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Rice Football 2024 Team MVP: Dean Connors

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The leading scorer and the offense’s Swiss Army Knife who could seemingly do it all, Dean Connors is our 2024 Rice Football Team MVP.

One of the most productive running backs to ever step foot on South Main, Dean Connors was the runaway favorite to be the 2024 Rice Football Team MVP before the season began. Even with those high expectations placed upon his shoulders by outsiders and himself, Connors still soared, writing his name all over the record books.

Connors breakout season was one long in the making. He transferred into the program prior to the 2022 season and was lightly used his first year before joining forces with Juma Otoviano to form a one-two punch last season. This year, with Otoviano set to graduate, the burden was set to fall on Connors to carry the load.

Little did anyone know at the time, but Connors would be quickly forced into double duty. A string of injuries decimated the wide receiver room and leading tight end Boden Groen would miss a large portion of the year. Connors was already Plan A in the running game but he was soon asked to do so much more.

Connors would go on to lead the nation in receptions by a running back with 62, a mark that put him ninth all-time in the program’s reception tallies. Not bad for someone used to being handed the ball behind the line of scrimmage.

The big season also elevated him to No. 1 all-time in program history in receiving yards by a running back, 912, surpassing Owl ledge Trevor Cobb. He was also the first player in program history to surpass 1,600 rushing yards and 900 receiving yards in his career.

More: 2024 Rice Football Season Superlatives

With a new quarterback under center, Connors became the free square to make the Rice offense go. Connors’ essential nature to that side of the ball would prove to be one of the more complex tight ropes the offensive staff had to walk as they tried to pushed the ball into his hands often yet still keep him fresh and ready to play a full season.

“We don’t want to just wear Dean out,” then head coach Mike Bloomgren said midseason following the Charlotte game. “16 total touches. Would you want to program a few more for him? Absolutely.”

Connors never complained or questioned his usage. He just took the ball whenever it was handed (or thrown) to him and kept on running. For him, the team was always more important than any individual accolades or aspirations. He touched the ball 220 times across 12 games. The next closest player, Matt Sykes, had 67 plays from scrimmage.

When asked to reflect on those lofty totals before the Owls’ final game, Senior Day against South Florida, Connors had come to reach this point it was hard for him to put things into words.

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“It would be really cool and a great opportunity to look back on a kid who was at … a small public school in the big island of Hawaii. My class was 20 people. And to think I was in that position today would make a little kid really happy,” he said. “It would be awesome, but getting a win for everybody would really mean more.”

Rice football did find a way to get that win, the first time in Connors’ football career he had won the final game of a season.

At 4-8, the record wasn’t good enough to get the Owls to a bowl game and necessitated a coaching change midway through the year. A lot of things did not go according to plan, but that didn’t seem to phase Connors, always ready and willing to embrace whatever challenge lay ahead.

“Football has been my life since I can remember. Being able to lead a team at a Division 1 University that’s so highly touted for everything, football, academics, athletic department, it’s been a blessing. I’ll remember it my whole life,” Connors said. “I wouldn’t have done anything differently if I could go back. This is the way I’d have wanted it to be.”

** Photo Credit: Maria Lysaker **
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Rice Football 2024 Defensive Player of the Year: Gabe Taylor

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Gabe Taylor, a veteran leader who anchored one of the best defenses in the AAC, is our 2024 Rice Football Defensive Player of the Year.

A fifth year senior playing in his final season on South Main, safety Gabe Taylor left it all on the field this year. Through all the ups and downs, Taylor was a galvanizing force that held this program together and was unequivocally deserving to be our honoree as the 2024 Rice Football Defensive Player of the Year.

No one had higher expectations for Gabe Taylor this season than he did for himself. A preseason selection for the Jim Thorpe Watch List, an award given annually to the nation’s top defensive back, Taylor was dead set on taking this program to the next level. While those dreams were never fully actualized, his effort and production could never be questioned.

Taylor led the team in tackles and, perhaps more importantly kept the secondary afloat when what seemed to be an overwhelming spat of injuries assailed the rest of the position.

More: 2024 Rice Football Season Superlatives

Plae Wyatt was injured in the Owls’ first game of the season against Sam Houston and lost for the year. Marcus Williams, his replacement, went down the next week against Texas Southern. Further injuries to Jojo Jean, Justin Williams and Tyson Flowers left the position group in a bind. Things got so dire that players had to be moved from other positions to the safety room midseason.

Before the year, Taylor lauded the depth in the room. “If one guy goes down it’s not going to be a falloff,” he said. “It’s literally going to be ones still on the field,” alluding to the multiple levels of starting caliber players he believed filled the Owls’ depth chart.

Soon enough, that confidence was tested. It was Taylor, TBD and TBD practicing with the first team defense on a week to week basis. And even still, the secondary soared.

The Rice football defense finished second in the conference and eighth nationally in passing defense. A sizable portion of that success must be attributed to the consistency on the outside offered by corners Sean Fresch and Max Ahoia, but Taylor’s contributions were equally important, particularly when taking into consideration the plight this defense would have been in without him.

Prior to the regular season finale against South Florida, Taylor admitted he’d gotten interest from other programs during the offseason. His illustrious career to that point had not gone unnoticed and he had opportunities to go elsewhere.

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“These guys just brought me back in,” he said. “I wouldn’t trade them for the world. This family is so genuine.”

That’s part of what made Taylor’s season so special. A candidate to be selected in the NFL Draft this coming spring who might not have ever stepped foot on South Main had it not been for a delayed start to his high school football career while he pursued basketball and other interests, Taylor stayed the course, overcame adversity and still performed at a high level.

Taylor was an All-AAC Second Team selection and one of Pro Football Focus’ (PFF) highest graded defenders in the country. A sports analytics company that attempts to quantify a player’s individual impact on a scale of 1-100, Taylor graded out as an 89.5, where a 90 considered to represent the elite of the elite. That’s the caliber of play Rice football got out of Taylor this season: elite.

On a defense flush with impactful veteran talent like defensive tackle Izeya Floyd, linebackers Josh Pearcy and Myron Morrison and the aforementioned corners and fellow members of the safety room, Taylor managed to stand out. That’s a testament to his effort, ability and a never wavering desire to be the best. No matter the box score, Taylor delivered on that goal this season.

** Photo Credit: Maria Lysaker **
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Rice Football 2024 Iron Man: Josh Pearcy

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A fixture of the Rice football defense for half a decade, Josh Pearcy defined what it meant to be the 2025 Rice Football Iron Man.

Hearing terms like “sixth-year senior” is more common than ever. Often players that reach that point of their collegiate careers have been in school for that long, but need to ramp up their production over the years. Those with such expensive bios rarely have the production that mirrors the long road trodden. Rice football defensive stalwart Josh Pearcy is that exception.

Pearcy took the field for the last time against South Florida on Senior Day, which was technically his third Senior Day since signing with the Owls in December 2018. When he checked into the game shortly thereafter he set the all-time program record for games played, 57. He shares that designation with teammate Chike Anigbogu, a longtime special teams leader and defensive contributor.

More: 2024 Rice Football Season Superlatives

The distinction that makes Pearcy’s run so impressive is how impactful he was along the way. He wasn’t accruing empty appearances, he was impacting the game every time he took the field, particularly in his four complete seasons on South Main.

Pearcy leaves Rice in the Top 10 all-time in tackles for a loss (8th) and sacks (5th), especially impressive totals when considering he played special teams during his four-game redshirt in 2019 and played in just five games in the Owls’ shortened 2020 season. Pearcy wasn’t just an average player who played in a lot of games and racked up stats. He reached those totals in essentially four years.

That would have been enough in itself, to leave Rice football with a couple marks in the record books and good memories along the way. Part of what made Pearcy special, though, was his commitment to becoming a better player.

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“I just wanted to be able to do as much as I can for this team and be coached and learned more about the entire defense,” Pearcy said this spring, explaining his next developmental goal for himself.

Initially an edge player tasked with putting his hand in the dirt and rushing the passer, Pearcy slowly worked further and further off the ball as his career progressed. By the time the 2024 season arrived, Pearcy was playing much more a hybrid outside linebacker role while still finishing tied for second on the team in sacks.

Pearcy has NFL aspirations, something that led to him expressing an interest in showcasing his versatility as a defender. “He’s been more productive,” defensive coordinator Brian Smith said of the move. “We’ve kind of moved him around and played more linebacker off the ball.”

Having a chess piece like Pearcy is a defensive coordinator’s dream. As the secondary waded through injuries and players rotated in and out, Pearcy could be positioned in so many different places on any given play giving Smith options as he worked to get the best defense on the field that he could.

The Rice football defense finished the regular season fourth in scoring and third in yardage allowed against conference opponents. The Owls don’t get there without Iron Man Josh Pearcy, a mainstay on South Main that made everyone better around him.

** Photo Credit: Maria Lysaker **
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Rice Football 2024 Offensive Player of the Year: Matt Sykes

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The last man standing in the wide receiver room this season, Matt Sykes is our 2024 Rice Football Offensive Player of the Year.

A year removed from a one-catch season, Matt Sykes was expected to enter the fall as, at best, the fourth option in the Owls’ passing game. Instead, he became the go-to guy and the somewhat surprising 2024 Rice Football Offensive Player of the Year.

The journey from a second-string receiver to the Owls’ No. 1 downfield target was almost meteoric and came almost as much by necessity as by ability. Even still, Sykes had to seize the opportunity and make the most of it, and reality that proved more and more necessary as the injuries around him began to snowball.

Between the spring and the start of fall camp, Landon Ransom suffered an injury that would keep him out for the season. Florida transfer Thai Bowman made it one practice in camp before a lower-body injury sidelined him for the better portion of two months. Even still, Sykes was far from a lock to be the starting outside “X” receiver until Rawson MacNeill went down at the end of camp.

By the time Rice football opened its 2024 season it was Sykes — who had one Rice reception to his name at that point — who had emerged as the must trustworthy receiver for new starting quarterback EJ Warner.

More: 2024 Rice Football Season Superlatives

Sykes led the team in receiving in their opening game against Sam Houston. He caught his first touchdown with the Owls the following week against Texas Southern. Then, after a quiet two-catch game against Houston, Sykes took off in earnest, hauling in six or more passes in seven of the Owls’ final nine games.

Sykes’ emergence right around the start of conference play coincided with a meaningful step forward in the team’s offensive production. It was also around this time it became clear no more reinforcements were on their way. Bowman would be the only receiver expected to make a return during the year and even his reinsertion into the lineup was far from a sure thing.

The task of reinvigorating the offense fell to the few healthy weapons left in the passing game, Sykes at the forefront among then once again when tight end Boden Groen suffered an injury that would keep him out for the remainder of the year, another dose of bad news in a receiving corps that was running out of bodies.

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The SOS was answered emphatically by Sykes who delivered a walk-off touchdown reception against UTSA, one of 52 receptions he registered against AAC opponents, the most by any pass catcher in the conference by seven grabs. He averaged 78.9 yards per game in league play, finally surpassing the century mark in his final game, a 118-yard performance against South Florida on Senior Day.

Sykes wasn’t as flashy as Luke McCaffrey and he didn’t post the absurd touchdown tallies that Bradley Rozner did a few years prior. But he was consistent, reliably answering the call and helping a wounded offensive move the ball when all other external factors seemed to be against them. He was rewarded with AAC Honorable Mention status for his efforts, underappreciating just how impactful he was for this team.

Meant to be a reserve, Sykes led Rice football in receptions, yards and receiving touchdowns. He more than doubled the production of the next most active receiver alongside him, emerging from obscurity when his teammates needed him most. Dean Connors was the engine that made this offense go, but Sykes was the conductor that kept it on the tracks.

** Photo Credit: Maria Lysaker **
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Rice Football 2024 Special Teams Player of the Year: Quinton Jackson

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One record-setting return was only part of a tremendous season for Quinton Jackson, our 2024 Rice Football Special Teams Player of the Year.

Quinton Jackson set a program record when he returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown against UConn on October 26. The return was one of the most exciting moments in a wayward season for the Owls and contributed to Jackson being the runaway winner for our 2024 Rice Football Special Teams Player of the Year.

To accurately describe Jackson’s heroics, we must first start with Pete Alamar. Alamar was the Owls’ special teams coordinator that day who would soon after be promoted to interim head coach following the dismissal of head coach Mike Bloomgren. That news came the day following Jackson’s scamper that brought the team within a score of tying the game but would not be enough to salvage the win.

A 40-year veteran in the industry, Alamar had coached a lot of football before taking charge at South Main. His brief stint as the headman of the Owls’ program was a momentary departure from the world of special teams that have been his central focus for most of his career.

During that time, Alamar had the honor of coaching some of the best of the best ever to play teams.

He coached Desean Jackson at Cal and Dennis Northcutt at Arizona. Then he went on to coach Ty Montgomery and Christian McCaffrey at Stanford. This man was well acquainted with what excellence special teams play looks like. That’s what made his endorsement of Rice return man Quinton Jackson so impactful.

More: 2024 Rice Football Season Superlatives

“What he did was phenomenally cool,” Alamar said of Jackson’s big return.

“I’ve told the team, that cat, right there,” he said during that week’s media availability, pointing toward Jackson, “is as good as any kick returner I’ve had at hitting and getting. His first 25 is what makes him special because when he hits it, he hits it.”

Jackson “hit it” that day, but that play was one of 22 kick returns Jackson had during the season. Jackson averaged 26.8 yards per return, eighth nationally among all players. His 589 total return yards ranked fourth and his 49.1 kick return yards per game ranked fifth.

When you have a 4-8 season, not many players rank in the top 10 nationally in any metric. For Rice football, Jackson was the exception, earning AAC Special Teams Player of the Week following that return, the only weekly individual honor any Owl received from the conference this season.

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Jackson carried himself humbly when given the opportunity to react to the special moment. At the same time, he knew the play didn’t come about by accident. He credited the hours and hours of work put in by his protection unit and everything and everyone surrounding him that helped set up that moment.

At the end of the day, it was Jackson that had to made to make the play.

“I feel like I’ve been confident all year. It’s just waiting for my moment to happen.”

Jackson did his best best to absorb the moment and savor the memory he had helped create. Then it was time to move forward, to think about the next game and consider what more could be done to help the team find a way to win.

“You can’t let that get into your head, though. That’s just one,” Jackson remarked. “You can’t just be a one-hit wonder.”

Jackson’s return was the first Rice football kick return touchdown since 2012. Even if Jackson’s tally stops at one, he’ll have carved his names in the program’s record books forever.

** Photo Credit: Maria Lysaker **
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