Rice CB Bickham will miss season with ACL injury
Rice coach David Bailiff announced Monday that sophomore cornerback Justin Bickham will miss the season because of an ACL injury.
Bickham led the Owls with five pass breakups in 12 games last season while adding 13 tackles en route to garnering a spot on the Conference-USA all-freshman team.
The scenario might sound familiar. Junior defensive end Graysen Schantz and sophomore wide receiver Lance Wright each missed the 2015 season due to ACL injuries. Those injuries and others led to Rice’s playing a nation-high 31 freshmen last year.
“We are so much better on the injury report right now than we were a year ago,” Bailiff said. “That’s tragically a byproduct of this game. Injuries are going to occur, and it’s about making sure that your next guy can step up and play without having a drop-off.”
Heading into Thursday’s opener against Western Kentucky, the Owls have senior J.T. Blasingame at left cornerback and junior V.J. Banks at right corner.
WR Samples out for UH’s opener
Wide receiver Ra’Shaad Samples’ Houston debut will have to wait at least another week.
Samples, who sat out last season following his transfer from Oklahoma State, will miss Saturday’s UH season opener against third-ranked Oklahoma with a concussion.
Samples missed considerable time in preseason camp with his second concussion since the spring.
Linell Bonner will start at slot receiver. True freshman D’Eriq King is the backup.
Baylor’s Grobe waiting on ruling
Baylor acting head coach Jim Grobe says he is waiting for university officials to make their ruling on any discipline for sophomore receiver Ishmael Zamora before deciding what to do from a football perspective.
Zamora was cited by Waco police for a misdemeanor charge of molesting an animal after a video surfaced of him beating his dog with a belt this summer.
Grobe said Monday that Zamora wouldn’t play in Friday night’s opener for the No. 23 Bears against Northwestern State if there isn’t a decision from the university by then.
Returning junior safety Chance Waz wasn’t on Monday’s two-deep chart. When asked about Waz, Grobe said only that he wouldn’t play the first two games because of a discipline issue with the university.