Youth movement gains more momentum
Owls increasing use of true freshmen as season goes on
When Rice takes the field against North Texas on Saturday, about a third of the Owls’ starters are expected to be true freshmen.
“Any time you put freshmen into a college football game, it’s that scene in a horror movie where the girl is about to turn the corner and you know the guy is there and you’re like ‘no, wait,’ ” coach Mike Bloomgren said. “That’s what you want to be able to say to these freshmen, and sometimes they have to live those moments.”
Increasingly, Bloomgren has been trusting his freshmen to live those moments as starters. Ten freshmen played in last week’s loss to Florida International, including quarterback Wiley Green, who’s expected to earn his first career start in place of an injured Evan Marshman on Saturday although Bloomgren expects up to four players to take snaps at some point.
“That’s something I’m stressing to the team continually. Losing is not OK. It shouldn’t feel good,” Bloomgren said of the FIU game, a 36-17 loss. “Another positive from the game is the amount of young guys that are stepping in to critical roles for us and doing some big things. …. The moment didn’t feel too big for them.”
Shortly after Bloomgren assumed control of the program late last year he was in living rooms selling future freshmen on the potential for playing time. A lack of depth at linebacker and along the offensive line opened the door for some of those players, like Antonio Montero and Cole Garcia. But of late, freshmen have begun to fill in in more critical roles, like quarterback and left tackle.
Beyond Green, a freshman will start at left tackle for the third straight week against North Texas. Rangy defenders like Treshawn Chamberlain and Prudy Calderon also have established themselves as regulars, earning the respect of once wary teammates.
“A lot of guys didn’t know how to react to it at first, like ‘OK, how are they going to do? This is their first start,’ ” sophomore defensive lineman Elijah Garcia said. “But seeing them and the way they play, the way Prudy goes and attacks the ball, it’s just exciting to see.”
The freshmen have provided a jolt to the offense and defense.
“In two weeks (before the FIU game), we only scored three points so that was a confidence killer,” tight end Jordan Myers said. “Even with all those freshmen there, it gives us hope that, ‘OK, we do have young people here, but we can get something going with this’ and I think that’s a big thing for us.”
Myers knows the offense will be counted on this week, especially against a team with the highest scoring offense in Conference USA (37.5 points per game).
“We know that we need to help our defense out, and it’s going to be a scoring game, so as an offense we know we need to pick it up a lot,” Myers said.
To help prepare for the challenge, Bloomgren will continue implementing player-specific packages. He said up to four players could see snaps from center on Saturday (Green, Jackson Tyner, running back Juma Otoviano and receiver Austin Trammell).
“The experience we’re getting right now is going to pay dividends,” Bloomgren said of the freshmen. “It’s not always going to be perfect. But they’ve had the courage to utilize the techniques their coaches want and to fire their gun and go try to make the plays that are there for them.”