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Rice Football 2024 Game Preview: Houston

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Rice football takes on Houston across town this week. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

The battle for the Bayou Bucket is back as both Rice football and crosstown rival Houston look build momentum prior to conference play with a rivalry win. Rice (1-1) dispatched Texas Southern in Week 2 after falling to Sam Houston in Week 1. Houston (0-2) dropped their first home game to UNLV before falling in a close one on the road to Oklahoma in Week 2. Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup between Rice and Houston.

Kickoff time | 7:00 PM CT
Venue | TDECU Stadium – Houston, TX
TV | ESPN+ (Viewing Guide)
Radio | Varsity Radio App (Online)

Audio / Visual Preview

We’ll preview Rice football vs Houston on this week’s episode of the Blue and Gray Preview Show, kicking off live on Wednesday at 12:00 pm on the Rice Athletics YouTube channel. Look for a recap of the game on the site afterward as well as on The Roost Podcast, which should be released early next week.

Sizing up the contenders

Oddsmakers projected Rice to go 2-1 in their first three games of the season but that assumed a win over Sam Houston and a loss to Houston. If the Owls can upset the Cougars they’ll be back to par on the year with another marquee win under head coach Mike Bloomgren. Rice hasn’t won the Bayou Bucket in consecutive seasons since 2000 and 2001.

Houston had won seven consecutive games in this rivalry before dropping the contest last year, eventually leading to the dismissal of head coach Dana Holgerson. New head coach Willie Fritz will have some time to get his house in order, but an 0-3 start with a loss to a Group of 5 rival would be a tough pill to swallow for even the most faithful supporters.

Series History

All Time | Houston leads, 33-12
Last Five | Houston leads, 4-1
Last Meeting | Home 2023, Rice won 43-41 (2OT)

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Rice Football Stat Notables

Passing | Warner – 47/74 (63.5 percent), 416 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT
Rushing | Connors – 21 carries, 165 yards (7.9 yards per carry), 4 TD / Atkins – 13 carries, 95 yards (7.3 yards per carry), 2 TD
Receiving | Sykes – 8 receptions, 121 yards (15.1 yds/rec), 1 TD / Walker – 6 receptions, 72 yards (12.0 yds/rec), 1 TD / Connors – 13 receptions, 64 yards (4.9 yds/rec) 
Tackles | Pearcy/Taylor – 9 / Flowers, Awe, Green, Morris – 8
Pass Breakups | Pearcy/Green/Ahoia/Jean/Fresch – 1 each
Interceptions | Flowers/Williams – 1

Houston Stat Notables

Passing | Smith – 39/58 (67.2 percent), 395 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT
Rushing | Sneed – 13 carries, 36 yards (2.8 yards per carry) / Sanford II – 11 carries, 33 yards (3.0 yards per carry)
Receiving | Johnson Jr. – 8 receptions, 89 yards (11.1 yds/rec) / Mews – 8 receptions, 80 yards (10.0 yds/rec) / Manjack IV – 6 receptions, 79 yards (13.2 yds/rec), 2 TD
Tackles | Haulcy/Batton – 16 / Morris – 12 / Webb – 11
Pass Breakups | Haulcy/McCutchin – 2, McLaurin/Davis – 1
Interceptions |  Haulcy/Wilson – 1

Houston X-Factor | Hit the big play

Quarterback Donovan Smith has been up and down so far this season, completing 67.2 percent of his passes but much of that success hasn’t happened down the field. Smith is 76th in the country in yards per attempt, narrowly edging Florida State’s DJ Uiagalelei, for reference. Houston ranks outside of the top 100 college football offenses in 30+ yard plays from scrimmage (two) and 10+ yard plays from scrimmage (21). 

The level of competition has to be factored into this assessment, but even still, it’s been a slog for this offense. The defense has done its part, holding opponents to just four offensive touchdowns across two games. The Cougars don’t have the capital to assume they can nickel and dime the Rice defense down the field. They need to generate some big plays.

Houston has some playmakers, Joseph Manjack IV chief among them. They’re going to need to get some chunk plays and help their quarterback out otherwise the Cougars’ offense will be in for another long day at the office against a Rice defensive front that looked much more capable last time out.

Rice X-Factor | Win on third down

The single most important factor in the Owls’ upset bid a year ago was their fast start. Rice football led 28-0 before Houston was able to get its feet under them and that large advantage was orchestrated by clinical precision on third down. Rice started the game 5-of-6 on third down, keeping Houston off the field and working the clock. Houston had just four drives in the first half, excluding a kneel-down in the final seconds of regulation.

That’s the script the Owls will try to replicate to earn another Bayou Bucket win. Scoring fast would go a long way to making sure Rice sets itself up in a favorable position to spring the upset, but even if the offense doesn’t come out with a deluge of points, they can keep the game on schedule and force a lackluster Houston offense to trade punches. That’s not something the Cougars have proven themselves capable of doing under Fritz so far.

Houston has a talented roster, but this version of the Cougars isn’t better than the team the Owls beat a year ago. Rice has to enter TDECU with a commitment to setting the tone and playing with the level of physicality they did last Saturday. Being opportunistic on third down would go a long way to demonstrating that on the field. 

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One Final Thing

I wrote that Rice football “spent all its goodwill” it accrued this offseason when the Owls lost to Sam Houston in their opening game. That defeat didn’t get more palatable when the Bearkats turned around and lost handily to Central Florida in Week 2. However, a take-care-of-business win against Texas Southern in Week 2 brings Rice to an intriguing crossroads in Week 3: a winnable game against a rival with plenty on the line.

Houston pushed to do away with the later portion of the scheduled games in this rivalry during the offseason. As of now, the 2025 game is the last one on the calendar for these teams for the foreseeable future. Every opportunity to keep that trophy on South Main matters that much more given those circumstances. Likewise, every win is more important when the preseason aspirations for this team suggested they were a squad capable of going toe-to-toe with a rebuilding Houston team that hasn’t done much to dispel those prognostications.

Losing this game doesn’t directly impact the Owls’ quest for a conference championship and Rice football will probably learn a lot more about how realistic those ambitions are in their following game against Army (2-0). But ask any Rice fan you know, this game matters so much more. It’s a rivalry game against a beatable opponent in a year in which Rice is supposed to be cresting, not treading water. It’s a game the Owls need to find a way to win.

Win big. Win ugly. Win in overtime. It doesn’t matter. Just win. Win and we can sort out the how and why later. Win and and nobody will bring up the Sam Houston game again because that will be written off as an early season hiccup on the way to bigger and better things. 

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Rice Football blasts Texas Southern in bounce-back win

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Rice Football took command early and never let up, eviscerating Texas Southern in one of the most dominant wins of the Mike Bloomgren era.

Rice football took the field on Saturday with a newfound sense of urgency following last week’s debacle against Sam Houston. In that game, the Owls were ineffective in all three phases and were summarily thumped on their own (brand new) turf. Head coach Mike Bloomgren was adamant that his players and staff would take the wake-up call for what it was. “We will respond,” he vowed. His team did just that. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Physically dominant

Perhaps the most irksome aspect of the Owls’ Week 1 loss was the degree to which they looked outclassed on both lines of scrimmage. Although the defense tallied seven sacks, Sam Houston ran the ball effectively. On the other side, the Owls’ offensive line offered little support for EJ Warner, continually leaving their quarterback under fire and failing to keep defenders out of the backfield.

A completely different team showed up Saturday night against Texas Southern.

“More than anything, we just need to play another game. I would have played Jones Junior High or I would have played Alabama. We need to play somebody today,” Bloomgren said. “We just needed to get a chance to get our room back and play football and love this thing and we did that. That’s what I’m happy about. We got a chance to play this game.”

The offensive line bullied the Texas Southern front for four quarters, making running lanes for Dean Connors and providing Warner plenty of time to work through progressions and find the open man. Consider the first touchdown of the game (below) which features a well-executed fullback block, a nice block from long pulling from the right side allowing Connors to get a couple of yards past the line of scrimmage before contact. Then he finishes the play in the endzone.

It was the same story on defense. The difference in intensity was night and day, highlighted by a celebratory three-player sack on the final drive of the first quarter. Officially the sack was shared by Blaise Tita and Myron Morrison — NCAA rules limit sacks shared to two individuals — but the play capped off a first quarter in which the Rice defense held Texas Southern to six total yards on three successive three-and-out series.

The first series that didn’t end with three plays and a punt for Texas Southern came early in the second quarter. That drive stopped on the second play, a pick-six by Tyson Flowers. Rice needed 60 minutes to score twice against Sam Houston. They had 28 points on the board against Texas Southern in less than 20 minutes. Rice was the more physical team in this one and that was readily apparent on almost every snap.

The second half was more of the same. Prior to their final possession, Texas Southern had not crossed midfield and had three total first downs. They never threatened to score until the final drive when the Owls had emptied their bench, and even then, it was close. Meanwhile, the Rice offense continued to march up and down the field in the final minutes of regulation.

Those final minutes included a 12-minute fourth quarter, a stipulation permitted should both head coaches agree to it. Rice dominated to such a degree that the game was shortened in the college football equivalent of the mercy rule.

The Taji Atkins Show

At least one player refused to check out when the game entered its later stages. True freshman running back Taji Atkins made waves during the offseason and made his debut last week against Sam Houston. On Saturday against Texas Southern, he made his presence felt in a very real way. Atkins scored his first career touchdown on a five-yard plunge in the third quarter.

Atkins wasn’t going to settle for just one cameo, though. Minutes later he exploded through the line, found the corner and accelerated for a 33-yard score.

Atkins carried the ball 11 times for 91 yards, narrowly missing the century mark in just his second career game. Had the field been a few yards longer on that second score, he probably would have gotten there. It seems likely we’ll see a lot more of that from Atkins moving forward.

Clean it up

The impressive showing was only marred, in part, but self-inflicted wounds. Those first two big plays by the special teams, Fresch’s return and the blocked punt, were both erased on penalties. Rice would be flagged eight times for 72 yards. Texas Southern’s only scoring drive was aided by a facemask penalty that put the Tigers in the redzone.

The Texas Southern offense only tallied 87 yards for the game and had 14 total yards before their final drive. Rice came ever so close to spotting their opponent more yards than their defense allowed.

Bloomgren, who is usually quick to pounce on penalties as a straightforward place for his team to get better, was largely dismissive of the calls in this game. “I’ll look forward to seeing those flags that were thrown, watching those players later tonight on the iPad because I’m not sure I completely understand what was called,” he said. If his assumptions are correct, perhaps that bodes well for the future.

It wasn’t just penalties, though. A fumbled snap almost erased a fourth down conversion in the first quarter. Fortunately this time Warner was able to scoop the ball up and slam it in the gut of Connors who plowed straight forward for the first down. Warner was less fortunate a few series later when he hung a ball out to Matt Sykes in a hook route that was intercepted, his third pick of the young season.

When you’re playing an FCS team that entered the game as more than a four-touchdown underdog, you can make mistakes like those.

To be fair, if those were the only mistakes the Owls made in any given game, they’d still be set up for a favorable result, but the best result here is to use those shortcomings as additional growth opportunities. If this is what Rice football can be when they’re good, not great, what does a perfect performance look like? What caliber of opponent can the Owls take down when everything is clicking like it’s supposed to? Next weekend against Houston will afford them an opportunity to test that out.

One for the record books

The kind of thumping Rice football put on Texas Southern was as impressive as it felt. The Owls registered a long list of “firsts since” on Saturday night. Although they won’t be able to add their first shutout since 2020 to the ledger, they did rack up a long list of superlatives. For example,

Rice football’s 69 points were the most scored by the Owls since scoring 77 against North Texas in 2008 and the third most scored in program history.

Rice football held Texas Southern to 49 passing yards, the lowest total for an opponent since holding Army to nine in 2017.

Rice football held Texas Southern to 38 rushing yards, the lowest total for an opponent since holding UTEP to 17 in 2017.

It was the first 300+ yard rushing game for Rice football since 2021.

As for individual accolades, Tyson Flowers and Marcus Williams each registered their first career interceptions. Taji Atkins had his first career touchdown then added another. Enoch Gota made his first two field goals. Backup quarterback Drew Devillier made his Rice debut as did a few others. The starters were out of the game by the midpoint of the third quarter. That’s how this kind of game is supposed to go.

The gaudy numbers aren’t going to the Owls’ heads just yet. Safety Tyson Flowers, who helped contribute to the beatdown, offered a levelheaded assessment of where this team stands right now.

“You want to shut out, right? But at the end of the day we won the game and regardless of them scoring at the end, regardless of us not having the shut out, there’s still plays that we need to improve on all throughout the game,” he said. “That was by no means a flawless game whether we got the shut out or not. There’s stuff that we’re gonna find when we watch the film that we need to correct if we want to continue to have the season that we want to have.”

Exhale and reload

For the casual football fan, this was a snoozer that wasn’t worth turning into beyond a few highlight plays that found their way onto social media. For a Rice football team that entered the season with the expectations they did to win in the way they did, this was expected. To see it transpire a week removed from the Sam Houston State fiasco was essential. More than anything, it sets up a crucial opportunity one week from now against Houston.

The Bayou Bucket currently resides inside the walls of the Brian Patterson Center at South Main. Players, staff and media walk past it daily. It’s become a fixture in the team meeting room. And nobody wants it to leave. Houston — 0-2 after losing to Oklahoma on Saturday night — looks more vulnerable than ever in its humble beginnings under new head coach Willie Fritz.

We’ll get to next week next week, but it’s impossible not to envision how the optics of this season could change with a 2-1 start. The oddsmakers projected Rice to be 2-1 at this point in the year, but nobody would have tabbed that potential sequence of results. This team has always been a bit unpredictable under Bloomgren’s leadership. Why not lean into that chaos and keep the Bucket for at least one more year?

“I’d like to celebrate this one before we talk about Houston anymore, if you don’t mind,” Bloomgren chided after the game. “All jokes aside, I know this team is going to be excited for next week. I think this is going to make us hungrier than ever.”

Taking care of business against Texas Southern might just give this team the boost they need to do just that.

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Rice Football 2024: TXSO Game Week Practice Report

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Rice football looks to bounce back this week against Texas Southern. What adjustments can be made? Here’s what we learned from the Owls at practice this week.

Last week was a rude awakening for Rice football. The entire locker room was put on notice as head coach Mike Bloomgren called for leaders to step up and hold this program regain its football before Texas Southern arrived on campus this coming Saturday. Who suits up, and who will miss this matchup only further adds to the rising stakes in this Week 2 contest.

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Rice Football 2024 Game Preview: Texas Southern

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Rice football takes on Texas Southern at home this week. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

Both Texas Southern and Rice football hosted nearby foes in Week 1 with very different results. The Tigers went on the road and beat Prairie View A&M while the Owls fell at home to Sam Houston. Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup between Rice and Texas Souhern.

Kickoff time | 6:00 PM CT
Venue | Historic Rice Stadium – Houston, TX
TV | ESPN+ (Viewing Guide)
Radio | Varsity Radio App (Online)

Audio / Visual Preview

We’ll preview Rice football vs Texas Southern on this week’s episode of the Blue and Gray Preview Show, kicking off live on Wednesday at 12:00 pm on the Rice Athletics YouTube channel. Look for a recap of the game on the site afterward as well as on The Roost Podcast, which should be released early next week.

Sizing up the contenders

Texas Southern is now 1-0 over new head coach Cris Dishman and the Tigers looked much improved in their first appearance under their new head man, snapping a nine-game losing string to PVAMU in the process.

On the other end of this matchup, Rice football laid an egg in their seventh season opener under Mike Bloomgren and cannot afford an 0-2 start in non-conference play with a rivalry matchup with Houston looming. There’s suddenly a lot more pressure on a seemingly innocuous Week 2 nonconference game than were was just a few short days ago.

Series History

All Time | Rice leads, 2-0
Last Five | Rice leads, 2-0
Last Meeting | Home 2023, Rice won 59-7

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Rice Football Stat Notables

Passing | Warner – 27/44 (61.4 percent), 227 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing | Connors – 12 carries, 52 yards (4.3 yards per carry), 1 TD / Atkins – 2 carries, 4 yards (2.0 yards per carry)
Receiving | Connors – 9 receptions, 30 yards (3.3 yds/rec) / Sykes – 6 receptions, 74 yards (12.3 yds/rec) / Groen – 5 receptions, 43 yards (8.6 yds/rec)
Tackles | Pearcy – 8 / Ahoia, Green – 6 / Four tied with 5
Pass Breakups | Jean, Fresch – 1 each
Interceptions | n/a

TXSO Stat Notables

Passing | Cooper – 19/29 (65.5 percent), 126 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing | Green – 15 carries, 81 yards (5.4 yards per carry), 2 TD / Cooper – 6 carries, 52 yards (8.7 yards per carry)
Receiving | Johnson – 4 receptions, 49 yards (12.3 yds/rec) / Bennett – 3 receptions, 43 yards (14.3 yds/rec)
Tackles | No defensive stats available
Pass Breakups | No defensive stats available
Interceptions | No defensive stats available

TXSO X-Factor | If it ain’t broke

Did Sam Houston provide Texas Southern with the blueprint to beat Rice? It’s on the visiting Tigers to find out. Sam Houston was able to find a good amount of success running the football, particularly with their quarterback. Texas Southern’s quarterback KJ Cooper is a threat in the run game, too. 

“There ability to run the football on our defense is not something I thought would happen and not something I was prepared to happen,” Bloomgren said of Sam Houston’s prowess on the ground. It’s on him to get that sorted out this week, but Texas Southern needs to start there, regardless.

Not only is an exposed weakness the Owls have already put on film, but if everything goes according to plan it should shorten the game and take opportunities away from the Rice offense, which proved itself to be potent when they could string a few plays together. 

Rice X-Factor | Block somebody

Head coach Mike Bloomgren said it best on Saturday night. “I couldn’t tell you really what phase of the game we played like I thought we would and what I think we’re capable of,” he admitted. In short, there’s a long list of things for Rice football to fix in the six days they have between their loss to Sam Houston and a suddenly extremely important meeting with Texas Southern. To keep this section digestible, we’re going to start with one must-do: fix the offensive line.

The offensive line had a strong camp and was largely able to hold its own against a Rice pass rush that tallied seven sacks on Saturday night. As I wrote postgame, the degree to which the unit struggled seemed to suggest a scheme mismatch more than a talent deficit. That’s not something that will magically get fixed by reinserting Chad Lindberg into the line if that’s possible, but it shouldn’t take a new face. It should just require better planning and execution.

Rice football needs the line to play like its capable of playing. Competent line play will free up the offense for a quarterback who played well despite having to fear for his life in a shriveling pocket. That will enable more sustained drives and give the defense a much-needed breather. There’s more to fix, but getting this right should be something that’s both doable and will yield results beyond just its singular schematic function.

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One Final Thing

For better or worse, this is not the first time Rice football has found itself in this situation. Days removed from a crushing defeat, they have to take the field again.

In 2023, Rice was upset by UConn. They followed it up by dismantling Tulsa 42-10.

In 2022, Rice was throttled by Charlotte who just dismissed their coach. They turned around and beat UTEP the next week.

In 2021, Rice was shut out by UTSA 45-0. They upset UAB on the road 30-24 the following Saturday.

In 2020, Rice lost to an injury-riddle North Texas. Next week they blanked No. 15 Marshall on the road, 20-0.

There’s something to be said for why this program has to pick itself up off the mat at least once every single season, but it’s hard to deny the evidence of what happens when they’re forced to take that hard look in the mirror. They might not have it all together every Saturday, but they’ve proven they have an uncanny ability to flush it and move on.

“It’s never easy, but like honestly, I feel like we have the guys to do it,” Pearcy said of the long road ahead of the team this week. “We have all the talent in the world to do it, it’s just going to come down to execution.”

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Rice Football sputters against Sam Houston in disappointing home opener

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After a summer of hope, Rice Football spent all its goodwill in an opening night loss to Sam Houston that never seemed as close as the score suggests.

Any illusions of a storybook season on South Main were shattered quickly on Saturday night. Rice football dropped its season opener to a Sam Houston State team the Owls had historically dominated, winning 16 of the 17 previous contests. That history couldn’t save the Owls this time around who fell to 0-1 in their seventh season under head coach Mike Bloomgren.

Bloomgren didn’t hide from the obviously disappointing result. “I apologize to our fans. I thought our game day atmosphere was really good from the first Owl Walk ever to all the things that people outside of this team control,” he said. “They were about as good as they can be and we didn’t do our part tonight.”

Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Sputtering from the start

Even with a few key transfers missing, Rice football couldn’t have gotten off to a much worse start to the season. The offensive line was overwhelmed early by the Sam Houston front, putting quarterback EJ Warner under pressure and providing little in the way of running room for the Owls’ backs. The first four Rice drives yielded 10 total yards and a pick-six.

The degree to which a Conference USA defensive line was able to push Rice around was concerning. There wasn’t much time to test the Bearkats downfield, allowing their entire defense to creep in and contributing, at least in part, to that crushing pick-six on the Owls’ third possession.

The defense faired slightly better, but not much. A busted coverage allowed Sam Houston a walk-in 67-yard touchdown. Then, already trailing by two scores, they let Sam Houston nickel and dime them down the field to make the deficit 17-0. A veteran team that was about a 10-point favorite looked shell-shocked before the first-quarter buzzer had ever sounded.

The first play of the second quarter? A missed field goal. Offense, defense and special teams all came out flat. That’s not how this game was supposed to go.walk

Three more quarters would ensue, but the gist of head coach Mike Bloomgren’s postgame synopsis was already begun to take form. “This is a team butt-whipping,” he said, after first crediting Sam Houston’s performance. “They took us out to the woodshed and beat the heck out of us and we’ve got to respond. We can’t put that kind of product on the field ever again.”

A tale of two lines

The defensive lines from both teams earned their keep on Saturday night. Although it was far from a defensive clinic on the Rice side, the pass rush did its job. Rice racked up seven sacks from seven different players. Charlie Looes stepped in for Coleman Coco and looked very much the part, impacting the game from his first series in blue and grey, tying for the team lead with 1.5 tackles for loss.

Sam Houston’s long touchdown passes weren’t slowly developing plays. Both featured quick shots deep downfield in which the Rice defensive back just got beat, either because of a miscommunication in coverage or a lost foot race. It’s hard to put either of those shots on the defensive line, which for the most part, made life extremely hard for quarterback Hunter Watson when he tried to throw the ball.

When the teams switched sides, the same reality was evident. The Sam Houston defensive line dominated a Rice front that was supposed to be revamped, featuring veteran tackles and hand-picked transfers on the interior. The Owls had zero running game and quarterback EJ Warner did almost all of his work under duress.

“Our offensive line, that is not the product we expect to put out there,” Bloomgren assessed.

Sam Houston ranked 124th in the nation in sacks last season. They added a few transfers to beef up the defensive line, but it’s not as if they brought in a bevy of blue chippers headed for the NFL. They sacked Warner two times, registering four official hurries and putting him off his spot too many times to count. A blistering shot in the final minutes of the game had Warner hobbling to the sideline as the Owl faithful held their collective breath.

The degree to which Rice struggled against an opponent that was not as talented on the line as others they fared before suggests this might have more to do with scheme than talent. If so, that’s a silver lining. Scheme can be analyzed and fix from game one to game two. Talent is what it is. Hopefully for the Owls, the first was the culprit on Saturday night.

The EJ Warner of it all

In desperate need of a pulse, EJ Warner took control. The first sparks of life came from two throws down the field, the first to Braylen Walker and the next to Matt Sykes. That drive would stall, but Warner would make a nifty play on the next sequence, throwing across his body as he rolled out to move the chains. He found Kobie Campbell in the endzone three players later to finally get Rice football on the board.

Given the pressure he was working under, Warner faired fairly well in his Rice debut. He completed 27 of 44 passes for 227 yards. He threw one touchdown and two interceptions, although the second was an afterthought with the game result well in hand.

Bloomgen seemed to concur, suggesting not all the fault fell on Warner’s shoulders. “I’m not sure he had time to play like he’s capable of playing,” Bloomgren said.”

Had he not been on the field, things likely would have gone much worse for the home team. We’ve seen what happens to a good team without a quarterback in recent years around South Main. At the very least, Warner showcased himself to be AAC-caliber, not something that can be said for every position on this team right now.

The defense had their gaffes. The running game was non-existent (2.6 yards per carry against a team that allowed 4.3 yards per carry a year ago). Warner and the pass rush were the positives from a night filled with horrors for the hometown crowd.

What it means

This team was talking about contending for a conference championship throughout the offseason and into fall camp. Those aspirations can officially be put on pause until they figure out some glaring issues from their season opener. Was this the seemingly annual hiccup where Rice got beat by an inferior opponent and they’ll be ready to go next week? It’s possible. But there’s not a lot from what we saw on the field Saturday to suggest this team is AAC-ready.

It doesn’t really matter if Sam Houston is improved, and to what degree they’ve progressed in their second season at the FBS level. This game was meant to be the game where the Owls established they’d taken the next step on a long-enduring build. Getting to six wins, or more, starts with winning home games you’re favored in by more than a touchdown. It doesn’t mean the Owls can’t rebound, but they’ve opened the door for questions that wouldn’t have been there if they’d just found a way to mozy to a boring 21-17 win.

The Texas Southern game can’t come soon enough. And fortunately for Rice, Houston looked just as embarrassing in their opening game against UNLV. This season is far from over and there are some manageable games ahead. But if there wasn’t a fire under this team and this coaching staff coming into the year, there’d better be now. Winning every game was never in the cards, but losing like that can’t happen again.

“We’re gonna watch the film. It’s going to suck watching it,” captain Josh Pearcy said after the game. “But, you know, we’ll treat it with that next play mentality and move on the next week.”

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