# Rice Owls

American · Rice Stadium, Houston, TX
Head coach: Scott Abell · year 2 · 5-8 career over 2 seasons, all at RICE
Offense: Spread Option · Defense: Multiple 3-4

## 2026 outlook

- 2025 record: 5-8 (2-6 in conference)
- National title odds: +125000 (#63 on the futures board)
- Season win total: 3.5 (over priced -118)
- Returning starter games: 41%
- Schedule difficulty: 39th-hardest of 138 FBS teams

## Returning production by unit

| Unit | Returning games | Games back | Depth back |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Skill offense | 35% | 25/71 | 7/14 |
| Offensive line | 45% | 26/58 | 8/16 |
| Defensive front | 43% | 39/91 | 10/22 |
| Secondary | 43% | 23/54 | 6/16 |

## Roster movement

- Key returning: Quinton Jackson (RB), Patrick Valent (OL), Luke Miller (OL), Nate Bledsoe (OL), Chibby Nwajuaku (DL)
- Key departures (with destination): Jack Kane (SAF), Plae Wyatt (SAF), Peyton Stevenson (SAF), Chase Jenkins (QB) – KU, Tony Anyanwu (DL)
- Key arrivals (with previous school): Jacurri Brown (QB) – UCF, Davis Lane (RB) – UVA, Koa Akui (SAF) – SAC, Stone Combs (LB) – NEV, Austin Harnetiaux (LB) – NEV

## Depth chart

### Offense

- WR-X: Payton Matthews, Keenan Arcega-Whiteside
- WR-Z: Braylen Walker, Barry Jackson Jr., Jordan Clark
- WR-SL: Davis Lane, Colin Leahey, Owen Carter
- LT: Luke Needham, Justin Michaelis, Cullen Witt
- LG: Patrick Valent, Leo Bluhm
- C: Scott Becker, Nate Bledsoe
- RG: Cole Principe
- RT: Luke Miller, Peyton Farmer
- TE: James Falk, Preston Zinter, DD Oliver
- QB: Jacurri Brown, Gael Ochoa, Lucas Scheerhorn
- RB: Quinton Jackson, D'Andre Hardeman Jr., Tyvonn Byars

### Defense

- DE: Joseph Mutombo, Braden Bays
- NT: Aquantis Clemmons, Matthew Aribisala
- DT: Dillan Botts, Christopher Clark-Jolivet, Robert Rooks
- RUSH: Chibby Nwajuaku, Tariq May
- WLB: Cooper King, Beau Barton
- MLB: Jesus Machado Jr, Ty Thames
- VIPER: Jo Chavez, AJ Brown, Caden VerMaas
- LCB: Jerrick Harper, Zach Cody, Kyren Condoll
- SS: Daveon Hook, Ahran Ogbor, Michael Amey III
- FS: Koa Akui, Bailey Fletcher
- RCB: Tariq Watson, Jamir Benjamin

### Special Teams

- PT: Charlie Durkin
- PK: Enock Gota
- KO: Enock Gota
- LS: Phoenix Derichsweiler
- H: Charlie Durkin
- KR: Quinton Jackson

## 2026 schedule

| Week | Opponent | Site | TV | Spread |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Houston Christian Huskies (FCS) | Home | ESPN+ | RICE -24.5 |
| 2 | Notre Dame | Away | NBC/Peacock | – |
| 3 | Western Michigan | Home | ESPN+ | – |
| 4 | Fresno State | Away | The CW | – |
| 5 | UTSA | Home | – | – |
| 6 | East Carolina | Away | – | – |
| 7 | Tulsa | Home | – | – |
| 8 | Florida Atlantic | Away | – | – |
| 10 | North Texas | Away | – | – |
| 11 | Tulane | Home | – | – |
| 12 | Temple | Away | ESPN | – |
| 13 | Army | Home | – | – |

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Source: SharpData OS – https://www.sharpdataos.com/cfb/teams/rice
Depth chart updated 2026-08-11. Odds shown are point-in-time snapshots.