Horns11
10,000+ Posts
I really respect Mike Bloomgren (and Rice for not firing him quickly) because of how he treats his players and plays the "long game" for improvement. It would have been easy and exciting to get rid of him after 4 seasons with little improvement, but then there was a little bit more improvement last year, and we're getting them right when the AAC is kind of wide open.
Offense: JT Daniels will still probably be playing QB against us 7 years from now, but what really makes their offense tick is how they spread the ball to the WRs. Luke McCaffrey and their TE will be the "bail out" guys. They lost arguably their best receiver to the portal (the enormous Brad Rozner), but converted QB JoVoni Johnson reminds me of the kind of talent that Chiles and Heard had when they switched positions. Their #2 receiver will probably be Cedric Patterson, a speedster whose season was cut short almost immediately last year, so he has something to prove. I'm not worried about their run game. They'll probably rotate three guys and whichever has the hot hand will get the majority of carries, but all three of those guys would probably be ranked below all of our RBs anyhow. According to Owls grumblings, the big issue has been the OL. It was addressed by bringing in two starters from the portal, but I still think our D will have their way with the Rice front.
They turn the ball over too much, and whether Daniels is the "fix" for that is up in the air. I bet we force a couple of turnovers this weekend.
Defense: Their entire D is built around the LB corps, which is arguably stronger than ours outside of the great individual performances of Ford. Josh Pearcy kind of plays that "edge" hybrid position and reminds me of Addai. Conti and Morrison are both quick and surprisingly hard-hitting for their size. They're solid fundamentally and are the main pass rushers and rush stoppers.
The issue with Rice is their DL. We should be able to manhandle it. They rely on their DT (Floyd) kind of like we would with Coburn, but there's literally zero depth behind him at the position. Their DBs aren't particularly bad, but when opponents created time with their pass blocking last year, they got torn apart. Even someone like Jordan Whittington will be able to make room if our OL does its job. I'm hoping we don't have to play starters the whole game.
My prediction on the thread was 56-13, but I'm thinking it could go a score in either direction.
Offense: JT Daniels will still probably be playing QB against us 7 years from now, but what really makes their offense tick is how they spread the ball to the WRs. Luke McCaffrey and their TE will be the "bail out" guys. They lost arguably their best receiver to the portal (the enormous Brad Rozner), but converted QB JoVoni Johnson reminds me of the kind of talent that Chiles and Heard had when they switched positions. Their #2 receiver will probably be Cedric Patterson, a speedster whose season was cut short almost immediately last year, so he has something to prove. I'm not worried about their run game. They'll probably rotate three guys and whichever has the hot hand will get the majority of carries, but all three of those guys would probably be ranked below all of our RBs anyhow. According to Owls grumblings, the big issue has been the OL. It was addressed by bringing in two starters from the portal, but I still think our D will have their way with the Rice front.
They turn the ball over too much, and whether Daniels is the "fix" for that is up in the air. I bet we force a couple of turnovers this weekend.
Defense: Their entire D is built around the LB corps, which is arguably stronger than ours outside of the great individual performances of Ford. Josh Pearcy kind of plays that "edge" hybrid position and reminds me of Addai. Conti and Morrison are both quick and surprisingly hard-hitting for their size. They're solid fundamentally and are the main pass rushers and rush stoppers.
The issue with Rice is their DL. We should be able to manhandle it. They rely on their DT (Floyd) kind of like we would with Coburn, but there's literally zero depth behind him at the position. Their DBs aren't particularly bad, but when opponents created time with their pass blocking last year, they got torn apart. Even someone like Jordan Whittington will be able to make room if our OL does its job. I'm hoping we don't have to play starters the whole game.
My prediction on the thread was 56-13, but I'm thinking it could go a score in either direction.
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