Five Owls on C-USA Watch List
7/19/2021 12:35:00 PM | Football
Media picks Rice for 4th in the west division
Conference USA released its first football preseason watch list on Monday in addition to the results of the annual media prediction for the conference standings. Rice is represented on the watch list by Shea Baker, Elijah Garcia, Campbell Riddle, Bradley Rozner and Naeem Smith. The Owls were predicted to finish fourth in the C-USA West.
The league's 14 head coaches identified five student-athletes from each of the conference's 14 member institutions as key players to watch ahead of the 2021 season.
Baker enters his fourth season of starting on the Owls offensive line and has been tabbed by Phil Steele as a first team all-conference preseason selection. He is the active leader among the offensive front with 30 career games (28 starts).
Garcia returns for a sixth season on South Main after ranking second among conference defensive linemen by averaging 5.6 tackles per game in 2002. His 123 career tackles are the most of any returning interior defender in C-USA.
Riddle will enter his fourth season as the Owls primary deep snapper and returns as the special teams captain.
Rozner sat out the 2020 campaign due to an injury after leading the Owls with 770 yards receiving and 5 touchdown receptions in 2019. Both totals were the most for a first-year Owl since 1951 (first year for stats in media guides). He registered four games with over 100 yards receiving, second most in Conference USA and the most by an Owl since Jordan Taylor had four in 2014.
Smith missed the first portion of the 2020 season, but returned to play a key role in the win over #15 Marshall. He was credited with three tackles and broke the game open with a 36-yard interception return touchdown, the first for the Owls since 2017. He tied for the team lead in 2019 with two interceptions and was fifth on the team with 50 tackles
Conference media picked UAB to repeat again as the top team in the west with 15 first place votes while UTSA followed with nine votes followed by Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss, Rice, North Texas and UTEP. Marshall was tabbed to repeat in the east, garnering 17 first place votes, followed by FAU (six votes), WKU (one vote). Charlotte, Middle Tennessee, FIU and ODU.
The Conference USA slate opens on Saturday, Aug. 28, and the Owls open play the following weekend on the road at Arkansas. The league's 17th Conference USA Football Championship Game is scheduled for the first week in December.
Season tickets for the 2021 campaign are currently on sale online or by calling the Rice ticket office at (713) 348-OWLS (6957) for further assistance. Group tickets are also now on sale and to learn more about a potential group outing by filling out the online information form. Please visit our Rice Football ticket page for additional information.
The league's 14 head coaches identified five student-athletes from each of the conference's 14 member institutions as key players to watch ahead of the 2021 season.
Baker enters his fourth season of starting on the Owls offensive line and has been tabbed by Phil Steele as a first team all-conference preseason selection. He is the active leader among the offensive front with 30 career games (28 starts).
Garcia returns for a sixth season on South Main after ranking second among conference defensive linemen by averaging 5.6 tackles per game in 2002. His 123 career tackles are the most of any returning interior defender in C-USA.
Riddle will enter his fourth season as the Owls primary deep snapper and returns as the special teams captain.
Rozner sat out the 2020 campaign due to an injury after leading the Owls with 770 yards receiving and 5 touchdown receptions in 2019. Both totals were the most for a first-year Owl since 1951 (first year for stats in media guides). He registered four games with over 100 yards receiving, second most in Conference USA and the most by an Owl since Jordan Taylor had four in 2014.
Smith missed the first portion of the 2020 season, but returned to play a key role in the win over #15 Marshall. He was credited with three tackles and broke the game open with a 36-yard interception return touchdown, the first for the Owls since 2017. He tied for the team lead in 2019 with two interceptions and was fifth on the team with 50 tackles
Conference media picked UAB to repeat again as the top team in the west with 15 first place votes while UTSA followed with nine votes followed by Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss, Rice, North Texas and UTEP. Marshall was tabbed to repeat in the east, garnering 17 first place votes, followed by FAU (six votes), WKU (one vote). Charlotte, Middle Tennessee, FIU and ODU.
The Conference USA slate opens on Saturday, Aug. 28, and the Owls open play the following weekend on the road at Arkansas. The league's 17th Conference USA Football Championship Game is scheduled for the first week in December.
Season tickets for the 2021 campaign are currently on sale online or by calling the Rice ticket office at (713) 348-OWLS (6957) for further assistance. Group tickets are also now on sale and to learn more about a potential group outing by filling out the online information form. Please visit our Rice Football ticket page for additional information.
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