Game notes
- Time and date: Saturday, October 11 at 7:30 p.m. ET
- Network: ESPNU
- Location: Alamodome — San Antonio, TX
- Spread: UTSA (-10.5)
- Over/under: 49.5
- All-time series: UTSA leads, 8-4
- Last meeting: Rice 29, UTSA 27 — October 12, 2024
- Current streak: Rice, 1 (2024)
Is this a rivalry?
Rice and UTSA comprise of two of the three Texas-based schools in the American Conference. While both programs hold a non-conference rivalry trophy game in higher regard — for Rice the Bayou Bucket vs.
Houston, and for UTSA the I-35 Rivalry vs. Texas State — the Owls and Roadrunners are molding somewhat of a conference rivalry. Excluding the COVID-canceled game in 2020, they’ve clashed every year since 2012, and Rice added fuel to the fire by snapping UTSA’s 8-game series win streak last October.
“Since I got here, I’ve probably had more conversations, more questions about UTSA — ‘Have you met Coach Traylor?’ ‘Do you know the history of UTSA?’” Rice head coach Scott Abell said. “I love these games, whether it’s questions about Houston or when I went back to Charlotte. I love the opportunity. I love the game where there’s something else there. I think your kids rise to the occasion going on the road and playing in a hostile environment.”
The veterans on UTSA remember the taste from last year’s heartbreak, as Rice quarterback E.J. Warner delivered a go-ahead 18-yard touchdown pass to Matt Sykes with four seconds remaining to end the Roadrunners’ reign of terror over the Owls. Now that the incumbent Rice players know UTSA is beatable, the Owls look forward to the next challenge — winning at the Alamodome. The Roadrunners are 11-1 in their last 12 home games, winning five-consecutive matchups vs. Rice in the indoor venue in downtown San Antonio.
“When I first got here, we were everybody’s homecoming game,” Rice sixth-year senior inside linebacker Andrew Awe said. “We were in the Alamodome and one time they did the wave and they had a Rice piñata, and they kept on hitting it, and I hated that. Ever since then, I’ve had a chip on my shoulder. We have to beat these guys. They have no respect for us. Ever since then, this has always been a game I really want to win, especially since they’re a good football team and coached well.”
Keeping the faith
In the six years since Jeff Traylor arrived, UTSA knows nothing but winning seasons. The longtime high school coach transformed a once-dormant program into a consistent winner, claiming the Roadrunners’ first two conference championships in 2021 and 2022 and first two bowl wins in 2023 and 2024. However, 2025 hasn’t been off to a smooth start as Traylor’s 2-3 team dropped two games as favorites, squandering an 11-point lead at Temple last Saturday. The head coach understands the criticisms that come with falling below expectations, and he looks to execute a similar turnaround — as UTSA transformed a 2-4 start into a 7-6 finish in 2024.
“When they quit griping, we’re in trouble at UTSA because that means they don’t care anymore. These people care,” Traylor said. “I know my alumni are passionate and I love them for that, and I know it’s impossible for somebody that’s an alumni to understand that a man that’s only been here for six years can love a place like they love this place. There’s no one that hurts more than me when the UTSA Roadrunners don’t win. I don’t think we can ever mistake the passion of our fanbase for wanting me fired, (defensive coordinator Jess) Loepp fired, Owen (McCown) fired, (special teams coordinator Zach) Brown fired, and (offensive coordinator Justin) Burke fired. That means they care. When they quit caring, that’s when we’re in trouble. And we got to make sure we win enough games they don’t quit caring.”
UTSA has been involved in three one-score games, surviving Colorado State 17-16 on a last-minute two-point conversion stop but failing to maintain leads vs. Texas State and Temple. Traylor expects one-score games to be the new normal for this UTSA team which must correct the turnover and penalty problems which opened the door for a Temple comeback in Week 6.
“I’ve never really believed in embarrassing players by calling them out to the media,” Traylor said. “I think there’s something to be said for that behind close doors, and I think that is the secret to why our kids have always compete here. I understand our fanbase is upset that we didn’t win these close games, but I’m proud of how our guys always complete, and they’re always in the game. If you want to have high blood pressure and not much hair, be a Roadrunner fan. I never let facts get in the way of a good story. The more Frank (Harris) is gone, the less we’ve blown out everybody. Guys that have been here a long time know we’ve made a living on these games. I wish we could blow people out and were that much superior to people, but in the new landscape of college football, there’s gonna be a lot more one-possession ballgames.”
Runnin’ Robert
UTSA presents one of the most dangerous offensive players of the college football season. Robert Henry Jr. currently ranks third in the FBS in rushing yards with 666, averaging 8.3 yards per carry — almost serving as a walking first down. Henry rode a six-game streak of 140+ yards from the tail-end of 2024 through the first four outings of 2025. Limiting the talented tailback is Rice’s priority during its Saturday night trip to the Alamodome.
“I think he’s the guy that makes it go,” Abell said. “Their success offensively, when they’ve been explosive, he’s the one making them go. When they haven’t been quite as explosive, it’s when he’s not on the field or taking a break. They’re still good, but they’re not as explosive. He’s the key. We have to contain him and tackle him in space.”
One specific skill Henry has mastered is the art of the explosive touchdown. Henry leads the FBS with five touchdowns eclipsing 70 yards — four on the ground and one as a receiver. Four of UTSA’s five opponents were subject to the running back’s ability to strike from long range, and this recurring development can make every Roadrunner possession feel like a red zone possession.
“We’ve gotta be gap sound first,” Abell said. “We have to win up front and we have to win the line of scrimmage. Then you have to be gap sound when you win at the line of scrimmage. If you win and get out of the gap, you’re not winning. We must tackle well at the second level. When he gets to that third level, it gets really hard to chase him down or make that open field tackle at 15 yards with a lot of space… Once again, force them to drive the field. That’s a great formula for us.”
Last Saturday, Temple became the first team to effectively shut down the star running back. Henry only notched 42 yards on 12 carries against the Owls. Traylor cited other factors as the reason for Henry’s limited reps, but he hopes to reactivate the run game this weekend through the feature back, as well as Will Henderson III (159 rushing yards through five games).
“We got off of the running game too quick,” Traylor said. “We had a few issues with Robert, just hydration and some problems with the heat and probably some overuse through the year. That hurt us, but I still thought we got off the running game too quickly. We were blocking them too good up front to not give him or Will more of a chance. We got too pass-happy in my opinion.
Owls owning the option
Rice drew headlines in the offseason for a seismic schematic shift, ditching its pro-style offense for a spread option out of the shotgun. Abell’s Davidson teams notably led the FCS in rushing, and he’s taking that ground heavy approach to Southeast Texas. Rice currently ranks 18th nationally in rushing yards per game and only Army attempts more runs than Rice’s 50 per game. The engine making this offense efficient is Quinton Jackson, a speedy junior tailback who posted a career-high 128 yards last week — fueled by a 68-yard touchdown scamper right out of the gate.
“He’s right outside the top 10 in the country rushing,” Abell said of Jackson. “When you look at his rushing totals, QJack has continued to be a big emphasis in our offense. Last week he had 19 carries, and that’s where we want to draw the line with any of our backs because we know it’s a long season. The thing that goes under-viewed when we talk about QJack is the tough yards he gets inside the tackle. That’s what my offense is built from. You’ve gotta get some tough yards when you’re building your inside zone concepts and that’s not always easy.”
Explosive plays like Jackson’s 68-yarder are helpful, but with a ground-based attack, those plays aren’t going to occur as naturally for Rice. What Abell hopes to develop is the ability to sustain long scoring drives, chewing clock and wearing out defenses with his option attack.
“If it’s a 10-play drive, we’ve gotta own that,” Abell said. “That has to be part of our DNA. We can’t just rely on explosive plays. We’re not that program. I think one of our drives was 91 yards Saturday and I want to see more of those. When you can do that and control the football like that, everybody gets better. Everybody wins.”
UTSA’s defense has been exploited by opponents through the passing game this fall. However, creating a strong aerial presence is not an advantage Rice seeks heading into ballgames. The Owls pushed the ball through the air better than usual last week as quarterback Chase Jenkins fired for a season-high 127 yards on a 12-of-17 showing. Still, Rice ranks second-to-last in passing yards per game and will retain its ground-heavy identity in a trip to Central Texas.
“You have to stay true to who you are with the idea of how your offense is growing,” Abell said. “Last week we talked about our success throwing the football. We had success at Navy throwing the football. All of that builds confidence going into a game, and that’s what you want. We’ll see what we’re able to take advantage of and what we’re not. Ideally we’d like to get in space, whether it’s your option game or your pass game, and put your guys out there to make some plays.”
Dissecting the defenses
Rice’s specialty on defense is the linebacking duo of Andrew Awe and Ty Morris. Awe often inhibits to the inside position, while Morris traditionally lines up as an outside backer in the Owls’ 3-4 base scheme. The veterans rank one and two on the roster in tackles with 48 and 41, respectively, and they are no strangers to invading the backfield. Awe presents 3.5 tackles for loss, while Morris has 7.0, along with a pair of sacks and a forced fumble to form Rice’s most lethal tandem.
“Sometimes me and Ty, people don’t know, we will switch positions on the field,” Awe said. “We just know each other’s jobs, what we expect of each other, we communicate, and we show that chemistry around each other. I already know what he’s thinking, he knows what I’m thinking. We’ll come back on the bench and talk. We even talk on the field. We’ll be coaches on the field, so he’s got my back and I got his back. He’s got more of the energy and more of the hype. I got more of the logic and more of the coach in me. It’s pretty cool having that dynamic.”
Rice’s defense has excelled this year, ranking 59th in the FBS with 21.5 points allowed per game. Only Houston crossed 27 points, and the Cougars were facing a shutout until the final minute before halftime. Overall, it’s been a sturdy unit but is susceptible to allowing explosive plays. That was Florida Atlantic’s gateway to a 27-21 victory last week, and the Owls must prevent two or three plays from turning the entire tide of a game.
“Defensively, we can’t give up the big play,” Abell said. “I think we’ve played really good defense, but if you look at Saturday, getting off the field on third down and giving up the explosive plays — that was our downfall. You’re talking about a handful of plays. Really no different when you’re talking about Navy or you talk about Houston. In the first three quarters, there’s a handful of plays that keep all those games from being different, which I find so much encouragement with. The opportunity to win all our games so far has been there.”
UTSA had a tall task this offseason replacing 11 defensive starters, but the Roadrunners reloaded nicely up front. Led by outside linebacker Nnannu Anyanwu’s 4.0 sacks and 5.0 tackles for loss, UTSA is getting stops behind the line of scrimmage with great effectiveness. The Roadrunners allow 118 rushing yards per game on a 3.6 average, providing a difficult test to a Rice team which makes its living on the ground.
“This is the best front seven we’ve seen all year,” Abell said. “I think they’re athletic. They’re physical. They’re really athletic there, and jumps out to me. Our job will be to try to make them play slower. That’s our job each week with defenses — how do we make them play slower with our scheme? And I think Temple did a good job with that. They kept them on their heels a little bit so they couldn’t play as fast.”
UTSA’s passing defense remains a work in progress. The Roadrunners are 124th nationally surrendering 264 passing yards per game, and they aren’t frequently generating interceptions either. Traylor sees improvement on that side of the ball after limiting Temple to 180 passing yards, but he emphasizes the Roadrunners need to fight harder for turnovers and breakups moving forward.
“When you study the video, we’re getting better,” Traylor said. “The 50-50 balls in the secondary, (Temple) went up and made the plays and our kids didn’t, and that’s on coaching. You gotta win those 50-50 balls, and we’ve gotta keep stressing that. You gotta make that play on 3rd and 11. You gotta knock that ball down somehow. We did enough of that. My point being, we played good enough to be in the game. We haven’t played good enough to win the game.”
Moving with McCown
UTSA quarterback Owen McCown ranked 15th in the FBS last season in passing yards, compiling 3,424 with a sharp touchdown to interception ratio of 25-to-10. Through five starts in 2025, McCown is averaging 198 passing yards per game, firing nine touchdowns to four interceptions. Traylor has full faith in his quarterback reverting to his 2024 form and cited several factors contributing to the slower start for the passing game — including the litany of wide receiver injuries in the month of September.
“A lot of it is coaching, some of it is him, and there’s some other factors,” Traylor said. “We’ve ran the ball way more. We couldn’t run the ball last year. We were kind of running the ball last year by throwing quicker, so it pads your stats a little bit. We’re way more committed to running the ball this year than we have in the past, but we weren’t in the (Temple) game, and that inflated his passing stats a little bit. There’s got to be a balance there. We’ve got to do a better job balancing out our offense.”
Rice’s experienced defense is conscious of McCown’s ability to take over a game with his arm as he fired for 256 passing yards and three touchdowns in last October’s meeting, erasing a double-digit fourth quarter deficit to hand UTSA the lead. Owl defenders are equally cognizant of McCown’s abilities outside the pocket. Although the quarterback only has 45 rushing yards on the year, he scrambled for 53 last year in Houston — and Rice wants to eliminate this aspect of his game.
“That was the first time we played Owen, and we didn’t really know much about his legs,” Awe said. “We knew how athletic he was, and he’s a very athletic guy, so a lot of people look past that. It was really about containing the quarterback a lot of times. We don’t want him to break outside the pocket. He’ll really be dangerous with his legs to extend plays. Doing that last year was one of our really big points, and getting off on third down was one of our biggest points too that helped us win that game.”
Prediction
Rice is still at the point in year one of the Scott Abell era where it needs low-scoring games to win. The Owls field a stellar defense, but their lack of offensive explosiveness and inability to frequently sustain long drives are factors in producing the nation’s 112th scoring offense. UTSA’s passing defense is an exploitable feature for most opponents, but Rice is one of two FBS programs throwing less than 100 yards per game, meaning it will have to beat UTSA the more challenging way — on the ground.
UTSA possesses the ability to create explosive plays through the dynamic running of Robert Henry Jr. and the occasional deep strike from Owen McCown to AJ Wilson or even tight end Houston Thomas. The Roadrunners’ edge in that area allow them to win yet another contest at the Alamodome, and they revert to .500 on Saturday night.
Prediction: UTSA 28, Rice 14
