Next up for Rice football, a road game against South Florida. 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 North Texas game and looked ahead at their upcoming matchup with South Florida.
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
We’re still learning how to handle the ebb and flow of a game. Offensively, I’ll speak on that because I think both sides handle things differently. Offensively when the rollercoaster goes downhill and a drive stalls, we let that impact us mentally more than we should. That is why I say I think we held ourselves back offensively Saturday and the key is not to do that this week. The key is we need to make them defend all parts of the offense. – Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on the growth of the offense
We’ve played an incredible schedule. We don’t go into this game intimidated. It’s just to me, we’re playing another Top 25 caliber program. I can list them all. We start Louisiana at the beginning of the year was being touted as a top 30 program to UConn, to Memphis, to North Texas and now here we go to South Florida. We’ve been battle tested and I’m excited now to see, here we are game 12, playing for the opportunity to go to a bowl game and what will we learn from all those tests throughout the year.” Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on being battle tested
I do think one of the differences will be, they have one of the best players in the country at quarterback. What makes him so dangerous in who he is is his ability to hurt you with his legs and his arm. That’s different than last week. Last week, very comfortable just standing in the pocket and getting rid of it quick. No really quarterback run game. This week it’ll be more quarterback run game and the passing game probably isn’t that diverse, not quite as exotic, because of the quarterback run game with that and to me, that’s the key. We need to make them one-handed on that side of the football. To do that, you’ve got to control the line of scrimmage and you’ve got to tackle him well, which is a really big challenge, but that’s our challenge.- Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on the USF offense
Putting it all together, man, what an opportunity for us. I think if we can do that – and we’re better in a lot of areas than we were week one, we’ve grown so much, but then there’s some areas because of injuries or season and stuff that we’re still trying to search for answers for – but if we can put it all together, man, what an exciting Saturday. We want to make them uncomfortable. WE want to get them in the fourth quarter. And that opportunity is there if we can now establish ourselves, play four really good quarters of football in all phases. And that’s what it’s going to take. We’ve seen all phases be really good this year. It would be nice and it would be imperative for all of our three phases to be in sync, play quality football at the same time Saturday in South Florida. – Rice Football head coach Scott Abell on what it will take to win on Saturday
Everything jumps out. They’re flaying to the ball. They’re playing for each other. They’re playing with a lot of pride. They’re still trying to fight for a conference championship, so you see the effort out there, it jumps out. They’re front seven is good. DBs can run. They can tackle as well. I think for us, it’s just going out there like every week, matching their intensity, matching their physicality. But they’re a good team. They’re still fighting for a conference championship and even the College Football Playoff so we know we’re going to get their best effort. We gotta go out there and play our game, like we did last week but we gotta take the punches and we gotta throw punches back. – Running back Quinton Jackson on USF
He’s really able to use his legs really well so we just wanna focus on containing the quarterback, pressing the pocket and just making throws difficult for him because we know he’s a dual threat. We want to make sure that he doesn’t affect the game with his legs. – Defensive lineman Tony Anyanwu on USF QB Byrum Brown
Full Press Conference
Depth Chart
Depth Chart Notes
There was one change to the depth chart this week, the removal of Braylen Walker. As The Roost reported last week, Walker was expected to miss the remainder of the regular season, so this change was not unexpected and is more reflective of how that room has looked over the course of the last several weeks.
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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Granson saw some involvement with the offense this week, but was much more active on special teams, where he played 20 snaps against the Cowboys on Sunday.
Fox punted five times in the Lions’ Week 12 win over the Giants, averaging 40 yards per kick with a long of 46 yards. The dip in average was driven by four well-placed balls pinned inside the 20 yard line.
Boswell did not attempt a field goal on Sunday, but did convert all four of his extra point attempts. He is 19-of-22 on field goals this season, including one blocked kick.
McCaffrey was placed on injured reserve with a broken collarbone suffered during the Commanders’ loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 9 and is expected to be sidelined for the foreseeable future.
More Owls in the NFL
From practice squads to current free agents, there are other Owls on the cusp of returning to active rosters. Find more details on current contractual agreements and former Rice football players waiting for their next opportunity here.
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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.
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 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 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.
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.
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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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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