Five Owls on C-USA Watch List
7/25/2022 4:06:00 PM | Football
HOUSTON — Conference USA released its 2022 football preseason watch list on Monday. Rice is represented on the watch list by Shea Baker, Ikenna Enechuckwu, Sean Fresch, George Nyakwol, and Bradley Rozner.
The league's head coaches identified five student-athletes from each of the conference's 11 member institutions as key players to watch ahead of the 2021 season.
Baker enters his fifth 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 42 career games (40 starts).
Enechukwu was credited with career highs in tackles (48), TFL (8), and sacks (4.5) last season while starting all 12 games (nine at tackle and three at the end). He was the team leader with 20 quarterback hurries according to PFF and second with 32 total pressures and eight quarterback hits.
Fresch made the list as a punt returner. Last year, he returns eight punts for 99 yards. Fresch averaged 12.4 yards a return on his way to being named to the C-USA All-Freshman Team.
Nyakwol started the first five games before missing the rest of the season with an injury. He recorded 25 tackles, including 14 unassisted. He had a sack and two interceptions in back-to-back games against Texas Southern and Southern Miss.
Rozner missed the final 11 games after getting injured in the season-opener at Arkansas. He looks to return after also sitting out the 2020 campaign due to an injury. In 2019, he led the Owls with 770 yards receiving and five touchdown receptions. 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.
The Conference USA slate opens on Saturday, Aug. 27, and the Owls open play the following weekend on the road at USC. The league's 18th Conference USA Football Championship Game is scheduled for December 2.
Season tickets for the 2022 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 head coaches identified five student-athletes from each of the conference's 11 member institutions as key players to watch ahead of the 2021 season.
Baker enters his fifth 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 42 career games (40 starts).
Enechukwu was credited with career highs in tackles (48), TFL (8), and sacks (4.5) last season while starting all 12 games (nine at tackle and three at the end). He was the team leader with 20 quarterback hurries according to PFF and second with 32 total pressures and eight quarterback hits.
Fresch made the list as a punt returner. Last year, he returns eight punts for 99 yards. Fresch averaged 12.4 yards a return on his way to being named to the C-USA All-Freshman Team.
Nyakwol started the first five games before missing the rest of the season with an injury. He recorded 25 tackles, including 14 unassisted. He had a sack and two interceptions in back-to-back games against Texas Southern and Southern Miss.
Rozner missed the final 11 games after getting injured in the season-opener at Arkansas. He looks to return after also sitting out the 2020 campaign due to an injury. In 2019, he led the Owls with 770 yards receiving and five touchdown receptions. 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.
The Conference USA slate opens on Saturday, Aug. 27, and the Owls open play the following weekend on the road at USC. The league's 18th Conference USA Football Championship Game is scheduled for December 2.
Season tickets for the 2022 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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