Rice Football improved to 2-1 on the season with a comfortable win over Prairie View A&M, reaching season highs in scoring and total offense.
Through their first two games, Rice football amassed 479 total yards. On Saturday night against Prairie View A&M, the Owls finished with 461 yards of total offense and 347 yards on the ground. It wasn’t a perfect night, but there was a lot of good to take from the Owls’ second win of the season before conference play arrives next week. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:
Welcome to the Stat Sheet, Chase Jenkins
Prairie View got on the board first with Panthers’ quarterback Tevin Carter connecting on a couple of big pass plays, including a 12-yard score, that put Rice football in an early hole. The Owls looked to be headed for a second consecutive three-and-out when head coach Scott Abell rolled the dice and opted to chance a fourth-down run on his own side of the field.
Daelen Alexander moved the chains and gave the offense some life. Then Chase Jenkins seized the reins of the Rice offense. Jenkins called his own number on the next play, keeping the ball for 14 yards. He ran for nine on the next play, his next of five total carries on the drive for 36 yards, including a three-yard touchdown to level the score.
“I was really just trying to make plays to move the chains,” Jenkins said. “I wasn’t really worried about the stats.”
The 36 yards rushing already represented a season high on the ground for Jenkins, who became more involved as the game progressed, topping the century mark before halftime. Jenkins would finish the game with 124 yards, marking the first time a Rice quarterback has rushed for 100 yards in a game since Taylor McHargue had 153 against Marshall in 2012.
“To see Chase grow up tonight, the way he operated the offense, that’s kind of how it’s built, to take what they give you. As always, you want to be cleaner, you want to take advantage of everything, but I thought our guys did a really nice job,” Abell said. “I’m not disappointed at all. I think it’s a great game for us to build momentum on going forward.”
On a night when so much of the offense felt difficult, Jenkins’ ability to create with the ball in his hands was the most consistent source of explosiveness and routinely allowed Rice to move the ball.
Sluggish Start
While Jenkins’ emergence in the running game was certainly helpful, the Owls’ performance was largely sluggish for too long. They were forced to attempt two fourth-down conversions in the first half to keep drives alive. They converted both, the second with an explosive 52-yard touchdown run from slot receiver Aaron Turner, but the level of effort required was concerning, especially considering the opponent.
Jenkins had the ball pop out of his hands at the goal line on his touchdown run. The officials ruled it a score before the ball came out. The same happened to punt returner Tyson Thompson shortly afterward, with a loose ball ruled down before disaster. Thompson would fumble for real in the second quarter. Rice, fortunately, fell on the ball to retain possession.
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Prairie View A&M gouged the defense with a handful of long pass plays through the air, one of which came back via penalty. A holding call was crucial in the Owls’ first three-and-out on defense for the game at the beginning of the second quarter. Rice forced back-to-back three-and-outs to begin the game against Houston the week prior.
“Really they weren’t doing anything that we hadn’t seen all week,” safety Peyton Stevenson said. “We just came out a little sloppy, didn’t have our eyes in the right place. We knew they were going to test our rules. We knew they were going to test our eyes.”
Given the talent differential, none of these miscues were backbreakers. American Conference play, which begins next week against Charlotte, will pose a much stiffer test that sheer talent won’t be enough to overcome on its own.
Defense Takes Over Late
That Prairie View A&M had a lead at any point in this game was somewhat concerning, but the way the Rice football defense responded to a slow start was rather encouraging. The Panthers had 87 yards of offense on their first two drives, including a six-play, 63-yard touchdown drive that put them in front.
Rice held the Prairie View A&M to 58 yards combined in the second and third quarters. They kept Prairie View A&M in check before a late touchdown drive against the reserves. All caveats aside, Prairie View A&M only totaled 251 offensive yards for the night.
Down-to-down consistency waxed and waned, but even with the occasional hiccup here and there, the Owls made it extremely hard for the Panthers to get the ball downfield. Had the early touchdown never happened, this might have been discussed as one of the more thorough defensive performances Rice football has put on display in some time, particularly when held up alongside the best offensive showing of the Abell era to this point.
This defense is being graded on a higher standard because of its past success and the growing pains the offense is still working through. That’s the only reason why a 10-point performance (before garbage time) won’t be viewed as a tremendous success. This unit is capable of so much more if they can clean a few things up.
Late Game Cameos
The hope going into this contest was that Rice could get some of its younger players into this game to expose them to live action in this system. That wasn’t looking like a certainty in the early portions of this game, but with a three-touchdown lead and the defense heating up, Abell handed the keys to the offense to Drew Devillier and a host of others players who’d yet to see the field for Rice to this point.
Tyvonn Byars reeled off some big runs. Semaj Pierre took a ball around the edge for 14 yards. Tyson Thompson hauled in a laser from Devillier to extend the Rice lead. Abell mentioned the plan going into the week was to get several players into the game late. Even freshman quarterback Patrick Crayton handled a series, something that might not matter much now, but could play huge dividends down the road.
Altogether, it was a win, and a win in which the staff felt they achieved so many of the goals they felt they needed to coming into Saturday.
“I’m really pleased. We’re 2-1, but the part I’m pleased most about is the ceiling is so much higher. I don’t think we’ve played our best football. I think we’ve shown flashes of playing really good football in every game,” Abell said. “I’m happy where we are. I know the best is ahead for us.”
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