offensive Line

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As part of our 2022 Rice Football Preseason Preview series, next we’ll examine the offensive line position and discuss the Owls’ plans for that group.

The Rice football offensive line has been a carousel of injuries and moving parts for much of the last four seasons. This time around, the Owls seem to have a starting five established before the beginning of fall camp featuring a core that has a good amount of playing experience alongside each other. Will that make a difference when the games begin? Here’s our 2022 Offensive Line Preview.

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

This piece is part of our 2022 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. New subscribers get our Conference USA Football Season Preview for FREE! 

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