Rice football hits the road this week to take on Tulane. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.
While Tulane was on bye last weekend Rice football picked up its first conference win, rallying in the fourth quarter to stun UTSA at the final whistle. Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup between Rice and Tulane.
Kickoff time | 2:30 PM CT
Venue | Yulman Stadium – New Orleans, LA
TV | ESPN+ (Viewing Guide)
Radio | Varsity Radio App (Online)
Audio / Visual Preview
We’ll preview Rice football vs Tulane on this week’s episode of the Blue and Gray Preview Show, kicking off live on Wednesday 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
Tulane (2-0) is one of five teams still unbeaten in AAC play with eyes on a conference championship game appearance, but they’re a few wins behind Army (5-0) and Navy (3-0). Losing ground to those red-hot programs now wouldn’t eliminate those title game dreams, but it would make them harder to grasp. Keeping pace is imperative for the Green Wave, especially as a home favorite.
On the other sideline, Rice football (1-2) is trying to will themselves back from the brink. Upsetting UTSA was a good start and while nobody would fault the Owls for losing this one, another upset this week would officially put this team back on the map. Head coach Mike Bloomgren has knocked off conference heavyweights before. He needs to find a way to do it again.
Series History
All Time | Rice leads, 20-16-1
Last Five | Rice leads, 3-2
Last Meeting | Home 2023, Tulane won 30-28
Get the Inside Scoop
Get access to practice reports, analysis and special features during the week when you subscribe to our Starting Lineup Tier on Patreon today. If you want updates on how Rice football plans to attack this week’s opponent, position battles, standouts, injuries and more, this is your go-to source. Don’t miss out! Join now!
Become a Patron!
Rice Football Stat Notables
Passing | Warner – 134/217 (61.8 percent), 1302 yards, 9 TD, 6 INT
Rushing | Connors – 63 carries, 396 yards (6.3 yards per carry), 6 TD / Atkins – 24 carries, 158 yards (6.6 yards per carry), 2 TD
Receiving | Sykes – 31 receptions, 378 yards (12.2 yds/rec), 3 TD / Campbell – 15 receptions, 150 yards (10.0 yds/rec), 1 TD / Connors – 34 receptions, 248 yards (7.3 yds/rec), 1 TD
Tackles | Fresch/Morris – 31, Taylor – 28, Looes – 27
Pass Breakups | Fresch – 5, Ahoia – 3, Taylor -2
Interceptions | Flowers/Williams/Mutombo – 1
Tulane Stat Notables
Passing | Mensah – 84/127 (66.1 percent), 1256 yards, 10 TD, 2 INT
Rushing | Hughes – 109 carries, 604 yards (5.5 yards per carry), 7 TD / Barnes – 38 carries, 181 yards (4.8 yards per carry)
Receiving | Williams – 23 receptions, 414 yards (18.0 yds/rec), 2 TD / Fleming – 17 receptions, 304 yards (17.9 yds/rec), 1 TD / Brown – 14 receptions, 207 yards (14.8 yds/rec), 3TD
Tackles | Grubbs – 29, Howard – 25, Despanie – 24
Pass Breakups | Robinson/White/Johnson – 2
Interceptions | Seven tied with one each
Tulane X-Factor | Win third down
For the most part, Rice Football has not been a team that’s been able to sustain long scoring drives this season. None of the Owls’ drives against UTSA were more than eight plays, including their scoring drives late in the game. That’s because the Owls have struggled mightily on third down and have had to rely on the big play, which has been fleeting.
Tulane has been one of the best teams in the league on third down, keeping opponents to a 34.7 percent conversion rate. Only one team has been better than 47 percent in a game against them, Oklahoma. Tulane lost that game. If Tulane can win on their down, they’ll force the Rice offense into precarious situations and have a stranglehold in this matchup.
Rice X-Factor | Run the dang ball
Rice football only had one respectable rushing performance against an FBS opponent this season, tallying 209 yards on the ground at a 6.7 yards per carry clip. Rice should have won that game, but a missed field goal at the buzzer and some late defensive lapses wasted that banner day for the ground game.
Other than that, it’s been tough sledding for Rice on the ground. That’s meant more pressure on quarterback EJ Warner and less touches for star running back Dean Connors, who scored twice against UTSA. Getting the ball in Connors’ hands absolutely must be a priority for the Owls this week. If Rice can get things going on the ground against a Tulane defense that ranks in the middle of the pack in the AAC in yads per carry allowed they’ll have a shot to keep pace with an explosive Tualen offense.
Injury Report (Subscribers only)
Become a Patron!
One Final Thing
Every win Rice football can scrape out over the next several weeks gets the Owls that much closer to salvaging what was shaping up to be a lost season. Beating a downtrodden UTSA program last week was emotionally significant, but the caliber of team Rice topped in that game pales in comparison to the one they’ll be playing in New Orleans this coming weekend.
Tulane is a bonafide contender for the conference championship. Rice is 2-4. On paper, things look daunting, but in this case, it’s probably good that none of the Owls’ games so far this season seem to have gone anything like they should have gone on paper.
Even though there wouldn’t be any shame in losing to one of the best teams in the conference on the road, Rice is running out of margin to account for such eventualities. The win against UTSA bought this team one more week to hope. Knocking off the Green Wave would give the Owls some swagger.
This team has been maddeningly inconsistent but marquee upsets have been part of their calling card under this coaching staff. Rice upset Houston last year and have headliner wins over C-USA leading UAB (twice) and Top 15, undefeated Marshall, too.
The odds are long, but there’s a chance. And goodness gracious, that’s why we watch this game.
