Rice Owls 2016 season review
With moderate expectations entering the season, 2016 was a bit of a letdown for the Rice Owls.
The 2016 season started horribly for the Rice Owls. They finished 2015 with a 5-7 record, falling just short of eligibility and this season was supposed to be a bounce back after ending a three season bowl streak.
While contention for a Conference USA Championship seemed like a long-shot to many experts, the expectation of a bowl appearance was pretty reasonable. An 0-6 start dashed all hopes, though.
Despite the disappointing season, they did show some glimmers of hope for 2017. Let’s get the more difficult parts of the discussion out of the way first, though.
Where Rice fell short
Missed time
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Far and away, the biggest glaring issue for the Owls came down to players missing time. Granted, this is nothing to fault the actual team for. For instance, the week of the Louisiana Tech game, 32 players and an additional 10 coaches and staff members caught an odd stomach bug. This culminated with cornerback V. J. Banks getting sick moments before kickoff of the game.
But the stomach bug wasn’t their only issue. They ended up with three running backs rushing for 300+ yards, and a fourth one ended just a yard shy of 300. But this didn’t happen on account of a balanced attack. It happened because of injuries.
Up and down the roster, numerous players took the field due to necessity. At the mid-point of the season, 14 players had already been lost for the year. In the next-to-last game of the season, starting quarterback Tyler Stehling suffered a knee injury knocking him out for the finale. Injuries weren’t all that troubled Stehling, though.
Quarterback
Stehling had an uphill battle in front of him from the get-go. While he entered the season as a senior, he’d only played in a total of ten games his previous two seasons, most of which came in mop-up duty.
He didn’t have a terrible season, but he did struggle with consistency. This was true both with his arm and his legs. Whether running or passing, he just couldn’t find a good rhythm from week to week. That can happen though when your offense has to do most of the work.
Defense
The Owls ended the 2016 season with the sixth-most total yards allowed per game with 504.5. Granted, the defense was seen as a weakness entering the season, but finishing ranked 123 out of 128 can’t sit well with anyone.
Most of the blame comes down to a very mild pass rush and a secondary that could only muster four interceptions for the year. (The team as a whole had five, but one came from linebacker Emmanuel Ellerbee.) Forcing turnovers proved to be a difficult task as Rice ended up -7 on the year in turnover margin. To succeed in 2017, the defensive unit as a whole will need to show major improvement.
Where Rice shows hope
Emmanuel Ellerbee
The junior linebacker from Houston put together a really strong 2016 season. He was all over the field, collecting 118 total tackles, eight tackles for a loss and three sacks. He even had the aforementioned interception against Prairie View A&M.
For his hard work, he was selected to the Conference USA All-Conference first team. With his likely return next season, he will be the cornerstone to an Owls defense that needs veteran leadership.
Running back
In total, four Rice running backs started at least two games in 2016. While this was a bad thing because of injuries, it also gained them significant experience. Two of those players, sophomores Samuel Stewart and Austin Walter, were underclassmen.
Stewart will return next season after averaging a hefty 6.3 yards per carry in four starts. Meanwhile, Walter tied for the team lead in rushing touchdowns with four and average five yards per carry. These two could provide a formidable duo for the Owl offense next season, especially with a new quarterback taking over.
Momentum
Despite a terrible start to the 2016 season and massive amounts of injuries, head coach David Bailiff coached Rice to a late-season surge. They closed out the season with three wins in their final six games, including two of the final three.
Next: Texas State Bobcats 2016 season review
Sure, there’s plenty of room for improvement, but they have the returning staff to make it happen. Bailiff’s job is no doubt on the hot seat, but this might be the motivation he needs to turn the team back around in 2017.