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The Roost Podcast | Ep. 222 – Rice Football Surprise Bowl!

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The 2025 Rice Football season isn’t done yet. The Owls are going bowling and have drawn a postseason rematch with Texas State in the Armed Forces Bowl.

Good grades have gotten Rice football to the postseason for the second time in four years. The Owls are officially going bowling and will play Texas State in the Armed Forces Bowl on January 2. Carter and Matthew walk through the journey it took to get here and break down the significance of this particular extra game for the Owls in Year 1 under head coach Scott Abell.

We talked through it all. You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 222.

Episode Notes

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Rice Football to play Texas State in Armed Forces Bowl

  • How did we get here?
  • Why a bowl berth matters so much for Rice football this year
  • Texas State rematch
  • More Rice Football!

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The Roost Podcast is part of the Dave Campbell’s College Podcast Network. You’ll still get the same content with the same hosts, but now under the DCTF banner. If it’s happening in college football in Texas, we’re talking about it. You can find this podcast and all of our partner podcasts on Apple, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.

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The Latest on Rice Football and a Potential Bowl Opportunity

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The 2025 Rice Football season may not be over after all. Here’s what I’m hearing about a potential path for the Owls to play in a bowl game this year.

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Rice Football Ends Season in Loss to South Florida

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Rice Football dropped its final game of the season on the road against South Florida, coming one win shy of a bowl trip in head coach Scott Abell’s debut season.

South Florida struck first and kept laying it on in what proved to be the final game of the 2025 Rice Football season. Unable to win a sixth game and earn bowl eligibility, the Owls’ season ends at 5-7 with a one-sided loss in Tampa. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Long Ball Provides Early Gut Punch

South Florida struck for three quick touchdown drives to put Rice football on the defensive from the start. The Owls’ defense allowed 10.2 yards per play on those first three drives, providing little resistance to the admittedly ultra-efficient South Florida offense.

That South Florida was able to move the ball was one thing, but the ease with which they racked up multiple long touchdown plays was most problematic.

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Rice entered this game ranked dead last in the American Conference with 20 scrimmage plays of 40+ yards allowed. No other team had allowed more than 16. The Owls added to that number early against the Bulls as quarterback Byrum Brown threw touchdowns of 47 yards and 60 yards before the midpoint of the second quarter.

The deficit would only grow from there, leaving the offense quite a sizable hole to attempt to climb out of over the course of the next two quarters and change. But while all three phases showed there’s room for improvement, the lack of resistance the defense provided of any sort left this game out of reach before the offense and special teams had a chance to get going.

Steady Special Teams

Punters don’t get a lot of airtime, and while there have been a lot of things that haven’t gone according to plan in a season that ends without a postseason appearance, Alex Bacchetta has been a bright spot. The Owls veteran punter was largely serviceable, at best, a season ago. Ranking 11th in the conference in net punting, with 37.7 net yards per punt and ninth with an average of 41.2 yards.

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Entering Saturday, Bacchetta has boosted both of those marks. This year, he’s up to 40.4 net yards per attempt and a 44.8-yard average. Against USF he punted six times, averaging 43.3 yards per punt with a long of 51 yards. Those numbers will likely elevate him into the top five in the conference in average and keep him near a 40-yard net. That’s a solid season worth some recognition.

Backup Quarterbacks Get Cameos

Quarterback Chase Jenkins became the first Rice football quarterback to start every game in a regular season since Driphus Jackson in 2015, but unfortunately, he would not finish all 12 games. Jenkins left the UTSA game with a lower-body injury several weeks ago and was knocked out of the Owls’ final game in the late minutes of the second quarter following a blow to the head.

Drew Devillier replaced him and got his longest extended look as the quarterback in this offense thus far. Some of his passes in that emergency fill-in drive went long, but he did get the team within field goal range and looked much more composed when he returned in the second half.

More: Stay Tuned for the Recap on The Roost Podcast

Devillier took that first snap after the break 10 yards on the ground, showcasing his ability as a runner, even if he might not be as fleet of foot as Jenkins. He orchestrated a 7-play, 61-yard drive sparked by a long run from Aaron Turner before giving way to Lucas Scheerhorn, who opened the fourth quarter.

Scheerhorn didn’t complete any passes, but ran the ball effectively, with a long carry of 20 yards. Originally recruited to run an option system at Kennesaw State, his level of comfort in the offense was evident, in spite of a fumbled low snap that resulted in a turnover. Ultimately, Jenkins still projects as the future at quarterback for this program, but live game reps should prove valuable for both moving forward.

Making Sense of the Season

There will be plenty of time to dissect this season — and we’ll have plenty of analysis on The Roost in the days ahead — but for the time being, the dichotomy of expectations rings as the defining dissonance that will forever mark head coach Scott Abell’s first season on South Main.

On paper, this season was a success. They beat Vegas’ preseason 3.5 win total expectations by a game and half and posted wins over two bowl teams: Louisiana and UConn. But games aren’t played on paper, nor are programs constructed on them.

“You always reflect on year one and you ask yourself the question, Hey, did we set the culture? I mean that’s got to be the primary goal. And so, without question, we did,” Abell said in his post-game comments.

In some ways, the hope inspired by the 3-1 start challenged the conventional wisdom that wins weren’t the conventional currency of Year One. Abell’s team inspired hope in a year that was meant to be a table setter for the seasons to come.

“How do we rate success this year will be when we really evaluate how we grew, and then are we ready to take the next step for the program? The next step is to compete with these teams,” Abell said, referring to the upper tier of programs in the American like Memphis, North Texas and South Florida.

“And when you show flashes of it, you get excited, but that’s all we did this year against this top tier, we showed a flash here and there. We showed a quarter here and there. We got to play four quarters. We got to get back the development time, which this program desperately needs. We need to continue to build the roster. I’m excited about doing that. Looking forward to doing that.”

Digging Deeper

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Defense Runs Out of Gas

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Rice Football 2025: South Florida Game Week Practice Notes

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Rice Football has a bowl game on the line against South Florida and is doing all they can to squeeze one more win from this schedule. Here’s the latest from the field.

The offense took a step forward against North Texas, but there’s a long way to go to keep up with the elite teams in the American Conference. South Florida should pose a similar challenge and the Owls have been tirelessly working on the practice field this week to turn in a more successful result.

All Eyes on Four

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Rice Football 2025 Game Preview: South Florida

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Rice football concludes regular season play on the road against South Florida. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

The final week of the regular season is upon us. Rice football enters its finale following a home loss on Senior Day to North Texas, while South Florida returns home from a more successful road trip in Birmingham, where they took down UAB with relative ease. Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup between Rice and South Florida.

Kickoff time | 6:00 PM
Venue | Raymond James Stadium – Tampa, FL
TV | ESPN+ (Viewing Guide)
Radio | Varsity Radio App (Online)

Sizing up the Contenders

With two conference losses, a trip to the American Championship game is wishful thinking for South Florida entering this final game. However, it still might be possible for an emphatic win and some chaos in the ranks ahead of them to make things interesting. Regardless, the Bulls have their eyes on a 10-win season and they won’t get there without beating Rice on Saturday.

More: Undersized and Undeterred – Quinton Jackson’s Journey to Rice Football Star

The Owls find themselves in a different place, seeking a sixth win to secure bowl eligibility in Scott Abell’s first season on campus. This team would happily take a postseason berth any way they could get it, even if it came as a 5-win team courtesy of an APR bump, but everyone would rest much easier if they could find a way to secure that postseason trip for certain with an upset over South Florida.

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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, 1-1
Last Five | Tied, 1-1
Last Meeting | Home 2024, Rice won 35-28

Rice Football Stat Notables

Passing | Jenkins – 113/163 (69.3 percent), 986 yards, 9TD, 2 INT
Rushing | Jackson – 162 carries, 808 yards (5.0 yards per carry), 6 TD / Jenkins – 140 carries, 497 yards (3.6 yards per carry) – 5 TD / Hardeman – 74 carries, 310 yards (4.2 yards per carry), 2 TD
Receiving | Dickmann – 36 receptions, 319 yards (8.9 yds/rec), 3 TD / Turner – 46 receptions, 275 yards (6.0 yds/rec)
Tackles | Awe – 87 / Morris – 73 / Williams – 66
Pass Breakups | Crump (Suspended) – 6 / Williams, Porter – 5
Interceptions | Kane, Stevenson, Wyatt – 1

South Florida Stat Notables

Passing | Brown – 210/317 (66.2 percent), 2883 yards, 24 TD, 7 INT
Rushing | Brown – 160 carries, 904 yards (5.7 yds/car), 13 TD / Davenport – 80 carries, 546 yards (6.8 yds/car), 6 TD / Franklin – 60 carries, 380 yards (6.3 yds/car), 4 TD
Receiving | Singleton – 44 receptions, 752 yards (17.1 yds/rec), 6 TD / Koger – 32 receptions, 504 yards (15.8 yds/rec), 6 TD / Reuben – 10 receptions, 405 yards (13.1 yds/rec), 4 TD
Tackles | Harris – 95 / Shuler – 88 / Ward – 60
Pass Breakups | Shuler – 7 / Duclona – 4 / Rucker, Chenault, Stokes – 3
Interceptions | Chenault, Harris, Lee, Gaskins – 2 / Six tied with one each

South Florida X-Factor | Death by a Million Cuts

Rice is a ball-control offense that wasn’t to dictate the terms of the game through possession and limiting opportunities for the other team. And while South Florida ranks dead last in the American Conference in time of possession per game, averaging less than 25 minutes per game, they have amassed an impressed 23.6 first downs per contest.

South Florida can strike fast. They can drive the length of the field. But what they’ve done so well this season is grind teams out so that by the time the second half arrives, defenses are tired and unable to mount a capable resistance. That’s been the breaking point for the Rice defense in recent weeks, able to stand tall in spots, but worn down by the constant battering an elite offense can provide.

To win this one, South Florida must maintain its consistency and move the ball effectively. If they can do that, the points will come.

Rice X-Factor | Force Some Turnovers

Only one team in FBS has forced fewer turnovers than Rice football. One. The Owls’ six takeaways represent barely more than half a turnover per game and that’s simply not going to cut it against a quality opponent like South Florida.

A turnover-free day requires a near-perfect offensive effort and further contributions from everywhere else. Rice pulled off the feat against UConn, but that’s not a sustainable way to live for a team that doesn’t have any truly dominant phase to hang its hat on. Rice needs to steal some possessions and get South Florida playing off script. Turnovers are the best way to accomplish that.

Injury Report (Subscribers only)

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One Final Thing

It’s hard to put into words just how significant a bowl berth would be for this program after the year they’ve had under their first-year head coach. Things have been bumpy. The roster has its flaws. And still, they’ve found ways to win.

Practically, the Abell hire isn’t any more or less successful if Rice makes a bowl game or not, but the optics of being ahead of schedule by such a noticeable margin would have tremendous dividends for the program, both on and off the field.

Beating a nine-win UConn team should go down as one of the more impressive wins Rice football has had in several years. But fair or not, a FBS independent not named Notre Dame doesn’t carry the same cache that knocking off a top-flight American Conference team would. To stack South Florida on top of UConn and Louisiana would be quite a feat for a program that’s supposed to be “rebuilding.”

On paper, Rice football probably has no business winning this game, but that’s sort of the exact reason Abell was hired and his offense was welcomed to South Main. This is supposed to become a program that wins games like this, games when the masses have counted them out. It sure would be nice to see that come to fruition just one more time this season.

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