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Rice Football 2025 Spring Practice Notebook 8: Defensive Takeaways

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Now led by defensive coordinator Jon Kay, the Rice football defense made strides this spring. Here are a few things that stood out the most.

The Rice football defense lost a lot of leaders to graduation this offseason. Having a familiar face in Jon Kay take over as the coordinator helps, but there was still plenty of dust to knock off as the Owls went through spring practices over the last several weeks. With new staff and new players, the program had plenty to work on from a defensive perspective.

More: Rice Football Spring Game Takeaways

“I think there’s a fair amount of new,” Kay said, addressing those changes during the offseason. This spring practice review tackles some of that new, some of the old and takes a more holistic look at what this side of the ball looks like with spring practices complete.

Ty Morris, you’re up

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Rice Football Recruiting: DE Sam Carrell commits to Owls

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More depth in the defensive trenches is on its way. Former Texas Tech defensive end Sam Carrell has committed to the Owls.

Spring is the season to make sure the roster is ready for the year ahead and with the program light in the defensive trenches, adding at least a couple of defensive linemen to the 2025 Rice Football recruiting class. That group gained another member this week. Texas Tech defensive end Sam Carrell has committed to the Owls.

Carrell’s college football career began as an offensive lineman at Washington State before he transferred to Texas Tech following a redshirt season with the Cougars and flipped to the defensive side of the ball. He split time between defensive end and outside linebacker with the Red Raiders across three seasons, primarily playing a support role and entering the Transfer Portal this spring.

When it came to arriving at South Main, Carrell credited the staff and the scheme, first and foremost calling head coach Scott Abell and defensive line coach Ty Warren “the kind of people I want to play for,” crediting the staff with establishing a unit that allows him to “play confident and free.”

Carrell’s commitment comes amidst a run of recent defensive additions for the Owls in the portal. North Texas defensive lineman VJ Bronson committed a few days prior and Oregon State safety Jack Kane announced his pledge on the same day. That’s a lot of experience added to the roster in a short window of time.

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At 6-foot-4 and 270 pounds, Carrell certainly has the frame to play on the line in this scheme. He’ll slide in as a pass rusher off the edge, providing another veteran hand in a room in need of depth. “I’m very proud of my versatility, strong hands, and pass-rush ability,” Carrell told The Roost.

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Rice Football Recruiting: SAF Jack Kane commits to Owls

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A veteran presence in the secondary is joining the 2025 Rice Football recruiting class. Oregon State safety Jack Kane has committed to the Owls.

Adding experience to a defense replacing so many veterans was paramount as the 2025 Rice Football recruiting class bolstered its members before the upcoming season. A veteran from the Pac-12 ranks, Oregon State safety Jack Kane has committed to the Owls.

“I think coach Abell is a coach that knows how to win and knows how to do it right,” Kane told The Roost. “You can tell from the men and women in the building that he is a great leader and person. There’s something special about a staff that comes from so many different areas and are this connected over football.”

A former walk-on, Kane earned his scholarship prior to this past season, which proved to be his most productive collegiate season thus far.

Kane appeared in 31 games for Oregon State over the last three seasons, growing his role significantly following a redshirt season in 2021. Most recently, he racked up 32 tackles last season and led the Beavers with two interceptions. Getting contributors this late in the transfer cycle is encouraging, but landing someone with the level of experience and talent of Kane in late April is particularly noteworthy.

With Kane on board, the spring recruiting haul is up to six new faces from the portal ranks, including two others on defense: North Texas defensive lineman VJ Bronson and Texas Tech defensive lineman Sam Carrell.

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Perhaps the biggest perk of a player with the level of experience of Kane is the ability to be in the right place at the right time and make the plays in front of you. Kane’s interception against UNLV from earlier this season showcases just that. He’ll be a tremendous fit in the Owls’ defensive scheme.

“I’m hoping to bring some experience and excited to meet the guys and learn with them,” he said. “The defense dominated last year and the stats prove that. I want to help elevate the standards and grow as much as possible with defense to dominate again this upcoming season.”

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Rice Football Recruiting: QB Lucas Scheerhorn commits to Owls

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The 2025 Rice Football recruiting class has added a transfer quarterback to its ranks. Kennesaw State triggerman Lucas Scheerhorn has committed to the Owls.

There was never going to be a rush to add just any transfer quarterback to the 2025 Rice Football recruiting class. Any potential candidate needed to fit the Owls’ scheme and have the prerequisite athletic ability to function at a high level within the offense. Rice found the man who fits both requirements: Kennesaw State quarterback Lucas Scheerhorn has committed to the Owls.

Scheerhorn played his high school ball at Klein Oak, not too far from South Main, and was recruited by head coach Scott Abell and his staff while they were at Davidson. Scheerhorn opted to go the FBS route, signing with Kennesaw State, which ran an option-oriented scheme at the time. He appeared in three games for the Owls, attempting three passes, operating as a reserve for most of the season.

Kennesaw State made a coaching change in November, moving on from Brian Bohannon and hiring former Rice football assistant Jerry Mack. With the coaching shift came a new offense, sending Scheerhorn and others to the portal, opening the door for him to return to Houston and finally sync up with Abell’s staff.

With four seasons of eligibility remaining, Scheerhorn will add depth to an inexperienced Rice quarterback room which includes Chase Jenkins, AJ Padgett, and Drew Devillier as well as signee Patrick Crayton Jr. 2026 quarterback Aiden Smalls committed this past week.

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Whether its the HUIDL film from high school or the practice tape from Kennesaw State, Scheerhorn possessions the mobility and ability to throw with power and accuracy down the field that make him an ideal schematic fit for this offense, something hard to find in the portal. Getting him to South Main with plenty of eligibility remaining is a nice pickup for Rice football as it attempts to reshape that room.

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Rice Baseball avoids sweep, but drops series to UAB

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Rice Baseball salvaged the series finale against UAB after dropping the first two games behind a largely quiet offense that went off for 12 runs on Sunday.

FRIDAY | UAB 3, Rice 0

Back in the Friday night role after several weeks in the bullpen, Davion Hickson delivered what was unquestionably his best performance of the season. Hickson went 7.2 innings, striking out a career-high 10 while limiting the Blazers to three hits.

More: 59 Minutes — David Pierce Challenges Rice baseball to grow

UAB snuck the first run across in the opening inning with a single, a stolen base and a groundout. Hickson put things in cruise control after that, getting through the first two outs of the eighth before allowing two runners to reach and exiting the game. The last two runs charged to his ledger were allowed by Jack Ben-Shoshan in relief. The Rice bats did little to help the cause, tallying three hits, no runs and 13 strikeouts.

SATURDAY | UAB 8, Rice 6

Rice baseball did not get its typically sharp start from JD McCracken in Game 2, a reality that proved fateful as the bats struggled to produce. UAB scored three in the first, two in the second and on in the third before McCracken was lifted in favor of Von Baker and eventually Mark Perkins. By the time the fourth inning came to a close, Rice was trailing 8-0.

Last Weekend: Rice Baseball takes two of three from Memphis

The Owls most encouraging offensive inning of the weekend would soon follow. The Owls loaded the bases off Braxton Shelton with one out, then proceeded to rattle off five consecutive hits, scoring six runs before a double-play ended the inning. Back within two runs, Rice would manage just two base runners for the remainder of the game, dropping the series.

SUNDAY | Rice 12, UAB 10

The Rice bats woke up for the series finale, scoring three times in the first off UAB starter Isaac Warrick, who would then be the victim of two Rice home runs in the second, putting the Blazers in a 6-0 hole after two frames. UAB gave Rice a scare with a five-run third, with Ben-Shoshan getting a strikeout to strand the would-be tying run in scoring position.

A three-run home run from Blaine Brown, his second long ball of the afternoon, gave Rice some breathing room before the Owls added another insurance run in the sixth and the seventh before UAB began a comeback of their own. UAB scored five straight to get back within one.

Rice pushed one run across in the ninth, turning the ball over to Jackson Blank in the bottom of the inning. Blank got two outs, but loaded the bases. Marco Fuentes entered and coaxed a fly out to right field to extinguish the threat and end the game.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

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