Owls get chance to reset season
C-USA opener an opportunity to gauge team’s development
Rice’s Conference USA opener on the road against Southern Mississippi is a chance to make a statement after winning only one league game last season.
“(A win) would show everyone — if they haven’t already seen — that we are a different football team this year,” defensive tackle Zach Abercrumbia said, “and I think it’ll give us in the locker room a lot more confidence as we continue through this season.”
The Owls opened the season with a victory over Prairie View A&M but lost their next two games — to Houston and at Hawaii.
“Of course, we haven’t gotten the results we wanted in these two games going into the bye week, but I see us striving to get better every day,” Abercrumbia said.
The Rice coaches thought the season-opening victory would set the tone for the season and, despite losses in the next two games, they liked how they Owls played against the Cougars and the Rainbow Warriors.
Big finish still missing
But back-to-back losses are just that. Players would much prefer to have wins on the field signal their growth and development instead of moral victories.
“That Prairie View game was awesome. We came back and fought and finished strong, and these last few games we haven’t found a way to do that so we’ve got to get over the hump and figure out how to win,” coach Mike Bloomgren said after Rice’s loss at Hawaii. “We can’t be surprised when we’re in games late; this is who we are.”
Cornerbacks coach Gerard Wilcher preaches a similar message of consistency. He has been impressed with the Owls’ defensive line and is happy to see breakdowns in the defensive backfield exposed sooner rather than later.
“It’s always great to play good competition before conference play because they can expose your weaknesses, and it makes you go ahead and work on them,” he said. “I think overall the whole group has played well. Hawaii and Houston both used the entire width of the field to play their game, and that makes it tough.
“You look at the NFL, and there are some big-time catches against some bigtime DBs every day, so it’s a give and take. Hopefully you win more battles than you lose, and that’s always the goal.”
Rice returns to non-conference play with a game at Wake Forest next week, but the added urgency that comes with C-USA play remains a constant.
Bloomgren compared the situation to that of divisional play in the NFL given their broader implications (tie-breakers, conference championship contention, bowl projections) at the end of the regular season.
For Abercrumbia, it is more like a family feud because the familiarity breeds a certain intensity when opposing teamsremember the plays that may or may not have worked in previous matchups.
“You never want to lose to your cousin,” he said.
Abercrumbia knows the Owls’ defense has plenty of room for improvement. Despite sporting a far better turnover margin, the unit is allowing more 30- and 40plus yard passing plays than most teams in the country.
Defensive line is key
So the onus is on Abercrumbia and the defensive line to step up their game.
“I definitely want to see us get a great pass rush this week. For the most part in the run game, we’ve executed our assignments,” he said. “It’s not about the numbers, it’s about impact that we have on the game. I feel like if we can help out with that pass rush that’ll take a lot of stress off of the secondary.”
Wilcher would love to see that pressure Saturday, but he knows it might not manifest itself immediately.
“I think a little bit of it is personnel, some of it is scheme, some of it is who you play against,” he said. “I think it’s impossible to make giant gains on a daily basis, everything is about incremental gains. Just keep learning and growing, and things will be fine.”