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Rice Football rocked by interim-led Charlotte on Homecoming

October 29, 2022 By Matthew Bartlett

The fans were there, but the Rice football team no-showed on its own Homecoming Day as the Owls were blasted by interim coach-led Charlotte.

On an overcast day in Houston, Rice football was only wishing the rain would come. Perhaps then, had the field been deluged by water from the sky, the Owls could have avoided the torrential downpour of 49er touchdowns. Instead, Rice was run out of their own stadium on Homecoming in embarrassing fashion. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Can’t get off the field

The Rice football defense was supposed to be the backbone of this team. On Saturday, the unit more closely resembled the one that was assaulted through the air by backup quarterbacks the weekend prior against Louisiana Tech. The pass rush had its moments, but on the instances in which the Rice front couldn’t get to quarterback Chris Reynolds, Rice paid dearly.

Reynolds, who entered the season as one of the most proven commodities at the quarterback position in Conference USA, was able to move the ball at will against a Rice defense that ranked No. 3 in C-USA against the pass entering the game. Not only was Charlotte able to move the ball, but they were allowed to do so continually.

A team that fired its head coach six days ago scored touchdowns on seven consecutive drives.

Charlotte ran the ball. They threw the ball. When they reached third down, they converted it. When they didn’t, they found a way on fourth down.

Enabling so many extra opportunities was fuel to the fire. Charlotte got going and gashed the Owls, who chose not to spy quarterback Chris Reynolds and continued to bring heavy pressure as Reynolds picked them apart downfield.

Reynolds threw for 254 yards and five touchdowns. The 49ers ran for 239 yards.

Not having linebacker Myron Morrison and safety George Nyakwol available hampered this unit, but it’s hardly the first time they’ve been without key players. The depth is good enough to get the job done, or at the very least, to do much better than this.

What’s it going to be?

With a loss like this comes questions. Just about every game this season has been laborious for this team. To the Owls’ credit, they’ve won as many as they’ve lost, but the path to get to that end result has usually been messy. What’s most maddening is the lack of consistency from this team from game to game. On any given Saturday, which Rice football team is going to show up?

In years past, it’s been easy to point the finger at the offense. If the team would just score more often, if they’d run better plays, if they’d be more creative… then they could start winning. Well, they are scoring more… but the games are still exhausting.

Is today going to be a day the defense comes close to pitching a shutout? Maybe. Or they could give up 40+ points.

Is today going to be the day the offense gets in gear and puts in the endzone six or seven times? Perhaps. Or they could go backward, turn the ball over a few times, and barely sniff double digits.

The trouble is, Rice really hasn’t seen both of the positive ends of those spectrums coincide. More often than not it’s been a good offensive day (or half) mirrored against a bad defensive outing. That’s led to lots of close games and high heart rates. Winning ugly counts for something. But it’s hard to trust this team from week to week. We just don’t know who is going to show up.

Two steps forward, one step back

For the first time under head coach Mike Bloomgren, Rice football was a multi-touchdown favorite in a home conference game. Cover the spread or not, on paper this was meant to be a game that put Rice one win away from a trip to a bowl game for the first time since 2014. But games aren’t played on paper.

Make no mistake, this was the most embarrassing loss of Bloomgren’s tenure.

Charlotte came out and played like they had nothing to lose. From an onside kick to a fake punt, the 49ers were the aggressor all day long against a team that preaches intellectual brutality. That can’t happen.

It’s impossible to scrap the remainder of the season just yet, especially given the highs we’ve seen both sides of the ball reach on their better days. But the task just got immeasurably harder. Rice should have won this game. Losing would have been disappointing. Losing like this was humiliating. Especially considering this is the same team that beat Louisiana, beat UAB and went toe-to-toe with Houston. Unfortunately, that feels like so long ago.

Rice football has another game to play in five days at home against UTEP. They need to win it, if for no other reason than to purge this awful result from their minds.

Less turnovers but not enough points

Punter Conor Hunt spent most of the first half Saturday standing on the sideline. The Rice offense didn’t have much need of his services until the game was well out of hand. Hunt didn’t punt until the beginning of the third quarter when the game had already started to get out of hand.

For at least the sixth time this season — they don’t exactly keep stats on this — a Rice quarterback was intercepted on a pass that deflected off his receiver’s hands. A deep shot from McMahon on the Owls’ second drive was picked off, setting up a short field for Charlotte and their first score.

The Roost Podcast: Stay tuned for the game recap this week – Rice Football vs Charlotte

The interception and a failed fourth down conversion were early blemishes on what started as a rather uneventful offensive day. Trailing by 11 going into halftime, the offense hasn’t been perfect, but it hadn’t been the reason the Owls were already trailing big.

The offense deserves credit for mostly eliminating the controllable turnovers. They did not fumble the ball to the other team and the lone interception was fluky. On a day in which a lot of things went wrong, that was a tally in the positive direction.

A 100 percent scoring rate would be nice, albeit unsustainable. Rice scored on three of four offensive drives in the first half on Saturday, excluding the kneel-down at the end of the half. That should get it done when you have the defense the Owls do… unless the defense disappears. On Saturday, it did just that. And the offense didn’t have the juice to pick up the pace.

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Filed Under: Featured, Football, Premium Tagged With: Conor Hunt, game recap, Ikenna Enechukwu, Rice Football, Trey Schuman

Rice Football 2022: Charlotte Game Week Practice Report

October 27, 2022 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice football hosts Charlotte this weekend in search of win number five. Here’s what we learned from practice this week.

Undefeated at home this season, Rice football returns to South Main as heavy favorites against Charlotte. The Owls won’t be taking the 49ers lightly, and have said as much, addressing some key concerns in practice this week.

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This week’s roundup focuses in on Juma Otoviano and the running back room, the trenches, and injuries as well as some individual highlights from the week.

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.

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Filed Under: Featured, Football, Premium Tagged With: Andrew Awe, Ari Broussard, Cedric Patterson, Chris conti, Daveon Hook, De'Braylon Carroll, John Hughes, John Long, Juma Otoviano, Myron Morrison, practice notes, Rice Football, Sean Fresch, Shea Baker, TJ McMahon, Trey Schuman, Uriah West

Rice Football 2022: FAU Game Week Practice Report

October 13, 2022 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice football travels to the Sunshine State this weekend to play FAU. Here’s what we learned from practice as the Owls prep for C-USA’s other Owls.

Rice football returns from their bye week in search of their first road win of the season. FAU, the only Conference USA squad Rice head coach Mike Bloomgren has yet to play, promises to be another good test for this rising team.

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This week’s roundup highlights changes on the team during the bye week, focusing on some up-and-coming players and a few healthy players set to make their 2022 debuts after injuries sidelined them earlier in the year. Plus, continuity on the offensive line… finally!

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.

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Filed Under: Archive, Featured, Football, Premium Tagged With: Ari Broussard, Cam Montgomery, Cedric Patterson, Clay Servin, Daveon Hook, Dean Connors, DeMone Green, Ethan Onianwa, Gabe Taylor, George Nyakwol, Ichmael Joseph, Isaac Klarkowski, Izeya Floyd, John Long, Jojo Jean, Jordan Dunbar, Kirk Lockhart, Kobie Campbell, Marcus Williams, Nate Kamper, practice notes, Quinton Jackson, Rice Football, Sean Fresch, Shea Baker, Shepherd Bowling, TJ McMahon, Tre'shon Devones, Trey Phillippi, Trey Schuman, Tyson Flowers, Uriah West

Rice Football 2022 Fall Camp Notebook 4: Offense shines in Scrimmage 1

August 13, 2022 By Matthew Bartlett

The Rice football offense put its best foot forward in the first scrimmage of fall camp, scoring four touchdowns and coming close on a few other drives.

Rice football reached the halfway point of fall camp this week. capping a run of six straight practice days with their first scrimmage. The offense stole the show, piling up touchdowns and points against a Rice defense that — on this rare occasion — looked mortal. Luke McCaffrey in space can make that happen.

More: Rice Football Preseason Preview Series

There was some separation on the quarterback front, a few offensive playmakers worth noting and even a few defensive standout that warranted some praise despite the tough day for their side of the ball. Altogether, we learned a lot and the team as a whole should be pleased with how things are progressing so far in camp.

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Filed Under: Featured, Football, Premium Tagged With: Aidan Siano, Ari Broussard, Bradley Rozner, Caleb James, Chibby Nwajuaku, Christian Francisco, Dean Connors, DJ Arkansas, Ethan Onianwa, Garrett Braden, Gavin Reinwald, Ikenna Enechukwu, Isaiah Esdale, John Hughes, Kobie Campbell, Litchfield Ajavon, Luke McCaffrey, Miles Mccord, Myron Morrison, practice notes, Quinton Jackson, Rice Football, Sean Fresch, Shawqi Itraish, TJ McMahon, Trey Schuman, Uriah West, Van Heitmann, Wiley Green

Rice Football 2022 Season Preview: Defensive Line

July 23, 2022 By Matthew Bartlett

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.

Following years of injuries and inconsistencies, Rice football has now accumulated a surplus of riches along the defensive line. Defensive coordinator Brian Smith will have to decide how he’ll deploy so many proven commodities and that’s never a bad problem to have. Here’s our 2022 Defensive Line Preview.

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Breaking down the defensive line position

Rice football has found itself between a rock and a hard place in recent seasons. The depth the Owls had hoped to have accumulated in the front four simply wasn’t there. That gave way to an ever-lingering dance between rotating in someone who might not be ready and sticking with the same guys for too long and risking exhaustion.

In an ideal world, Rice would be able to play seven or eight defensive linemen significant minutes through a game. At this position, perhaps unlike any other, Rice wants to continuously be bringing fresh legs onto the field. And they may be able to do just that this year.

If they can, they’ll help bolster a pass rush that had already shown its first meaningful signs of progress last season. The Owls’ 2.25 sacks per game ranked seventh in Conference USA and were almost a full sack per game better than their previous three seasons.

The run defense has always been solid, although it remains to be see how the front four will compensate for the loss of Elijah Garcia, who signed with the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agent this offseason. To that end, this unit isn’t without its questions, but there are many more potential answers than there were in recent years.

Projected Starters – Trey Schuman, De’Braylon Carroll, Ikenna Enechukwu, Kenneth Orji

Even though they were missing Trey Schuman and De’Braylon Carroll from practices, the Rice football defensive line put together an impressive showing this spring, At that time, it was Ikenna Enechukwu on the end, with Izeya Floyd and Blake Boenisch in the middle and one of Kenneth Orji or Josh Pearcy flying in off the edge.

That’s six names already mentioned. There are four “starting” spots.

Schuman has struggled with injuries over the last several seasons. It might make sense for him to share time with Enechukwu on the end, although we’ll probably see both on the field at times given Enechukwu’s position flexibility.

Carroll should be the rock the rest of this amoeba forms around. Fully healthy from an injury suffered in the summer of 2021, he’ll be a fixture in the interior of the line. When Enechukwu hasn’t slid inside, Floyd should fill the other spot. He had a fantastic spring after moving back over from the offensive line. He and Carroll were recruited in the same class but haven’t played alongside each other yet. That will change this season.

Then there’s the edge. Nobody wants anyone to lose their job because of injury, but that happened to some degree with Orji who, through no fault of his own, will move into a much more even split with Pearcy. The newcomer made his mark last season and earned more time on the field.

One solution? Play them both. At some point, the Owls will step up to the line like this: Pearcy, Enechukwu, Carroll, Orji. And that leaves quality players like Schuman and Floyd waiting in the wings. Sheesh.

Rest of the Room

Boenisch is probably the odd man out here because of the depth, not because of his ability. He arrived at South Main with an intimidating frame and took significant series with his game this spring. He’s a candidate to earn some specialized situational roles and he will push Floyd for snaps on the interior of the line.

The other name of note here is Quent Titre. The Abilene Christian transfer didn’t pick Rice to ride the pine. He played in 36 games with ACU over the past four seasons and tallied 65 tackles. He expects to play at South Main and should provide some utility along the interior. How he progresses during fall camp will be huge. The position is flush with talent.

Caleb James, Cole Latos and Elroyal Morris would be the third wave of players who could each see a handful of spot snaps on a game-to-game basis.

Player to Watch – Van Heitmann

Barring a wave of injuries, it looks like there shouldn’t be more than a few cameo appearances from incoming freshmen or other underclassmen along the defensive line this season.

Van Heitmann really hasn’t had his name called in his two-year Rice career thus far, but the sophomore defensive end posted a strong outing in the spring game and made a few big plays throughout the course of spring practices. He was a special teamer last season and should see frequent action there again this year. If he continues to play well there, he’ll be in the conversation for more time with the defense as well.

While he might not see much action early, watch out for Davion Carter. The incoming true freshman is listed at 5-foot-11 and 304 pounds. He’s going to be a difference maker.

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Filed Under: Archive, Football, Premium Tagged With: 2022 Rice Football Season Preview, Blake Boenisch, Caleb James, Cole Latos, Davion Carter, Elroyal Morris, Ikenna Enechukwu, Izeya Floyd, Josh Pearcy, Kenneth Orji, quent titre, Rice Football, Trey Schuman, Van Heitmann

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