Still no pressure. WTH are we doing?

We lucked out again. Once again, he had all day to pass. No blitzing. Awful defensive play calling all half long. Ugly!

It’s not as if Kay didn’t see lots of pressure D working under Smith. Not sure why he is so willing to rush only 3 or a soft 4. We get lucky. But happy for the W.

It wasn’t pretty, but we have to take it. Big win to start the season against a good G6 team on the road.

On to Houston!

ULL might have the worst WR group in all of college football. Holy hell they are bad.

Still, the defense has taken a step forward.

Defense was excellent. Great win

Typical of Rice to make it a nail biter after being up in the game earlier.....

WooHOO!! WTG, Owls!

Quinton Jackson is the ESPN+ Player of the Game. (119 yards rushing)

Postgame interview:

Re: What worked out there for you: I think our OL did a very good job, getting bodies on bodies ... our running backs, slots, QBs did their job.

Re: culture in the locker room: ... The bond, you can't describe it. Everybody wants to see each other win. There's no jealousy; it's a brotherhood.

Re: What's next: We're going to celebrate for an hour, then we're on to Houston, a good opponent."

That is a game I was fully expecting to lose after the 4th down stop...so I'm chuffed about the win. Was it perfect? No. Offense got figured out/hit a roadblock, defense was aided by some drops and poor throws. But we're all Rice fans on this board and we're probably all used to losing these types of games. Plenty of positives to focus on and it's a win against a top Sun Belt team on the road. Hell yeah.

A win on the road in a game we weren’t favored. Not a bad start.

The defense is still solid, and absolutely won the game for Rice. The offense needs to improve.

Great win. I'm going to predict us to lose every game from now on.

(08-26-2025 10:36 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(08-26-2025 09:17 AM)Ourland Wrote:  

(08-24-2025 08:24 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(08-24-2025 02:26 PM)Ourland Wrote:  Likewise. If I predict that Rice is going to lose, I'm still pulling for them to win.

Understood, but...

Why make a prediction that we will lose? To look smart, in case we lose? What is gained by that?

Let the opponents predict a win for their team. We don't need to abet them.

I don't think anyone gains much of anything from being right about a prediction. This is just a message board where such things are discussed.

I'm considering all the variables, and have come to the conclusion that we're in for a tough game. I'd be absolutely floored if we win, very pleasantly floored.

That being said, it's game week, and no one has given their score predictions, but me. I'll take Louisiana, 31-10. What say you Rice fans?

Rice 21-17

If I were a (football) betting man, I would snap up Rice plus 21 in a NY minute.

Overestimated Rice offense, underestimated Rice defense.

(08-30-2025 10:14 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  A win on the road in a game we weren’t favored. Not a bad start.

The defense is still solid, and absolutely won the game for Rice. The offense needs to improve.

We played a really strong 1H. Offense went ultra conservative the 2nd half, which allowed the ULaLa offensive line to start dominating. We were just too predictable, and stopped the pre-snap motioning. Defense overall played well, but we did luck out thanks to all those dropped passes and made a bunch of stupid, costly penalties in crucial situations that allowed ULaLa to dig out of big holes.

Having said that, a win is a win, and a road win against the team favored to defend it's Sun Belt title (with the majority of their team back from last year and a highly regarded P4 QB transfer) is even more impressive.

First season opening win on the road since 2004.

First season opening win on the road OUTSIDE the city of Houston since 1991 I believe (win at Northwestern).

Really liked how the RBs followed the blockers in the 1H. Don’t know where that went after halftime.

First win against LoL since 2022!

(And now we’re 4-3 against em all-time)

(08-30-2025 10:24 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  Really liked how the RBs followed the blockers in the 1H. Don’t know where that went after halftime.

ULaLa started run blitzing on a regular basis the 2nd half. Our OL was outnumbered and overpowered. To counter that we needed to throw a couple 1st down passes-- even really short ones-- which would have been really effective and forced their defense to play less aggressively.

Dang. I picked us to win by 3. Great win for once after Bloomgren disaster. UH will be interesting. Our passing effeciency has to improve against UH.You know they will stack the box.

Tonight's announced attendance at the first game at ULL's newly renovated ($65 million) Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium was 22,148. Isn't that about what our home games' attendance typically is?

(08-30-2025 10:30 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  Tonight's announced attendance at the first game at ULL's newly renovated ($65 million) Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium was 22,148. Isn't that about what our home games' attendance typically is?

Really nice renovation it appears and for a decent price.