Rice Football put an early scare into the North Texas fans, but couldn’t complete the upset, falling in Denton, 52-23.
Save for a missed field goal, Rice football played league-leading North Texas as evenly as anyone else has so far, at least for a half. That momentum did not persist as the Owls lost their eighth straight game in spite of their encouraging start. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:
Ochoa Isn’t Going Anywhere
After shrouding his quarterback plans in secrecy this week, Rice football head coach Scott Abell revealed his intentions early: both. Gael Ochoa took the first snap of the game, but instead of Tyvonn Byars or D’Andre Hardeman joining him in the backfield, fellow signal caller Jacurri Brown was right alongside. Brown didn’t take a snap at quarterback on that initial drive, but he did carry the ball twice and get an endzone target as a receiver.
Brown wasn’t on the field for the start of the next drive, but he did re-enter on third down, this time at quarterback. He took the snap and delivered a high pitch to slot receiver Jordan Clark, who was unable to haul it in cleanly and put it on the ground. Rice recovered the fumble, but the drive was done.
Ochoa was handed the quarterback reins again to start the third drive and the fourth drive, with Brown working as a receiver. Brown helped extend a drive by drawing a pass interference penalty on 2nd and 24, but it was Ochoa who delivered the exclamation point, tossing a touchdown pass to Will Swartz to get the Owls on the board.
As the game progressed, Ochoa’s role became more and more prominent, and deservedly so. Brown has inherent playmaking abilities, but he’s proven less comfortable running the full breadth of the gun-option offense. Through two games now, Ochoa is clearly the more effective triggerman. He also has two passing touchdowns in 29 attempts, whereas Brown has one score through the air on 83 tries.
“I think that’s a really good formula,” Abell said of the multi-quarterback deployment. “I think they’re two of our best football players. And so getting them on the field at the same time is really important. I feel Jacurri gives us advantages in a couple different roles when we move him around. That was the thought behind it.”
Ochoa was always the clear frontrunner to lead this offense in 2027, but now, through two starts, it’s abundantly clear the combination of him at quarterback with Brown at a skill position of some sort is the path forward for the remainder of this season.
A Glimpse of Clock Control
The touchdown pass to Swartz got Rice back within three points, something which didn’t feel likely after the Owls were held off the scoreboard on their first three drives and North Texas began the game averaging 12.5 yards per play during their first two series. Staying poised in the midst of adversity — and Rice did experience its fair share of that, some of it their own doing and some by simple misfortune — proved critical.
What the Owls had done well to that point, and would continue to excel at throughout the game, was maintaining firm control of the time of possession battle, something that had been an issue in recent weeks.
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Last time out against Florida Atlantic, Rice had one drive of five minutes or more; it ended with a punt. Against North Texas, the first Rice drive went 11 plays and lasted 6:24. The next two drives, which netted just 21 total yards, burned off 4:46 of the clock. Then came the nine-play, 5:01 touchdown drive.
The defense did its part, too. Enabling the offense to get back on the field by holding the vaunted North Texas offense at bay. The Mean Green edged by just 62 yards, despite the signficiant point differential.
“I loved how our defense came out and struck first in that game,” linebacker Austin Harnetiaux said. “I was happy to see us flying around.”
Rice led in time of possession by 3:34 at halftime. That margin dropped in the second half as the Owls were forced into catch-up mode, but for the first two quarters, the tantalizing possibility of what this offense could do at its best was put on display, keeping a multi-touchdown favorite within striking distance by limiting their chances. Rice finished with 30:34 time of possession, a narrow edge.
“We always want to control the football and win the time of possession. I thought the first half we executed really well,” Abell said. “And the key this week, was could we keep their offense off the field. We didn’t use much pace on offense, which I think slows our offense down. When you get in a rhythm, you use some pace, but that wasn’t what was best for our team this week. We huddled every time. We used the play clock.”
Through nine games, Rice has now won the time of possession battle four times: vs Houston Christian, vs Western Michigan, vs UTSA and at North Texas. Rice is 1-3 in those games and 0-5 in all other contests. Two of those losses in those time-of-possession-favored games came by a combined nine points. This is the realm Rice football wants to live in. Good things tend to happen when they do, even if that’s not how things turned out tonight.”
Persistent Self-Inflicted Wounds
Abell spoke extremely highly about the caliber of team North Texas was during his media availability during the week. He was well aware of the caliber of the opponent the Owls were playing on Saturday and the level of discipline that would be required to secure what he said at the time would be a “monumental” win for the program.
Still, the same self-inflicted wounds that have plagued this program in recent weeks were ever-present against the Mean Green. Early in the game, those presented themselves on special teams, where kicker Tommy Bauchiero missed a 38-yard field goal on the Owls’ opening drive.
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The following drive was waylaid by a kickoff caught out of bounds by returner Max Mosey. The veteran return man ought to have stayed well clear of the ball, which he snagged at the eight-yard line. That would have resulted in a penalty and the ball being placed at the 35. Instead, Rice started backed up, punted, and gave North Texas a short field for their first touchdown drive of the game.
Punter Charlie Durkin also shanked a punt later in the game that set North Texas up with a first down at the Rice 35. The miscues weren’t limited to special teams, though. The defense put North Texas on the doorstep on the very next play with a personal foul penalty. They’d also probably have liked to have a third and 16 conversion back after allowing the receiver to break a crucial tackle to keep a drive alive that later ended in a Mean Green touchdown early in the game.
“It is something different [every week],” Abell said. “If it’s one of the same things that shows up every week, it’s kind of easy to clean up.”
The offense, while largely good, put the ball on the ground three times, the last of which was the backbreaking play that allowed North Texas to go up 17 points in the third quarter, effectively putting things out of reach.
The ideal “perfect game” is rare, perhaps impossible. But Rice had a real chance to win this game if they were simply able to put together a pretty clean game. They fell well short of that.
One Game at a Time
There’s not much else Abell can say at this point in the season. He believes this team is better than the 2026 team that won five games and went bowling. To his credit, he’s not alone. Most advanced metrics and many committed observers agree with him. That won’t change the wins and loss columns.
Now, it’s on to the next one, a homecoming date with the Tulane Green Wave, who lost by 50 points in their own homecoming game against Tulsa this weekend. The transitive property doesn’t apply to college football, per se, but there’s reason to hope Rice football picks next weekend to put things together.
At this point, that’s what this team needs more than anything: one week to showcase the blueprint of what could be possible if everything comes together. That’s going to require a rigorous assessment of the repeated special teams failures and some turnovers in the Owls’ favor — Rice lost the turnover battle 2-0.
Digging Deeper
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