Next up for Rice football, a road game at UTSA. Here’s what head coach Scott Abell had to say about the matchup and a few depth chart notes.
Head coach Scott Abell and a set of players met with the media for their customary weekly availability. They recapped the FAU game and looked ahead at their upcoming matchup with UTSA.
We touch on those items, then dig into the Rice football depth chart and what the team looks like heading into the weekend. First, the quotes:
Press Conference Quotes
He’s a talented guy. He understands their system really well. He can make a lot of throws and he’s really athletic. His feet are the thing people don’t talk about enough… He’s just a mature guy, a good quarterback for them – Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on the UTSA quarterback Owen McCown
I think it’s best front seven we’ve seen all year. I really do. I think they’re athletic. I think they’re physical. I think there’s a lot of talent there. That jumps off at me… There’s no shortage of athletes running around. They play a lot of guys. – Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on the UTSA defense
I think he’s the guy that makes it go. If you watch their success offensively, when they’ve been real explosive, he’s making them go. When they haven’t been quite as explosive it’s when he’s not on the field… They’re still good, but they’re not as explosive. I think he’s the key. We’ve got to contain him. We have to tackle well in space. He’s one of the nations’ leading rushers. That’s our defensive challenge this week.- Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on UTSA RB Robert Henry
It’s been a steady, slower pace than any of us would want, but it’s certainly making strides in the right direction. I’m excited about it. I think the players see that now. There’s been more explosive plays over the last three weeks, now you gotta put it all together. You’ve gotta be able to sustain drives. –Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on the growth of the offense
Their defense is very athletic. Their front seven is very big, very physical. They fly to the ball. They don’t miss a lot of tackles. I think it’s going to be a good game for us up front. I think we have to match their intensity, be more physical. The UTSA defense is very physical. They’re fast. They’re athletic. They’re going to fly around the ball so I think it’s going to be a very good game come Saturday night. – Running back Quinton Jackson on the UTSA defense
It’s always been a game that I really want to win against these guys, especially. They’re a good football team, play well, play hard. That’s what we like to do, so it’s a battle of wills at this point.- Linebacker Andrew Awe on the rivalry with UTSA
Full Press Conference
Depth Chart
Depth Chart Notes
There are two notable additions to the two deep this week, wide receiver Payton Matthews and safety Jack Kane. The latter’s inclusion is a positive sign that he might be available for the Owls after missing the last several games with an injury. Matthews has moved up the ranks, displacing a few veterans that didn’t make their mark in non-conference play. His role should continue to grow moving forward.
As always, there are plenty of moving parts. Edge Michael Daley, who was a surprise inactive last Saturday, is not listed on this depth chart. I’ll have more updates on his potential availability in this week’s practice report, available to those subscribed to our Starting Lineup Tier on Patreon, which should be out later this week.
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Rice football fell back to .500 with its first truly disappointing loss of the Scott Abell era against FAU. We dissect how it happened and what it means going forward.
A home favorite against FAU, Rice football couldn’t secure a win, dropping their second consecutive conference games and falling to 3-3 on the season as a result. The offense showed some growth. The defense remained challenged on third down. What does this mean for the program with half the season ahead and a bye-week not close enough. You can find previous episodes on the podcast page. For now, give a listen to Episode 215.
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Rice Football vs FAU Game Recap
Offense starts fast, shows improvement
Defensive injuries are starting to stack up
Bad breaks, bad officiating and make-or-break moments
Optics of a 3-3 start to the season
A looming bye week offers hope at the end of the tunnel
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Garcia saw inactive for the Giant’s Week 5 game against the Saints. This was the first time he’s been inactive this season after appearing in the teams’ first four contests.
McCaffrey made another highlight play this weekend, hauling in a 50-yard bomb from quarterback Jayden Daniels. The catch was the longest reception of McCaffrey’s career.
Granson saw his highest snap count of the season in Week 5 against the Broncos, splitting time between the offense and special teams. He didn’t record any receptions, but he does have at least one tackle in every game this season.
Fox punted five times in the Lions’ Week 5 victory over the Bengals, averaging a 44.8 yards per kick with a long of 64 yards. He pinned four of his five kicks inside the 20 yard line.
From practice squads to current free agents, there are other Owls on the cusp of returning to active rosters. Find more details on current contractual agreements and former Rice football players waiting for their next opportunity here.
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Rice football travels to San Antonio this weekend to take on the UTSA Roadrunners. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.
Both Rice football and it’s Week 7 opponent, UTSA, are coming off disappointing losses suffered last weekend to teams sporting Owl mascots. Rice fell at home to Florida Atlantic while UTSA stumbled on the road against Temple. Both teams are seeking a bounce-back this weekend in San Antonio. Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup between Rice and UTSA.
Kickoff time | 6:30 PM CT Venue | Alamodome – San Antonio, TX TV | ESPNU (Viewing Guide) Radio | Varsity Radio App (Online)
Sizing up the Contenders
Even though they didn’t receive any first place votes, UTSA (2-3) was picked to finish fourth in the preseason media poll. Every successive loss dials up the pressure on a season not going according to plan. They’d been on an eight-game winning streak against Rice until the Owls defeated them in Houston last season making the potential for a two-game skid rather unpalatable for Roadrunner fans.
As for Rice, building a winning streak over UTSA in head coach Scott Abell’s first season would help perpetuate the belief that the program is ahead of schedule and keep the Owls above .500, a mark they’ve yet to be below under Abell to this point.
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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 | UTSA leads, 8-4 Last Five | UTSA leads, 4-1 Last Meeting | Home 2024, Rice won 29-27
Passing | McCown – 111/175 (63.4 percent), 990 yards, 9 TD, 4 INT Rushing | Henry – 80 carries, 666 yards (8.3 yds/car), 7 TD / Henderson III – 40 carries, 159 yards (4.0 yds/car) Receiving | McCuin – 28 receptions, 277 yards (9.9 yds/rec), 3 TD / Wilson – 10 receptions, 223 yards (22.3 yds/rec), 2 TD / Amador II – 15 receptions, 104 yards (6.9 yds/rec) Tackles | Banks Jr. – 37 / Wyrick – 24 / Blackshire – 24 Pass Breakups | Rodgers, Meier – 3 / Wyrick, Martin – 2, 11 others tied with one Interceptions | Banks Jr. – 2 / Martin – 1
UTSA X-Factor | Be Ready for the Shots
UTSA owns the fourth best run defense in the American Conference. That’s the good news when it comes to facing off against the Owls’ run-first option attack. However, the Roadrunners rank dead last against the pass, allowing opponents to complete 64.6 percent of their passes and allowing 11 passing touchdowns, second most in the conference.
Rice has been progressively demonstrating competency in their downfield passing attack, buoyed by the return of Braylen Walker to the lineup in recent weeks, even in a limited capacity. Rice might not throw it a ton, but they’re going to make it a point to test this UTSA secondary through the air. If the Roadrunners can hold up on the back end, it could be a long day for the Rice offense.
Rice X-Factor | Get Off the Field
Third down defense will continue to be the x-factor for the Rice football defense until they find a way to sort it out. The Owls are one of eight teams nationally that allow opponents to convert on 50 percent or more of their third down attempts. Of those teams, only one other (Central Michigan) has won multiple games. Many of them are 1-4 or worse.
That Rice isn’t hapless speaks to how potent their defense has been in so many other areas. The variance will probably balance itself out sooner or later, but if it takes too long Rice will allow more winnable contests to slip through their fingers because they were unable to get off the field when they needed to do so.
Injury Report (Subscribers only)
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One Final Thing
Even when looking at the Rice football offense through the most optimistic of lenses, it feels like a bye week is necessary, at a minimum, for the group to take a material step forward in the imminent future. There are just too many players banged up and too much inconsistency when it comes to execution to believe this offense is going to click to a degree it wasn’t capable of just a few days prior against Florida Atlantic.
However, just because the offense might not be in its final form doesn’t mean Rice can’t win this game. Their ability to be in every game they’ve played at the middle of the fourth quarter is proof they have the mental fortitude to hang tough, absorb a few punches and find a way to respond. The key right now is not waiting until the curtains begin to close to throw that next punch.
Winning ugly is a skill, and often a prerequisite to winning comfortably, a hopeful reality which seems a ways away from this current iteration of Rice football. Still, a stout defense and just enough grit can go a long way against an imperfect team, which UTSA certainly measures up to in their current state. That’s going to require all phases to step up just a bit and find a way to get it done in San Antonio for the first time since 2013.
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Rice Football threw the first punch, but was unable to go the distance, dropping their home conference opener to FAU on Saturday, 27-21.
In a game that shared many similarities to previous contests, Rice football waded through sluggish offensive waters, surrendered some key third downs on defense and came up just short of what could have been a big win for the program. Sitting at 3-3 with a road trip to UTSA looming, here are a few immediate reactions from the game:
Offense Strikes First, but Remains Work in Progress
Getting the offense going more quickly was the primary focus of Rice football practice all week long. They’d been slow out of the gate and forced to rally, an ill-advised strategy for a team committed to an option offense. Head coach Scott Abell backed up the talk by opting to receive the opening kickoff, a first this season after the Owls had deferred all four of the previous tosses they’d won.
Abell and the Owls were rewarded by a perfectly executed option play with quarterback Chase Jenkins correctly sticking the ball in the belly of Quinton Jackson, who did the rest, scampering 68 yards up the middle for the game’s first score.
Unfortunately, that one play would not absolve the Owls of their struggles. Jackson would rip off a 20-yard carry on the next possession, giving the Owls 92 yards of offense on their first four plays. The problem was what came next; Rice tallied 96 yards on their next 34 plays, failing to add any more points to their total in the first half.
Things did get better, including another resurgent second half performance. Rice converted 10-of-16 on third down and did not post a single three-and-out for the duration of the game.
“I hate it for our older guys, our seniors,” Abell said, reflecting on the disappointing result amidst an offense in media res. “Our younger guys, we talk about it all the time, we’re building something. A build doesn’t happen overnight, so you recognize that. But for older guys, their future is now. And we recognize that.”
Negative Plays Persist
Those growing pains have been exacerbated by the ease with which opposing defenses have been able to break plays in the trenches. Some of the Owls’ scheme allows for unblocked linemen, so a free rusher isn’t always the chief concern. What is problematic, however, is the frequency with which Rice football is being struck behind the line of scrimmage.
“It should be the opposite. When you run the football you should have few tackles for a loss,” Abell quipped. “It’s a stat we gotta improve on because we can’t play behind the sticks.”
FAU tallied eight tackles for a loss on Saturday night, a number that will only add to the Owls’ league-worst mark in that regard. No offense has allowed more TFLs per game than Rice, an indication that either the blocking or the keep-give decisions being made in the backfield are not operating as optimally as they should.
Much of this is supposed to get better over time. That’s good news for the future of Rice football, but the current 2025 team needs to find answers now. Rice showed a remarkable amount of resiliency to overcome so many of those negative plays, but it’s not a pattern that can continue if the team wants to turn the corner on offense.
To the Skies?
The passing offense has grown by leaps and bounds since the season opener against Louisiana. For most traditional offenses, 137 yards through the air won’t trigger any celebratory response, but for a Rice football offense devoted to the ground game, this represented a season-high in passing yardage.
Quarterback Chase Jenkins completed 71 percent of his passes and looked sharp on throws down the field. Outside of a trick play that resulted in a throw into triple coverage, the rest of the looks were clean.
Frankly, Rice was much more consistent in their passing attack than they were in their running game. And without the commitment to the running game, plays like Drayden Dickmann’s streaking score probably aren’t available to the same degree:
How fast is Drayden Dickmann? Watch where he is when Jenkins throws this ball and watch how many yards he puts between him and the defender when he hauls it in. Glorious. pic.twitter.com/0W9b5cWXcn
Still, it might be worth exploring the question. How can Rice incorporate a growing passing game as they work to establish an option attack that’s in its fledgling stages of development?
Abell credited a portion of that to looks that are more prevalent in those late game situations, but it’s something he and his staff will have to consider moving forward. An injury-plagued receiving corps won’t help those aspirations.
Make Your Own Breaks
Winning the turnover battle by two is usually a good sign, and while it was proof that not all the things broke the wrong way against the home team, it wasn’t enough good will for a team still learning as they go. This young program is going to need a few breaks. And while there is talent enough to overcome a few negative bounces, once again Rice seemingly came up short on the luck factor.
Where do we start? Jenkins being ruled an inch short of a first down on his second drive? And while it’s often not the officials fault for any particular result, that Florida Atlantic converting a massive third quarter third down on a pick play that left a wide receiver streaking wide open across the middle certainly did the home team no favors. Likewise, the same was true when the Owls’ opening third down conversion in the fourth quarter came back on a holding call.
On mic, Abell said all the things he must and refused to gripe about some officiating decisions that did his team no favors. He did make this comment though, which rings true of the place this team is right now.
“Sometimes you want to get a break or you need to get a break but you also have to go make your own breaks. Especially when you find yourself where it’s hard,” he said. “Right now, it’s hard. No games are going to be easy. We shouldn’t expect it, and I don’t think our guys do. You hope to get a break or two, but more importantly you’ve got to figure out how to make your own breaks.”
Staring down the barrel of their first sub-.500 record if they drop their game to UTSA next weekend, Rice football desperately needs to find a way to generate that luck.
What’s more, the trajectory of this season feels like it’s hanging in the balance as Rice football faces one of the toughest remaining schedules in the conference after their bye week. A win this week would have given the Owls six tries to win two games and secure a postseason berth in Abell’s first season on campus.
As of now, it’s easy to readjust those pesky expectations and treat a bowl bid as an upside play for a season that began with very muted hopes. Yet it would be disingenuous to discard that zeal generated by a 3-1 start which faded to distant memory on Caden Veltkamp’s quarterback keeper to ice this game.
Digging Deeper
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