Owls stumble as Huskies snap losing streak
Rice pretty much gifted UConn its first football win of the season. The Owls gave up the ball four times without a takeaway, let a 14-point early lead evaporate quickly, and could not mount a comeback in Saturday’s 38-31 loss inside Rice Stadium.
The Huskies got their first win in six games for second-year coach Jim Mora Jr., leaving the Owls at .500 (3-3) at the midpoint of their season.
“Not to take anything from their win, but for this to transpire, it would have to be events done by the Rice Owls to allow it,” Rice coach Mike Bloomgren said.
Juma Otoviano ran for touchdowns of 24 and 7 yards in the first quarter. J.T. Daniels threw for 362 yards for the Owls, who were in complete control until disaster hit. With a 14-0 lead, the Owls lost a fumble at their 2-yard line resulting in a UConn score early in the second quarter. Less than three minutes later, the Huskies’ Jackson Mitchell returned a backward pass for a 50-yard touchdown.
It was that kind of game for Rice, which was looking to open its home portion of the schedule with four straight wins for the first time since 2008.
Ta’Quan Roberson was the triggerman for the Huskies. The Penn State transfer passed for 215 yards and a pair of scores on an efficient 15-of-19 passing. The Owls dominated much of the stat sheet. The Owls held advantages in yards (474319), first downs (26-12) and plays from scrimmage (71-49). Rice only punted twice, but losing three of five fumbles and throwing a fourth-quarter interception were the difference.
“The offense scored a lot of points, but unfortunately they weren’t all for the Owls, and that’s a problem,” Bloomgren said.
Miscues buoy UConn
Bloomgren credited UConn for coming to Houston and pulling out a win after starting out with five straight losses. And it was only the second time this season the Huskies played on the road.
Rice’s sixth-year head coach likened UConn’s victory to what the Owls accomplished in 2019. That year the Owls lost their first nine games before winning at Middle Tennessee 31-28. On Saturday, after taking a 14-0 lead over the Huskies heading into the second quarter, the Owls unraveled with two lost fumbles.
“What we did in the second quarter just gave them hope that they probably didn’t have and certainly didn’t have when we led 14-0,” Bloomgren said. “That’s what you don’t want to give a team like that. We don’t want to give them any kind of belief. You want to step on their throat and end the game. We didn’t do that. We did things that were a recipe to lose a game to anybody.”
Defense effective
It was hard to find fault with the defensive effort. The unit limited UConn to just 49 plays. But the Owls could not come up with a takeaway and late in the game the Huskies scored on a 59-yard pass from Roberson to Justin Joly, making it a 10-point UConn lead.
“At the end of the day, our job is to stop the offense from getting in the end zone, and we did not accomplish that,” said Rice linebacker Myron Morrison, who made six tackles.
Nothing special
Quinton Jackson returned four kickoffs totaling 115 yards with a long of 41 yards. A highlight was Peyton Stevenson blocking UConn’s first extra-point attempt. But for the most part, special teams underperformed.
Rice’s kickoff return team has improved throughout the season with Jackson getting good support from blockers. Against the Huskies, punting was an issue. Two short kicks and little hang time. On one special-teams play the Owls roughed the punter and fumbled the ball on the return.
Tim Horn was good on a 23-yard field goal with 40 seconds remaining in the game. But he missed on a 29-yard attempt just before halftime.
“It was a disastrous day on special teams. We’re lacking consistency,” Bloomgren said. “What I do know is we have the best specialteams coordinator (Pete Alamar) around and I trust him to fix it. Those personnel decisions of our specialists are going to be real conversations.”
Otoviano leads way
A week ago, Rice managed only a net 37 yards rushing for the game against East Carolina. The Owls matched that number on their first three carries against UConn. Against UConn, the Owls rushed for a net 112 yards on 22 attempts.
Otoviano’s 24-yard touchdown run on Rice’s second possession put the Owls at the 37-yard rushing total. The play before Otoviano’s score, he bullied his way for 11 yards. He finished with 51 yards on just six carries with no negative yards.
Clay Servin, Brant Banks, Braedon Nutter, Lavel Dumont and Ethan Onianwa started on the offensive line. Servin got the nod at left tackle in place of Brad Baur, who is out for the season with a lower-body injury.
Four turnovers
The four turnovers were uncharacteristic of the Owls, who came into the game losing only two fumbles on the season. The mistakes are fixable according to receiver Luke McCaffrey.
“We need to nip that in the bud before it turns into something big,” said McCaffrey, who was targeted nine times, catching seven balls for an even 100 yards, and scoring on passes of 4 and 30 yards from Daniels.
Up next
Rice goes into its open week disappointed. The Owls do not play again until Oct. 19 at Tulsa, for the start of the second half of the season. All six games remaining are American Athletic Conference games.
“You certainly want to win going into (an open week) and have that momentum to build,” Bloomgren said. “There’s nothing fun about it. I told the team this is who we are. We are a 3-3 football team and 1-1 in our conference.”