More food for thought on Rice. Their offensive line did a really good job of setting up the run, which Rice attempted frequently. They averaged six yards a run and had 181 yards on the ground - 54 came on one run for their only touchdown.
Nine total offensive possessions with two three and outs plus another possession where they got the ball inside the Army 20 after Army failed to convert a fourth and 1 (Rice missed the field goal). Possessions went: punt, missed field goal (26 yards), punt, touchdown (4 plays, 75 yards - aforementioned 54 yard run), missed field goal (44 yards), punt, punt, punt, turnover on downs.
The majority of their runs went straight up the middle from a base formation. The QB spent a lot of time under center with a back behind him and tight ends brought in for extra protection. I felt like they telegraphed their runs pretty frequently with tight sets and they did not use play actions very frequently. When the QB, Green, was forced out of the pocket by the defense he was both frantic and inaccurate. For the game he went 7-14 for 62 yards good enough for a 4.9 QBR. Over half of his passing yards came on about an 8 yard completed pass turned into a 35 yard gain with YAC. Their QB looked absolutely awful overall.
Their kicking game sucked, neither missed field goal was particularly close but I was impressed by their punter who averaged 44 yards a punt and did a good job making sure Army wasn't going to return anything.
All-in-all I thought Rice looked similar to how they looked last year with a slightly better defense. I see the game going roughly how it did a year ago where Wake jumps on them early and Rice doesn't have any answers for the passing game. This will be a big game for the front seven as any pressure we dial up is going to be problematic for their young QB. If we can shut down the run early and force them into a heavier pass game the Owls are in serious trouble.
Early pick is 41-13 Wake.
