Quick Takes: Rice

[Mike Roach]

Who: Rice Owls 1-0 Vs. Texas Longhorns 0-1
When: Saturday September 12, 2015 at 7 PM central
Where: Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium (Austin TX)
Odds: Texas -16

The Good: Rice started off the season with a 56-16 beating of FCS opponent Wagner. Rice’s victory came on the strength of a rushing attack that saw four players rush for over 70 yards en route to 543 total yards and 401 yards rushing. Austin Walter led the team in rushing yards, while Darik Dillard added two touchdowns on the ground. Senior quarterback Driphus Jackson threw for 123 yards and a touchdown while adding another touchdown on the ground and 79 yards rushing. The Owl’s defense grinded on their overmatched opponent and shut them down in the running game as the Wagner Seahawks tried to counter with their own ground attack. Rice also won the third down battle on both sides of the ball as they went 11-15 on offense, and limited Wagner to 2-12 on defense.

The Bad: Rice struggled in the passing game, but the overwhelming success of their rushing attack rendered that issue moot. Jackson and company were only able to complete 12-21 for 142 yards with a 1/1 touchdown to interception ratio. The passing attack totaled 142 yards for a paltry 5.7 yards per play. Rice also turned the ball over twice and showed some issues with pass defense.

The Uncertain: In what is a very rare event, in this matchup the uncertainty lies with the opponents. Texas is coming off a season opening blowout which continued to damage faith in the program and make fans question the direction things are taking. Texas should over match Rice on paper, but even Vegas sees nothing is certain as their -16 betting odds are the lowest in the history of the series between these two teams.
 

What’s at stake: For Rice, they have the opportunity to steal a big win over a young team that is reeling and on the ropes after their South Bend trip. No matter how bad this Texas team is, a Rice victory over them is season defining. Texas will probably look to play more of their youth who seemed to be the only ones who looked like they cared on Saturday night. Players like Jerrod Heard and Kris Boyd should get a more extended look in this weekend’s action, and Texas badly needs a blowout to regain some confidence.

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[Juan]

If we keep playing the same zone, then their passing attack will look a lot better in Week 2.

 

[TexCoyote]

They will crowd the LOS and stop the run.....see if any of our QB's can get the ball out in space. We will see this from here on out every game.

 

[HornEsch]

The sad thing is this "should" be an easy game. Pure skill wise we beat them across the board. However our mental state concerns me.

On the flip side, if we do beat them handily, like we should, I am concerned that Strong will think everything is fixed.

It is almost a no-win game.

In any case I will be there for my first game in almost 2 years! Finally I am starting to be able to walk like a normal person after back to back knee reconstructions. Nothing, even the horrendous first game, is going to stop me from seeing my Longhorns this week!

 

[Aaron Carrara]

Esch, glad to hear it bud! You've had a rough few years with the knees. Glad to hear!

On Rice, they started 3 freshmen in their opener against Wagner. They aren't a real young team but they have some question marks just like Texas does.

The Horns will need to stop the Owls rushing attack. Rice had four 70+ yard rushers last Saturday, including 79 yards on the ground from QB Driphus Jackson. Jackson also threw for 123 yards.

 

[Juan]

....

It is almost a no-win game.

....

Did the Rice game become must-win?

 

[drgilbert]

Yes Juan, Rice is a must win. And we need to show better technique and discipline

 

[Randolph Duke]

Mike Finger â€@mikefinger 2m2 minutes ago

Texas says 15,000 tickets remain available for Saturday's home opener.

 

[streettopeschel]

Did the Rice game become must-win?

rice is always a must win.

 

[GBT]

Rice game is important because it is on the schedule. What we do in this game will not show us where we are. The ND and Virginia game will show us more about ourselves than the Rice game. The big questions are ...How good is ND ? How bad are we ? Virginia can answer those questions better than Rice can....Unless Rice kicks our butt...Then we got problems. If we roll Rice...meh...Its Rice....Then again, just how good or bad is Virginia ? Its too early to tell ..... 

 

[The Bry-Man81]

Rice game is important because it is on the schedule. What we do in this game will not show us where we are. The ND and Virginia game will show us more about ourselves than the Rice game. The big questions are ...How good is ND ? How bad are we ? Virginia can answer those questions better than Rice can....Unless Rice kicks our butt...Then we got problems. If we roll Rice...meh...Its Rice....Then again, just how good or bad is Virginia ? Its too early to tell .....

Virginia?

 

[streettopeschel]

Virginia?

the University of California at Norfolk.

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

 

[Juan]

— Twitter API (@twitterapi) November 7, 2011

 

[Shannon Kelley]

The sad thing is this "should" be an easy game. Pure skill wise we beat them across the board. However our mental state concerns me.

On the flip side, if we do beat them handily, like we should, I am concerned that Strong will think everything is fixed.

It is almost a no-win game.

In any case I will be there for my first game in almost 2 years! Finally I am starting to be able to walk like a normal person after back to back knee reconstructions. Nothing, even the horrendous first game, is going to stop me from seeing my Longhorns this week!

Will NOT be an easy game. Rice is playing as a "team" with an identity and getting direction from an intact staff. They know who they are, what they do well, know how to exploit what they do well and have had the same coordinators who have won! Now, athletic talent alone, rarely wins when you have had as much upheaval as our beloved Horns have had. I can't stress enough how important having team integrity and consolidation actually is. 

We don't know who we are offensively. We don't trust the leadership as it stands. We haven't received guidance that the team can count on with confidence from QB to OC. We don't know what we do well!!! Here is from where we are coming...We've scored 20 points over our last 3 games. We currently rank last place in all of FBS football after week 1. Yes, last...We have had a total of 515 yds of total offense over our last 3 games. 41 teams in FBS had over 515 total yds of offense in week 1. 

Our defense can't count on our offense because of 3 and out's...They are gassed come 3rd qtr because of this. It's actually difficult to truly grade the defense based on where our offense ISN'T. The D has immense amount of pressure put on them to either have to force a fumble and scoop and score or get an interception and take it to the house, because they don't have the confidence handing it back over to the O based on what they don't do with it.

I've watched this go on now for 2 years and as a die hard Horn fan, and alum, I am tired of hearing all the horn bashing. However, I can't refute what people are saying. Our program is where it is because of bad decisions. I am not being critical, but I am being real! The more we sugar coat it, the worse and longer this continues... Something has to change, and i AM GLAD TO SEE Coach Strong make this decision. The floor has been set for the O...Now let's go see if there is a ceiling that goes along with it. I hope not, but I am afraid there is. Our program has so many holes that I am not sure there is enough fingers to plug them all. We are years away from being like a few other programs in our own state that are highly nationally ranked and are kicking our teeth in on the recruiting trail.

Guys, we are Texas for crying out loud. We have everything we need to be great. We simply have no excuses being where the state of this program resides.

I recruit with hardly smidgeon of what Texas has at their disposal. We play with hardly anything even close to their practice facilities. We unite and coe together with absolutely no history of greatness. We play together with a trickle of Alumni support. This isn't about me, or my program, but guys, TEXAS has no freakin' excuse to not be where Ohio State is, where baylor is, TCU, Bama, Oregon, etc.. 

This game will be a tough game, make no mistake about it...If we think we can just line up and play smash mouth football with 2 true freshman on the OL, then we better rethink another strategy!! Hook'em