Rice football is looking to kick off conference play with a win against Charlotte. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.
Both Rice football and Charlotte played FCS opponents last week and trailed in the first quarter against their respective foes. The Owls caught fire and rolled to a comfortable victory over Prairie View A&M. The 49ers had to hang on for dear life, narrowly escaping with a victory over Monmouth. That sets up an important conference debut for both squads. Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup between Rice and Charlotte.
Kickoff time | 6:30 PM CT
Venue | Jerry Richardson Stadium – Charlotte, NC
TV | ESPN (Viewing Guide)
Radio | Varsity Radio App (Online)
Sizing up the Contenders
The road only gets tougher for Charlotte. After the Rice game, they only face two other opponent projected to finish in the bottom half of the conference in the preseason media poll: Temple and North Texas, which hold a combined 5-1 record to this point. Wins might be hard to come by, particularly if they can’t find a way to tame an upstart Rice squad in the early days of their installation of a new scheme.
Rice has a tough schedule the rest of the way, too, but the Owls look to be steadily making strides on offense and have the advantage of a unique offensive philosophy that will make it challenging for opponents. A win in this game could make the dreams of a potential bowl berth tangible in a way that seemed unlikely just three weeks ago.
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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 | Tied, 3-3
Last Five | Charlotte leads, 3-2
Last Meeting | Home 2024, Charlotte won 21-20
Rice Football Stat Notables
Passing | Jenkins – 27/37 (73.0 percent), 182 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing | Jenkins – 47 carries, 144 yards (3.1 yards per carry) – 2 TD / Jackson – 46 carries, 213 yards (4.6 yards per carry), 2 TD / Alexander – 32 carries, 149 yards (4.7 yards per carry)
Receiving | Dickmann – 11 receptions, 84 yards (7.6 yds/rec) / Turner – 7 receptions, 33 yards (4.7 yds/rec) / Ransom – 4 receptions, 57 yards (14.3 yds/rec), 1 TD
Tackles | Morris – 20 / Awe – 18 / Kane – 15
Pass Breakups | Crump – 4 / Porter, Daley – 2 / Kane – 1
Interceptions | Kane – 1
Charlotte Stat Notables
Passing | Harrell – 56/83 (67.5 percent), 365 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT
Rushing | Stokes – 32 carries, 96 yards (3.0 yds/car), Gainey – 23 carries, 94 yards (3.6 yds/car), 1 TD
Receiving | Jai Mason – 16 receptions, 284 yards (17.8 yds/rec), 3 TD / Nicholas – 17 receptions, 177 yards (10.4 yds/rec) / Burris – 6 receptions, 72 yards (12.0 yds/rec)
Tackles | Conley – 20 / Taylor – 19 / Solomon – 14
Pass Breakups | Seven each tied with one
Interceptions | None
Charlotte X-Factor | Don’t Make It Harder On Yourself
The 49ers’ proclivity toward self-inflicted wounds played a pivotal role in their near-upset at the hands of Monmouth. They committed 11 penalties for 103 yards, a mark among the worst in the nation last week. And it wasn’t a one-off mistake. Charlotte enters Week 4 ranked 12th in the American Conference with 7.7 penalties per game, averaging 66.7 penalty yards against them through three games.
For a program with a new coaching staff already facing an uphill battle, making the situation harder than it has to be is something that must be avoided. Getting first downs and getting off the field on defense are things that are hard enough without adding yardage and giving opponents extra chances.
Rice X-Factor | Limit the Big Play
Even without accounting for the challenging opponents Rice football has faced in its first three games, the Owls rank fourth in the American in total defense, allowing just 294 yards per game. On a down-to-down basis, they’ve been one of the most reliable units in the league. However, the big play has been their demise on more than one occassion.
Houston broke that game open with three long scoring plays, relegated Rice in a tie for tenth in the American with four plays of 40+ yards allowed this season. FAU, UTSA and UAB are the teams keeping Rice company at the bottom of the standings in that metric. All rank in the bottom half of the league in total defense.
Lastly, Charlotte won this game a year ago thanks to two big shot play touchdowns to receiver O’Mega Blake, spoiling an otherwise stingy defensive effort. If Rice can keep the lid on this one, they should have plenty of other avenues to pull out a road win.
Injury Report (Subscribers only)
One Final Thing
By virtue of a 2-1 and the recent history of games between these two programs, Thursday’s matchup carries more pressure for the visiting team than might have initially been expected. The added strain on the 49ers, who have to prepare for an option offense on a short week, should tilt things even further in favor of the Owls, who have already proven they can win big games on the road this season.
Oddsmakers have released early lines that list the Owls as somewhere between 4.5 to 5.5 point favorites on the road. While a loss wouldn’t entirely erode the goodwill this program has built up in a few short weeks, it’s undeniable the earned expectation entering this game is a win and a potential 3-1 start for a team Vegas pegged as a 3.5 win squad coming into the season.
That’s a high bar for a program that hasn’t fully clicked on offense and is much thinner in the secondary than they’d hoped to be at this point in the season.
Still, the expectations are the expectations and Rice fans expect this game to be another win. If the team can deliver on that front and return to Houston with a winning record, it would be hard to evaluate the start of the Scott Abell era as anything other than a tremendous success. That might still be true at 2-2, but it’s impossible to understate the opportunity at hand.
