Players to watch for Rice: quarterback Wiley Green
On Monday, Rice head coach Mike Bloomgren announced Wiley Green of Coppel, Texas, would be the Owls’ starter for their opening game against USC.
Green, a redshirt junior, beat out Southern California native T.J. McMahon for the starting job. Most people projected McMahon to start this season opener, but the veteran Green was consistent throughout camp.
Through four seasons, Wiley Green has thrown for 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, 1,849 yards, and a 62.9 QBR rating. His career has been riddled by injuries, but Green is looking to stay healthy and play up to expectations for 2022.
Rice obviously is a huge underdog in this game on the road versus USC, but in order for the Owls to stay in the game on Saturday, Green needs to limit turnovers, control the pace and distribute the ball to Luke McCaffrey and other targets: Sam Crawford, Bradley Rozner, Cedric Patterson, Jack Bradley, and Gavin Reinwald.
Green knows he will need to score a lot of points, but he has to be patient in making decisions and processing reads.
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