There were a handful of unexpected outcomes among Group of Five teams in Week 1.
One of those contests was Rice’s 14-12 victory over Louisiana. College football betting odds had Rice as a 10-point underdog entering the matchup.
It was the Owls’ first season-opening win since 2018 and their first defeat over an FBS opponent in a season opener since 2008. Their only two season-opening wins since then came against FCS programs when they defeated Wagner in 2015 and Prairie View A&M in 2018.
In the win, the Owls showcased their new style of offensive play under head coach Scott Abell. The first-year coach took the job at Rice after spending the previous seven seasons at Davidson. There, his offense operated the gun-choice option, where the quarterback runs the triple-option out of the shotgun.
Rice quarterback Chase Jenkins only attempted nine passes against Louisiana while his offense had 55 rushing attempts — 24 more than the Ragin’ Cajuns. The Owls controlled the clock and won the time of possession by nearly 13 minutes while running backs Quinton Jackson and Daelen Alexander grinded out yards. Jackson finished with 119 yards on 22 carries and Alexander logged 74 yards on 15 carries.
The Owls’ methodical and unique approach had Louisiana on its heels for much of the game.
Things won’t be as easy this week, though, with the Bayou Bucket Classic on tap. The Owls host Houston in the cross-town matchup and face an opposing head coach who’s familiar with this style of offense.
Houston head coach Willie Fritz ran a similar system when he coached at Sam Houston and Georgia Southern more than a decade ago. Fritz said he would have run the same offense while coaching at Tulane but never quite had the right personnel.
What does this mean for Rice? Will Jenkins and Co. have the same success they had against the Ragin’ Cajuns?
It’s hard to imagine Fritz won’t have his defense prepared for this style of play based on his experience utilizing it. He probably saw countless game plans opponents installed to try and stop his gun-option offenses and knows which ones worked better than others.
I don’t think that means the Owls will be stymied, however.
We’ve seen Army, Navy, and Air Force run option offenses and have plenty of success doing so even when the opponent knew what to expect. Sometimes it just can’t be stopped.
Rice has the potential to keep this matchup against Houston within reach if it’s able to come close to having the same type of success with its gun-option as it did against Louisiana.
This will be the 47th meeting between Rice and Houston, and the Cougars have won eight of the last nine. The Owls pulled out a double-overtime victory two years ago. As of now, there aren’t any future games scheduled between these schools, who are just five miles apart. The 2026 and 2027 meetings were canceled at the agreement of both schools.
While it’s unfortunate that there aren’t any more editions of the Bayou Bucket Classic scheduled, Abell will have at least one chance to give Rice fans something to boast about if he’s able to lead the Owls to a win over Houston. Even a close loss would be promising.
I think he’s already proven that Rice will be competitive and won’t be a pushover in the American.
