Rice’s numbers from week 1 are bad. They can’t be that bad going forward, right? Some behind the scenes on media access, a basketball interview, and BYU’s apparel shop.
the daily 39 | 9/8/2023 | Archives
Hootie Hoo! I think reasonable people can agree that stats don’t mean much after one week, right? Right?
But hoooooooo boy.
Against UT last week, Rice ran 51 plays, fourth least in the country. They had 176 yards, third least in the country. At 3.45 yards per play, they were 6th-worst in the country.
They are 130th in first down offense (dead last), T-122 in turnover margin (-3, same as UTSA), and 127th in rushing offense (1.08 yards per carry).
There’s bad, there’s awful, and then there’s…. well, Rice in week one. The good news: Rice ran a 13-play, 9.5-minute drive in the fourth quarter for their TD. The bad news: exactly everything else.
Eight people carried the ball for Rice. They had six rushers combine for -2 yards. That’s really, really hard to do.
The Owls scored on their first drive (FG) after UT went for it on 4th and two from their own 33. Rice’s scoring drive was six plays for eight yards for three points. Between that drive and the TD, they went 3 and out, 3 and out, INT, one-play INT, four and out, 3 and out, downs, 3 and out, and two and fumble.
They cannot be that bad this week. I think. Since the end of the SWC, UH has been 14-5 against the Owls, including seven in a row. They’ve won those seven by an average of 23 ppg.
Media Schedule. During a game week, the media has an interesting dynamic with the team. Not bad, not good, just concentrated.
Game day – We speak to Dana and selected players after the game. About 30 minutes.
Sunday – no media.
Monday – Dana holds his regular 15-minute press conference at Fertitta Center. Broadcast on ESPN+, too.
Tuesday – An assistant coach and 3-4 players answer questions in the Carl Lewis Auditorium. Usually about 40-45 minutes. Dana does his radio show Tuesday nights, and while I’ve never seen a reporter ask a question, they are free to attend.
Wednesday – no media.
Thursday – no media.
Friday – no media.
The Wednesday to the postgame silence from Dana doesn’t bother me because he should be locked in for the upcoming game. I get that. But it would be nice to get something at the end of the week – a player, the AD, another assistant coach, or a newsmaker in the Athletics Department. Could build out some nice stories from the Chron, the Cougar, and GoCoogs.
Dana also appeared at the Bayou Bucket luncheon on Wednesday and answered some questions.
Lagniappe. I did an interview with a station in Iowa this week about UH Hoops. You can check it out here … hockey starts tonight after 80 years of dormancy. They’ve done a lot of promoting and hope they get a good crowd for the game. We looked back at UH’s hockey history in a story from Thursday night … Rice Athletics staff are courteous, decent, professional people but perhaps not great spellers. They misspelled GoCoogs on our passes and the names of the two UH students who will cover for the Cougar.
GoCougs.com is the official team store of BYU Athletics. We all thought it was funny.
