(08-25-2016 04:01 PM)Pan95 Wrote:  

(08-25-2016 12:41 AM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  Here are my notes from this evening:
...

Unbelievable fall camp. Worked hard had fun. Fast on defense, tackle well in space. Jack Fox has done well. Tobola has been consistent. Stehling has great arm with lots of big plays

Want to get back to being hardest working and smartest team in CUSA.

Captains are Lyons and Wright. Two more captains to be named later. Called on fans to help grow support amongst our friends.

Thurmond mentioned defense is fast. Offense going every 12 to 14 seconds.

Bailiff was high on backups/QB depth. Seemed particularly high on Glaesmann as someone to watch for; said he seems more advanced than just a true freshman in terms of grasping offense. German has taken some reps at QB, but I was unclear as to whether Bailiff thinks of him as primarily WR or QB (as in, if Stehling is injured, does German come in or Granato/Tyner)

Myles Adams, Joseph Dill are impact true freshman. Isaiah Edwards has "slimmed down" to 360

Patterson Center has undoubtedly helped recruiting

Schantz is healthy and had phenomenal camp.

A lot of freshman that started last year are shaven (joke on how they have matured)

Edmondson said Stehling's biggest leap / maturation was seen most at line of scrimmage and making calls / changing plays at that juncture of play preparation

Blaine Padgett, Abercrumbia are expected big names on defensive line according to Okam. Believes we have speed/strength to definitely get to QB with four rushers in all situations. Mentioned d line focused on watching NFL tape. Did different skills and drills than in past

First, thank you for the write up.

With that said, I am very intrigued by the bolded. It's critical that we have reliable special teams this year. I was listening to the live interview of Coach Bailiff on 1560 and he particularly mentioned Joseph Dill and Isaiah Edwards as impact Offensive linemen and confidence both in the run game with the variety of backs we have and the maturation of the line with regard to pass blocking. He also mentioned his expectations for Pollard to be un-guardable and for German to be a big play threat.

If we can pass block well with our running attack, 40ppg won't be out of the realm of possibility.

I thought the info on German was very interesting. Basically said Tyler is #1. German would be #2 it seems but he had that shoulder injury then I guess a hurt finger on his throwing hand so he's had very limited snaps. Then mentioned Granato and Glaesman but no mention of Tyner so I'm guessing he will be a wildowl package or something.

(08-25-2016 04:01 PM)Pan95 Wrote:  

(08-25-2016 12:41 AM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  Here are my notes from this evening:
...

Unbelievable fall camp. Worked hard had fun. Fast on defense, tackle well in space. Jack Fox has done well. Tobola has been consistent. Stehling has great arm with lots of big plays

Want to get back to being hardest working and smartest team in CUSA.

Captains are Lyons and Wright. Two more captains to be named later. Called on fans to help grow support amongst our friends.

Thurmond mentioned defense is fast. Offense going every 12 to 14 seconds.

Bailiff was high on backups/QB depth. Seemed particularly high on Glaesmann as someone to watch for; said he seems more advanced than just a true freshman in terms of grasping offense. German has taken some reps at QB, but I was unclear as to whether Bailiff thinks of him as primarily WR or QB (as in, if Stehling is injured, does German come in or Granato/Tyner)

Myles Adams, Joseph Dill are impact true freshman. Isaiah Edwards has "slimmed down" to 360

Patterson Center has undoubtedly helped recruiting

Schantz is healthy and had phenomenal camp.

A lot of freshman that started last year are shaven (joke on how they have matured)

Edmondson said Stehling's biggest leap / maturation was seen most at line of scrimmage and making calls / changing plays at that juncture of play preparation

Blaine Padgett, Abercrumbia are expected big names on defensive line according to Okam. Believes we have speed/strength to definitely get to QB with four rushers in all situations. Mentioned d line focused on watching NFL tape. Did different skills and drills than in past

First, thank you for the write up.

With that said, I am very intrigued by the bolded. It's critical that we have reliable special teams this year. I was listening to the live interview of Coach Bailiff on 1560 and he particularly mentioned Joseph Dill and Isaiah Edwards as impact Offensive linemen and confidence both in the run game with the variety of backs we have and the maturation of the line with regard to pass blocking. He also mentioned his expectations for Pollard to be un-guardable and for German to be a big play threat.

If we can pass block well with our running attack, 40ppg won't be out of the realm of possibility.

Yeah, I was surprised at Bailiff calling out the improvements of Fox/Tobola (not necessarily surprised at their improvement, more surprised that special teams players would be highlighted right off the bat in a discussion about the offense, no offense Hambone). Stehling was the other name mentioned on offense in Bailiff's opening remarks. Bailiff made some joke about calling Fox "Amazing Jack", or something like that. I really hope he has improved - pretty highly touted before last season, but I personally viewed his performance as pretty disappointing.

(08-25-2016 04:30 PM)cr11owl Wrote:  I thought the info on German was very interesting. Basically said Tyler is #1. German would be #2 it seems but he had that shoulder injury then I guess a hurt finger on his throwing hand so he's had very limited snaps. Then mentioned Granato and Glaesman but no mention of Tyner so I'm guessing he will be a wildowl package or something.

My thoughts exactly! Tyner has good speed. The other candidates of course would be Aston Walter, Nate German, and Jordan Myers. But I like Tyner at this point if anyone is to fill the shoes of Bob. At the same time, Tyner is much improved from Spring mechanically. I can't speak to his grasp of the offense.

As for Nate, I really think that he can shine at WR over the next two years. He is fast, has good size, good hands, and the experience playing QB would benefit him.

(08-25-2016 05:12 PM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  Yeah, I was surprised at Bailiff calling out the improvements of Fox/Tobola (not necessarily surprised at their improvement, more surprised that special teams players would be highlighted right off the bat in a discussion about the offense, no offense Hambone). Stehling was the other name mentioned on offense in Bailiff's opening remarks. Bailiff made some joke about calling Fox "Amazing Jack", or something like that. I really hope he has improved - pretty highly touted before last season, but I personally viewed his performance as pretty disappointing.

Special teams absolutely must return to being a weapon. We miss Chris Boswell's leg. It gave us a lot of flexibility with regard to play calling. Hopefully, it sounds as if special teams play is a priority.

At the first scrimmage, Fox had some impressive punts. As for the "Amazing Jack", I am reminded that Fox was also a high school QB so let your mind wander...

James Farrimond told me that Fox was a great punter and would be an All-American before he left.

(08-25-2016 04:01 PM)Pan95 Wrote:  

(08-25-2016 12:41 AM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  Here are my notes from this evening:
...

Unbelievable fall camp. Worked hard had fun. Fast on defense, tackle well in space. Jack Fox has done well. Tobola has been consistent. Stehling has great arm with lots of big plays

Want to get back to being hardest working and smartest team in CUSA.

Captains are Lyons and Wright. Two more captains to be named later. Called on fans to help grow support amongst our friends.

Thurmond mentioned defense is fast. Offense going every 12 to 14 seconds.

Bailiff was high on backups/QB depth. Seemed particularly high on Glaesmann as someone to watch for; said he seems more advanced than just a true freshman in terms of grasping offense. German has taken some reps at QB, but I was unclear as to whether Bailiff thinks of him as primarily WR or QB (as in, if Stehling is injured, does German come in or Granato/Tyner)

Myles Adams, Joseph Dill are impact true freshman. Isaiah Edwards has "slimmed down" to 360

Patterson Center has undoubtedly helped recruiting

Schantz is healthy and had phenomenal camp.

A lot of freshman that started last year are shaven (joke on how they have matured)

Edmondson said Stehling's biggest leap / maturation was seen most at line of scrimmage and making calls / changing plays at that juncture of play preparation

Blaine Padgett, Abercrumbia are expected big names on defensive line according to Okam. Believes we have speed/strength to definitely get to QB with four rushers in all situations. Mentioned d line focused on watching NFL tape. Did different skills and drills than in past

First, thank you for the write up.

With that said, I am very intrigued by the bolded. It's critical that we have reliable special teams this year. I was listening to the live interview of Coach Bailiff on 1560 and he particularly mentioned Joseph Dill and Isaiah Edwards as impact Offensive linemen and confidence both in the run game with the variety of backs we have and the maturation of the line with regard to pass blocking. He also mentioned his expectations for Pollard to be un-guardable and for German to be a big play threat.

If we can pass block well with our running attack, 40ppg won't be out of the realm of possibility.

Over 40 ppg is a bit optimistic, IMO. Even Southern Mississippi, with that offense they had (and the whipping they applied to Rice), just missed that last year (39.9). There were 12 teams that averaged over 40 last year: Baylor, Texas Tech, WKU, Oklahoma, Oregon, Bowling Green, TCU, Ole Miss, NC, UH, Memphis, and Arkansas State.

Not saying it's not possible, but that seems a stretch. Maybe 35 - there were 31 teams that averaged that last year. A 75th percentile scoring offense would be nice.

(08-25-2016 08:29 PM)gsloth Wrote:  

(08-25-2016 04:01 PM)Pan95 Wrote:  

(08-25-2016 12:41 AM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  Here are my notes from this evening:
...

Unbelievable fall camp. Worked hard had fun. Fast on defense, tackle well in space. Jack Fox has done well. Tobola has been consistent. Stehling has great arm with lots of big plays

Want to get back to being hardest working and smartest team in CUSA.

Captains are Lyons and Wright. Two more captains to be named later. Called on fans to help grow support amongst our friends.

Thurmond mentioned defense is fast. Offense going every 12 to 14 seconds.

Bailiff was high on backups/QB depth. Seemed particularly high on Glaesmann as someone to watch for; said he seems more advanced than just a true freshman in terms of grasping offense. German has taken some reps at QB, but I was unclear as to whether Bailiff thinks of him as primarily WR or QB (as in, if Stehling is injured, does German come in or Granato/Tyner)

Myles Adams, Joseph Dill are impact true freshman. Isaiah Edwards has "slimmed down" to 360

Patterson Center has undoubtedly helped recruiting

Schantz is healthy and had phenomenal camp.

A lot of freshman that started last year are shaven (joke on how they have matured)

Edmondson said Stehling's biggest leap / maturation was seen most at line of scrimmage and making calls / changing plays at that juncture of play preparation

Blaine Padgett, Abercrumbia are expected big names on defensive line according to Okam. Believes we have speed/strength to definitely get to QB with four rushers in all situations. Mentioned d line focused on watching NFL tape. Did different skills and drills than in past

First, thank you for the write up.

With that said, I am very intrigued by the bolded. It's critical that we have reliable special teams this year. I was listening to the live interview of Coach Bailiff on 1560 and he particularly mentioned Joseph Dill and Isaiah Edwards as impact Offensive linemen and confidence both in the run game with the variety of backs we have and the maturation of the line with regard to pass blocking. He also mentioned his expectations for Pollard to be un-guardable and for German to be a big play threat.

If we can pass block well with our running attack, 40ppg won't be out of the realm of possibility.

Over 40 ppg is a bit optimistic, IMO. Even Southern Mississippi, with that offense they had (and the whipping they applied to Rice), just missed that last year (39.9). There were 12 teams that averaged over 40 last year: Baylor, Texas Tech, WKU, Oklahoma, Oregon, Bowling Green, TCU, Ole Miss, NC, UH, Memphis, and Arkansas State.

Not saying it's not possible, but that seems a stretch. Maybe 35 - there were 31 teams that averaged that last year. A 75th percentile scoring offense would be nice.

Some of you guys are smoking something. You do realize we have a totally unproven and untested QB and an unproven OL. Sure 3 guys return from last years OL....but our OL was woeful last year for both run blocking and pass blocking.

(08-25-2016 10:15 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(08-25-2016 08:29 PM)gsloth Wrote:  

(08-25-2016 04:01 PM)Pan95 Wrote:  

(08-25-2016 12:41 AM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  Here are my notes from this evening:
...

Unbelievable fall camp. Worked hard had fun. Fast on defense, tackle well in space. Jack Fox has done well. Tobola has been consistent. Stehling has great arm with lots of big plays

Want to get back to being hardest working and smartest team in CUSA.

Captains are Lyons and Wright. Two more captains to be named later. Called on fans to help grow support amongst our friends.

Thurmond mentioned defense is fast. Offense going every 12 to 14 seconds.

Bailiff was high on backups/QB depth. Seemed particularly high on Glaesmann as someone to watch for; said he seems more advanced than just a true freshman in terms of grasping offense. German has taken some reps at QB, but I was unclear as to whether Bailiff thinks of him as primarily WR or QB (as in, if Stehling is injured, does German come in or Granato/Tyner)

Myles Adams, Joseph Dill are impact true freshman. Isaiah Edwards has "slimmed down" to 360

Patterson Center has undoubtedly helped recruiting

Schantz is healthy and had phenomenal camp.

A lot of freshman that started last year are shaven (joke on how they have matured)

Edmondson said Stehling's biggest leap / maturation was seen most at line of scrimmage and making calls / changing plays at that juncture of play preparation

Blaine Padgett, Abercrumbia are expected big names on defensive line according to Okam. Believes we have speed/strength to definitely get to QB with four rushers in all situations. Mentioned d line focused on watching NFL tape. Did different skills and drills than in past

First, thank you for the write up.

With that said, I am very intrigued by the bolded. It's critical that we have reliable special teams this year. I was listening to the live interview of Coach Bailiff on 1560 and he particularly mentioned Joseph Dill and Isaiah Edwards as impact Offensive linemen and confidence both in the run game with the variety of backs we have and the maturation of the line with regard to pass blocking. He also mentioned his expectations for Pollard to be un-guardable and for German to be a big play threat.

If we can pass block well with our running attack, 40ppg won't be out of the realm of possibility.

Over 40 ppg is a bit optimistic, IMO. Even Southern Mississippi, with that offense they had (and the whipping they applied to Rice), just missed that last year (39.9). There were 12 teams that averaged over 40 last year: Baylor, Texas Tech, WKU, Oklahoma, Oregon, Bowling Green, TCU, Ole Miss, NC, UH, Memphis, and Arkansas State.

Not saying it's not possible, but that seems a stretch. Maybe 35 - there were 31 teams that averaged that last year. A 75th percentile scoring offense would be nice.

Some of you guys are smoking something. You do realize we have a totally unproven and untested QB and an unproven OL. Sure 3 guys return from last years OL....but our OL was woeful last year for both run blocking and pass blocking.

Walt, that's why I said "if". I noted at the 1st scrimmage that the pass blocking needs work. However, the run blocking was good and in fact the run blocking last was very good when healthy. Don't forget that we had a lot of injuries last year.

As for Tyler, yes for the most part he is unproven, but he has all of the physical tools to excel. In retrospect however, 40ppg under perfect conditions might be a bit too optimistic.

It's harder than usual to tell at this point what we're going to see and get this season in football. We'll have to see at least the first two games to have an idea. We have an extremely weak schedule: 119 out of 128, even with Baylor and Stanford.

Now I will say that I have watched the Rice-Army game locally the past few years with several friends who are West Point grads. For the first time this year, they are convinced they have an excellent chance at Army beating Navy this season. To them, the Rice game is just a tune-up and a formality this year, as it is at West Point, and they nearly pulled off the road win with a weaker team last year at HRS. Who knows if they are correct in their feeling about how good Army will be or not? If Army is capable of beating Navy for the first time in a while, they should be able to beat Rice this season no matter the improvements the coaching staff says have been made. But I still don't know what to think.

I'd like to think a tall, strong-armed QB like Stehling will step up and surprise. That we'll score 40 or 50 points a game, with the new "faster" offense (but then, we have a 4-speed offense, as we were reminded earlier this month. How often will we be in 1st gear as opposed to 4th? Who knows?) I'm a bit frustrated that Stehling wasn't given more game reps last season, especially with it coming out that Driphus was more hurt than we were led to believe. That coaching decision doesn't make much sense to me if Stehling is supposed to be that good. It leads me to think he may not be as good as the coaches are saying now, if they didn't have confidence to play him more last season instead of a hurt QB who they did choose to play. Either that, or Stehling just got so much better over the off-season, but then, why did that just happen all of a sudden after 4 years of not happening? That's kind of a head-scratcher. Or there is the "it's his turn" thing going that is more important than "play the best you got regardless of who's 'turn' it is." I really don't know, so we'll have to wait and see.

I do seem to recall last season after we beat Wagner to start and there seemed to be a bit of intimating that we were thus going to have a great year. Playing Wagner didn't really tell us much of anything, but it did give some false hope for a week.

I think we'll take our lumps in first half of this season and then build our bowl bid chances on the latter half against the more atrocious teams we play, which is a script we've seen oft-repeated under this regime. I believe we need a lot more than just a 6-6 or 7-5 (or 5-7 nowadays, for that matter) bowl bid at this point. What would have to change would be upsetting Baylor. I don't think we have a prayer against Stanford. We are more likely to catch Baylor on a bad day with all the turmoil there than to beat the Cardinal at their place.

I don't consider WKU all that formidable, and am concerned that the ground has already been prepared for a loss there by some of the coach's comments this month. To me, that game should be a gimme for us at this point in this staff's career, no matter that they start off the year ranked if we are to be taking a step forward for the program. They are WKU and we are Rice. It's like building up Nicholls State. (Well, they do own a 1-0 record against us, don't they?)

Now that we have our EZF, with more stadium renovations on the way, the question of "will Rice admin support football" was greatly settled last year with the start of construction, at least for the time being. The question is squarely on this coaching staff: "After 10 years, will these coaches step up and get this year's team to win the kinds of games we haven't won for the better part of 40 years? South Miss and La Tech should be beatable, if we are truly to "compete for the conference championship." If not, those words are just the same old smokescreen. The AAC is watching (and maybe the Big XII?) To the extent those games are considered "hard" or "tossups" is the extent we have not made the progress alleged by this regime.

Hoping for the best, but maintaining a healthy skepticism. Here's a preview of this season's post-game musical summaries:

Artist: Re-Flex
Album: Humanication (un-released until mid-September 2010)
Cut: "How Much Longer Must We Wait?"
February 1985 EMI Records, Capitol Records

Rice football is truly the best of Green Day's American Idiot. From (University) Boulevard of Broken Dreams to Wake Me Up When September Ends, every song on the album seems to have been written for the team. Sorry to be so pessimistic but at least it's an amazing album.

[quote='GoodOwl' pid='13500188' dateline='1472198050']
It's harder than usual to tell at this point what we're going to see and get this season in football. We'll have to see at least the first two games to have an idea. We have an extremely weak schedule: 119 out of 128, even with Baylor and Stanford.

Now I will say that I have watched the Rice-Army game locally the past few years with several friends who are West Point grads. For the first time this year, they are convinced they have an excellent chance at Army beating Navy this season. To them, the Rice game is just a tune-up and a formality this year, as it is at West Point, and they nearly pulled off the road win with a weaker team last year at HRS. Who knows if they are correct in their feeling about how good Army will be or not? If Army is capable of beating Navy for the first time in a while, they should be able to beat Rice this season no matter the improvements the coaching staff says have been made. But I still don't know what to think.

I'd like to think a tall, strong-armed QB like Stehling will step up and surprise. That we'll score 40 or 50 points a game, with the new "faster" offense (but then, we have a 4-speed offense, as we were reminded earlier this month. How often will we be in 1st gear as opposed to 4th? Who knows?) I'm a bit frustrated that Stehling wasn't given more game reps last season, especially with it coming out that Driphus was more hurt than we were led to believe. That coaching decision doesn't make much sense to me if Stehling is supposed to be that good. It leads me to think he may not be as good as the coaches are saying now, if they didn't have confidence to play him more last season instead of a hurt QB who they did choose to play. Either that, or Stehling just got so much better over the off-season, but then, why did that just happen all of a sudden after 4 years of not happening? That's kind of a head-scratcher. Or there is the "it's his turn" thing going that is more important than "play the best you got regardless of who's 'turn' it is." I really don't know, so we'll have to wait and see.

I don't see why there was so much hang-up about having a close run-in with Army last year - last minute heroics optics aside we beat them by more than Navy did or a UConn team that everyone gushed about after their UH win. They will be tougher on their home field but unlikely light years better.

If our defense isn't better than last year we need our offense to move in 4th gear. Frankly with our line and running back competency I wouldnt mind a slow/grinding running attack. So much concern over our QB and pace of offense, but giving up 3 play drives over and over is killer. I like being aggressive but at some point our defensive strategy needs to shift into 4th gear (keep the ball infront of you and make a tackle) just to give us a shot in ballgames). Pace of offense has to have a complement.

I hope that having Stehling at QB at least eliminates running 10-12 absolutely horrid (usually short-side) speed/read/freeze options per game, which in reality weren't options because we pre-called a pitch. No more running the optionless option. Even Clemson risks Deshaun Watson to keep defenses honest but everyone in teh stadium knew our QB wasnt running for the last 2 years.

(08-26-2016 02:54 AM)GoodOwl Wrote:  It's harder than usual to tell at this point what we're going to see and get this season in football. We'll have to see at least the first two games to have an idea. We have an extremely weak schedule: 119 out of 128, even with Baylor and Stanford.

Now I will say that I have watched the Rice-Army game locally the past few years with several friends who are West Point grads. For the first time this year, they are convinced they have an excellent chance at Army beating Navy this season. To them, the Rice game is just a tune-up and a formality this year, as it is at West Point, and they nearly pulled off the road win with a weaker team last year at HRS. Who knows if they are correct in their feeling about how good Army will be or not? If Army is capable of beating Navy for the first time in a while, they should be able to beat Rice this season no matter the improvements the coaching staff says have been made. But I still don't know what to think.

I'd like to think a tall, strong-armed QB like Stehling will step up and surprise. That we'll score 40 or 50 points a game, with the new "faster" offense (but then, we have a 4-speed offense, as we were reminded earlier this month. How often will we be in 1st gear as opposed to 4th? Who knows?) I'm a bit frustrated that Stehling wasn't given more game reps last season, especially with it coming out that Driphus was more hurt than we were led to believe. That coaching decision doesn't make much sense to me if Stehling is supposed to be that good. It leads me to think he may not be as good as the coaches are saying now, if they didn't have confidence to play him more last season instead of a hurt QB who they did choose to play. Either that, or Stehling just got so much better over the off-season, but then, why did that just happen all of a sudden after 4 years of not happening? That's kind of a head-scratcher. Or there is the "it's his turn" thing going that is more important than "play the best you got regardless of who's 'turn' it is." I really don't know, so we'll have to wait and see.

I do seem to recall last season after we beat Wagner to start and there seemed to be a bit of intimating that we were thus going to have a great year. Playing Wagner didn't really tell us much of anything, but it did give some false hope for a week.

I think we'll take our lumps in first half of this season and then build our bowl bid chances on the latter half against the more atrocious teams we play, which is a script we've seen oft-repeated under this regime. I believe we need a lot more than just a 6-6 or 7-5 (or 5-7 nowadays, for that matter) bowl bid at this point. What would have to change would be upsetting Baylor. I don't think we have a prayer against Stanford. We are more likely to catch Baylor on a bad day with all the turmoil there than to beat the Cardinal at their place.

I don't consider WKU all that formidable, and am concerned that the ground has already been prepared for a loss there by some of the coach's comments this month. To me, that game should be a gimme for us at this point in this staff's career, no matter that they start off the year ranked if we are to be taking a step forward for the program. They are WKU and we are Rice. It's like building up Nicholls State. (Well, they do own a 1-0 record against us, don't they?)

Now that we have our EZF, with more stadium renovations on the way, the question of "will Rice admin support football" was greatly settled last year with the start of construction, at least for the time being. The question is squarely on this coaching staff: "After 10 years, will these coaches step up and get this year's team to win the kinds of games we haven't won for the better part of 40 years? South Miss and La Tech should be beatable, if we are truly to "compete for the conference championship." If not, those words are just the same old smokescreen. The AAC is watching (and maybe the Big XII?) To the extent those games are considered "hard" or "tossups" is the extent we have not made the progress alleged by this regime.

Hoping for the best, but maintaining a healthy skepticism. Here's a preview of this season's post-game musical summaries:

Artist: Re-Flex
Album: Humanication (un-released until mid-September 2010)
Cut: "How Much Longer Must We Wait?"
February 1985 EMI Records, Capitol Records

Pretty fair.

I think our results this year hinge on the QB, which largely hinges on the O-line.

If we have good QB play, the question will be why didn't Bailiff play him more the last two years. If not, the question will be why didn't Bailiff recruit better/play him in mop up situations?

personally, I don't think play in mop up situations does much to make a QB better. I would have liked to see TS playing more in situations where his performance makes a difference. He'll face that next week for the first time since high school.

If the offense doesn't perform, it puts the pressure on the defense. We need to make yards and control field position.

last year's Army game is irrelevant to this year's Army game.

What I will be looking for on Thursday night is an offense that can make first downs and a defense that can hurry the QB into bad passes.

To those close to the program, is Rice is still using the STRIVR virtual reality system that was much ballyhood heading into last season? Has there been feedback from the players on whether it really seems to help? I know one of its big selling points was giving QB's mental reps when they weren't able to actually be on the field.

(08-26-2016 10:08 AM)mrbig Wrote:  To those close to the program, is Rice is still using the STRIVR virtual reality system that was much ballyhood heading into last season? Has there been feedback from the players on whether it really seems to help? I know one of its big selling points was giving QB's mental reps when they weren't able to actually be on the field.

Yes STRIVR is still being used. There is a room in the EZF dedicated to its usage. And no, I am not close to the program.

I think that a key to watch will be the play of the defensive line. If the few comments from players about Frank Okam's coaching prove true, then they will be able to penetrate better. Plus, we get some of the good players who were injured for quite a bit of last season back.

A good rush makes for a good defense.

(08-26-2016 10:29 AM)grOWLer Wrote:  I think that a key to watch will be the play of the defensive line. If the few comments from players about Frank Okam's coaching prove true, then they will be able to penetrate better. Plus, we get some of the good players who were injured for quite a bit of last season back.

A good rush makes for a good defense.

Yep. It puts more pressure on the QB which will hopefully lead to more TOs. I think one of the things that was truly impressive last year was that we were dead last in the NCAA in passes intercepted. We picked off 2 passes. For a frame of reference, the number 1 team picked off 26.

(08-26-2016 10:29 AM)grOWLer Wrote:  I think that a key to watch will be the play of the defensive line. If the few comments from players about Frank Okam's coaching prove true, then they will be able to penetrate better. Plus, we get some of the good players who were injured for quite a bit of last season back.

A good rush makes for a good defense.

I love having a guy like Okam on the staff. Guy was a force to be reckoned with on the field (starter on UT national championship team, freshman All American and two time All-Big 12) and was great in the classroom too (top 5% of high school class and graduated from UT in 3.5 years). Definitely someone our players should aspire to be.

(08-26-2016 11:21 AM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  

(08-26-2016 10:29 AM)grOWLer Wrote:  I think that a key to watch will be the play of the defensive line. If the few comments from players about Frank Okam's coaching prove true, then they will be able to penetrate better. Plus, we get some of the good players who were injured for quite a bit of last season back.
A good rush makes for a good defense.

I love having a guy like Okam on the staff. Guy was a force to be reckoned with on the field (starter on UT national championship team, freshman All American and two time All-Big 12) and was great in the classroom too (top 5% of high school class and graduated from UT in 3.5 years). Definitely someone our players should aspire to be.

Really, really nice guy, too. At least off the football field. Great to have him.

(08-26-2016 05:16 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(08-26-2016 11:21 AM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  

(08-26-2016 10:29 AM)grOWLer Wrote:  I think that a key to watch will be the play of the defensive line. If the few comments from players about Frank Okam's coaching prove true, then they will be able to penetrate better. Plus, we get some of the good players who were injured for quite a bit of last season back.
A good rush makes for a good defense.

I love having a guy like Okam on the staff. Guy was a force to be reckoned with on the field (starter on UT national championship team, freshman All American and two time All-Big 12) and was great in the classroom too (top 5% of high school class and graduated from UT in 3.5 years). Definitely someone our players should aspire to be.

Really, really nice guy, too. At least off the football field. Great to have him.

+1