Rice football kicks off its first game of the 2025 season this week as the Owls travel to Louisiana. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

Following months of anticipation, the Scott Abell era of Rice football arrives in earnest this week with the Owls’ season opening matchup against Louisiana. Can the new-look option attack surprise the Ragin’ Cajuns on the road? Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup between Rice and Louisiana.

Kickoff time | 7:00 PM CT
Venue | Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium – Lafayette, LA
TV | ESPN+ (Viewing Guide)
Radio | Varsity Radio App (Online)

Sizing up the contenders

This season opening game features two programs in very different places than they were when they last met in 2022. Rice football is hitting the reset button with a new coach and a new scheme. Louisiana, on the other hand, is a few years ahead of the Owls in that process. The Ragin’ Cajuns were in the hunt for the Group of 5 Playoff berth when the calendar turned to November a season ago and retain high expectations heading into 2025.

Series History

All Time | Tied, 3-3
Last Five | Louisiana leads, 3-2
Last Meeting | Home 2022, Rice won 33-21

Rice Football Career Stat Notables

Passing | Jenkins – 13/19 (68.4 percent), 100 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT
Rushing | Jackson – 58 carries, 315 yards (5.4 yards per carry), 1 TD / Jenkins – 15 carries, 84 yards (5.6 yards per carry), 1 TD
Receiving | Walker – 39 receptions, 541 yards (13.9 yds/rec), 4 TD / Turner (UConn/Cincinnati) – 106 receptions, 933 yards (8.8 yds/rec), 5 TD / Jackson – 11 receptions, 69 yards (6.3 yds/rec), 1 TD
Tackles | Boenisch – 97, Awe – 94, Morris – 66
Pass Breakups | Crump – 11, Wyatt – 7, Hook -5
Interceptions | Crump – 3, Kane – 2

Louisiana Career Stat Notables

Passing | Howard (LSU/Ole Miss) – 5/10 (50.0 percent), 63 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
Rushing | Davis – 199 carries, 985 yards (4.9 yards per carry), 12 TD
Receiving | Williams – 57 receptions, 675 yards (11.8 yds/rec), 3 TD
Tackles | Skipper – 128, Whitfield – 93, Tomlinson (Richmond) – 90
Pass Breakups | Tomlinson (Richmond) – 14, Skipper – 6, Jackson – 3
Interceptions | Jackson – 3, Tomlinson/Skipper – 1

Louisiana X-Factor | Learning on the job

This is a vastly different Louisiana team from the one that Rice football met in Houston two seasons ago and even still quite different than the Cajuns’ team that had College Football Playoff hopes last fall. New starting quarterback Walker Howard has yet to see meaningful collegiate action. Ditto for key receiver Shelton Sampson, also an SEC transfer.

The defense is more of the same, with seven new starters on that side of the ball and their top tacklers from 2024 nowhere to be seen. Continuity with the coaching staff will help, but the reality is this is a team with a significant amount of new pieces that will be working together in the heat of battle for the first time.

Many of those learning curves will be smoothed out by the time Louisiana gets a few games under its belt, but in Week 1, much of that new-season jitters could still be in play.

Rice X-Factor | Protect the Football

Fumbles are momentum killers for any offense, but they are particularly crippling for option attacks. When the option is running smoothly, all parties involved are in sync, exchanges are seamless and the ball matriculates down the field with uneventful ease. Issues arise when everyone isn’t on the same page, wires are crossed and the ball ends up on the ground.

Repping this offense throughout the spring and into the fall camp was a good start, but there’s nothing that can completely replicate the rigor and strain of live action, full-tackle football against a quality opponent. The Owls are going to find out rather quickly just how regimented they have become in their reads and whether or not they can perform them with regularity when the lights come on.

Some hiccups along the way are to be expected, particularly with everyone on the offense being so new to this scheme. However, there isn’t a grace period when it comes to this season and the Owls aren’t opening against a lower-level cupcake. Too many mistakes on Saturday could result in an underwhelming beginning to this campaign.

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One Final Thing

It hasn’t quite all been sunshine and rainbows since Rice football head coach Scott Abell was hired in December, but it would be hard to describe the last nine months as anything other than a honeymoon period. New gifts were exchanged in the form of an exciting offensive scheme and intriguing transfer portal additions, but no games have been played to this point. That changes on Saturday.

On Saturday, there will be a play call that doesn’t work a decision that draws a “what if” and something that goes against the Owls’ favor. Suddenly, the first bad news will arrive and all those good intentions and months of preparation will be held to the fire to be tested on the road against what appears to be a quality opponent.

It’s a long season and all of us must avoid the tendency to overreact to this one data point in a week’s time. However, there’s a good deal at stake in a contest that will put this gun option offense on display against an FBS opponent for the first time. No matter how the chips fall, this is a huge weekend for the program.

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