Watched a little bit of the Wake/Rice battle. Made these observations. WF is big and slow. Rice is little and slow. Thought Rice hung with them as long as they could but why did the Owls keep running the ball up the middle for virtually no gain? And, yes it is really hard for a 5'11" DB to cover a 6'5" WR.

(09-06-2019 11:04 PM)owl at the moon Wrote:  21-41 is your final for those of you without the app (looking at you, clt)

that inconsequential td won many a live-in/game play on Rice at +20.5...I never pulled that trigger

both cusa teams covered and lost last night....

it's beginning to become a 'upset stomach' trend once again...

(09-07-2019 08:09 AM)BlueRaiderBoy Wrote:  Watched a little bit of the Wake/Rice battle. Made these observations. WF is big and slow. Rice is little and slow. Thought Rice hung with them as long as they could but why did the Owls keep running the ball up the middle for virtually no gain? And, yes it is really hard for a 5'11" DB to cover a 6'5" WR.

Washington is the real deal...he's a one-on-one nightmare that will exploit more than the Owls this year....

Even though they are 0-2, I think the future looks very bright for Rice. Definitely trending upward. They'll be winning plenty of conference games soon enough.Give them another year or two with some decent recruiting and they could be very good.

Our trajectory is definitely upward.
We did what we could against Wake. But we don’t have the athletes to compete against most any P5 team at this point.
However, we have better coaching now than in the past 3-4 seasons and we are recruiting well.. for Rice.
Next.... Texas. Then... Baylor.
After that, if we aren’t decimated by injuries, I think we will be competitive in most of our CUSA games.
2020 should see a better season.

(09-07-2019 08:09 AM)BlueRaiderBoy Wrote:  Watched a little bit of the Wake/Rice battle. Made these observations. WF is big and slow. Rice is little and slow. Thought Rice hung with them as long as they could but why did the Owls keep running the ball up the middle for virtually no gain? And, yes it is really hard for a 5'11" DB to cover a 6'5" WR.

It’s a philosophy, and it sounds counterproductive but I don’t fault the coaches for it. When Bloomgren got here he described his philosophy as ‘run the clock and pound the rock’. It will take another year or two for that to truly take hold but... we had good success with it last week and I think we have to assume that against some teams, being relentless in running up the middle will eventually wear down the defense.
Wake is not one of those teams.
We still passed almost as much as we ran last night. If we’re having more success on the ground I think you’ll see us run 60 or 65% of the time and that will ultimately be our key to success whether it’s the 2019 conference games, or sometime in 2020 with more players and more experience, we’ll see.

I have seen Rice teams of years past have success with that approach against top tier teams (Ken Hatfield era) and in theory it can still work with the right kids and the right system.

This week is the 25th anniversary of our upset of UT... just in time for next week’s game against them. You will see us once again attempt to establish the run against them and we’ll just see what happens.

This team is trending the right direction and it’s not a matter of if but of when they break thru against a power opponent.

(09-07-2019 11:12 AM)owl at the moon Wrote:  

(09-07-2019 08:09 AM)BlueRaiderBoy Wrote:  Watched a little bit of the Wake/Rice battle. Made these observations. WF is big and slow. Rice is little and slow. Thought Rice hung with them as long as they could but why did the Owls keep running the ball up the middle for virtually no gain? And, yes it is really hard for a 5'11" DB to cover a 6'5" WR.

It’s a philosophy, and it sounds counterproductive but I don’t fault the coaches for it. When Bloomgren got here he described his philosophy as ‘run the clock and pound the rock’. It will take another year or two for that to truly take hold but... we had good success with it last week and I think we have to assume that against some teams, being relentless in running up the middle will eventually wear down the defense.
Wake is not one of those teams.
We still passed almost as much as we ran last night. If we’re having more success on the ground I think you’ll see us run 60 or 65% of the time and that will ultimately be our key to success whether it’s the 2019 conference games, or sometime in 2020 with more players and more experience, we’ll see.

I have seen Rice teams of years past have success with that approach against top tier teams (Ken Hatfield era) and in theory it can still work with the right kids and the right system.

This week is the 25th anniversary of our upset of UT... just in time for next week’s game against them. You will see us once again attempt to establish the run against them and we’ll just see what happens.

This team is trending the right direction and it’s not a matter of if but of when they break thru against a power opponent.

The "run it and control the clock" philosophy works only if you have : (1) A solid Defensive team; (2) Coaches and fans with the patience of Job; and an (3) Offense that can move the ball, control the clock and put a few points on the Board. Good luck and hope you stomp Texas. We'll see you in the Boro later this year.

I watched the whole game last night. Rice will be on the edge of bowl eligibility this year. Next year they are either #1 or #2 in CUSA West

I didn't think Wake was that slow. They had some impressive players - maybe not enough to challenge for a top ACC spot. But I really liked their QB and receivers (and their top RB was out).

I was a little annoyed #23 didn't get a targeting penalty when he had the hit on Green that knocked him out of the game (especially because Rice had a player ejected earlier in the quarter). And #23 was a difference maker on defense - he led them in tackles for the game. Take away the 96 yard TD run, and the Rice defense played okay enough. The Rice offense isn't good enough to be a run oriented team. I'm not sure how that can be fixed this season.

(09-07-2019 05:23 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  . The Rice offense isn't good enough to be a run oriented team. I'm not sure how that can be fixed this season.

Um, how about play teams in Massey 80-130 (starting at end of this month) instead of 10-60?
Sounds trite but I think we’ll be able to establish the run in most of our CUSA games. Maybe not against the main contenders though. I’m pretty sure we’ll try that approach, though.

Rice, how is your QB? Injury looked serious.

(09-07-2019 09:07 PM)va-eagle Wrote:  Rice, how is your QB? Injury looked serious.

Apparently was checked out, medically, and discharged from the hospital this morning. Remains to be seen when , and if, he will return to action.