Rice football opens its 2026 season at home against Houston Christian. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.
It’s finally here. Rice football opens its 2026 campaign on Saturday, September 5 against Houston Christian. The Huskies are coming off a 2-10 season under head coach Jason Bachtel, who was promoted from the offensive coordinator role in 2024. The Huskies are off to a better start this time around, opening their season last Thursday with an upset win over Southeastern Louisiana, a team ranked in the preseason FCS Top 25.
They’ll face off against a Rice squad set to begin Year 2 of the Scott Abell era following a 5-8 bowl season in his first year at the helm. Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup between Rice and Houston Christian.
Kickoff time | 6:00 PM
Venue | Historic Rice Stadium – Houston, TX
TV | ESPN+ (Viewing Guide)
Radio | Varsity Radio App (Online)
Previews in Style
This year, our Rice football game previews will feature artwork from Rice grade and Owls’ super fan, Hong Lin Tsai. After years of tremendous work as a student, he’s agreed to keep the tradition of Sammy cartoons alive at The Roost and we couldn’t be more thrilled.
Sizing up the Contenders
Rice football is not yet at the stature of a program where it can afford to overlook anyone, even an FCS opponent. That was true when it looked as if the Huskies might be a pushover — now they’ve engineered one of the more remarkable upsets of the season to this point. Still, the Owls should win this game and ideally will have plans for increased reps for second and third team players to nail down a handful of positional battles still lingering after camp.
Rice Football Preseason Preview: Get prepared for the season here.
For Houston Christian, a respectable showing would be more than enough. This is far from an FCS juggernaut with upset-minded expectations. They’ll be ready to take advantage of any Rice miscues, as they did in their season opening win, so the Owls need to play clean, but the Huskies will be aiming their true aspirations on conference play, which looks much more manageable with a 1-0 league start.
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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
This is the first-ever meeting between Rice football and Houston Christian
Rice Football Returning Stat Notables
Passing | Brown (UCF, ’24-’25) – 38/72 (52.8 percent), 495 yards, 2 TD, 5 INT
Rushing | Jackson – 180 carries, 889 yards (4.9 yards per carry), 6 TD / Hardeman – 82 carries, 325 yards (4.0 yards per carry) – 2 TD / Byars – 34 carries, 193 yards (5.7 yards per carry), 1 TD
Receiving | Matthews – 4 receptions, 93 yards (23.3 yds/rec), 0 TD / Mosey (Holy Cross) – 50 receptions, 490 yards (9.8 yds/rec)
Tackles | Akui (Sacramento State) – 65 / Chavez – 40 / Nwajuaku – 28 / Harper – 27
Pass Breakups | Akui (Sacramento State) – 6 / Harper – 2 / Chavez – 1
Interceptions | Akui (Sacramento State) – 5
Houston Christian Returning Stat Notables
Passing | Stewart – 10/18 (55.6 percent), 173 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing | Stewart – 15 carries, 95 yards (6.3 yds/car) / Dozier – 13 carries, 26 yards (2.0 yds/car), 1 TD
Receiving | Hall – 2 receptions, 71 yards (35.5 yds/rec), 1 TD / Wallace – 2 receptions, 41 yards (20.5 yds/rec) / Wheeler – 3 receptions, 38 yards (12.7 yds/rec), 1 TD
Tackles | Bejarano – 10 / Bean, Zappe, Anderson – 9
Pass Breakups | Bean, Tomas, King, Wiggins – 1
Interceptions | Henderson – 1
Houston Christian X-Factor | The Arm (and Legs) of Cutter Stewart
Stewart returns to Houston Christian after a one-year stint at Cisco College in 2025 where he threw for 945 yards. He wasn’t much of a running threat there, but he did use his legs extensively in the Huskies’ Week 0 win, netting 95 yards on the ground. The 6-foot, 195 pound veteran was the tone setter for the Houston Christian offense which, although imperfect, delivered a rather balanced performance: 200 yards through the air and 161 on the ground.
Houston Christian’s 24 points in their opener were more than they scored against any D1 opponent all of last season. Some fortunate turnovers contributed to that total, but Stewart’s effectiveness was equally important. His decision making as a passer will be pivotal if the Huskies’ want to make things interesting against the Owls.
Like most collegiate quarterbacks, Stewart was much more effective near the line of scrimmage than down the field. If he can keep the Huskies’ offense on schedule and avoid costly mistakes, they’ll have a chance. If he struggles to make headway on the ground, though, the offense is in danger of stalling out entirely.
Rice X-Factor | Execute on Offense
It wouldn’t be overreaching to place the fate of the Owls’ season on the growth of the offensive scheme from Year 1 to Year 2. Abell estimated they were at least “a touchdown better” than the 2025 squad, which averaged just under 20 points per game. Asking for a 35 percent increase in scoring doesn’t seem outlandish at all, but how much more can the Owls’ skew that mark to the upside?
They’ll still have some kinks to work out as they get their first reps against a real opponent, but this should be a chance to showcase what can be done with the bevvy of offensive imports alongside the return of what is expected to be an elite stable of running backs.
To that end, Rice doesn’t need to empty the playbook and get fancy on Saturday. In fact, perfectly executing a handful of schemes over and over again might prove to be the best-case scenario for the short- and long-term of the program.
Injury Report (Subscribers only)
One Final Thing
A few important things appear to be true as Rice football begins its 2026 season. First, this team is better than last year. From a talent and athleticism standpoint alone, the differences are incredibly easy to spot. Second, the schedule is tough. Non-conference play gets incalculably more difficult after this, with trips to Notre Dame and Fresno State and a date with Western Michigan at home isn’t expected to be easy, either.
Missing out on a bowl game this season would be a letdown after seeing this program overachieve out of the gate with Abell in Year 1. During Rice football media days, Quinton Jackson shared that getting back above .500 — something this program hasn’t achieved since 2014 — was a known goal the team had discussed. That could get significantly harder if the Owls stub their toes and stumble against the Huskies.
Overreacting to the first game is a college football tradition as old as time. There will be plenty to dissect, both good and bad, following the game on Saturday, but winning and taking care of business is the most important component of that equation. That’s something this team should be handle with ease, given the expectations and aspirations the program carries into the season.
While we’re making our wish list, though. It sure would be nice to see a couple 100-yard rushers, a turnover or two and a clockwork operation every time special teams takes the field.