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Rice has a pair of receivers that will be a nice test for Texas before ‘Bama.
Despite the fact that Texas is favored by 35 points against Rice doesn’t mean that the Owls won’t test them. Continue reading “Rice’s WR duo will be a good test for Texas secondary”
Texas has become quite familiar with Rice quarterback JT Daniels.
The story of quarterback JT Daniels is one that starts with him being a football prodigy that left high school a year early to start at the college level right away. Continue reading “Texas preparing to face quarterback JT Daniels for third time”
USC. Georgia. West Virginia. Now J.T. Daniels prepares for a new season at a new school: Rice University.
J.T. Daniels, one of the most well-traveled players in college football history, is moving to a fourth school and a fourth conference. Initially the No. 1 quarterback recruit coming out of Mater Dei High School in 2019, the former National Gatorade Player of the Year and USC Trojan will conclude his collegiate career at Rice University.
Rice coach Mike Bloomgren recruited Daniels when the former was the offensive coordinator at Stanford and the latter a five-star recruit who chose USC.
Daniels was the Trojans’ season-opening quarterback as a true freshman in 2018 and started 11 games. He tore an ACL and a meniscus in the 2019 opener, losing his job to Kedon Slovis (who now plays for BYU). Injuries would sideline him again until late in the 2020 season when he was with Georgia. He started four games for the 2021 national champion Bulldogs before losing his job to Stetson Bennett.
Daniels then transferred to West Virginia, where he had the most playing time (10 starts) since his freshman year at USC. Daniels struggled during his lone season at West Virginia. While Daniels tried to build a rapport with former USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell, the two never seemed to be on the same page in Morgantown.
What will J.T Daniels do in his senior season at Rice in 2023?
The Rice Owls open the season on September 2 against the in-state rival Texas Longhorns and will need their offense to keep up with the preseason Big 12 favorites.
Daniels still possesses immense arm talent and big-game experience that could help a Rice team that finished 5-8 in the 2022 season.
Expect lots of points in every game for the Owls in 2023. Offensive coordinator Marques Tuiasosopo had them going in the right direction in 2022, averaging 25.2 points per game, which was 3.9 points higher than in 2021.
In 10 games, Rice receiver Luke McCaffrey caught a team-high 58 passes for 723 yards and six TDs. He finished with three 100-plus receiving yard games and totaled double-digit catches twice.
The main star at wideout was Bradley Rozner, who led the Owls in receiving yards (876) and touchdowns (10) while totaling 44 catches.
Cedric Patterson III, formerly at New Mexico, had a season-ending ankle injury. Before that, in two seasons with the Lobos, he averaged 18.8 yards per reception. During the 2021 campaign, Patterson averaged 15.3 yards and totaled six TDs.
With the addition of an established quarterback, Rice may be one of college football’s dark horses that garners national attention come mid-November. For now, it’s about starting off on the right foot against the Longhorns.
JT Daniels throws his first career TD to his guy Amon-Ra St. Brown @jtdaniels06 @amonra_stbrown @USC_Athletics (via @Pac12Network) pic.twitter.com/UWUJKrNDbT
— Overtime (@overtime) September 1, 2018
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Southern Miss 38, Rice 24: LendingTree Bowl what happened, player of the game, and what it all means
Southern Miss beat Rice to win the LendingTree Bowl. What happened, who was the player of the game, and what does it all mean?
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– Frank Gore Jr. ran for 329 yards with two touchdown runs and a scoring pass – punctuated by a 55-yard touchdown run to seal the win – as Southern Miss scored 21 unanswered points over the last 19 minutes.
– Southern Miss got up 14-0 helped by a 64-yard touchdown run from Gore Jr., but Rice roared back with three touchdown passes from AJ Padgett with two to Isaiah Esdale for a 24-17 lead carried deep into the fourth.
– It wasn’t the sharpest game from either side, but Rice hung around even with the massive day from Gore Jr. The final score is going to make the game look worse than it was. The Owls were able to fight back early, but they couldn’t hold up late. The defensive front wore down just enough to allow Gore Jr. to take over.
Frank Gore Jr., RB BYU
He ran 21 times for 329 yards and two scores, and he completed two of his three passes for 19 yards and a touchdown.
CFN Experts Picks Dec 20-27 | CFP NY6, Dec 28-Jan 2
– The two teams combined for five turnovers, three from Southern Miss and two from Rice.
– The offenses combined for 975 yards. Gore Jr. accounted for 348 of the Southern Miss 550.
– Southern Miss came up with five sacks. LB Daylen Gill led the game with 11 tackles with three sacks.
After two three-win seasons, and without a bowl win since taking the 2016 New Orleans, Southern Miss coming up with a winning season is a big deal in Will Hall’s second season. As part of the new and improved Sun Belt, it’s a nice momentum boost for the program going into the offseason as a potential player in the 2023 conference race.
This might not have been a perfect performance, but considering the rough three-game losing streak late in the season – and the need to beat ULM just to get here – the season changed in a big way late.
Rice was playing with house money. Of course it would’ve liked to pull off the bowl win, and it had its chances, but as the only 5-7 team in the bowl season, this was a solid game with both sides battling throughout. The run defense got gouged, but there wasn’t any letdown until Gore Jr. finally put it away late.
For all of the problems this year, it was the first bowl game in the five-year run under Mike Bloomgren, and the program’s first bowl appearance since winning the 2014 Hawaii.
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J.T. Daniels going to #Rice means he’s not going to Jonathan Smith and Oregon State, or to another Pac-12 school. Lots of fan bases are relieved.
J.T. Daniels has found his next — and probably last — stop as a college football player. The former Gatorade National high school player of the Year and five star quarterback has been a generally productive player in college. He has thrown for 6,947 total yards and 45 touchdowns.
After gaining notice in his freshman season at USC in 2018 — throwing for 2,672 yards and getting significant playing time — injuries derailed each of his next three seasons. He lost his quarterback job to Kedon Slovis at USC, Stetson Bennett at Georgia, and Garrett Greene at West Virginia.
Sources: JT Daniels has committed to transfer to Rice, marking the fourth college stop in his career. Daniels has played at USC, Georgia and WVU since coming to college in 2018. Per @espnstatsinfo, he’ll be the highest ranked recruit to ever play at Rice. https://t.co/SDt0I4oPyT
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 21, 2022
The appeal of playing in a pro-style system at Rice under head coach Mike Bloomgren and offensive coordinator Marques Tuiasosopo proved appealing to Daniels.
Daniels and Rice’s first game of the 2023 season comes against Houston on September 9 as the Owls move to the AAC from Conference USA.
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Former Georgia Bulldogs quarterback J.T. Daniels is expected to transfer to Rice
Former Georgia Bulldogs quarterback J.T. Daniels is reportedly transferring to Rice. The Rice Owls made a bowl game in 2022 and finished 5-8. Daniels will look to win the starting job at Rice.
The Owls have notable games in 2023 against Houston, BYU and Texas. Daniels will likely face competition from Rice quarterback T.J. McMahon, who started 10 games in 2022 and threw 18 touchdowns and 14 interceptions for the Owls.
Daniels lost the job as starting quarterback for the West Virginia Mountaineers late in the season. West Virginia went 5-7 in a disappointing season. Garrett Greene gained the starting job over Daniels because he is more mobile, which opened West Virginia’s rushing attack.
Daniels will have one or two years of eligibility at his new schools depending on if he gets an injury waiver from the NCAA. This season, Daniels threw 13 passing touchdowns, nine interceptions and 2,107 passing yards for West Virginia.
Daniels transferred from Georgia to West Virginia in early 2022. The former five-star recruit entered the transfer portal after Georgia won the national championship in January.
Daniels finished his career with an undefeated record as the starting quarterback at Georgia, but he lost his starting job to Stetson Bennett early in the 2021 college football season. Daniels battled injuries throughout his time at the University of Georgia and during much of his college football career.
Daniels missed several games during his time at Georgia after he was diagnosed with a strained oblique muscle.
Daniels transferred to Georgia from USC in 2020. He started multiple games for Georgia in 2020 and was expected to be the starting quarterback for Georgia’s 2021 season, but he struggled with injuries early in the season while Stetson Bennett proved himself a championship-caliber quarterback.
Daniels played in nine games in his Georgia football career from 2020-2021. He threw 17 touchdowns and only five interceptions during his time in Athens.
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The UTEP Miners will meet Rice in a C-USA college football matchup on Thursday night from Rice Stadium.
The UTEP Miners will meet Rice in a C-USA college football matchup on Thursday night from Rice Stadium.
UTEP is coming off a 24-13 loss to Middle Tennessee to drop their record to 4-5 on the season as they look to bounce back tonight. Meanwhile, Rice is coming off a 56-23 blowout loss to Charlotte as they look to turn things around in this game tonight.
This will be a great night of college football, here is everything you need to know to watch and stream the action.
NCAA odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook. Odds were updated at 1:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
UTEP vs. Rice (-3.5)
O/U:47
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The Rice Owls will meet the USC Trojans in Week 1 of the college football season on Saturday at the LA Memorial Coliseum.
The Rice Owls will meet the USC Trojans in Week 1 of the college football season on Saturday at the LA Memorial Coliseum.
Rice is coming off a 4-8 season and last year they opened up with three straight losses to start the season, they will look to improve but will have a tough test this week. As for USC, they will begin the Lincoln Riley era after coming over from Oklahoma last year and bringing his starting quarterback Caleb Williams. This should be a fun year for the Trojans as they look to make the next step in the Big 12.
This will be a great opening week of college football, here is everything you need to know to watch and stream the action on Saturday.
NCAA odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook. Odds were updated at 10:30 a.m. ET on Saturday.
Rice vs. USC (-32.5)
O/U: 61.5
Want some action on college football? Place your legal sports bets on this game or others in CO & NJ.
We recommend interesting sports viewing/streaming and betting opportunities. If you sign up for a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.
Additional college football coverage from USA TODAY Sports Media Group:
Alabama football / Auburn football / Arkansas football / Florida football / Georgia football / LSU football / Iowa football / Michigan football / Michigan State football / Notre Dame football / Ohio State football / Oklahoma football / Oregon football / North Carolina football / Nebraska football / Penn State football / Colorado football / Clemson football / Rutgers football / Tennessee football / Texas football / Texas A&M football / USC football / Wisconsin football
At the @VoiceOfCFB, we got a chance to ask @s_helwick of @UnderdogDynasty about the Rice Owls. Learn about USC’s first opponent of 2022.
Steve Helwick of Underdog Dynasty and Hustle Belt follows Group of Five college football. He was and is the perfect guest to talk about the Rice Owls, USC’s first opponent of the new season.
On Mark Rogers’ USC show at The Voice of College Football, Mark and I were both able to ask Steve about Rice.
You’ll get a lot of detailed analysis on Rice players, the Owls’ coaching staff, the expected lines of attack from the Rice offense, the key one-on-one matchups in this game, the more intriguing position groups on the Rice roster, and other notable talking points connected to Saturday’s game in the Los Angeles Coliseum.
If you need a good primer on Rice, this is it.
Spoiler alert: Rice coach Mike Bloomgren used to coach at Stanford under David Shaw. Therefore, USC will get Stanford-style offensive concepts in each of its first two games, given that the Trojans visit the Cardinal in Week 2.
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Rice College Football Preview 2022: Team breakdown, season prediction, keys to the campaign, and what you need to know
Rice Owls Preview 2022: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Rice season with what you need to know and keys to the season.
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Rice Owls Preview
Head Coach: Mike Bloomgren, 11-31, 5th year at Rice
2021 Preview: Overall: 4-8, Conference: 3-5
Keys To The Season
Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Rice Top 10 Players | Rice Schedule
It’s SO hard to win at Rice.
Small school, brilliant academics, tough requirements – it takes everything to work right for the program to succeed, and it’s been tough under Mike Bloomgren to build this thing up.
It might not seem like much, but winning the regular season finale against Louisiana Tech last year to get to four wins on the year was great.
The program hadn’t cracked the three-win mark since 2015, and the last winning season was in 2014 with an 8-5 run and a bowl victory.
That year, most of Conference USA had problems – Rice came up with a whole lot of wins over bad teams – and its offense was great, and that’s what has to happen this time around.
And more than that, this is the year to come through with something big before taking off for the American Athletic Conference.
The program is moving up, it’ll get a bigger profile, and it has something to shoot for.
But first, Bloomgren has to win. 11-31 in four years, he has to show that he’s the one to lead the program into the new era. He built the thing up to this point, and now it all has to work.
The offense had its moments. Controlling the clock hasn’t been a problem – the Owls were tenth in the nation and No. 1 in Conference USA holding the ball for well over 33 minutes a game – and the passing game was solid as the season went on, but turnovers were a problem and the ground attack has to be stronger.
There are enough parts to be better, but averaging more than 21.5 points per game is a must.
The offensive line has to be stronger. It was good in pass protection, but it needs to blast away a little more around the bulk of 300-pound Clay Servin and 330-pound Faae Pepe on the left side. 311-pound Shea Baker is a solid center.
Leading rusher Ali Broussard is back after averaging close to five yards per carry with 569 yards and three scores, but the offense needs to come up with a good rotation. 5-5, 160-pound Cameron Montgomery is a lightning quick option in space.
The Owls got production from the passing game, but they need consistency out of the position. Veteran Wiley Green will likely take over, but former JUCO transfer TJ McMahon will provide a push.
The receiving corps will be a strength even with top target Jake Bailey bailing for SMU. Cedric Patterson averaged over 15 yards per catch with a team-high six scores, Tulsa transfer Sam Crawford could be a dangerous No. 1 target, and former Nebraska quarterback Luke McCaffrey will be an interesting wide receiver option.
Helping even more is the return of 2019 star target Bradley Rozner, who played only one game over the last two seasons.
Rice played lots and lots and lots and lots of guys on defense, and now this is a relatively deep group with more options after struggling throughout last year. The D gave up 36 points and 436 yards per game, but it came up with takeaways and there was a bit of a pass rush.
The top tackler was on the nose. Elijah Garcia is done, but the defense relies on the line to make things happen. Former offensive lineman Izeya Floyd is a 326-pounder who’ll take over on the inside, and there’s more quickness in the interior from Ikenna Enechukwu – he’s the team’s leading returning sacker with 4.5.
Playmaking LB Antonio Montero left for Villanova and Desmyn Baker took over for WKU. Aidan Siano got his feet wet last year and should work in the middle, but the D needs big plays from Kenneth Orji and Treshawn Chamberlain on the outside.
There weren’t a lot of picks from the corners, but Jordan Dunbar, Sean Fresch, and Miles McCord combined to make a whole lot of plays to go along with the rough days against the better downfield attacks. Sophomore S Gabe Taylor led the way with three interceptions and made 56 stops – he’ll be a bigger factor.
Keys To The Season
Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Rice Top 10 Players | Rice Schedule
