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Rice Football Falls to Houston in Home Opener

September 6, 2025 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice Football fell to Houston in their last chance to lay claim to the Bayou Bucket Trophy for sometime. The Owls are 1-1 on the season.

After soaring to a 1-0 start in the debut of head coach Scott Abell against Louisiana, Rice football came back to ground level on Saturday in a rivalry game defeat at the hands of the Houston Cougars. With no current games on the schedule between the two crosstown teams, Houston will hold on to the Bayou Bucket, for now. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Pre-Injury Secondary Shows Out

In the season opener against Louisiana, it was the Rice football defensive line that stole the show. Cajuns’ quarterback Walker Howard barely completed 10 passes and was sacked three times. On Saturday against Houston, it was the secondary that made their bid for the most dominant unit on a stacked defensive side.

Corners Khary Crump and Omari Porter each had pivotal breakups that snuffed out Houston drives. Safety Jack Kane had a hit that separated his would-be receiver from the football and Porter closed out the next drive with a diving stop which was nearly picked off. And all of that happened in the first quarter.

More: Key Rice Football Recruiting Targets on Campus for Houston Game

Rice did register three sacks, so the front did find success in this game too, but the secondary was on another level, providing Houston quarterback Conner Weigman with no clean looks and plenty of tight windows. Even on his most accurate balls, Rice defensive backs made plays on the ball and kept the Houston offense in neutral with six breakups spread across four defenders.

Weigman didn’t do serious damage through the air until a 74-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. That score came against a backup corner following an injury to starter Khary Crump, who left the field on a prior series. That Rice was playing aggressively on the back end at the time given the two-score deficit didn’t help the situation. Crump’s injury will be one to monitor, but the secondary as a whole still played very well.

Offense Struggles with Cougars’ Front

While the defense delivered yet another masterclass, the offense took some time to get in gear. More than anything else, Houston’s athleticism proved much more arduous to overcome than anything the Owls had seen to this point. The Cougars routinely beat the Owls to the edges and kept contain, pushing the Rice offensive line inward and meeting ball carriers in the backfield.

Head coach Scott Abell seemed less phased by the talent differential than the Cougars’ approach.

“In the first half they came out in a defense we didn’t really prep for which is not abnormal for us, but in a year where we’re transitioning to a new system, we didn’t adjust very well,” Abell said. “They controlled the line of scrimmage because of that, that pretty much that whole first half.”

More: Join the Conversation on The Roost Discord

Any advantages the Owls hoped to gain from their unique offensive attack were lessened by the Cougars’ ability to overcome a slower first step with speed and power. The Rice offense went three-and-out on its first three drives before it was able to adjust, pivoting to a more steady diet of screen passes to stretch the defense for it’s power running game on the inside.

“Last week we saw a defense that lined up how we prepped and it was clean,” Abell said. “Our guys executed really pretty well all game last week. This was almost a polar opposite. I didn’t think we excuted very well from the get-go. Even when we found momentum, we couldn’t keep it. We gotta figure that out and that starts with me.”

Rice would get on the board for the first time thanks to those deft modifications, cobbling together a 14-play, 47-yard drive, consummated by an Enoch Gota field goal. The Owls were making progress on the ensuing drive before being stopped short on fourth and one as running back D’Andre Hardeman was met in the backfield before he ever had a chance to make positive yardage.

Fortunately for Rice football, they won’t face many teams with this level of talent again this season. However, the Houston is a far cry from the upper-tier of talent in this sport. That Rice was able to move the ball on long scoring drives in the second and fourth quarters proves there’s more potential in this offense still untapped, but the level of consistency was far from adequate.

Limited Offense Leaves Little Room for Error

The sum total of the defensive dominance and offensive trudging nearly netted Rice football a halftime lead in their most coveted home contest of the season. Instead, fate would ensure it was Dean Connors — who spent the last three seasons donning Blue rather than Red in this rivalry game — who took a handoff 54 yards to paydirt in the final seconds of the first half.

What made twinge touchdown of Connors’ touchdown all the worse was the proceeding clock stoppage which may have subtly encouraged its coming. Following a facemask which set Houston back inside its own 20-yard line and an eight yard run. Rice head coach Scott Abell called a timeout with Houston facing second and 15. Rather than run the clock out and go into halftime down three, Houston pushed the ball, getting a first down at the 42-yard line. Connors scored three plays later.

Decisions like whether or not to call a timeout to get the ball back often get lost in the churn of variance that comes with every college football game. That the teams were separated by so small a difference than one breakaway play could be the difference.

If nothing else, it made Weigman’s nine-yard touchdown run in the third quarter made it clear a near-perfect game from other phases wasn’t going to be enough without some sort of pulse on offense. A pick-six off a deflected pass in the fourth made that emphatically clear. The final score made the game appear much more one-sided than it was for the majority of three-plus quarters, but the result speaks for itself.

1-1

Starting the 2025 season with games against a Sun Belt favorite and a Big XII team was a rude awakening for an offense still in its infancy, but it’s hard to deny a 1-1 start against the caliber of opponent the Owls have played to this point is anything other above par. Two touchdown underdogs in each game, that Rice was able to move through this stretch at .500 with a home-game looming against an FCS opponent is unequivocally a good start.

“If you would have asked me back in mid-August… I probably would have said okay,” Abell acknowledged. “But we weren’t [1-1], we were 1-0 and I’m really disappointed we’re not 2-0 because that’s the expectation. Are kids are disappointed and that score is not indicative of what that game was like.”

That Rice hired Abell for his offensive wizardry which has only produced 23 total points isn’t something he’s shying away from. Finding more consistency and more success becomes that more important as the season progresses.

“There’s your 10 Million Dollar question,” Abell said, addressing the quandary of replicating the offensive boost his team found briefly in the middle of the third quarter.

“We kinda went back to the basics. We kinda went back to the simple things that I though our guys could execute against a defense that we really hadn’t replicated in practice and encouraged them to play fast. And we did. We lined up in our base two formations. We played really fast there and kind of kept it simple and that’s what it looked like. Which is exciting, but we gotta be able to handle some complexity and that we did not handle tonight.”

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Filed Under: Archive, Football, Premium Tagged With: Chase Jenkins, game recap, Jack Kane, Khary Crump, Omari Porter, Rice Football

Rice Football knocks off Louisiana in Scott Abell’s Debut

August 30, 2025 By Matthew Bartlett

Head coach Scott Abell and Rice Football made a statement in their season opener, knocking off Louisiana in their first-ever game at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium.

Following months of intrigue, the Gun-Choice offense took center stage at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium on Saturday night as Rice football put their new scheme on display for the world to see. Head coach Scott Abell didn’t look overmatched in his first ever game as an FBS head coach, guiding his program to their first road win since 2023 and their first win in a season opening game since 2018.

More: 2025 Rice Football Preseason Superlatives

“It feels great. I think for me, I’m not surprised. I’m incredibly excited for our guys and I’m proud, but I’m not surprised,” Abell said. “I thought we had a good game plan coming into this. We thought we could move the football. We thought we could control the clock. I’m not surprised, but to get a win on the road against such a quality program… to come here into their home stadium and get that kind of gritty win, that makes me as the head coach here incredibly proud of players.”

Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Option Offense As Advertised

The first Rice football drive of the Scott Abell era featured a pair of first downs, one on a pop-pass/sweep by Drayden Dickmann and another on a punishing run up the middle from Daelen Alexander. A busted third-down play quelled the momentum and led to a punt, but the full potency of the Owls’ dynamic attack was revealed in full on their ensuing possession.

Following a field goal by Louisiana, Rice marched down the field on 13 plays, driving 72 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. Landon Ransom got the first touch. Alexander, the next. Then Quinton Jackson and then Tyson Thompson. Rice willed the ball into the redzone only for the buzzer to sound, ending the first quarter. Jackson kept it on the next play and took it down to the one. Then Jackson walked into the endzone untouched.

Aaron Turner was the next Owl to get into the endzone, taking an end-around to the pylon and sneaking the ball across the line. Turner’s score is a masterclass in why this offense can be so effective. The defense sees so many bells and whistles on this run, but Turner is just moving at full speed across the formation and racing his man to the endzone.

Here's the Aaron Turner touchdown. Look how simple Turner's concept is, but how intricate it looks to the defense at the same time. It's wonderful.pic.twitter.com/6Wk5F3STVZ

— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) August 31, 2025

It wasn’t a perfect debut. The second half showcased some of the issues when a run-based attack gets behind schedule with a couple of three-and-outs on the offense, which looked awkward when forced into third-and-long situations.

How much of that changes when Jenkins and this staff have more experience in those scenarios remains to be seen. Abell pointed toward the opportunities now afforded to them with actual game film under their belts. “You gotta learn how to win first,” Abell said. “And that was a great step toward that tonight.”

Daelen Alexander is Back

Midway through practice two years ago, Daelen Alexander emerged from obscurity, earning a role as the Owls’ goal line back after an injury in the middle of a practice period thrust the then-freshman into the spotlight. He dazzled in that role, scoring five touchdowns on 18 rush attempts before an injury cut his season short.

Alexander lost all of the 2024 season with another injury, landing him back in the middle of a crowded running back room in a new offense. Quinton Jackson emerged as the clear RB1 immediately upon Abell’s arrival, but Alexander wasn’t solidified as the team’s RB2 until midway through fall camp.

More: Join the Conversation on The Roost Discord

In the Owls’ opener, Jackson and Alexander operated as an effective one-two punch with Alexander’s power playing off Jenkins’ quickness to great effect. Alexander carried the ball nine 15 times for 74 yards, boasting a sturdy 4.9 yards per attempt. More impressive still, those runs were bruising runs, going through defenders and propelling them backwards.

His most important runs of the game came quite some time later when he bulldozed through defenders again to move the chains on third down in the redzone. That setup up a crucial fourth and one that could have proved to be the game-winner had a mishandled snap squashed the chance.

The preseason excitement around the tandem of freshmen running backs Tyvonn Byars and D’Andre Hardeman was well deserved — and they will get their turn in this deep stable of backs — but Rice football has a clear one-two punch right now.

Defensive Line Shines Bright

As deep as the defensive line was purported to be, there was always an unspoken expectation that this unit would only truly have the chance to make the leap from good to great if an alpha emerged. It’s still quite early in the season, but Joseph Mutombo threw his hat into the ring on Saturday night.

Mutombo altered the outlook of the first Louisiana drive by winning his rep and thumping Cajuns’ quarterback Walker Howard who was flagged for intentional grounding on the play. On the next drive, Mutombo flew into the face of Howard again, forcing a panicked deep throw which Jack Kane stepped in front of for the Owls’ first interception of the season. Official statistics credit Mutombo with one sack of the Owls’ three sacks and the only hurry in the game.

The rest of the line did their part, too. Tony Anyanwu made his first big play as an Owl on the next possession, knocking the ball from Walker’s hands for a fumble. Blake Boenisch fell on it to take possession back for Rice. Three drives in and Rice football got three big plays by the line on their way to a two-score lead on the road.

Some of the defensive numbers will appear a bit inflated when paired opposite an offense that is going to naturally minimized possessions for their opponents. Nonetheless, allowing one touchdown and 12 total points in your season opener against an FBS team is quite a strong statement from a unit that entered the season with relatively high expectations.

It’s also quite fitting that it was the defense that slammed the door with edge Michael Daley tipping the final pass at the line of scrimmage to thwart the Cajuns’ late rally attempt. Daley, the latest in a growing line of defenders to make a big play in a big moment, was ecstatic. “It was amazing. It goes to show the kind of guys that we have on this football team,” he said. “We have a lot of great players that can make big plays in big-time moments.”

Proof of Concept, Passed

The biggest question entering this game was not whether or not Rice would win, although that was certainly a very important unknown needing to be answered. No, the quandary truly being tested in Lafayette, LA was whether or not this offense would work. Would all the misdirection and jazz actually prove to be an efficient way of moving the football against an FBS-caliber defense.

Answer: Yes.

Now, all the caveats of a Week 1 game against a team without any film of this offense being run at Rice are valid. However, its undeniable these concepts have some juice and warrant further inspection. Cue a rivalry game against Houston in what currently is the last Bayou Bucket game scheduled between the two crosstown teams.

Athletic Director Tommy McClelland went off the beaten path when he hired an FCS head coach running a “Gun Option Choice” at a small private school in North Carolina. The hire wasn’t “safe” or “conventional” by any means. But it just might work.

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It’s all about the YAC

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Filed Under: Archive, Football, Premium Tagged With: Aaron Turner, Blake Boenisch, Chase Jenkins, Daelen Alexander, Drayden Dickmann, game recap, Jack Kane, Joseph Mutombo, Landon Ransom, Michael Daley, Quinton Jackson, Rice Football, Tony Anyanwu, Tyson Thompson

Rice Football 2025: Louisiana Game Week Practice Notes

August 28, 2025 By Matthew Bartlett

The first Rice football game of the Scott Abell era is upon us and the Owls are ready to go. Here’s the latest from the practice field this week.

The (unofficial) Rice football depth chart has mostly worked itself out. Chase Jenkins has started to put his mark on the offense and a few individual standouts have warranted notice in the last few days before the season opener.

Jenkins insists this team is ready to go and is as locked in as they could be before such an important game.

Rice Football Preseason Preview: Check out the rest of the series here.

“It’s us versus anybody else,” he said this week. “I feel like we go to each game, home or away, wherever we play — we could play in a parking lot — we’re going to go out there with the same mindset each time and go out there and play our best and play our game and then the result will show.”

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This update provides some more insight into Jenkins’ evolution in the offense, who will fill out the depth chart behind him and a few more notes as the team prepares for the first game of the season in a few days time.

Chase Jenkins is ready to roll

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  • Rice Football 2025 Game Preview: Navy
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Filed Under: Archive, Football, Premium Tagged With: Aaron Turner, Ahran Ogbor, AJ Padgett, Alex Bacchetta, Andrew Awe, Aquantis Clemmons, Artis Cole, Blaise Tita, Blake Boenisch, Braylen Walker, Carson Morgan, Chase Allen, Chase Jenkins, Chibby Nwajuaku, Chris Clark, Cooper King, Cullen Witt, D'Andre Hardeman, Daelen Alexander, Daveon Hook, David Kasemervisz, David Stickle, DeMone Green, Dillan Botts, Drayden Dickmann, Drew Devillier, Ejike Adele, Elroyal Morris, Enoch Gota, Ephraim Dotson, Jack Kane, James Falk, Jerrick Harper, Jo Chavez, John Long, Joseph Mutombo, Khary Crump, Landon Ransom, Lucas Scheerhorn, Luke Miller, Luke Needham, Marcus Williams, Max Balthazar, Micah Barnett, Michael Daley, Nate Bledsoe, Netane Fehoko, Omari Porter, Owen Carter, Patrick Crayton, Patrick Valent, Payton Matthews, Peyton Stevenson, Plae Wyatt, practice notes, Quinton Jackson, Rice Football, Ryan Butler, Sam Carrell, Sean Sullivan, Ty Morris, Tyson Thompson, Tyvonn Byars, Weston Kropp, wyatt freeman

Rice Football 2025 Fall Camp Notebook: Position Battles Brewing

August 8, 2025 By Matthew Bartlett

At a few key positions, the Rice football depth chart remains up in the air. Who’s making their case to be in the two-deep in the secondary and the trenches?

As the team nears the midpoint of fall camp and battles the sweltering heat of Houston, Texas, attitudes and focus remain high. “They continue to bring energy and show up every day,” Rice football head coach Scott Abell said of his team.

Rice Football Preseason Preview: Check out the rest of the series here.

This update digs into impressions up front along the defensive line, some (hopefully) minor injury concerns and a handful of key individual standouts after a team scrimmage period on Friday.

A flurry of moving parts along the line

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  • Rice Football 2025 Game Preview: Navy
  • American Conference Football 2025: Week 4 Roundup
  • Rice Football: First Third of the Season Grades

Filed Under: Archive, Football, Premium Tagged With: Aaron Turner, AJ Padgett, Aquantis Clemmons, Artis Cole, Blake Boenisch, Chase Jenkins, Cullen Witt, D'Andre Hardeman, David Kasemervisz, Drayden Dickmann, Drew Devillier, Ejike Adele, Jack Kane, Joseph Mutombo, Lucas Scheerhorn, Marcus Williams, Plae Wyatt, practice notes, Rice Football, Sean Sullivan

2025 Rice Football Season Preview: Safety

August 4, 2025 By Matthew Bartlett

Next up in our 2025 Rice Football Season Preview: safety. Here’s our breakdown of the Owls’ plans for the group this season.

A revamped Rice football defense will have plenty of new faces, but the safety room will be more familiar to Owls’ fans than most. A mix of longtime contributors and returning starters, supplemented with key transfers, makes for a fascinating dynamic on the back end of the defense that will be tasked with keeping everything in front of them this season.

Rice Football Preseason Preview: Check out the rest of the series here.

This piece is part of our 2025 Rice Football Season Preview. Get access to it, as well as all other preview posts such as positional breakdowns, depth chart and schedule analysis and more when you subscribe on Patreon today. 

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** Photo credit: Maria Lysaker **

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Recent Posts
  • The Roost Podcast | Ep 213 – Rice Football rolls past Charlotte
  • Rice Football 2025 Game Preview: Navy
  • American Conference Football 2025: Week 4 Roundup
  • Rice Football: First Third of the Season Grades

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