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2025 Rice Football Offensive Newcomer of the Year: Aaron Turner

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A handpicked offensive weapon by the new staff, slot receiver Aaron Turner turned in a stellar season. He’s our 2025 Rice Football Offensive Newcomer of the Year.

From the moment he set foot on campus, slot receiver Aaron Turner bore the weight of tremendous expectations. The Cincinnati transfer was the brother of Rice staffer Eli Turner and had some familiarity with head coach Scott Abell and the style of offense the Owls wanted to run. He was starting from ground zero like the rest of the skill players, but his wealth of collegiate experience and athleticism made him an obvious candidate to become the Owls’ go-to guy.

During the spring, when Abell was coy to single out any individual by name as the team learned the offense, he was the exception.

“Aaron Turner seems to be making plays every day,” Abell declared, paving the way for the Owls’ new offensive weapon to lead the way in 2026.

More: 2025 Rice Football Season Superlatives

Sure enough, it was Turner who took a reverse 17 yards for the game-winning touchdown against Louisiana. The rushing score by a player listed as a “wide receiver” served as a beacon for what might be possible in this offense. Turner would break off another long scoring run against Prairie View A&M a few weeks later, two of his three rushing scores of the season as the Rice offense got its footing around him.

Lines blur between rushing and receiving in this offense, with pop passes that function like sweeps and reverses being awarded as receptions and receiving yards, even though the ball is hardly airborne for any material length of time. No matter how you slice it, though, Turner finished as the Owls’ leading receiver and had more scrimmage yards than any offensive player outside of workhorse running back Quinton Jackson.

Turner delivered career bests in receptions (63), rushing yards (259), total touchdowns (seven) and total scrimmage yards (657). Most of those came in the second half of the season as Turner seemingly willed the offense to stay in games against high-powered opponents.

“He was just a little bit of a different guy. He got comfortable,” inside receivers coach Austin Eisenhofer said of Turner’s growth during the year. “He wasn’t second-guessing things. He knew what he was doing was right. He knew he was better than the guys across from him, and he was going to get it done.”

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Turner’s most impactful moments came under the brightest lights. He led all Owls in scrimmage yards in the final two games of the regular season, going off for 136 yards and two touchdowns against North Texas and 119 yards against South Florida.

When Abell and his staff set out to recruit skill players to this offense moving forward, they’ll turn on Turner’s 2025 tape. He showed what could be possible while the scheme was still in its fledgling stages and the Owls would have been in a tough spot without his big plays to energize the offense.

** Photo credit: Maria Lysaker **

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2025 Rice Football Defensive Newcomer of the Year: Tony Anyanwu

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Tony Anyanwu made his one season on South Main memorable, finishing top five in the conference in sacks on his way to being our 2025 Rice Football Defensive Newcomer of the Year.

It’s hard to know for certain what the Transfer Portal is going to bring. When Rice football added former Baylor edge rusher Tony Anyanwu to the fold they were making a bet that the talented recruit who notched just seven tackles in two seasons with the Bears could bring more to the table with the Owls. It turns out the staff was right.

Anyanwu arrived on campus as the presumptive backup to Michael Daley, who would be lost for the season with an injury just four games into the Owls’ 2025 campaign. At that point, snaps were open to any and all who could find a way to get opposing quarterbacks on the ground.

In that same game in which Daley went down, Anyanwu registered two sacks, the best single-game outing of his career by far. And that was as a role player taking on a little bit more responsibility with every passing week.

More: 2025 Rice Football Season Superlatives

“He’s still coming into his own as a pass rusher,” defensive coordinator Jon Kay said. “I think he’s just going to continue to grow as he gets a better understanding of the defense.”

It wasn’t long after Kay started using words like “mainstay” to describe the steadying presence Anyanwu brought to the Rice defense. He became an every-down player, posting what was then a career-best nine-tackle game in the Owls’ upset win over UConn, which drew even more rave reviews from his coaches.

“He can play a lot of positions. He’s just about the most versatile kid out there because you can drop him in coverage. You can put him in an inside technique and get a pass rush. You can put him on the edge,” head coach Scott Abell gushed, rattling off the myriad of ways Anyanwu had proven effective for Rice.

By the time Rice reached its final game in the Armed Forces Bowl against Texas State, Anyanwu was at his best. He finished with seven solo 11 combined tackles, a mark that led the team. He also had 1.5 sacks.

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Anyanwu had become much more than a situational edge rusher. He was an essential cog in the Rice defense besieged by injuries. The unit limped to the finish line and was in danger of a collapse had it not been for a handful of indomitable players like Anyanwu, who refused to go out without a fight.

Mixed results on a team level limited the accolades Anyanwu might have received on a larger scale, but the Owls’ go-to pass rusher finished the season tied for third in the American with 6.5 sacks and was Top 20 in the conference in tackles for loss. More often than not, Anyanwu changed the game when he was on the field. The defense would not have been the same without him.

** Photo credit: Maria Lysaker **

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2025 Rice Football Iron Man: Andrew Awe

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A former walk-on who never gave up, linebacker Awe became the heart and soul of the defense and our 2025 Rice Football Iron Man.

Over the past five seasons, Rice football has perpetually stacked some of it’s highest rated recruiting classes in program history, thinning out the opportunities for non-scholarship players to make significant impacts. That didn’t stop linebacker Andrew Awe, who persevered to become The Roost’s 2025 Rice Football Iron Man.

Awe arrived on campus prior to the 2020 season as a walk-on, devoid of a true position and did not see the field that year or the following. It wasn’t until the 2022 season that he was placed on scholarship and earned a spot on special teams. He earned his first start in the Owls’ opener against USC that season, but saw almost twice as many snaps on special teams that year as he did with the defense.

More: 2025 Rice Football Season Superlatives

To that point, Awe’s story resembled that of many walk-on players at the collegiate level. Getting on the field in any capacity was already beating the odds, and to earn a scholarship meant he’d done better than the vast majority of others in his position.

He’d become a bit more involved in the defense the following season, but it was the 2024 campaign when Awe truly made his mark, making the leap from contributor to a core member of the defense. He started the final 12 games of the season, finishing third on the team with 52 tackles. By the time the 2025 season arrived, Awe was arguably the face of the defense.

Although he wasn’t a captain in name, it was Awe who strode to the microphone prior to the team’s first game against Louisiana. Later in the season, it was Awe who was selected to speak at the announcement of The Gateway Project, playing a role in the introduction of the Owls’ new stadium renovation plans. No longer anonymous, Awe was a rock head coach Scott Abell relied on to build his program.

Before the season, Awe reflected on that journey. “I’ve been here for 16 years,” he joked.

“At the end of the day, what you put on tape is your resume, so we’re just going to focus on what we put on tape this week.”

Awe’s tape dazzled. He racked up 101 tackles across 12 regular season games, becoming the first Rice player to surpass the century mark in takedowns since 2019. With so much of the defense around him wrestling with injuries and inconsistency, Awe was as reliable as they come.

During the year, Awe was named to the Burlsworth Trophy Award watchlist, a honor given annually to the most outstanding college football player who began their career as a walk-on.

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“I don’t think you can put a price tag on what Awe has meant to our program through this season,” Abell said following the Owls’ final game against South Florida. “When you want to know who the best of us is, it’s Andrew Awe. He represents us in the classroom, in the community and certainly on the football field, day in and day out.”

Awe leaves Rice with 195 tackles, more than half of which he accrued in his final season. The redshirt senior stuck it out, battling through two early years without seeing a snap and a coaching change. And as it turned out, Rice football needed him more this year than either he or the program could have ever imagined as recently as two years ago.

“There’s just not enough words or the right words to really describe how special he is,” Abell said.

** Photo credit: Maria Lysaker **

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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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