Bloomgren challenging defense to pitch shutout
The Astros’ 18-inning 1-0 win over Seattle that secured the American League Division Series attracted its share of attention. Mike Bloomgren certainly took notice.
Rice’s fifth-year football coach is referencing the Astros’ latest win as motivation. He’d like to raise the bar even higher for an Owls defense that allowed only 17 points in a threepoint loss at Florida Atlantic on Saturday. The same day the Astros completed their three-game sweep of the Mariners.
“Just look around Houston sports; you see what the Astros did the other day,” Bloomgren said. “It’s shutting out the Mariners for 18 innings, so, not for one game but for two games. I thought that was spectacular. That’s the things we’re challenging our defense.
“I think our defense is very, very good. I think they are going to give us a chance in every ballgame we play. But we also have a chance to take this defense to the stage of being elite. That’s really what we’re challenging them to do right now. It’s to get a shutout this year.”
Bloomgren has thrown down the gauntlet heading into Saturday’s 2 p.m. kickoff at Louisiana Tech in a matchup of teams with 1-1 records in Conference USA. The fewest points the Owls allowed this season is 10 in a 42point win over McNeese.
Rice’s defense continued to keep the team in the game at FAU. The Owls gave up only 311 yards covering 79 plays.
“In the modern era of college football, if you hold an opponent to 17 points, if you get the ball back twice for our offense in a four-minute situation and give them a chance to win the game, you’re doing your job,” Bloomgren said. “I expect our defense to take another step this week, just like I expect everybody on this team to take a step forward.”
Starting right cornerback Sean Fresch on Tuesday said the Owls are equipped to reach Bloomgren’s expectations and are capable of shutting down opponents.
“We’re really close; there’s always room for improvement,” Fresch said. “We never get satisfied. We never get comfortable. We can do it. We’ve proven each week that we’re the defense that’s going to come in hungry, be physical, fly around on the back end, and we’ll do whatever we can to reach our goals.”
Getting McMahon to settle down
There’s no way around it. T.J. McMahon struggled last week at Florida Atlantic after a strong start, throwing three interceptions. The picks came after he helped the Owls to a 14-0 first-quarter lead.
McMahon threw for 197 yards, including a 78-yard scoring pass to Bradley Rozner. But the redshirt junior quarterback completed only 10 of his 28 pass attempts. In Rice’s previous game, McMahon directed the team to a significant 28-24 road victory over UAB. And the game before that, he threw for a career-high 334 yards in a 34-27 loss at Houston.
Last week prepping for FAU, McMahon had a firm grasp of the coaching staff ’s game plan. But it didn’t completely transfer to the game. After the first quarter, the Owls failed to score. Bloomgren felt his quarterback got sped up and had difficulties going through his progressions.
“(Offensive coordinator Marques) Tuiasosopo did an unbelievable job (Monday),” Bloomgren said. “He pulled up practice video of (last) Wednesday. So, we do it right on Wednesday and then we do something completely different on Saturday. If there’s something we don’t feel good about, we have to say that to our coaches on Thursday and Friday.
“We’ve recruited a really good football team. We need them to play fast and with confidence.”
More repetitions planned for pair
One way to alleviate the pressure off McMahon is to have an effective running game, something the Owls haven’t been able to provide on a consistent basis. Rice ran for only 64 yards on 23 carries at FAU.
Bloomgren plans on simplifying the offense against Louisiana Tech. The bulk of carries in practice this week will go to Ari Broussard and Cameron Montgomery, but plays will still be marked for Dean Connors and Uriah West.
“We’ve probably given too many reps to different running backs, and we’re going to limit our focus there,” Bloomgren said.