Tough task for Owls
2:30 p.m. Saturday; Protective Stadium, Birmingham, Ala.
For the second straight week, Rice is a homecoming opponent and playing against one of the better teams in Conference USA.
UAB is 3-0 in the league, and one of its two overall losses was at Georgia 56-7. UAB came away from Rice Stadium last year with a 21-16 victory and third straight West Division crown.
Saturday is the 14th time the Owls will have made their first appearance in a C-USA football stadium since joining the league in 2005. Located in Birmingham’s uptown district, Protective Stadium opened three weeks ago.
FIVE THINGS TO WATCH Can Rice bounce back?
1 The Rice coaching staff and players fully believed last week’s game at UTSA would be competitive. It wasn’t. The Owls were never in the game, and the final score of 45-0 showed that. Granted, UTSA is an outstanding team and is nationally ranked for the first time in program history, but the Owls need to improve in many areas to stay with Conference USA’s elite teams, and Saturday’s outcome will determine if the Owls have turned the corner.
Quarterback position in flux
2 Jake Constantine did not practice at quarterback this week for the Owls and Luke McCaffrey is poised to get his third start this season quarterbacking the Owls. Constantine had won the job and started the past three games before being injured in the first half against UTSA with a lower-body injury and did not return. UAB quarterback Dylan Hopkins took a big hit in the first half at Southern Miss, missing the entire second half, but is expected to start his fifth straight game against the Owls.
What’s it going to take to jump-start Rice’s passing game?
3 Rice’s offensive numbers aren’t good, particularly the passing game. Against UTSA, Constantine and McCaffrey combined to throw for only 36 yards. The Owls are 116th out of 130 FBS teams in passing offense at 162.3 yards per game, and that factors in the 271 passing yards against Texas Southern. Jake Bailey leads the Owls in catches but has only 23. Cedric Patterson III is a deep threat but getting him the ball enough has been an issue. August Pitre III, who caught a scoring pass in the season opener, came back last week after missing four games with injury but did not have a reception at UTSA.
Can Owls’ run game pick up the slack?
4 If the Owls can’t get the passing game going, will just running the ball be enough offense? Under coach Mike Bloomgren, the Owls’ offense has focused on a strong run game. At 147.3 yards per game, Rice is 82nd in the nation in rushing. Three backs have at least 200 rushing yards with Jordan Myers at a team-high 264. Khalan Griffin is right behind at 246 yards. Ari Broussard is coming on strong and following his team-high 61 yards last week is up to 204 on the season.
Special teams might favor UAB
5 UAB has blocked three kicks. Blazers punter Kyle Greenwell averages 43.7 yards per punt with 14 fair catches. Matt Quinn is 7 of 11 on field-goal attempts with a careerhigh made 52-yarder last week. Rice punter Charlie Mendes is solid, averaging 43.9 yards per kick. Collin Riccitelli and Christian Van Sickle have combined to go 2 of 5 on fieldgoal attempts.