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Rice Football 2025 Game Preview: South Florida

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Rice football concludes regular season play on the road against South Florida. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

The final week of the regular season is upon us. Rice football enters its finale following a home loss on Senior Day to North Texas, while South Florida returns home from a more successful road trip in Birmingham, where they took down UAB with relative ease. Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup between Rice and South Florida.

Kickoff time | 6:00 PM
Venue | Raymond James Stadium – Tampa, FL
TV | ESPN+ (Viewing Guide)
Radio | Varsity Radio App (Online)

Sizing up the Contenders

With two conference losses, a trip to the American Championship game is wishful thinking for South Florida entering this final game. However, it still might be possible for an emphatic win and some chaos in the ranks ahead of them to make things interesting. Regardless, the Bulls have their eyes on a 10-win season and they won’t get there without beating Rice on Saturday.

More: Undersized and Undeterred – Quinton Jackson’s Journey to Rice Football Star

The Owls find themselves in a different place, seeking a sixth win to secure bowl eligibility in Scott Abell’s first season on campus. This team would happily take a postseason berth any way they could get it, even if it came as a 5-win team courtesy of an APR bump, but everyone would rest much easier if they could find a way to secure that postseason trip for certain with an upset over South Florida.

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Last Time Out

Make sure you check out The Roost Podcast every week this season as we review the Owls’ most recent game, breaking down the key moments, decisions and their impact on the outlook of the program moving forward.

Series History

All Time | Tied, 1-1
Last Five | Tied, 1-1
Last Meeting | Home 2024, Rice won 35-28

Rice Football Stat Notables

Passing | Jenkins – 113/163 (69.3 percent), 986 yards, 9TD, 2 INT
Rushing | Jackson – 162 carries, 808 yards (5.0 yards per carry), 6 TD / Jenkins – 140 carries, 497 yards (3.6 yards per carry) – 5 TD / Hardeman – 74 carries, 310 yards (4.2 yards per carry), 2 TD
Receiving | Dickmann – 36 receptions, 319 yards (8.9 yds/rec), 3 TD / Turner – 46 receptions, 275 yards (6.0 yds/rec)
Tackles | Awe – 87 / Morris – 73 / Williams – 66
Pass Breakups | Crump (Suspended) – 6 / Williams, Porter – 5
Interceptions | Kane, Stevenson, Wyatt – 1

South Florida Stat Notables

Passing | Brown – 210/317 (66.2 percent), 2883 yards, 24 TD, 7 INT
Rushing | Brown – 160 carries, 904 yards (5.7 yds/car), 13 TD / Davenport – 80 carries, 546 yards (6.8 yds/car), 6 TD / Franklin – 60 carries, 380 yards (6.3 yds/car), 4 TD
Receiving | Singleton – 44 receptions, 752 yards (17.1 yds/rec), 6 TD / Koger – 32 receptions, 504 yards (15.8 yds/rec), 6 TD / Reuben – 10 receptions, 405 yards (13.1 yds/rec), 4 TD
Tackles | Harris – 95 / Shuler – 88 / Ward – 60
Pass Breakups | Shuler – 7 / Duclona – 4 / Rucker, Chenault, Stokes – 3
Interceptions | Chenault, Harris, Lee, Gaskins – 2 / Six tied with one each

South Florida X-Factor | Death by a Million Cuts

Rice is a ball-control offense that wasn’t to dictate the terms of the game through possession and limiting opportunities for the other team. And while South Florida ranks dead last in the American Conference in time of possession per game, averaging less than 25 minutes per game, they have amassed an impressed 23.6 first downs per contest.

South Florida can strike fast. They can drive the length of the field. But what they’ve done so well this season is grind teams out so that by the time the second half arrives, defenses are tired and unable to mount a capable resistance. That’s been the breaking point for the Rice defense in recent weeks, able to stand tall in spots, but worn down by the constant battering an elite offense can provide.

To win this one, South Florida must maintain its consistency and move the ball effectively. If they can do that, the points will come.

Rice X-Factor | Force Some Turnovers

Only one team in FBS has forced fewer turnovers than Rice football. One. The Owls’ six takeaways represent barely more than half a turnover per game and that’s simply not going to cut it against a quality opponent like South Florida.

A turnover-free day requires a near-perfect offensive effort and further contributions from everywhere else. Rice pulled off the feat against UConn, but that’s not a sustainable way to live for a team that doesn’t have any truly dominant phase to hang its hat on. Rice needs to steal some possessions and get South Florida playing off script. Turnovers are the best way to accomplish that.

Injury Report (Subscribers only)

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One Final Thing

It’s hard to put into words just how significant a bowl berth would be for this program after the year they’ve had under their first-year head coach. Things have been bumpy. The roster has its flaws. And still, they’ve found ways to win.

Practically, the Abell hire isn’t any more or less successful if Rice makes a bowl game or not, but the optics of being ahead of schedule by such a noticeable margin would have tremendous dividends for the program, both on and off the field.

Beating a nine-win UConn team should go down as one of the more impressive wins Rice football has had in several years. But fair or not, a FBS independent not named Notre Dame doesn’t carry the same cache that knocking off a top-flight American Conference team would. To stack South Florida on top of UConn and Louisiana would be quite a feat for a program that’s supposed to be “rebuilding.”

On paper, Rice football probably has no business winning this game, but that’s sort of the exact reason Abell was hired and his offense was welcomed to South Main. This is supposed to become a program that wins games like this, games when the masses have counted them out. It sure would be nice to see that come to fruition just one more time this season.

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Rice Football Drops Senior Night Shootout to North Texas

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Rice Football threw the first punch but it was North Texas that delivered the knockout blow, handing the Owls a one-sided loss on Senior Night.

On a night with free ice cream and adult beverages being passed around in the stands, Rice football did its best to get the party started on the right foot. Once those initial cheers subsided, though, a ranked North Texas squad took control of the game and began to rack up style points to improve its perception in the eyes of the College Football Playoff committee. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Picture Perfect Start

You couldn’t have scripted a more picture-perfect start on Saturday night. Rice football received the opening kickoff and promptly marched 86 yards in 12 plays, grinding six minutes off the clock before quarterback Chase Jenkins delivered a slashing touchdown run to put the home underdogs on top.

It would get even better from there. Following a quick three-and-out forced by the defense, the offense took over and doubled down with a 10-play, 71-yard drive which also ended in the endzone, this time courtesy of Aaron Turner.

Playing keep away from the prolific North Texas offense was always going to be the Owls’ best chance at pulling off this upset. Still, it’s one thing to know what to do and another thing to execute it. Rice held the ball for 11:56 on their first two drives, preventing the Mean Green from doing damage with their explosive offense.

Game of Inches Leads to Quick Momentum Shift

Rice football found out just how narrow those margins were soon afterward. North Texas quarterback Drew Mestemaker ripped a 74-yard touchdown pass to Wyatt Young on the next possession. But that wasn’t the blow that stung the most.

On the ensuing Rice possession with the Owls leading 14-7, Rice was stonewalled on fourth-and-one in North Texas territory. The Mean Green took over and converted a fourth-and-one of their own before punching in the equalizing score.

“When they scored it to make it 14 all, you really felt, I don’t know it was a tension on our sideline or we kind of lost that energy that we had so much in the first quarter,” head coach Scott Abell said.

More: Join the Conversation on The Roost Discord

During the next Rice possession, Jenkins fired low on a third down pass, just missing out on a first down play by inches. The Owls punted, their first three-and-out of the game. Mestemaker hit Tre Williams on a 56-yard bomb on that next possessions and the Owls’ hot start had quickly turned into a first half deficit.

So much was going right for Rice in those opening moments, but the sheer athleticism and effectiveness of North Texas in those got-to-have-it moments turned this game on its head in a matter of minutes. That the Mean Green would convert an additional fourth down in the quarter only furthered the Owls’ misery.

“Some of that is we’ve got to grow up. They punched back. So how do you respond after you get punched back?” Abell asked. “And we didn’t respond very well. We came out and we threw the first couple of blows, it really could not have started better. And when they punched back, we didn’t respond after that.”

You Can’t Hide from Speed

That would be the beginning of 42 unanswered points from the visiting team, turning a would-be-upset into a battle to avoid being blown off the field in the second half. And although North Texas running back Caleb Hawkins would put up an efficient 97-yard, three touchdown performance, it was the aerial attack of Mestemaker and the North Texas offense that proved impossible for Rice to combat.

Rice knew coming into this game they had to stop Wyatt Young, but it didn’t matter how they tried to cover him, the star receiver hauled in five passes for 295 yards and two long touchdowns. That yardage tally represented an American Conference record and was the most receiving yards by any player in the FBS this season, falling not too far short from a North Texas program record, too.

More: Stay Tuned for the Recap on The Roost Podcast

That doesn’t bode well for the Owls’ upcoming game against South Florida, which has it’s fair share of speed in their skill position ranks.

And Then There Was One

In many ways, the way things transpired against North Texas didn’t unearth new ground. A leaky secondary and an inconsistent offense were both well known deficiencies this program had carried throughout the season. But being able to explain a loss doesn’t mean much for a program still fighting to steal a sixth win.

Abell noted that North Texas a similar position not too long ago, but they’ve taken that next step to become a bonafide conference championship contender.

“When you build something, it doesn’t happen over night. I think our guys have done an incredible job this year. I’m proud of the steps we’ve taken for the program so far this year,” he said. “With the opportunity to get win six, which would speak volumes for this program and how young we are, when you look around our roster and the guys who are taking the field for us.”

Many of those issues can’t be waved away or drastically changed before Rice takes the field again next Saturday in Tampa. Still, this is a program that remains confident and daring despite a tough setback against the Mean Green.

“We know what’s at stake,” quarterback Chase Jenkins said. “We’re putting all our chips in to go to a bowl game.”

Digging Deeper

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Aaron Turner Shows What’s Possible

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Know Your Foe: Rice Football vs North Texas

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North Texas is next up on the 2025 Rice football schedule, so we’re going behind enemy lines with Mean Green insider JD Davis of the North Texas Eagle.

Mean Green insider JD Davis was kind enough to stop by and answer a few questions about the upcoming matchup between Rice Football and North Texas. The answers below should shed some light on the Owls’ upcoming opponent.

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Rice Football 2025: North Texas Game Week Practice Notes

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Rice Football has had two weeks to prepare for Senior Night and a massive matchup with a ranked North Texas squad. Here’s the latest from the field.

This bye week felt much different for Rice football than their previous one. This current iteration of the Owls is much healthier in key spots and was actually able to use practice time drilling key concepts with the players expected to execute them on Saturday. Juggling that priority with bringing along necessary depth on other spots made for an intriguing two weeks on the practice field.

The Final Stretch

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Rice Football 2025: North Texas presser quotes and depth chart

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Next up for Rice football, a home game against North Texas. Here’s what head coach Scott Abell had to say about the matchup and a few depth chart notes.

Head coach Scott Abell and a set of players met with the media for their customary weekly availability. They recapped the UAB game and looked ahead at their upcoming matchup with North Texas.

We touch on those items, then dig into the Rice football depth chart and what the team looks like heading into the weekend. First, the quotes:

Press Conference Quotes

The advantage we got in this bye week compared to the first one is that we were healthier going into it. The first bye week, three weeks ago now, it became more how do we catch our young football players up? How do we manage the roster to try and get ourselves healthy to head into the back half of the season? This time we hit the bye week, we were fairly healthy, so we could grow in the bye week. We could really take a hard look at what we’re doing. – Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on the bye week

I see a football program, they’re playing with a ton of confidence. Incredibly skilled on both sides of the football. They recruited players that fit their scheme… and here they are now, they’re playing as good of football as anybody we’ve played all year.”– Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on the UNT program

They’re very opportunistic. They’ve forced 24 turnovers on the year, defensively. We need to take care of the football. That’s been a secret sauce that probably doesn’t get talked about. Their offense overshadows their defense but their defense has 24 takeaways on the year. That makes every offense better. That makes every program better. – Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on the North Texas defense

[QB Drew Mestemaker and RB Caleb Hawkins are] just two really talented people. When I look at their offensive roster, you gotta talk about [Wyatt] Young, right? He’s a deep ball threat. He’s incredibly athletic and really fast. They find really creative ways to get him the football… they give you a lot to defend. Mestemaker, he does a really good job of getting the football to all of his athletes. – Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on the North Texas skill players

My time at Rice has been unbelievable. It’s taught me so many lessons. I’ve been through so many trials and tribulations and those trials and tribulations ultimately got me to where I am today. Without God, I wouldn’t be here standing at this podium right now. If you would have told me two years ago you would be standing here, you would be a captain of the Rice football team, I would have said, you’re a liar. Because of God and because of people that he brought to my life like coach Abell I’m able to stand at this podium right now and be a captain of this Rice football team. – Tight End Micah Barnett on his time at Rice

They do have a good quarterback They’ve got a pretty good running back as well. I just feel like they all complement each other very well. In some offense you see some groups doing better than others and some not, but I feel these are very well put together team, a very experienced team. I feel they all mesh together as a unit and come together very well. – Defensive lineman Blake Boenisch on the North Texas offense

Full Press Conference

Depth Chart

Depth Chart Notes

There were two minor changes to the depth chart this week, both accounting for injuries that were preexisting before the Rice football bye week. Tackle Brad Baur was removed with freshman Justin Michaelis inserted in his stead. On defense, Daveon Hook was removed with Jack Kane sliding up and Bailey Fletcher re-enntering the two deep behind him.

Any other adjustments will likely be injury-related or driven by the subtle schematic shifts the Owls employ for this game. We’ll cover those in depth on this week’s practice report, available to those subscribed to our Starting Lineup Tier on Patreon, which should be out later this week.

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