The source for Rice sports news

Rice Football Holds on for Homecoming win over UAB

By

Rice Football trailed at halftime but pitched a shutout against UAB after the break, rallying to secure a crucial Homecoming win over the Blazers.

A close game from wire to wire, Rice football got the stops in needed on defense late to earn its fifth win of the season, defeating UAB 24-17 on Homecoming. The Owls head into a bye week one win away from bowl eligibility. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Offense Gets Into Gear Quickly

Head coach Scott Abell spent all week exhorting his team to start fast, so when the defense forced a three-and-out and the offense took there was palpable tension in Rice Stadium. The offense responded with three plays for negative one yard and a fumble. Quarterback Chase Jenkins looked indecisive and the offense went backwards before turning it over to UAB, which capitalized via a 26-yard touchdown pass.

Rather than let the be a harbinger of woe, Jenkins and the offense took a deep breath and returned to the field ready to play.

“We planned to start out fast and we probably did the exact opposite. I put that on me. I think it was one of the biggest moments from me, coming off adversity,” Jenkins said. “I feel like that’s just a step in growth that we’ve taken. We didn’t let that moment set us back.”

More: Join the Conversation on The Roost Discord

Jenkins proceeded to lead the offense 62 yards in 10 plays, handing the ball off on nine successive plays until he pulled the ball and tossed it down the right sideline to Tyson Thompson for a 23-yard touchdown strike.

After a quick three-and-out, the offense authored an option offense opus. Taking over in plus territory at the UAB 48-yard line, Rice reeled off a 19-play touchdown drive, burning 9:01 off the clock before D’Andre Hardeman plunged into the endzone from one-yard out for the go-ahead score. The drive was the longest of the season by time and number of plays, outpacing an 18-play, 8:15 drive against Navy that ended with a field goal.

“It’s part of the formula. It’s not always sexy out there, but when the other offense isn’t on the field, that’s really good for our defense,” Abell said. “I thought, for really three quarters, we executed phenomenally.”

Even including the rough start, the Rice offense delivered at least six plays and 30 yards on six of their next seven drives (excluding the one play at the end of the half), including drives of 10, 19, 11, and nine plays. In terms of dictating the game, this was a much-improved performance which could have gone from good to great if they’d been able to finish on offense in the fourth quarter.

Special Teams Provides a Spark

The offense was aided by some strong plays from the special teams. Quinton Jackson had a 32-yard kickoff return. Tyson Thompson had a 12-yard punt return. The biggest swing, though, was the block punt credited to Peyton Stevenson at the end of the first quarter. The tip resulted in a 21-yard kick, which set Rice up inside UAB territory for their lengthy go-ahead scoring drive.

Rice also got a heads-up play from up man David Kasemervisz at the end of the first half. With time expiring, he jumped on a low kick and fell on the ball with one second left. That gave the offense time for a Hail Mary attempt, which Jenkins would end up pulling down to scramble as the clock expired.

There would be more. Blake Boenisch got a hand on a fourth-quarter punt, which resulted in a 10-yard punt and positive field position for the Owls, rather than a drive starting in the shadow of their own endzone. That would prove important after the offense stalled out and punter Alex Bacchetta was able to pin UAB inside their own 10-yard line with a well-placed punt of his own.

Consistency Remains a Work in Progress

At times, the duality of the 2025 Rice football team is hard to comprehend. Removing the long touchdown allowed following the Rice turnover, the defense held UAB to six yards on its first seven plays and held the Blazers to less than one yard per carry in the first half, bowing up in the redzone with three stops inside the five to force a field goal.

On the subsequent drive, they allowed UAB quarterback Ryder Burton to toss a 21-yard touchdown pass on third and goal with three seconds remaining on the clock.

More: Stay Tuned for the Recap on The Roost Podcast

The Rice offense was similarly hot and cold. As quickly as it heated up and sustained momentum through the third quarter things began to fall apart late. Rice produced one first down in the fourth quarter, courtesy of a personal foul committed by UAB. The totaled two offensive yards.

“We just probably lost our legs a little bit in the fourth quarter,” Abell said. “That probably kept this game from being put away midway through the fourth.”

Fortunately for the Owls, the defense was at its best. UAB was 1-for-3 on third down and did not score in the second half.

“I’ve been playing defense a long time and that’s one of the performances I’m probably the most proud of,” defensive end Tony Anyanwu said. “In a critical moment, gotta have it, everyone sold out, gave everything they had for the team. It just shows the brotherhood that we have here. I just love it.”

Back to the Lab

As eager as some might be to get back onto the field after the win, Rice is going to take advantage of this late season bye week with two critical games remaining in their quest for bowl eligibility. A win in either and Rice is bowling in Abell’s first season on campus, no small feat should the Owls achieve it.

“I’m excited about getting our legs fresh. Getting them back underneath us. That gives us time to really dive into what adjustments we can make coming out of the bye week,” Abell said.

“Next time we step on the field it’ll be late November and we’re competing for an opportunity to get win six. I’m really proud of that. I’m proud of our guys. It wasn’t always easy, but I think you learn a lot in these moments. We’re learning how to win. And we’re learning how to win close games. I’m extremely proud of that. I thought this was a great team victory today.”

Digging Deeper

Every week we’ll have a stat, storyline or key learning from the game reserved for our subscribers. Haven’t joined yet? Sign up here:

Become a Patron!

Clutch Plays — Fourth Down (On Schedule, Third and Shorts)

Subscriber content. Please login to see the full post or visit our Patreon page.
Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

All Tricks, No Treats: Rice Football falls to Memphis on Halloween

By

Rice Football fell behind early and never caught up, making the candy on the concourse the only treat to be seen in a Halloween loss to Memphis at home.

Before the costume-clad onlookers had put a dent into their recently acquired candy prizes, Rice football had been spooked into a massive early deficit. Five straight drives without a first down, combined with a ruthless Memphis offense put the Owls far from contention with more than a half of football still to play. Things would get better, but that rough open proved to be too tall a mountain to climb.

“When we do settle in and we can find the answers, we can get it going. But when you’re being 21-0 because you didn’t get it going early enough and we didn’t maybe tackle as well as we needed to earlier on then you’re playing a whole different game and a game we’re not built for,” Rice football head coach Scott Abell admitted. “We’re not built for that and that really put our guys in a tough situation from there on out.”

Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Tackling Troubles

In his midweek media availability, Rice football head coach Scott Abell began his list of keys to the game with this declaration: “We’re going to have to be great tacklers.”

It was particularly disheartening, then, when a Rice tackler met a Memphis receiver behind the line of scrimmage on the Tigers’ first offensive play and was unable to bring him down. Rice should have at least been in second and long. Instead, the receiver broke the tackle and scampered for 12 yards and a first down.

More: Join the Conversation on The Roost Discord

A few players later, Memphis quarterback Brendon Lewis was hit on a designed quarterback run but didn’t stop running until he stood in the endzone, scorer of the game’s first points. That wouldn’t be the last time Lewis pushed past contact in the redzone for a big gain. On the Tigers’ fourth possession, Lewis avoided multiple rushers in the backfield and scampered for 16 yards instead of a loss.

“We were there to make the play,” senior linebacker Andrew Awe said, summarizing the woeful defensive start. “didn’t make the tackle.”

The disparity of talent on the field on Friday night was notable, particularly when it came to the trenches, but tackling would likely fall in the category of Abell’s TNT (Take No Talent) plays. And there were certainly players schemed up to make plays. They just didn’t get made.

“Close” on Offense Doesn’t Count for Points

Nine games in, there’s been enough output from this offense that a sluggish start shouldn’t serve as a death knell for a game’s worth of output. More than once, the Owls have iterated through failed efforts only to finally land on an effective solution to move the ball down the field. To some degree, that’s what happened in this game, however the length of the sputtering start proved way too much to overcome.

Rice football tallied negative two yards on its first five drives, generating a decent amount of effective first down runs before negative plays on second down put the team behind the chains and rendered a positive first step. Their next drive went 78 yards on 12 plays and ended in the endzone. After a three-and-out to start the second half, they engineered a 14-play, 37-yard drive that nearly produced points.

On the three drives in which the offense produced at least one first down, they racked up 191 total yards and average 5.0 yards per play. Their other seven drives, excluding their final drive with Jenkins removed from the game, went for 13 total yards and averaged 0.6 yards per play.

Abell, I believe correctly, pointed to second down failures. The offense was relatively successful on first down, but stumbled on their second play, leading to hard to convert third and longs. Turn some of those second down losses into three yard gains and the results could look quite different.

“We were pretty good on first down tonight,” Abell said. “Second down I’m thinking we were abysmal, which puts you behind the chains and makes third down really tough. The third down numbers aren’t always because of the third down, its sometimes the down leading up to it and I think that’s what we’ll find tonight.”

Two total scores is a failure for this offense. Full stop. But the questions should revolve around their overall lack of yards, rather they should start with how can this offense be more consistent on those base down opportunities to avoid low-percentage third down opportunities. When they get moving, they usually get the job done.

Self-Inflicted Mistakes

In their upset of UConn six days prior, Rice football committed one penalty. It was a false start that proved largely insignificant in the scope of the game. Five penalty yards won’t swing many games. 78 penalty yards, though?

Compounding their tough start on offense and defense were a series of mental mistakes that made a bad situation worse. The Owls were flagged for fair catch kick interference (twice!) and roughing the passer, all in the first half. When the roughing call was made, Rice had accumulated 43 yards of penalties and negative two yards of total offense. Memphis was on its way to a fourth touchdown drive in its first five possessions.

More: Rice Basketball Season Preview

The penalties were problematic, but there are more than a few execution miscues that Rice football will have more frustration with when it comes time to turn on the film.

While attempting to mount a comeback in the second half, Jenkins failed to connect with a streaking Landon Ransom down the near sideline. A few plays later he lofted a ball just out of the reach of Quinton Jackson in the endzone. The drive ended with an interception on third and 35 on a ball deflected into the air by a receiver. Last week against UConn, Rice hauled in those passes. This time they didn’t.

Not Shying Away from the “B” Word

Less than an hour removed from a one-sided loss, Abell closed his press conference with an honest, bold assessment. “We’re now down to a three-game season,” he said. “We’ve got some goals. A goal set out to start the season to make ourselves bowl eligible is very much in front of us.”

Bowl?

In the many conversations I’ve had with Abell, both with a microphone and podium set up and casually chatting with no recorders rolling, Abell had yet to acknowledge that bowl eligibility was a stated goal for this season. And than that, Abell confided on Friday he reminded the team of that in the locker room following their fifth loss of the year.

With that margin thinning and Rice needing to win two of their three remaining games to secure eligibility, Abell isn’t backing down.

“That’s a goal. I don’t hide from it. We got three games left and they’re tough. The challenges are ahead of us, right? But, I think this is a very capable team when it all comes together and we play well,” he said.

“I’m excited for the challenge ahead of us. We’ll take it one game at a time. We got to figure out how to go 1-0 each week, and that will be our challenge this week. But the players, they know that’s a goal of ours. If you don’t speak your goals, they don’t come into existence. That opportunity is out there. It’s up to us to go capitalize on it.”

Translating the team that took the field on Friday into a bowl-caliber squad seems like a tough task, but Abell’s the kind of guy who was hired to make the impossible become possible. He’s got his hands full, but if we learned anything about this team in between the UTSA loss and this one, there’s some gold in there somewhere. Abell just has to find it before his team is trailing by three scores.

Digging Deeper

Every week we’ll have a stat, storyline or key learning from the game reserved for our subscribers. Haven’t joined yet? Sign up here:

Become a Patron!

Play to Play Deficiencies

Subscriber content. Please login to see the full post or visit our Patreon page.
Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Football 2025: Memphis Game Week Practice Notes

By

The Rice Football offense took a step forward last week. What did the Owls learn and what can they replicate against Memphis? Here’s news from the practice field.

Chase Jenkins took a big step on Saturday against UConn and that’s carried over into practice this week as Rice football prepares for Memphis on Friday. This update digs into how Jenkins’ growth has impacted how the staff builds their game plan, which players have risen up to help him execute it and some important revelations in the offensive and defensive trenches.

Jenkins’ Keeps Growing

Subscriber content. Please login to see the full post or visit our Patreon page.
Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Quinton Jackson propels Rice Football Past UConn in 2OT

By

UConn scored first. Rice Football scored last with running back Quinton Jackson clinching a walk-off win in double overtime to lift the Owls over the Huskies.

A tale of two halves, plus a little extra, ended in a thrilling Rice football victory. The two teams combined to score 38 points in the first half, 10 in the second half and 17 in overtime. No points were more important than Quinton Jackson’s 23-yard run in the second and final overtime period, securing the Owls’ victory.

“Two weeks ago, we left San Antonio kind of battered and bruised. Our egos were beat up. Our bodies were beat up,” head coach Scott Abell said. “Today speaks so much volumes of our locker room, our players our staff. Incredibly proud of them. What a great win for our program here at home.”

Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Corner Room Concerns

The Rice football corner room was an open point of concern entering the bye week. The indefinite suspension of top corner Khary Crump days following the UTSA contest, which featured the Owls’ other starter Omari Porter being briefly sent to the bench for allowing a big play, signaled trouble at the position that had little proven depth behind them.

Then UConn hit an 80-yard touchdown pass on their first play from scrimmage.

Huskies’ receiver Skyler Bell beat Porter one-on-one, catching the ball in stride at full speed in the open field. From there, it was a race to the pylon against the rest of the Owls’ secondary, a race that Bell won.

More: Join the Conversation on The Roost Discord

Linebacker Andrew Awe said it best during the Owls’ off week. The defense is schemed in such a way that players have to make the plays assigned to them. At some point, the players have to make the plays. To be completely fair to that unit, there were some good moments like Jerrick Harper’s red zone swat to deny UConn on a fade late in the second quarter.

The reality of the situation is sobering. After a coaching change and transfer portal attrition, there wasn’t much that could have been done. With Crump gone and no reinforcements coming, this room is going to be the focal point for opposing offenses the rest of the way.

Unforced Errors and Mental Mistakes

Given the heightened focus, Rice absolutely cannot allow the situation to worsen by committing unforced errors. UConn’s first quarter touchdown was explainable — a man got beaten. Their second quarter scores? Both came on walk-in receptions with no Rice defender in the area to offer any sort of challenge.

On the first bust, UConn back Cam Edwards was left wide open when Porter moved inside to cover the tight end, who was also being shadowed by Jack Kane. That left two men on the tight end and none on Edwards, who waltzed in for six. A minute later, Jerrick Harper passed his man off to the help behind him. Except there was no help and the receiver galloped free into the endzone for another gimme touchdown.

Getting out-talented is something that’s hard to scheme around. Both of those plays were execution busts, something that cannot happen if there’s already reason for concern given the personnel issues.

Additionally, Rice was flagged for having 12 men on the field coming out of a timeout. Later, they squandered a chance at points before halftime by attempting a deep shot play on third and long. That ball fell incomplete, leaving Rice outside of field goal range on fourth and medium.

None of those singular mistakes cost Rice the game, but in aggregate they made for quite a large mountain the Owls had to overcome. Fortunately, those issues were sparse in the second half. Defensive coordinator Jon Kay ratcheted up the pressure and made UConn quarterback Joe Fagnano uncomfortable and that proved to be the difference.

New Wrinkles and Fresh Legs

Given a bye week to regroup and reassess, the offensive design Rice football put on display this past Saturday was masterful. Jenkins was effective as a runner and a thrower, but it was his ability to make good reads and keep the offense on schedule that kept this train on the tracks.

Rice racked up 296 of offense in the first half alone, roughly 60 yards short of their season-best totals against an FBS when they tallied 353 yards in four quarters against Charlotte. They hit the high-points of what had worked for them to this point, mixing in traditional and option run schemes with short passes to keep the defense honest.

More: Rice Football by the Numbers — Midseason Checkup

With a productive base offense moving the ball, head coach Scott Abell was able to incorporate some new elements that caught UConn off guard. Some two-back sets produced productive runs. The offense lined Jackson out wide in a diamond formation for a couple of quick screens.

None was more impressive than Jackson’s long touchdown reception — which has to be specified because he also had a breakaway touchdown on the ground — late in the second quarter.

The base concept was one of the Owls’ staple triple-option plays, which they’ve run numerous times this season. Jenkins faked the ball to the back and took a step to his right, appearing to be setting up to continue to option on a roll out with slot Aaron Turner trailing him for the pitch. Instead, Jenkins took one step to get the defense to bite, reversed field, and tossed it long to Jackson, who had turned his fake into a wheel route. Jackson took it the rest of the way.

That run, and the overtime clincher, were part of a standout performance from Jackson, who finished the game with 248 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns.

“If he’s not conference player of the week or national recognized player of the week, people aren’t paying attention,” Abell said after the game.

Jackson tried to modestly deflect the praise to his teammates, crediting their efforts for the big day the offense had as a whole. In his eyes, the entire mentality of the unit had shifted.

“I think we’re out there having fun. I think the past few weeks, we weren’t’ having fun, we were thinking too much, trying not to make mistakes, playing scared,” he said. “I think this week we went out there and just let it loose. We didn’t have nothing to lose.”

Changing the Narrative

Oh how much difference can one week make. Heading into the bye this was a team in crisis, reeling from injuries and riding a three-game losing streak. Now the Owls are feisty again, winning for the second time this season as a double-digit underdog, this time against a team that beat a Power conference opponent seven days before they landed in Houston.

“We needed a win. I don’t hide from that,” Abell said. “I knew that we had this capability in us. It’s just win was it going to hit? And that’s a real good football team we beat.”

The win came in what was truly a complete overall team performance. The defense was tremendous in the second half and the end of overtime. Special teams contributed some important field position swings late. The offense made big plays when they needed to most, looking as consistent and confident as they had all season.

“I felt like truly for the first time you saw a lot of trust and confidence in some of the things that we were trying to get done. Some of the things that we’ve done a lot this year and we’ve just missed on a couple things,” Abell said. “Today, they trusted each other. They trusted the concepts and the game plan. They executed in phenomenally.”

Digging Deeper

Every week we’ll have a stat, storyline or key learning from the game reserved for our subscribers. Haven’t joined yet? Sign up here:

Become a Patron!

Defense Tightens Up

Subscriber content. Please login to see the full post or visit our Patreon page.
Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Football 2025: UConn Game Week Practice Notes

By

It’s been a week of rest and strategizing for Rice football as they prepare to kick off the second half of their season against UConn. Here’s news from the practice field.

A week and a half removed from losing three quarterbacks in a game and suffering a third straight defeat, Rice football looks refreshed and restored heading into its Week 7 game against UConn. It’s not all positive news on the health front, but the program is certainly looking in much better shape than it did two weeks ago.

This week’s update will hit on those key injuries, particularly at quarterback, as well as what wrinkles the program has been able to implement in the bye week and a few other risers and fallers in the off week.

And This Week’s Starting Quarterback Will Be…?

Subscriber content. Please login to see the full post or visit our Patreon page.
Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts