Rice football kicks off Abell era with commanding road win

By Andersen Pickard     8/31/25 3:13pm

For the first time since 2018, Rice football opened its season with a victory.

Scott Abell was soaked with yellow Powerade following a 14-12 win on the road Saturday against the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, which won 10 games and made it to the Sun Belt Conference championship last season. 

“It's one of the best road wins I can remember in my career,” Abell, the Owls’ first-year head coach, said. “If I sit here and reflect, you’re talking 32 years, most of those as a head coach. You think about your road wins as a coach [and] there's only a couple that match it.”

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The Owls’ victory represents their first road win since 2023. They were two-touchdown underdogs earlier in the week, with the spread moving to Rice +9.5 by kickoff.

“You're a two-score underdog on the road, and we just went toe-to-toe and had control most of the game,” Abell said.

Rice opened the game with the ball and immediately showcased the intricacies of Abell’s Gun-Choice offense with a blend of touch passes and options. Although Rice went three-and-out on the opening drive and Louisiana pulled ahead with an early field goal, the Owls were able to respond by executing options, hand-offs and tosses. Redshirt sophomore running back Daelen Alexander broke tackles on several runs and helped get Rice into scoring position before redshirt junior running back Quinton Jackson punched the ball in from one yard out.

The offense had a nearly nonexistent passing attack and leaned on the rushing attack. Jackson carried the load with a career-high 22 carries and 119 rushing yards.

The Owls possessed the football for 10:39 in the first quarter, while Louisiana’s offense was only on the field for 4:21. Abell said part of Rice’s strategy was a slow, methodical approach of running the football.

“One of our goals was to steal the home-field advantage,” Abell said. “We talked about that in our team meeting, and one way to do that is controlling the clock. You take the momentum away from the game, you take the air out of the stadium and we did that in the first half. I thought that really set the tone for the entire game.” 

Alexander was highly efficient, too, rushing 15 times for 74 yards on the ground. His ability to break tackles and fight for yardage mirrored the flashes he showed as a freshman before missing the second half of the 2023 season and the entire 2024 season due to injury.

“Daelen [has] been through some tough times, and I'm just happy for him,” Jackson said. “I tell him every day, ‘It starts with us.’ Daelen’s like a brother to me. I'm just excited. No words to describe it.”

Each of Louisiana’s next two drives resulted in turnovers. Graduate safety Jack Kane intercepted an underthrown ball and graduate defensive lineman Tony Anyanwu forced a strip sack that was recovered by redshirt senior defensive lineman Blake Boenisch.

On the ensuing Owls possession, redshirt sophomore quarterback Chase Jenkins attempted a rare pass beyond the line of scrimmage and was bailed out by redshirt sophomore wide receiver Drayden Dickmann, who made a diving catch over the middle of the field. 

Jenkins went 7-for-9 passing with 45 yards, and most of those came on short pitches behind the line of scrimmage. As a team, the Owls totaled 37 yards after the catch. Jenkins’ role in the rushing attack was less effective than expected as he rushed 12 times for a loss of 13 yards.

Rice moved into the red zone and added seven more points as graduate wide receiver Aaron Turner received a pitch, bounced outside, turned the corner, dove for the end zone and snuck the football inside the pylon.

Louisiana added another field goal in the final seconds of the first half, sending the game to halftime with Rice ahead, 14-6.

Louisiana and Rice exchanged punts to open the third quarter. Redshirt junior punter Alex Bacchetta launched the third-longest punt of his career, totaling 56 yards and pinning the Ragin’ Cajuns at their own 2-yard line. However, Louisiana’s quarterback moved the chains with a scramble on third down to get his offense away from its own end zone.

A big 32-yard run pushed Louisiana toward midfield, and shortly after, their quarterback scrambled for a 25-yard touchdown. However, the Cajuns’ two-point conversion attempt, which would have tied the game, was unsuccessful, leaving Rice ahead.

The teams then combined to exchange five consecutive three-and-outs. Louisiana got the ball back with 8:16 left and attempted to pick up two yards on fourth down, but their quarterback was stopped short by senior safety Daveon Hook. 

Rice responded with a nine-play drive that brought them one yard from the end zone on fourth down, leaving an important decision in Abell’s hands. The first-year FBS head coach sent his offense on the field, but a botched snap left Jenkins with no option but to take a sack.

Gifted one last chance to mount a game-winning drive, Louisiana moved the chains with a 25-yard pass near the sideline. However, the Cajuns’ quarterback was injured on the play and did not return. Their backup struggled to move the football, but Louisiana was gifted free yardage as graduate cornerback Khary Crump committed pass interference on 3rd-and-20.

Soon after, Louisiana faced a 4th-and-10 from its own 35-yard line. Rice rushed four, and the Cajuns’ pass fell incomplete after being deflected by redshirt junior defensive end Michael Daley. Louisiana’s backup quarterback finished the drive with zero completions on six pass attempts, and Rice regained possession to kneel out the remainder of the clock.

“A lot of work was put in this offseason, and my dad always told me to just embrace the moment, embrace the journey,” Jackson said. “I'm just excited. I don't really care about myself. I'm just excited for the guys in that locker room.”

Defensively, Daley consistently made his presence felt near the line of scrimmage. In addition to his fourth-down pass break-up, he registered one sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. Elsewhere within the unit, redshirt senior safety Peyton Stevenson showcased effective open-field tackling and ultimately finished second on the team with five tackles. Hook made a key fourth-down stop and also laid a hit to break up a pass over the middle. 

The biggest impact on defense may have come from redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Joseph Mutombo, who is stepping into a larger role this season due to other players’ departures. He had two pressures in the first quarter that forced the Louisiana quarterback to panic, resulting in an intentional grounding penalty and an interception. He finished the game with two tackles and one sack.

“A lot of the guys [on defense] want to make each other right, run around, hunt as a pack,” Daley said. “With the offense that we have and the culture that we're establishing, it's just a complete turnover from what we had last year. It's hunting as a pack and trying to control the line of scrimmage as much as we possibly can to then get the ball back in Quinton’s hands and score some points.”

Abell acknowledged Rice’s effectiveness in all three phases of the game, credited his coaching staff and said that the Owls will immediately start preparing for next weekend’s home opener against the University of Houston. The Bayou Bucket series returns to Rice Stadium at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 7. 

“For all the fans out there and all our generations of alums, I hope you're watching,” Abell said. “We don’t just put this jersey on for ourselves. We put it on for you each and every week, and I'm proud.”

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