The source for Rice sports news

  • Football
    • Recruiting
    • Offer Tracker
    • Roster
    • Schedule
    • NFL Owls
  • Premium
    • Patreon
    • Season Preview
    • Join / FAQ
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Store
    • News
    • Basketball
    • Baseball
    • About
    • Contact
  • Login

Rice Football: The Evolution of the 2019 Offense

May 18, 2020 By Carter

The Rice football offense changed over the course of the 2019 season, but to what degree? Carter Spires breaks down what changed and what remained the same.

We’re entering that time of the year where we’d be most starved for football content even in a normal year—which 2020 is most assuredly not. So with that in mind, here’s the first installment of a new project I’m working on, documenting the evolution of Rice’s offense in 2019 and beyond.

In this piece, we’ll be looking at how Rice’s offense changed in 2019 after Offensive Coordinator Jerry Mack took a greater role in the offense following Mike Bloomgren’s declaration of “Something will change” after the Southern Miss game. Future installments will include a data-driven look at the QB candidates for 2020 and a Film Room on TCU transfer Mike Collins’ time as the starter in Fort Worth in 2018.

Using the Wake Forest game as a “before” sample and the MTSU game as the “after,” I charted every offensive play from those games. I looked for things like personnel, formation, pre-snap motion, and whether the quarterback was in the shotgun or under center. By taking a quantitative look at these aspects of offensive design, I hope to give a clearer picture of what Mack’s influence on the offense was and perhaps what this portends for Rice’s offense in 2020 and beyond.

The Roost Podcast: Listen now to our Extended Offseason Interview Series

It’s simple enough to say that Mack will push Rice’s offense in a more “modern” or “spread” direction, compared to the under-center, heavy-personnel, run-focused offenses Bloomgren ran at Stanford, but charting these elements gives us a more detailed look at what exactly that means.

The included sample from the Wake Forest game comprises 63 plays. That’s every Rice offensive play up to the point where Wake took a 41-14 lead early in the 4th quarter. After that point Rice began playing almost exclusively from the shotgun and passing heavily, as offenses tend to do when they’re down big. I excluded this set of plays from the sample, because they were so situationally-influenced as to not represent Rice’s “normal” offense at this time. Additionally, the first 14 plays of the Wake game were quarterbacked by Wiley Green, after which Tom Stewart took over. The MTSU sample includes 65 plays, covering the entire game, all of which featured Tom Stewart at QB (aside from three Wildcat plays).

As a final note, I can’t guarantee that the charting here is 100% accurate, due mostly to poor quality video and TV camera angles. (In particular, it was sometimes difficult to tell exactly which players were lined up wide, and thus whether Rice was in 11 or 12 personnel). But I’m confident I charted these plays accurately enough to depict the way the offense was called in these two games.

Under Center vs. Shotgun

Perhaps the simplest thing we can chart is where the QB lines up. More often that not he’ll be under center or in the shotgun. Rice did use the pistol formation, with the QB shallower than in shotgun and the running back directly behind him in 2019, but not that I saw in either of these two games.

Having your QB under center is more old school. It facilitates both traditional running plays (by allowing the RB to have some downhill momentum at the handoff) and play-action passes (the fakes are generally easier for the QB to sell than in the shotgun). The shotgun is generally considered better for most passing plays. It allows the QB to have a better view of the defense both before and during the play and by putting more space between him and the pass rush. It’s also necessary to have your QB in the shotgun to run RPOs and spread option plays like the zone read, staples of many or most modern offenses.

In the Wake sample, Rice was under center 46% of the time and in the shotgun about 54% of the time. In the MTSU game, Rice was under center 27.7% of the plays and in the shotgun 72.3% of the time. The three Wildcat plays were charted as shotgun. [Note: all percentages rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent.]

This is a pretty stark difference! Keeping the QB under center is relatively rare in college football now. Many offenses don’t do so at all. In the Wake game, Rice stayed relatively true to Bloomgren’s Stanford roots. The Owls lined Green or Stewart up under center nearly half the time. By contrast, they did so with Stewart in the MTSU game only about a quarter of the time (though again that’s still more than most teams do).

Personnel

Personnel packages are typically denoted by a two-digit system. (Those of you who have read my Film Room columns will be familiar with it). The first digit is the number of running backs or fullbacks and the second is the number of tight ends. The number of wide receivers is five minus the sum of the two digits (since the other six offensive players are typically the QB and the OL). So 11 personnel, the most common personnel group at essentially all levels of football now, means 1 back, 1 tight end, and 3 wide receivers.

There are several possible combinations, of course, and during the data collection I charted them in pretty granular fashion. I charted 10, 11, 12, 20, and 21 groupings individually. I lumped 22, 23, and 32 groupings together as “heavy” packages. But for drawing conclusions, I think it’s more instructive to bin them into two groups: 10, 11, 12, and 20 personnel in one (which I’ll call the “spread” packages) and 21 and the “heavy” packages in the other (which we can just again call “heavy”).

How Rice used personnel

A quick primer on why some of those groupings are where they are: all of the 20 personnel plays (six from MTSU, two from Wake) had the QB in the shotgun with a running back on either side and three receivers. The 12 personnel plays were all from the shotgun as well. Most had at least one of those tight ends split wide. (Only 9 of 28 total 12-personnel plays between the two games had both TEs tight to the formation, either inline or at H-back).

So what’s the tally? In the Wake sample, Rice used “spread” personnel 54% of the time and “heavy” personnel 46% of the time. In the MTSU game, they used spread personnel on 64.6% of plays and heavy personnel on the other 35.4%. Not as big a difference as the under center/shotgun splits, but still a fairly significant one.

Formation

Perhaps more instructive than personnel is the formation. I charted those in three bins based on the number of players lined up as receivers. (n.b., *not* the number of players who are “wide receivers” on the roster). Four- or five-wide sets were labeled as “spread” formations. Three-wide sets were labeled as “base” formations (reflecting the prevalence of these formations). Two-or-fewer-wide sets were labeled as “heavy” formations. There are a million more granular and specific ways to describe formations, of course, but I think this way is instructive enough for our purposes and could be charted with relative ease and speed.

We can describe in some broad ways how these formations reflect the intent and goals of offenses that use them. Sets with two or fewer receivers will seek to gain advantages in the run game by outmanning the defense at the point of attack, using a large number of blockers. This also allows the outside receivers to get one-on-one matchups. That’s advantageous if you have, say, 6’5” Bradley Rozner on a shorter cornerback.

How Rice used formations

Four- and five-wide sets seek to spread defenses out, giving more space for receivers to get open. This also forces the defense to keep fewer (and often lighter) players in the box. That can open things up for the run game as well. Three-wide sets are the most balanced. They allow offenses to put several players into the pass formation without compromising the number of blockers or pass protectors much.

In the Wake sample, Rice used base formations on 33.3% of plays, spread formations 15.9%, and heavy formations 50.8%. In the MTSU game, Rice used base formations 52.3% of the time, spread formations 6.2%, and heavy formations 41.5%.

The big takeaway lines up exactly with what we expect: Rice significantly bumped its usage of three-wide sets under Mack’s influence in the MTSU game, with a notable drop in the number of two-or-one-wide sets.

The odd part is that Rice actually used four-or-five-wide “spread” sets *more* in the Wake game, by a fairly notable percentage. I think there are two explanations for this. The first (and easily the most important) is game state. About half of the “spread” plays in my Wake sample occurred late in the game, when Rice was down 34-14. While they had not totally abandoned the “Stanford offense” stuff by this point, the deficit and dwindling clock were clearly influencing playcalling by this point. If you limit to say, the first half of that game, when Rice was either tied with Wake or trailing by 10 points or less most of the time, Rice only ran three plays in a “spread” formation.

What do you think? React and share your thoughts in the forum

It may also have been influenced by player usage. It’s not noted in the section above because of the way I grouped them together, but Rice actually used 11 personnel more in the Wake sample than in the MTSU game. (The increase in “spread” personnel was driven largely by a big uptick in 12 personnel plays).

Early in the season, August Pitre had a clear role as the third wide receiver. By the time of the MTSU game, it had become clear that the only two players the staff truly were going to consistently trust as receivers were Rozner and Austin Trammell. (The two combined for almost 65% of Rice’s total receptions in 2019). They may have been hesitant to use sets with four or five players wide but only two of those players being true wide receivers (especially as Jake Bailey and Zane Knipe continued to battle injuries late into the season).

Motion

The final thing I tracked that’s worth noting here is the use of pre-snap shifts and motions. To clarify, a “shift” is when a player changes positions before the snap, such as a running back splitting out wide. They must be set in the new position for at least one second before the ball is snapped. “Motion” means that a player is moving at the time the ball is snapped. Such actions are legal as long as the player is not moving toward the line of scrimmage. Both types were lumped together in one count during data collection here.

In general, an offense that shifts or motions before the snap is either trying to catch the defense off-guard or out of position at the snap by forcing them to adjust on the fly, and/or trying to force the defense to declare its coverage. The way a defense responds to shifts or motion will often reveal whether they’re playing zone or man coverage, or possibly whether they’re playing two high safeties or just one.

In the Wake sample, I counted only three times when Rice used motion or a shift, just 4.1% of plays. In the MTSU sample, I counted 13 such plays, for exactly 20%. Not a particularly high percentage of the plays, but still a significant increase.

What Didn’t Change

In a nutshell, Mike Bloomgren loves to run the ball and use fullbacks. In addition to the above, I also charted whether each play was a run or pass—a *called* run or pass. More specifically, sacks and scrambles were charted as passes. I did not attempt to track which plays were RPOs—and the number of plays in the I-formation.

Rice actually ran the ball more in the MTSU game. (58% of plays compared to 52% in the Wake sample, though again I think that can be largely attributed to game state). In addition, Rice used the I-formation or some variant of it (QB under center, RB deep, at least one FB in between QB and RB) on 100% of their under-center plays in both games.

Conclusions

We didn’t need to do all this charting to just say that Rice’s offense got “more spread” or “more modern” for the last four games of the season. But this exercise does allow us to be much more precise in describing how it changed. I think it was valuable just for that.

It’s also worth noting that, while I didn’t chart the exact play each time, the types of plays Rice ran didn’t really change, just the proportions. The RPOs and spread option runs that became more prevalent late in the season were there early. (I highlighted the Glance RPO in my Wake film room and Tom Stewart scored on a zone read keeper in that game as well).

The ultra-heavy sets and power toss plays that Rice relied on early in the season didn’t disappear. The proportions of those plays (and the formations/personnel groupings used to run them) just altered, which of course makes sense. They weren’t going to install a new offense overnight. They were just going to do more of what their players were comfortable with.

Film Room Archives: Read more breakdowns from Carter

It’s that last point that it’s important as we go forward—do what your players are comfortable with. Tom Stewart took the reins for the majority of the 2019 season. Naturally, the staff had to maximize what he did best coming out of a modern spread system at Harvard. If TCU transfer Mike Collins is the 2020 starter, it’s likely the offense will continue to look as it did over the last third of 2019. If JoVoni Johnson takes the reins, the coaches may install more plays resembling the multi-TE pistol option plays he ran at Conway HS in Arkansas. They used a bit of that style in his one start against Marshall last year.

It’s great to have a wide repertoire of plays, formations, and personnel groupings in your arsenal as Rice does. The Owls are clearly blending the old school approach of Bloomgren’s Stanford offense with modern spread principles brought by Jerry Mack. But it can make finding the right blend of those disparate styles a challenge. More still, it can be difficult to strike the balance between teaching players new things that could make them more successful or sticking to what they already know.

Rice found the winning combination over the last section of the 2019 season. Can they do it again with a new quarterback in 2020? Time will tell.


Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts
  • Fast start not enough as Rice Baseball falls to Texas A&M for third time
  • Rice Women’s Basketball’s WNIT run blocked by stingy Oregon defense
  • Furious comeback falls short as Rice Basketball falls to SUU
  • Rice Baseball grinds out hard-fought sweep at UAB

Filed Under: Featured, Football Tagged With: Austin Trammell, Bradley Rozner, film room, Jake Bailey, Jovoni Johnson, Tom Stewart, Zane Knipe

Rice Football 2019: Quarterbacks, redshirts and UTEP practice notes ?

November 29, 2019 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice football wants to close out its 2019 season on a high note. The Owls haven’t slowed down as the work through Thanksgiving week to prepare for UTEP.

It’s hard to believe we’ve almost reached the end of the Rice football regular season. Be sure to check out the game preview and this week’s podcast. Here are some of the most notable takeaways from practice this week.

Development of the offense and game-planning for the second half

The emergence of Bradley Rozner has been crucial over the last month of the season. Being able to throw the ball up to him on third down and watch him win one-on-one battles has changed the Rice offense. “[Rozner has] really given our offense another threat that we didn’t really know we had early,” wide receivers coach Mike Kershaw admitted. “[Rozner has] really helped us … stretch the ball down the field, flip the field.”

Rozner’s growth has been a boon to the rest of the receiving corps as well. Austin Trammell had more than six receptions for just the second time this season in the win over North Texas, including a wide-open 31-yard gain on third down in the second half.

The Roost Podcast | Episode 19 — North Texas recap and UTEP Preview

Trammell has noticed the added space, saying “It’s nice having more options and be able to make plays down the field.” Even still, the team captain has higher aspirations for himself and this offense. “We just can’t get complacent,” he said of the second half scoring droughts, which by the time the team takes the field against UTEP, will have grown to 35 days without a point scored after halftime.

As for new wrinkles, we might see against UTEP, the speed of Zane Knipe should get more opportunities to flash. Kershaw called him “a different type of weapon,” adding that, “that’s rare to have a guy that has that type of speed [at Rice].”

Quarterback

Bloomgren confirmed during his Tuesday press conference that Tom Stewart would remain the starter for the final week of the regular season. He has taken the majority of the reps with the first team early in the week and performed well. His deep ball continues to be an asset to his game and he’s proven comfortable in the offense.

As good as Stewart has been, there’s a good chance we still see JoVoni Johnson on Saturday. The reps Stewart hasn’t gotten with the one’s have been held for Johnson, who’s worked primarily with a read-option and more run-centric packages.

The running game with Johnson seemed to be the best thing the offense had going for it before the bye. Instituting some of those plays, particularly during any second half stalls could be extremely beneficial. Two quarterbacks shouldn’t be the norm, and I think Bloomgren and his staff will be judicious about how and when they employ their second signal caller against UTEP. They’ve had plenty of learning opportunities.

Redshirt watch

Rice has already begun to shuffle in some of their younger players as the season has progressed. There wasn’t a sudden deluge of new faces when Rice reached the last four games of the year, rather the staff has done a good job of getting many of the freshmen experience in meaningful moments.

These players have played in their allotted four games. I wouldn’t expect we see any of them on Saturday: Jacob Grams, Kebreyun Page, Cole Garcia, Josh Pearcy, Joshua Landrum, Miles McCord, and Brandt Peterson.

Black Friday

As for those who have played in fewer than four games, there should be several players who get into the game in some form or fashion.

On offense, keep an eye on the aforementioned JoVoni Johnson as well as running back Juma Otoviano (game time decision), wide receiver Zane Knipe and walk-on offensive lineman Isaac Klarkowski. On defense, Chike Anigbogu and Izeya Floyd were both singled out by members of the coaching staff this week as players who could see bigger roles.


Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts
  • Fast start not enough as Rice Baseball falls to Texas A&M for third time
  • Rice Women’s Basketball’s WNIT run blocked by stingy Oregon defense
  • Furious comeback falls short as Rice Basketball falls to SUU
  • Rice Baseball grinds out hard-fought sweep at UAB

Filed Under: Featured, Football, Premium Tagged With: Austin Trammell, Bradley Rozner, Chike Anigbogu, Isaac Klarkowski, Izeya Floyd, Jovoni Johnson, Juma Otoviano, Rice Football, Tom Stewart, Zane Knipe

Rice Football: Owls outlast North Texas on Senior Day

November 23, 2019 By Matthew Bartlett

The 2019 Rice Football senior class went out with a bang, winning their final home game at Rice Stadium over preseason C-USA favorite North Texas.

The hot start exhibited by Rice football in their win over Middle Tennessee last weekend carried over into their final home game of 2019. Before North Texas had run their fifth offensive play the Owls held a 10-0 advantage.

Rice rode that hot start to their second consecutive win, the first time they’ve won back-to-back games since 2016 (at Charlotte, vs UTEP). Here are a few immediate thoughts from the win:

1. Out execute everybody

The Rice offense has morphed a bit throughout the 2019 season. The playbook has been slimmed down and the offense has incorporated more spread concepts than it had in recent weeks. Despite the shift, the Owls have remained loyal to some of their staple in the ground game.

Rice runs the ball out of dozens of different formation. In need of one yard or less on fourth down or on the goal line, they’ve gone to this play more often than not:

First score on Senior Day goes to sixth-year man Aston Walter. #GoOwls pic.twitter.com/3meCvxZdat

— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) November 23, 2019

Rice stacks the line of scrimmage and puts multiple fullbacks in the box. All 22 players on the field are within five yards of the line of scrimmage. Everyone knows what’s going to happen next — Rice runs this play all the time — it doesn’t matter. The ball is snapped, and Rice gets the first down or the touchdown. Every time.

It’s one thing to put athletes in space and let the best man win. This play is rooted entirely in the 11 guys on offense doing their jobs. If they execute they can get a yard. From my memory, nobody has stopped this play yet this season and Rice has run it at least a dozen times.

2. More opportunities = more points

Midway through the second quarter the Owls looked up at the scoreboard and saw a 20-0 score displayed in the glowing red bulbs. The lead was the largest Rice had achieved this season, amassed in a joint effort from the offense, defense and special teams.

As good as the offense was — and they were great — it was the defensive performance that kept the disparity on the scoreboard so severe. North Texas didn’t get a first down until there were less than three minutes remaining in the first half.

The Mean Green scattered incomplete passes and shortened runs across the field, barely managing a pulse on offense until it was too late. Rice picked off Mason Fine on his second possession, setting up the offense for their first touchdown of the game.

In a potential momentum-swinging moment, Charlie Booker fumbled the ball to North Texas, giving the ball to their opponents in Rice territory for the first time that game. On the very next play, Naeem Smith knocked the ball onto the turf and Rice recovered. The offense took the ball down the field and scored.

The biggest play, though, came on fourth down with 4:20 to play in the game. Mason Fine found Michael Lawrence in the endzone for what could have been the game-winning touchdown. No sooner had the receiver’s fingers touched leather did Treshawn Chamberlain lay a blow that reverberated around Rice stadium. The ball fell to the turf and Rice would go on to win the game.

3. Second half offense is quiet, again

Rice hasn’t scored in the second half of a football game since Oct. 26, a span of 28 days.  Some of that can be explained away by a scheduling quirk, the Owls’ second off weekend came two weeks ago. The rest is a bit puzzling, especially when juxtaposed against the 51 points this team scored in their first halves against Middle Tennessee and North Texas.

The good news for the Owls’ resides in the final box scores of their most recent pair of games. Rice did enough in each of those first halves to not require anything else from their offense after the break.

While it’s not a sustainable strategy and adjustments to any adjustments will need to be made, the results are as positive as Rice fans could ask for. The wins are still wins, but what the offensive looks like in the second half against UTEP will be more heavily scrutinized.

4. Senior Day shows

The 2018 and 2019 Rice football teams have been marked by their youth. Defensive tackle Myles Adams was the lone true senior honored during Senior Day festivities. Those who stood by his side were a mixed bunch.

Their journeys were all unique, but the collective showing from the Owls’ veterans was impressive in their last game at South Main.

  • Aston Walter, playing his final home game in his sixth season of college football, completed his first pass. It went for 27 yards.
  • Charlie Booker, a transfer from Harvard, scored his first Rice touchdown and led the team on the ground with 78 yards rushing.
  • Tom Stewart, also a Harvard transfer, won his first college football game played in the state of Texas.
  • Myles Adams led a front seven that limited North Texas’ starting running back Trey Siggers to 3.2 yards per carry.
  • Nahshon Ellerbe converted the clock-killing run in the final minutes, icing the game for the Owls

5. Finish strong

Rice football won two games in Year Zero under Mike Bloomgren in 2018. Although the rebuilding effort was expected to take several seasons, the lopsided win over Old Dominion to end the year combined with strong efforts on the recruiting front propelled expectations higher entering 2019.

The schedule was unforgiving and the team struggled to finish games. But even after an 0-9 start, Rice now has the opportunity to improve on their win total from last season.

If they can do it, the journey to three wins would have been a wild one — swinging from a certainty to a pipe dream — as the team rattled off a myriad of disparate results. A win their season finale against UTEP would give the Owls tangible improvement in the win column. There have been numerous encouraging moments, but wins and losses will forever be the way athletic success is measured.

Three wins, all coming in the final three games of the season, would be massive for this program, especially considering where things sat just a few weeks ago. Because of Saturday’s Senior Day win over North Texas, the Owls are just one win away. It looks like a lot can happen in one month after all.


Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts
  • Fast start not enough as Rice Baseball falls to Texas A&M for third time
  • Rice Women’s Basketball’s WNIT run blocked by stingy Oregon defense
  • Furious comeback falls short as Rice Basketball falls to SUU
  • Rice Baseball grinds out hard-fought sweep at UAB

Filed Under: Featured, Football Tagged With: Aston Walter, Charlie Booker, game recap, Myles Adams, Rice Football, Tom Stewart

Rice Football 2019: North Texas practice notes and injury updates ?

November 22, 2019 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice Football has put the finishing touches on their prep for North Texas. Injuries, game plan updates and more from a busy week of practice at South Main.

Bloomgren has already compartmentalized the Middle Tennessee win and turned his attention to North Texas. He received more than 200 text messages in the hours following the big win, culling the tally of unread messages to 102 by midweek. Rex Ryan, who visited with the team during the bye week, was one of those congratulators, which included several people that have been encouraging Bloomgren every step of the way.

Needless to say, it was a fun week for Rice football. Coming off their first win of the 2019 season, the team was energized and working hard to turn the single victory into a winning streak. As they prepared for North Texas, head coach Mike Bloomgren and the staff remained focused.

“The validation for me is not going to come from winning one football game. So many of the things we’re doing are already validating it,” Bloomgren said. “To win the one this week, which is the only thing that we have that we can control, is everything… that’s where all of our focus is.”

Offensive notes

It wouldn’t be another week of practice without some notes to pass along on the quarterback position. This week, the picture looks as clear as it has in quite some time.

Tom Stewart will start. He played extremely well against Middle Tennessee, proving he has what it takes to lead this offense, assuming his back cooperates. The backup spot is a bit less clear, but as of it now it appears JoVoni Johnson will not be close enough to 100 percent to go. Depending on how he feels on Saturday and the situation in the game, it’s most likely Evan Marshman will be the acting No. 2 against North Texas. With one game left to maintain his redshirt status, the staff is unlikely to roll out a limited Johnson.

The Roost Podcast | MTSU Review and North Texas Preview

We could see Marshman in some form or fashion even if Stewart is good to go for the duration of Saturday’s contest. He still has a few special packages in place. I do feel confident in saying there will be some sort of change-of-pace pairing. We saw Juma Otoviano run some wildcat quarterback in recent weeks. There are a few players who could fill that role on Saturday, Marshman included.

As for the skill position players, it was nice to see Zane Knipe get involved with a 12-yard carry against Middle Tennessee. Knipe said this week “It feels good to finally contribute, to finally be able to be out there with my brothers.” We’ll see his role grow as he returns to form and is worked into the system.

Defensive notes

The most notable change to the depth chart this week is at corner where true freshman Tre’shon Devones has won the starting job over Andrew Bird. Devones got the start last week in Bird’s return to the field after injury. Bird did have an interception prior to halftime, but Devones did more than enough to claim the starting spot, including a forced fumble on the first play of the game.

“He’s just done a phenomenal job,” Bloomgren said of Devones. “He’s an uber-talented kid and he’s taken advantage of every opportunity.” With Devones, Thornton and Bird, Rice has three corners they trust to a great degree. Jason White and Josh Landrum have looked good in spots as well. The position as a whole has taken a significant step forward from last year to this year.

Injuries

As will be the case with JoVoni Johnson, running back Juma Otoviano seems like a long shot to play Saturday. Otoviano has one game left to retain his redshirt status and is dealing with a lower body injury, too. He’ll more than likely be held out one more game to get him as healthy as possible before ending his season at UTEP.

Game Preview: Rice Football vs North Texas

On the other side of the ball, edge rusher Anthony Ekpe has progressed a fair amount this week. After doing individual drills last week, he’s been gradually eased back into the defense. He’ll be a true game-time decision on Saturday after being doubtful for the last several weeks. His fellow lineman Trey Schuman is less fortunate. He will not play against North Texas.


Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts
  • Fast start not enough as Rice Baseball falls to Texas A&M for third time
  • Rice Women’s Basketball’s WNIT run blocked by stingy Oregon defense
  • Furious comeback falls short as Rice Basketball falls to SUU
  • Rice Baseball grinds out hard-fought sweep at UAB

Filed Under: Featured, Football, Premium Tagged With: Anthony Ekpe, Jovoni Johnson, Juma Otoviano, practice notes, Rice Football, Tom Stewart, Tre'shon Devones, Trey Schuman, Zane Knipe

Rice Football 2019: Week 13 North Texas Press Conference quotes

November 20, 2019 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren discussed the team’s first win of the season and previewed the Owls’ Week 13 matchup with North Texas.

More: Rice Football game preview for Week 13 vs North Texas

Quarterback Tom Stewart and safety George Nyakwol joined Rice football head coach Mike Bloomgren at the podium on Tuesday. The trio discussed the first win of the season over Middle Tennessee and looked ahead at their upcoming game against North Texas.

From Mike Bloomgren

On the first win…

“Getting that first win on Saturday felt really good. I won’t lie to you about that. I’m so proud of our players and coaches for the way they stayed in this, the way they kept fighting and the way they kept preparing. Really to see them rewarded with that victory locker room, after the game, that winning locker room, made it all worth it for a lot of things that we do in this program. What I said after the game I meant. In 2019, it’s very hard to get a group of men to stay together and keep fighting with all the outside things going on. With all the things that they hear on social media or from their own families. These guys never blinked. They just kept fighting, kept listening to their coaches,  kept trusting their coaches and we saw the results of that on Saturday night.

On the Owls’ level of play against Middle Tennessee …

“It was the best half of football that we have played in the first half. I would say that clearly. The fact that we found a way to win, I guess that it ranks up in the top three. It was great to get a win.”

On North Texas …

“The next challenge is, of course, North Texas. This team requires our full attention. We know what that program is all about. I have so much respect for Coach Seth Littrell, the way he prepares them, the mindset he gets those guys into and his knowledge of our game.  I have said it before, we are going to do everything we can to beat them on the field, but there is absolutely nothing I can do to beat him in a bench press contest.”

On Senior Day…

“It will be a great test for our team. Coming off a win we’re a confident bunch right now in terms of believing in what we are doing. Being so close so many times, then having a little success, is great for this team. We’re going to go out there and play our hearts out for the 19 seniors who will be represented on Senior Day on Saturday. It’s going to be a lot of fun seeing those guys in pregame.”

On the impact of Aston Walter…

“Aston really changed his mindset when he flipped the switch and said ‘I’m coming back for my sixth year’. I think in the way he prepared in the summer with Coach Hans [Straub] to the leadership role he’s taken, there is nothing we could have done better than put the ball in his stomach with the game on the line on 3rd-and-11..” T

From QB Tom Stewart

On Brad Rozner and the playmakers around him…

“It’s all about having trust in the guys. I think it’s kind of tough for me being a transfer, and not having a ton of time to develop that trust but I think now you’re seeing that if I’m back there, I have a ton of trust in those guys… Everything guy is a really good football player. When they’re called upon, they’ll make a play.”

From Saf George Nyakwol

On how the team is responding to the win…

“This win was definitely a confidence booster… And we just got to keep building. We can’t let this affect our approach. It’s got to be 100 percent every day, everywhere, in the weight room, on the field, in the film room.”


Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts
  • Fast start not enough as Rice Baseball falls to Texas A&M for third time
  • Rice Women’s Basketball’s WNIT run blocked by stingy Oregon defense
  • Furious comeback falls short as Rice Basketball falls to SUU
  • Rice Baseball grinds out hard-fought sweep at UAB

Filed Under: Archive, Football Tagged With: George Nyakwol, Mike Bloomgren, press conference notes, Rice Football, Tom Stewart

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 7
  • Next Page »
  1. Item 1
  2. Item 2
  3. Item 3
  4. Item 4
  5. Item 5
  • The Roost Podcast
  • The Roost’s 2022 Rice Football Season Superlatives
  • Rice Football, Mike Bloomgren
  • Rice Football, Bradley Rozner
  • How five UAB snapshots tell a Rice football story
Become a patron at Patreon!
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter