Early Tuesday roundup

by Odysseus on Sep 6, 2005 12:47 AM PDT in Football

Lonnie White notes that it's unclear exactly what offensive scheme Rice will run, a widespread opinion among football commentators and reporters which I observed as I started researching my forthcoming Rice preview.

This will be the opener for the Owls, who, after losing their final six games in 2004, junked the option attack that had enabled them to lead the nation in rushing last year.

What the Owls' offense will be is something of a mystery. Coach Ken Hatfield hasn't abandoned his wishbone basics, but he has added a shotgun formation to force defenses to respect the pass.

Karl Dorrell adds this

They run two different quarterbacks, and I'm sure they are going to do some of the schemes that they've done in the past, which was an option- and quarterback-run game,"

[snip]

"But they're also opening up their offense. [This is Rice's first game], so we don't know exactly what we're going to see."

I predict that Rice's redesigned offense will resemble the latest fad in college football, the spread option, employed notably by Urban Meyer.

There is an update on some of the "underbelly," many of whom were significant contributors for their new teams, a report on the freshmen who played, and we also learn that UCLA is seventh in the nation in special teams. I will note that small sample size and inferior competetion caveats should be strenuously added, especially with respect to Perez's net punting average, since the Bruins punted only once.

Here's Brian Dohn's article. As usual, Dohn draws the connections

Rice will rotate quarterbacks and employ a fullback and two running backs in many of its formations in its diverse option offense. UCLA, which had one of the worst defenses in the country last season, allowed 156 yards rushing in its season opener.

There's more, but I encourage you to read it for yourself.

Dohn also notes that among the WRs, only Brandon Breazell and Andrew Baumgartner made receptions against SDSU. It's wonderful that the offense has made a concerted effort to get Marcedes Lewis the ball, but don't "forget" about our wide receivers! Dorrell is unconcerned, and Marcus Everett should return for the Rice game. There's also promising news on Ben Olson. Given that the Bruins are highly favored, getting Olson some snaps would be welcome.

There's also injury news on Brown and Horton.

Here, again, is the opponents resource post. And here's the Rice Football Newsletter, CFN's Rice page, Rice's Scout page, and Rice's Official Site

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