Rice Football dropped its final game of the season on the road against South Florida, coming one win shy of a bowl trip in head coach Scott Abell’s debut season.
South Florida struck first and kept laying it on in what proved to be the final game of the 2025 Rice Football season. Unable to win a sixth game and earn bowl eligibility, the Owls’ season ends at 5-7 with a one-sided loss in Tampa. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:
Long Ball Provides Early Gut Punch
South Florida struck for three quick touchdown drives to put Rice football on the defensive from the start. The Owls’ defense allowed 10.2 yards per play on those first three drives, providing little resistance to the admittedly ultra-efficient South Florida offense.
That South Florida was able to move the ball was one thing, but the ease with which they racked up multiple long touchdown plays was most problematic.
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Rice entered this game ranked dead last in the American Conference with 20 scrimmage plays of 40+ yards allowed. No other team had allowed more than 16. The Owls added to that number early against the Bulls as quarterback Byrum Brown threw touchdowns of 47 yards and 60 yards before the midpoint of the second quarter.
The deficit would only grow from there, leaving the offense quite a sizable hole to attempt to climb out of over the course of the next two quarters and change. But while all three phases showed there’s room for improvement, the lack of resistance the defense provided of any sort left this game out of reach before the offense and special teams had a chance to get going.
Steady Special Teams
Punters don’t get a lot of airtime, and while there have been a lot of things that haven’t gone according to plan in a season that ends without a postseason appearance, Alex Bacchetta has been a bright spot. The Owls veteran punter was largely serviceable, at best, a season ago. Ranking 11th in the conference in net punting, with 37.7 net yards per punt and ninth with an average of 41.2 yards.
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Entering Saturday, Bacchetta has boosted both of those marks. This year, he’s up to 40.4 net yards per attempt and a 44.8-yard average. Against USF he punted six times, averaging 43.3 yards per punt with a long of 51 yards. Those numbers will likely elevate him into the top five in the conference in average and keep him near a 40-yard net. That’s a solid season worth some recognition.
Backup Quarterbacks Get Cameos
Quarterback Chase Jenkins became the first Rice football quarterback to start every game in a regular season since Driphus Jackson in 2015, but unfortunately, he would not finish all 12 games. Jenkins left the UTSA game with a lower-body injury several weeks ago and was knocked out of the Owls’ final game in the late minutes of the second quarter following a blow to the head.
Drew Devillier replaced him and got his longest extended look as the quarterback in this offense thus far. Some of his passes in that emergency fill-in drive went long, but he did get the team within field goal range and looked much more composed when he returned in the second half.
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Devillier took that first snap after the break 10 yards on the ground, showcasing his ability as a runner, even if he might not be as fleet of foot as Jenkins. He orchestrated a 7-play, 61-yard drive sparked by a long run from Aaron Turner before giving way to Lucas Scheerhorn, who opened the fourth quarter.
Scheerhorn didn’t complete any passes, but ran the ball effectively, with a long carry of 20 yards. Originally recruited to run an option system at Kennesaw State, his level of comfort in the offense was evident, in spite of a fumbled low snap that resulted in a turnover. Ultimately, Jenkins still projects as the future at quarterback for this program, but live game reps should prove valuable for both moving forward.
Making Sense of the Season
There will be plenty of time to dissect this season — and we’ll have plenty of analysis on The Roost in the days ahead — but for the time being, the dichotomy of expectations rings as the defining dissonance that will forever mark head coach Scott Abell’s first season on South Main.
On paper, this season was a success. They beat Vegas’ preseason 3.5 win total expectations by a game and half and posted wins over two bowl teams: Louisiana and UConn. But games aren’t played on paper, nor are programs constructed on them.
“You always reflect on year one and you ask yourself the question, Hey, did we set the culture? I mean that’s got to be the primary goal. And so, without question, we did,” Abell said in his post-game comments.
In some ways, the hope inspired by the 3-1 start challenged the conventional wisdom that wins weren’t the conventional currency of Year One. Abell’s team inspired hope in a year that was meant to be a table setter for the seasons to come.
“How do we rate success this year will be when we really evaluate how we grew, and then are we ready to take the next step for the program? The next step is to compete with these teams,” Abell said, referring to the upper tier of programs in the American like Memphis, North Texas and South Florida.
“And when you show flashes of it, you get excited, but that’s all we did this year against this top tier, we showed a flash here and there. We showed a quarter here and there. We got to play four quarters. We got to get back the development time, which this program desperately needs. We need to continue to build the roster. I’m excited about doing that. Looking forward to doing that.”
Digging Deeper
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