Rice football returns home for the last scheduled installment of the Bayou Bucket against crosstown rival Houston How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.
The 2025 battle for the Bayou Bucket pits a pair of undefeated teams following Week 1 wins by Rice football and Houston in their respective openers. The Owls upset Louisiana in their first game, knocking off the defending Sun Belt West Division champs on the road. The Cougars took care of business against Stephen F. Austin. Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup between Rice and Houston.
Kickoff time | 6:00 PM CT
Venue | Rice Stadium – Houston, TX
TV | ESPN+ (Viewing Guide)
Radio | Varsity Radio App (Online)
Sizing up the contenders
Houston is a year ahead of Rice football on their reboot, going through their first year growing pains with head coach Willie Fritz in 2024 with hopes that 2025 would be marked by a turn for the better. Rice is just beginning that process, although an upset win the opener does raise the question as to how quickly the Owls can flip the script and become a consistent winner.
The Cougars need this one to prove to themselves they’re on schedule. To some extent, the Owls are playing with house money, but a 2-0 start — which would be their first 2-0 start since 2008 — would put the rest of the college football world on notice that the 2025 Rice football teams has no intentions of a slow build.
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Last Time Out
Make sure you check out The Roost Podcast every week this season as we review the Owls’ most recent game, breaking down the key moments, decisions and their impact on the outlook of the program moving forward.
Series History
All Time | Houston leads, 34-12
Last Five | Houston leads, 4-1
Last Meeting | Away 2024, Houston won 33-7
Rice Football Stat Notables
Passing | Jenkins – 7/9 (77.7 percent), 45 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
Rushing | Jackson – 22 carries, 119 yards (5.4 yards per carry), 1 TD / Alexander – 15 carries, 74 yards (4.9 yards per carry)
Receiving | Dickmann – 3 receptions, 44 yards (14.7 yds/rec)
Tackles | Awe – 6, Stevenson – 5 , Anyanwu/Daley – 4
Pass Breakups | Daley – 1
Interceptions | Kane – 1
Houston Stat Notables
Passing | Weigman – 15/24 (62.5 percent), 159 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT
Rushing | Connors – 15 carries, 50 yards (3.3 yds/car), Burnette – 10 carries, 40 yards (4.0 yds/car)
Receiving | Koziol – 7 receptions, 63 yards (9.0 yds/rec), 1 TD, Amare Thomas – 3 receptions, 44 yards (14.7 yds/rec)
Tackles | Garner – 6, Webb – 5, James – 4
Pass Breakups | Vedder – 2, Five others tied with one
Interceptions | Stampley/Douglas – 1
Houston X-Factor | Win the Line of Scrimmage
The Cougars faired well in the trenches in their opener against Stephen F. Austin, holding the Lumberjacks to 1.6 yards per carry while racking up two sacks and five tackles for a loss. Against a Rice offense bent on running the ball, that level of control becomes even more important, especially as Houston continues its transition from Group of 5 program to a legitimate power conference squad.
In the interim, that means Houston will be relying on a mixture of transfer pieces and home grown players to secure the most meaningful yards on the field and set the terms of engagement up front. If they can do that, they’ll have the Owls on their heels. If not, control of the game shifts back towards the home team who already proved a week ago they have what it takes to upset a talented team in red.
Rice X-Factor | Stay on schedule
It was a tale of two halves for the Rice football offense against Louisiana. Before the break, Rice moved the ball well on first and second down and reached third and manageable with regularity. Following the halftime whistle, Louisiana started to perform better on early downs and got Rice into third and long, stifling the Owls’ opportunities to move the ball.
Trusting a two point lead worked a week ago, but it’s not a recipe for success, especially as Rice breaks in a new quarterback that wasn’t his best in those pure passing situations in his debut. There’s room for Chase Jenkins to grow into that, but Rice would much prefer that adjustment happens on their terms, not situations created by the Houston defense.
Injury Report (Subscribers only)
One Final Thing
Given a schedule that opened with Louisiana and Houston, the oddsmakers pegged Rice football as an 0-2 team entering Week 3. Not only were those prognostications wrong, but the Owls have an opportunity to flip them on their heads with one more quite consequential rivalry win.
Knocking of Houston and Louisiana in back-to-back weeks would officially declare this team as good enough to challenge every team remaining on their schedule. Real conversations could start to be had about potential bowl berths and a season in which success went beyond just proof that this offense could work.
But even if that doesn’t happen and Rice splits their first two games, this upcoming contest against Houston will set the tone for how this program moves forward. There’s a lot to clean up from the opener and plenty of opportunities to take the next step as an offense. The most important thing Rice football can do on Saturday is take that next step. They’re already ahead of schedule.
