Bowl status in doubt as football splits competitive games

By Andersen Pickard     10/22/24 11:43pm

A win over the University of Texas at San Antonio and a loss to Tulane University have pushed Rice football to 2-5 (1-3 in AAC) heading into the home stretch of the 2024 season. 

The Owls secured their first 2024 victory over a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent when they took down the UTSA Roadrunners at home Saturday, Oct. 12. Both teams went scoreless on their first three drives of the game before the floodgates opened. They strung together seven consecutive scoring drives, including three touchdowns from Rice. With eight minutes left in the third quarter, the Owls had pulled ahead, 23-13.

“We talk so much about Rice Fight Never Dies, and what a great example of that,” head coach Mike Bloomgren said during the Oct. 14 episode of The Mike Bloomgren Show.

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Scoring halted for a full quarter, but the Roadrunners refused to go down without a fight. They scored two touchdowns over the span of three minutes, leading by four points at the two-minute timeout. 

The Owls were down 27-23 with about two minutes remaining, so they couldn’t afford to settle for a field goal. They needed a touchdown for a chance to win the game.

Junior quarterback E.J. Warner proceeded to lead an eight-play, 65-yard drive into scoring position. The series included two catches apiece from graduate tight end Graham Walker and graduate wide receiver Matt Sykes.

With less than 20 seconds left in the game, Walker committed a costly offensive pass interference penalty that set Rice back to the 32-yard line. However, Warner then completed a 14-yard pass, UTSA called timeout and Warner found Sykes for an 18-yard touchdown pass. Sykes adjusted to catch the deflected pass while diving near the back of the end zone. The reception, which put Rice ahead by three points with four seconds remaining, was featured on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays segment.

“If we have the ball and time on the clock, we just believe we can go make that thing happen,” Bloomgren said. “That’s that new Rice stuff, and that’s what these kids did.”

UTSA’s last attempt at scoring failed as time expired, giving Rice a 29-27 conference victory at home. The Owls earned their second-highest Pro Football Focus grades of the season for passing (71.3) and defense (73.8). 

“It was such a great way for that game to end,” Bloomgren said. “We’ve wanted to beat those guys for a long time. We’ve been trying to catch up and get to their level, and that’s just a big win for our program.”

The Owls weren’t as lucky on the road against another conference foe, Tulane University, the next weekend. 

Rice put together a solid first half against the Green Wave on Oct. 19, aided by Warner, who completed 14 of 20 passes for 147 yards, one touchdown and one interception in the first half. Senior running back Dean Connors added 77 scrimmage yards, but he also committed a costly turnover by losing a fumble in the first half. 

Rice went into halftime leading 10-7, but they failed to score for the rest of the game. Tulane, meanwhile, scored three more times, pulling ahead 24-10 before the final whistle. Warner threw two more interceptions in the second half, finishing Saturday’s game with 271 passing yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.

“E.J. understands that whenever he releases the ball, he has the final say on whether it’s a good throw,” Bloomgren said during Monday’s episode of The Mike Bloomgren Show. “He’s the one that holds all of our livelihood in his hands and we just can’t make those throws, and he knows it.”

Elsewhere on offense, Connors committed another turnover, ending the game with 76 rushing yards, 74 receiving yards and a pair of fumbles. Sykes caught seven passes for 74 yards while senior wide receiver Kobie Campbell caught six passes for 100 yards. Campbell became the first Owls wide receiver to tally at least 100 receiving yards in a single game this season. 

“I want to shout out Kobie Campbell,” graduate tight end Elijah Mojarro said. “He might be a little guy, but he can run, too.”

Rice’s five offensive turnovers played a significant role in their loss to Tulane, canceling out above-average performances from the offensive line and defense. The Owls posted their worst overall PFF grade of the season (56.1) during the loss to the Green Wave.

“That game came down to turnovers, including two in the red zone,” Bloomgren said. “That was the bottom line. You can’t go 5-0 turnover margin and expect to win anyone’s football game.”

The latest sequence of games for the Owls is a reality check. Rice is now 2-5  and must win four of their final five games to earn an automatic bowl game bid. They’re fourth-to-last in the AAC, and only one of their remaining games is against a team with a worse conference record (University of Alabama Birmingham).

Rice now heads into its final non-conference game of the year on the road against the University of Connecticut, whom the Owls lost to last year at home, 38-31. Then, they begin their final stretch of conference games against an undefeated Navy team, currently ranked 24th nationally, and the University of Memphis, the preseason favorite in the AAC.

Bloomgren said that he hopes Warner, who is sore after taking a hit in the fourth quarter against Tulane, will play versus UConn. He also expects redshirt junior tackle Ethan Onianwa to return from a three-game absence and redshirt senior linebacker Josh Pearcy to play after missing Monday’s practice. 

Rice’s battle with the UConn Huskies kicks off Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CDT on CBS Sports Network. The Owls enter as 6.5-point underdogs, according to DraftKings. 

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