(10-31-2020 06:13 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote: It's worth noting (especially because UH fans had fun noting Rice's quad-doink loss last week) that Houston gave up 680 yards of offense this week in a home 44-21 loss to UCF. Houston fired Major Applewhite after going 15-10 in two seasons. Dana Holgerson is now 6-10.
Just what the doctor ordered. Good week to play Southern Miss but very pleased with the improved secondary play, noticeable from the start. I trust our defense to make adjustments more than our offense. Today the 3rd downs were third and shorts but against better defenses we'll need to be much more unpredictable. The QB, WR's and the secondary all played well, so very encouraging. Sold on Collins - he's got an arm and was very accurate today. Coach had them well prepared again, preparation is not our problem. Concerned about the kicker after hitting another goalpost, missing the extra point twice. UTSA will be a good test to see how much we've improved from the Middle Tenn loss.
The Quad Doink is no longer the college football play of the year. Unfortunately, this 4th and 32, 8-lateral TD by Rutgers with 2 minutes to go in their game against Indiana was overturned (#15's pass on the 35/36 yard line was ruled to be forward although it's pretty darned close to being backwards - it's maybe the 5th or 6th pass in this play?)
Question for the football experts (I. E. Everybody), it seemed to me that in the first game we targeted the tight ends a lot, and in this game not at all. Is that the way you see it?
We only completed passes to 3 receivers (Trammell, Bailey and Mason), and only threw the ball half as much as we did against MTSU. I suspect the game plan was just way more conservative just because it was working, and we'll open it up more in future games.
The more interesting thing to me is to look at the participation from Game 1 to Game 2. Offensively, we kept the same lineup. But on defense, there were a few changes. Chike Anigbogu and Gabe Taylor were brand-new starters (and both played very well by the way) in place of Kirk Lockhart and Sean Fresch in the secondary. Lockhart and Treshawn Chamberlain didn't even travel to USM (injury or covid?) and they had combined for 21 tackles in the opener. But the new guys (Josh Pearcy was another who got more playing time yesterday) really shined in their first extensive action as Owls.
I'm still hopeful a few missing guys from the secondary are able to return (Naeem Smith and Nyakwol), but at least we're already establishing some depth which is big. And it's also nice to see new receivers like Bailey and Mason step up to help take up the slack for the absence of Rozner.
And UTSA really didn't look that hot against FAU yesterday, so I could see Rice being favored in 3 of its next 4 games (maybe not at UNT but it might be a close spread).
(11-01-2020 11:40 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote: We beat a terrible team convincingly. Don't go overboard, but we haven't done that in years, so it's progress.
The prognosticators were picking USM. So we also beat a favored team convincingly. Haven’t done that much recently, either.
I am feeling the first stirrings of.... optimism? Something I aren’t felt in at least half a decade.
(This post was last modified: 11-01-2020 11:49 AM by OptimisticOwl.)
(11-01-2020 11:40 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote: We beat a terrible team convincingly. Don't go overboard, but we haven't done that in years, so it's progress.
The prognosticators were picking USM. So we also beat a favored team convincingly. Haven’t done that much recently, either.
I am feeling the first stirrings of.... optimism? Something I aren’t felt in at least half a decade.
Those picks were based on our stinko performance against Middle Tennessee. One of my primary beefs with Bailiff was the lack of consistency--they might get up for one game, or season, but could not sustain. I hope this staff can get more consistency going forward.
The big indicator to me will be which Rice team we see over the rest of the season.
(This post was last modified: 11-01-2020 12:44 PM by Owl 69/70/75.)
(11-01-2020 11:40 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote: We beat a terrible team convincingly. Don't go overboard, but we haven't done that in years, so it's progress.
The prognosticators were picking USM. So we also beat a favored team convincingly. Haven’t done that much recently, either.
I am feeling the first stirrings of.... optimism? Something I aren’t felt in at least half a decade.
Those picks were based on our stinko performance against Middle Tennessee. One of my primary beefs with Bailiff was the lack of consistency--they might get up for one game, or season, but could not sustain. I hope this staff can get more consistency going forward.
The big indicator to me will be which Rice team we see over the rest of the season.
Well, if we were three point dogs, we beat the spread by 27.
I was also thinking of the "your lines' picking in the conference site- only 2 people took Rice (1 Owl).
Bet we get a bit more respect next week.
But as you say, it takes more than one game either way to define a season.
(11-01-2020 11:40 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote: We beat a terrible team convincingly. Don't go overboard, but we haven't done that in years, so it's progress.
The prognosticators were picking USM. So we also beat a favored team convincingly. Haven’t done that much recently, either.
I am feeling the first stirrings of.... optimism? Something I aren’t felt in at least half a decade.
Those picks were based on our stinko performance against Middle Tennessee. One of my primary beefs with Bailiff was the lack of consistency--they might get up for one game, or season, but could not sustain. I hope this staff can get more consistency going forward.
The big indicator to me will be which Rice team we see over the rest of the season.
Well, if we were three point dogs, we beat the spread by 27.
I was also thinking of the "your lines' picking in the conference site- only 2 people took Rice (1 Owl).
Bet we get a bit more respect next week.
But as you say, it takes more than one game either way to define a season.
To that I would add it takes more than one season to define a program. Hopefully we are moving in the right direction.
(11-01-2020 11:02 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote: We only completed passes to 3 receivers (Trammell, Bailey and Mason), and only threw the ball half as much as we did against MTSU. I suspect the game plan was just way more conservative just because it was working, and we'll open it up more in future games.
The more interesting thing to me is to look at the participation from Game 1 to Game 2. Offensively, we kept the same lineup. But on defense, there were a few changes. Chike Anigbogu and Gabe Taylor were brand-new starters (and both played very well by the way) in place of Kirk Lockhart and Sean Fresch in the secondary. Lockhart and Treshawn Chamberlain didn't even travel to USM (injury or covid?) and they had combined for 21 tackles in the opener. But the new guys (Josh Pearcy was another who got more playing time yesterday) really shined in their first extensive action as Owls.
I'm still hopeful a few missing guys from the secondary are able to return (Naeem Smith and Nyakwol), but at least we're already establishing some depth which is big. And it's also nice to see new receivers like Bailey and Mason step up to help take up the slack for the absence of Rozner.
And UTSA really didn't look that hot against FAU yesterday, so I could see Rice being favored in 3 of its next 4 games (maybe not at UNT but it might be a close spread).
Depth, Coaching, and Talent. Defensively, I love the direction we are heading. Coach Smith and really all of the defensive coaches are very remarkable given our defensive woes in the waning years of the Bailiff era. Hopefully, the offensive side will make similar strides.
(This post was last modified: 11-01-2020 03:40 PM by Pan95.)
I wasn't expecting a win, so put me in the camp of those who are surprised we beat them so easily. I hope we're allowed attend this weekend. It should be a good game.
(11-01-2020 03:16 PM)Ourland Wrote: I wasn't expecting a win, so put me in the camp of those who are surprised we beat them so easily. I hope we're allowed attend this weekend. It should be a good game.
As an FYI, the University is only allowing a maximum 25 people in attendance at Reckling for Fall Ball intrasquads, and that includes parents and scouts. You could easily fit 500 into Reckling with each person seating multiple seats apart.
If they do allow attendance next week I suspect it will be limited to a couple thousand max. Ridiculous, I agree, but that's what we're dealing with.
(11-01-2020 03:16 PM)Ourland Wrote: I wasn't expecting a win, so put me in the camp of those who are surprised we beat them so easily. I hope we're allowed attend this weekend. It should be a good game.
As an FYI, the University is only allowing a maximum 25 people in attendance at Reckling for Fall Ball intrasquads, and that includes parents and scouts. You could easily fit 500 into Reckling with each person seating multiple seats apart.
If they do allow attendance next week I suspect it will be limited to a couple thousand max. Ridiculous, I agree, but that's what we're dealing with.
(11-01-2020 11:40 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote: We beat a terrible team convincingly. Don't go overboard, but we haven't done that in years, so it's progress.
The prognosticators were picking USM. So we also beat a favored team convincingly. Haven’t done that much recently, either.
I am feeling the first stirrings of.... optimism? Something I aren’t felt in at least half a decade.
Those picks were based on our stinko performance against Middle Tennessee. One of my primary beefs with Bailiff was the lack of consistency--they might get up for one game, or season, but could not sustain. I hope this staff can get more consistency going forward.
The big indicator to me will be which Rice team we see over the rest of the season.
We were bad against MTSU but still only 4 doinks away from 2-0 on the season. Honestly I'm not following our team or the board that closely this season and I just get most of the news and updates from the Roost, but count me as maybe 5% intrigued, instead of 0%.
(11-01-2020 11:40 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote: We beat a terrible team convincingly. Don't go overboard, but we haven't done that in years, so it's progress.
Terrible, perhaps....but they beat North Texas by 10 on the road, and lost to LaTech by a point, 31-30.
