Rice Owls Hint At Starting QB With Familiar Name

Joe Londergan | May 23, 2024

Oct 28, 2023; Houston, Texas, USA; Rice Owls head coach Mike Bloomgren argues about the time clock in the second half against the Tulane Green Wave at Rice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports / Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports

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As the Rice football program enters the seventh season of Mike Bloomgren's tenure, expectations are fairly high. Those expectations are partially due to an impressive transfer portal haul that included former Temple quarterback Elijah "E.J." Warner. E.J. is also the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner.

On Thursday, the Owls in Houston made hinted in a post to X that Warner would be the team's starting quarterback heading into the fall.

𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧’𝗦 𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗤𝗕𝟭 😤#GoOwls👐 x #RFND pic.twitter.com/5cWbwnXIl7
— Rice Football (@RiceFootball) May 23, 2024

Shortly after, the account edited the post's caption from "That's our QB1" to "That's our QB." Based on this action, the safe assumption would be that Rice doesn't want to officially declare their starting quarterback for the fall just yet.

Still, the move would come as much of a surprise, given Warner's track record as a passer. The Owls have four other quarterbacks listed on their roster, including redshirt sophomore AJ Padgett, who started each of Rice's two bowl games under Bloomgren in 2022 and 2023.

Last season, Warner was the AAC's leader in passing yards per game with an average of 307.6 yards. The rising junior was Temple's starting quarterback in 20 games over the last two seasons. He has completed 524 passes on 888 attempts with an average of 6.9 yards per attempt. Temple were 6-18 over the last two seasons.

For Warner's new team, they will look to build on a 6-7 record last season that amounted to their highest win total under Bloomgren. Rice also are coming off of consecutive bowl appearances for the first time since the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

Rice will open the 2024 season on August 31 when they host Conference USA side Sam Houston.

Published May 23, 2024|Modified May 23, 2024

JOE LONDERGAN

Joe covers college sports from the Group of Five ranks and beyond. He has worked in the sports industry since 2008, earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Louisville, and a Master's degree from Seattle University.