(08-26-2018 11:02 AM)Intellectual_Brutality Wrote:  Esupka reminds me of Charles .. Sims was it? A huge, strong back who we used very heavily. But an RB can't take that kind of punishment for an entire season, and I think Sims was oft injured in the latter half of the season, IIRC

Ross was very much underutilized. He got in the dog house for some reason and Bailiff barely played him. I still remember his run against ECU for 80 yards up the middle. He could really move for someone that big.

(08-26-2018 07:53 AM)DFW Owl Wrote:  

Quote:Rice should have been able to EASILY kick the field goal from the 10 yd line where they were on third down. That running play could have been strung out and taken ALL of the 10 seconds left on the clock, resulting in overtime. It WAS a DUMB call that no experienced head coach would make.

What I thought was dumb was that PV didn't use their final timeout on our last drive. We could have scored a TD and they would have had at least some time to work with.

Even dumber was they burned their next to last timeout to avoid a delay of game that was only going to be a half the distance penalty. They should have kept that timeout so they would have had two if they got a final possession.

I thought the sound system and the presentation was excellent relative to the past. Also, I love how they drowned out the PVAM band sometimes. I remember seeing this when the Air Force Academy played Rice at Air Force Academy. Great strategy.

Finished watching the game this AM.

First, great thing to start off with a win, when it very much should be a win.

Second, what I saw was a team that actually looked prepared to play, and ready to play. Kudos for whomever instilled that into the squad.

Third, I think it safe to to say that it is somewhat obvious that Bloomgren is the unfortunate recipient of a very bare cupboard. To be blunt, while the team looked prepared and ready (as opposed to the mangled mess under Bailiff), they needed every bit of that preparedness and readiness to beat PV. The fact that this was a ballgame simply goes to the fact that player-wise, Rice is pretty much starting from scratch and at the bottom.

Instead of a team that looked like (quite honestly) of bunch of scrubs playing pick up ball, they were (relative to last year) very sharp. But the hole Bailiff dug for this program was in full view last night in my opinion. At least the football team found it within themselves to win one that they could have easily lost, whereas I have a firm belief that last year's model would have floundered their way to a loss.

Have to say I am lowering my expectations from 4 wins to 3. I like the 'tude the football team displayed last night. World of difference from last two years. But I just dont see the skill levels or player skills to win four games.

At least, the problem is one of personnel development and/or training --- which hopefully this staff can provide. That is a medium to long term project -- truly a project that shows whether a coaching staff can succeed or not. It is far better than having that same lack of basic skill levels/development operating in tandem with a 'lost' coaching staff.

(08-26-2018 11:20 AM)cr11owl Wrote:  

(08-26-2018 11:02 AM)Intellectual_Brutality Wrote:  Esupka reminds me of Charles .. Sims was it? A huge, strong back who we used very heavily. But an RB can't take that kind of punishment for an entire season, and I think Sims was oft injured in the latter half of the season, IIRC

Ross was very much underutilized. He got in the dog house for some reason and Bailiff barely played him. I still remember his run against ECU for 80 yards up the middle. He could really move for someone that big.

I think you are thinking of Eddington?

(08-26-2018 11:48 AM)OldOwl Wrote:  I thought the sound system and the presentation was excellent relative to the past. Also, I love how they drowned out the PVAM band sometimes. I remember seeing this when the Air Force Academy played Rice at Air Force Academy. Great strategy.

I disagree. The PVAM band, at least from our seats directly across from the band, blew away whatever was playing on the big screen.

I also don't understand why the PVAM band and video board/sound system were competing with one another. I thought the bands were told when they could play. If so, why would you have them competing with the video board? Seemed quite amateurish to me, and I hope this gets resolved for future games.

(08-26-2018 11:52 AM)Antarius Wrote:  

(08-26-2018 11:20 AM)cr11owl Wrote:  

(08-26-2018 11:02 AM)Intellectual_Brutality Wrote:  Esupka reminds me of Charles .. Sims was it? A huge, strong back who we used very heavily. But an RB can't take that kind of punishment for an entire season, and I think Sims was oft injured in the latter half of the season, IIRC

Ross was very much underutilized. He got in the dog house for some reason and Bailiff barely played him. I still remember his run against ECU for 80 yards up the middle. He could really move for someone that big.

I think you are thinking of Eddington?

Yeah, definitely not Ross. This fits what I remember for Eddington, our lone kickoff return in decades.

(08-26-2018 10:37 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Can Ellerbee return any time soon? That would help the running game as well. I also wonder about the health of D'Angelo Ellis. The secondary really needs him. I hate to pick on one guy in particular but Brandon Douglas-Dotson was brutal yesterday.

Yeah I thought Bickham was decent on the other side, and we improved once Thornton came in for Dotson. Need Ellis back.

My thoughts: sound volume was way, way too loud in the stadium. I'd rather have a slim win over PV with a bare cupboard that required Bloom and staff's prep than losing to Nichols by 2 with a very talented team. I'm encouraged with that. It's going to be a long season but I believe we will see real improvement not lip service.

(08-26-2018 12:48 PM)RiceFootball2K5 Wrote:  [quote='Fort Bend Owl' pid='15451644' dateline='1535297865']
Can Ellerbee return any time soon? That would help the running game as well. I also wonder about the health of D'Angelo Ellis. The secondary really needs him. I hate to pick on one guy in particular but Brandon Douglas-Dotson was brutal yesterday.


Yeah I thought Bickham was decent on the other side, and we improved once Thornton came in for Dotson. Need Ellis back.

In the second half, we adjusted by rarely playing “press” coverage against Wallace

(08-26-2018 11:51 AM)tanqtonic Wrote:  Have to say I am lowering my expectations from 4 wins to 3. I like the 'tude the football team displayed last night. World of difference from last two years. But I just dont see the skill levels or player skills to win four games.

Also Hawaii lit up CSU on the road... so that game looks to be tougher than I expected it to be. Although it is a single game, so a big * towards extrapolating the quality of Hawaii this season.

(08-26-2018 11:51 AM)tanqtonic Wrote:  Finished watching the game this AM.
First, great thing to start off with a win, when it very much should be a win.
Second, what I saw was a team that actually looked prepared to play, and ready to play. Kudos for whomever instilled that into the squad.
Third, I think it safe to to say that it is somewhat obvious that Bloomgren is the unfortunate recipient of a very bare cupboard. To be blunt, while the team looked prepared and ready (as opposed to the mangled mess under Bailiff), they needed every bit of that preparedness and readiness to beat PV. The fact that this was a ballgame simply goes to the fact that player-wise, Rice is pretty much starting from scratch and at the bottom.
Instead of a team that looked like (quite honestly) of bunch of scrubs playing pick up ball, they were (relative to last year) very sharp. But the hole Bailiff dug for this program was in full view last night in my opinion. At least the football team found it within themselves to win one that they could have easily lost, whereas I have a firm belief that last year's model would have floundered their way to a loss.
Have to say I am lowering my expectations from 4 wins to 3. I like the 'tude the football team displayed last night. World of difference from last two years. But I just dont see the skill levels or player skills to win four games.
At least, the problem is one of personnel development and/or training --- which hopefully this staff can provide. That is a medium to long term project -- truly a project that shows whether a coaching staff can succeed or not. It is far better than having that same lack of basic skill levels/development operating in tandem with a 'lost' coaching staff.

The good news is I don’t think anybody will be hiring Bloomgren away from us at the end of this year.

(08-26-2018 11:52 AM)Antarius Wrote:  

(08-26-2018 11:20 AM)cr11owl Wrote:  

(08-26-2018 11:02 AM)Intellectual_Brutality Wrote:  Esupka reminds me of Charles .. Sims was it? A huge, strong back who we used very heavily. But an RB can't take that kind of punishment for an entire season, and I think Sims was oft injured in the latter half of the season, IIRC

Ross was very much underutilized. He got in the dog house for some reason and Bailiff barely played him. I still remember his run against ECU for 80 yards up the middle. He could really move for someone that big.

I think you are thinking of Eddington?

Ah ya you’re right I think. Same teams but I think eddington was the one who got in the doghouse and never played much.

(08-26-2018 01:53 PM)Antarius Wrote:  

(08-26-2018 11:51 AM)tanqtonic Wrote:  Have to say I am lowering my expectations from 4 wins to 3. I like the 'tude the football team displayed last night. World of difference from last two years. But I just dont see the skill levels or player skills to win four games.

Also Hawaii lit up CSU on the road... so that game looks to be tougher than I expected it to be. Although it is a single game, so a big * towards extrapolating the quality of Hawaii this season.

I likewise thought that Hawaii might be winnable, but I am going to guess we will be 10pt. dogs in that game. Quite a longshot it seems at the moment. ESPN's FPI has us with like a 25% chance to win that game currently, and that seems a touch too optimistic.

(08-26-2018 02:05 PM)cr11owl Wrote:  

(08-26-2018 11:52 AM)Antarius Wrote:  

(08-26-2018 11:20 AM)cr11owl Wrote:  

(08-26-2018 11:02 AM)Intellectual_Brutality Wrote:  Esupka reminds me of Charles .. Sims was it? A huge, strong back who we used very heavily. But an RB can't take that kind of punishment for an entire season, and I think Sims was oft injured in the latter half of the season, IIRC

Ross was very much underutilized. He got in the dog house for some reason and Bailiff barely played him. I still remember his run against ECU for 80 yards up the middle. He could really move for someone that big.

I think you are thinking of Eddington?

Ah ya you’re right I think. Same teams but I think eddington was the one who got in the doghouse and never played much.

Was it Ross or Eddington that had our last kick-off return for a TD... a few years ago against UTEP at the Sun Bowl in El Paso?

(08-26-2018 02:37 PM)greyowl72 Wrote:  

(08-26-2018 02:05 PM)cr11owl Wrote:  

(08-26-2018 11:52 AM)Antarius Wrote:  

(08-26-2018 11:20 AM)cr11owl Wrote:  

(08-26-2018 11:02 AM)Intellectual_Brutality Wrote:  Esupka reminds me of Charles .. Sims was it? A huge, strong back who we used very heavily. But an RB can't take that kind of punishment for an entire season, and I think Sims was oft injured in the latter half of the season, IIRC

Ross was very much underutilized. He got in the dog house for some reason and Bailiff barely played him. I still remember his run against ECU for 80 yards up the middle. He could really move for someone that big.

I think you are thinking of Eddington?

Ah ya you’re right I think. Same teams but I think eddington was the one who got in the doghouse and never played much.

Was it Ross or Eddington that had our last kick-off return for a TD... a few years ago against UTEP at the Sun Bowl in El Paso?

Eddington

The current line for the Houston game is only 24½.

Good luck the rest of the season. TTP. I think you'll turn it around. It takes a lot of time and patience.

Very limited sample size I know, but seems I saw Esupka running into the line of scrimmage standing straight up. He better fix that quick or he's going to get killed.

Has the crowd size been announced? I would venture that PV had as many butts in seats as Rice - four full sections plus others scattered here and there. There isn’t a conference foe that could ever bring as many fans (UTSA would be the closest) so hats off to PV for that.