Rice Owls College Football Pregame Quote, 09/17/2019

I want to start off by talking about our student section and how they’ve come out in force at our first two home contests. They’ve really filled that thing up and we really appreciate it. It means a lot to the team when they come out, fill that thing up and get loud. We look forward to having them at another great home game this weekend. We hope that we have their continued support all year and they turn that student section into a really live atmosphere and a real home field advantage. We appreciate those guys coming out.

As we all know, we played a really good Texas team. Looking back at the film, we did a lot of good things. We ran into a bit of a buzz saw with their athleticism. They were well coached. They played really hard and have some big, freaky dudes to say the least. Looking at last week, we saw some of our players really do some big things under some big lights in a big game. Blaze Alldredge was spectacular. He has eight tackles with 4.5 tackles for loss and a sack. I think the biggest compliment you can give is when you have friends on the other staff and they text you about his play and how much of an impact he had in the game. I thought that was really exciting.

I think that our offense; you saw some things that were really good there. Austin Trammell certainly looked like he believed in any game that could be played. His confidence is continuing to grow. Justin Gooseberry is another guy that got a lot of recognition from the scouts coming out of that game and had a really solid performance as well. Again, there’s bright spots and then there’s things that keep popping up. At the end of the game, the kickoff return was a real negative. We were starting to have some progress on offense and defense. The kickoff return was not what we wanted to see late in the fourth quarter. But, anyway, we’ll keep building. We have a coaching staff and a group of players that are coming into this building and are working. They’re doing the things that I want from them week in and week out as a team. You’ve heard me talk about the process and planning just like you all have. We understand that we’re in the middle of the process and planning. We’re starting to see small victories and we want to see big victories. The only way to fix that; the only way to get where we want and come out the other side is to continue to work.

I think the toughest part about striving for greatness is the journey. Very simply. We know that. We acknowledge that. We all want it to happen faster. I promise nobody is more of a rush than me. But, we’re going to step back and keep working on the process and know that we’re building a very solid culture and taking the steps that become those big things like we talked about. Those win. We know it’s a bottom line business.

This weekend; there’s a great Baylor team coming in here. They’ve scored a ton of points. Their offense has been on fire. They’ve made some shifts defensively to play more three-down. Obviously, they have the ability to go four-down. They play some of that so we’re going to have to prepare for both. I think Coach (Matt) Rhule and his football team are outstanding. The way that he’s built them; the physical presence that they have; the physical mindset and mental toughness that they exude on film. I’m just so impressed with what he and his coaching staff have been able to build there. Coach Rhule has been a great friend and mentor to me since I took this job. I never do this; I never call a head coach the week that we’re going to play, but, I called him Sunday night. He answered on the first ring like he always does. I don’t think he was quite as willing to give me advice as some other times he has. But I hope we’ll go back and be really good friends when this one ends.‚Äù

A bunch of guys on their team, I think, are doing some really great things. The thing that stands out to me is the physical level that they are playing at and the level of execution on both sides of the ball. They’re doing a great job right now.

On quarterback Wiley Green’s status:

Wiley practiced full yesterday. He took some reps with the ones and has done some really good things to come back. He’s still getting treatment but he is cleared to practice. We don’t want to rush him back but we think there’s a good chance that he plays this Saturday.

On if Green could start:

He could. Again, it’s a little premature to say that. But, he’s trending in the right way.

On the challenges and difficulties of the non-conference schedule:

I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up being the toughest four-game stretch in the country. All we can play are the ones they put in front of us. This is another Power 5 bowl team coming in here this weekend. To me, what I talked to the players about yesterday is the challenge that it is and how exciting that is. You go back to martial arts. You think about how in fighting it’s the best of your dojo. Iron can sharpen iron and you can be tested. We haven’t passed those tests yet. But, we are getting better because of it. This is another one where I don’t think anyone on our team is going to walk into that stadium as a sacrificial lamb and say ‚ÄòHere I am. Slay me.’ We’re going to go out there and fight. If we can play better. If we can lean more on our technique, who knows. We just want to take this team in deep water in the fourth quarter and see how this thing comes out.

On the similarities between Texas’ and Baylor’s offenses:

(Charlie) Brewer is where it starts for them just like (Sam) Ehlinger is for Texas. He is a talented kid. (Baylor) has more of a stable of explosive backs, so I think that’s a similarity. There’s more talented backs and, obviously, Texas wasn’t sure if they had more than one back. They’re talented offenses in that regard. (Denzel) Mims has been exceptional the last couple of weeks. They’ve got explosive talent down the field. That’s the bottom line. They’re a bowl team. They’re probably not quite as old as Texas is when you look across the roster. (Coach Rhule) said the other day that in his two years and two games he played 81 true and redshirt freshmen. That’s an unbelievable number. So, you can tell exactly how he’s done it. He’s really grown that thing from the bottom and now he’s got his guys. So, they are not quite as old or as developed as Texas. But, they’re flying around. There’s a couple of people that are just playing at a high level for the Baylor Bears right now.

On the advice Matt Rhule has given him since he became head coach:

He’s been very open about everything in telling me ‚ÄòThis is how I’ve hyped into my team.’ Making sure everybody understands the growth that has to happen. Staying positive while keeping them accountable. Making them realize the ‚Äòwhy.’ Why the result was what it was. Why this play went that way. But, just continue to stay positive and work. Again, building it from the ground because that’s what he had to do. I don’t know his numbers in terms of the roster when he took over, but I remember it was mass exodus as that thing went south over there. Now, he’s just done such a good job of building the culture there. If you ever hear him talk, you can tell he’s a Southern minister. He can talk and be convicted about what he talks about. It’s hard not to believe and be ready to go play for him when you hear him talk. He talks about things that I just believe in so completely. He talks about how if you don’t train and develop this generation to be mentally tough and fight through, who will? And the answer is nobody. That was his address to high school coaches at the (Texas High School Coaches Association). He’s just unbelievable as a speaker, but he’s just that rock solid as a man in every interaction with him.

On what the next step is that he needs to see from the team:

I think four quarters and really being able to go be modeled as we say, which is start fast, stay focused and finish strong. At no point have we really done that this year. We started really fast defensively against Army. Obviously, that was a great slugfest. That was an epic game to be a part of. Wake Forest, they scored 14 (points) on us before we could blink. Part of that was an offensive turnover. So that’s tough. I look back and I think if we can come out of the gate and start fast and really get off the field on defense and punch one in, that would do so much for our confidence right now as a football team. I’m not saying we’re fragile. I don’t believe we’re fragile. Just look at what happened when Wiley got injured. We fought back as a team against Wake. But, we could use some good things to happen right now.

What are one or two areas that are the best things that the team is doing right now?

Fight and staying together. The fact that at no point have we sacked our bats and gone home. I think that’s the thing that would have been easy to do. If you look at the Texas game, we played really poor in the first half. We really did. We did things that were uncharacteristic of us, in terms of having some manageable situations on offense and not being able to move the sticks. We were oh-for on third down in the first half. It was hard to feel good about anything because the defense would go right back out there and score touchdowns on their first four drives. That’s tough to deal with too. But, you keep fighting. You look at each other at halftime and say ‚ÄòHey. I’m committed to you. I’m committed to this.‚Äù We’ve out in so much work that we’re going to go out there and we’re going to keep fighting and let’s see what we can get done. That’s the big thing. There were obviously times last year where I didn’t think, as coaches and players, that we were able to keep the fight alive for 60 minutes. I don’t think we’ve ever faltered this year.

On what he’s seen from quarterback Tom Stewart and where he can contribute going forward:

Tom did a really good job of doing what we asked him to do with that plan. He made every kill that was appropriate. He handled things that needed to be handled protectionally and he protected the football. That’s something that, early on, when things built up for Tom in my opinion in the second week of training camp, back then, one thing that got lost was his ability to make great decisions. I thought he made really good decisions the other night. He elongated plays. He made a couple of plays with his feet, scrambling for positive yards. Maybe when he would have taken a sack in the past, now he’s keeping the play alive and hitting August (Pitre III) down field. He crow hopped into it. The ball was on a rope. So, those are some things that are really positive. Tom has earned our trust and has earned playing time. So, regardless of how things go this week in practice, you’re going to see Tom Stewart in this game on Saturday.