Rice faces a significant rebuild after massive attrition. Can a veteran running back and limited returning starters lead the Owls against tough competition?
Head coach Scott Abell is headed into his second year at the helm for the Owls and, despite finished the 2025 season 5-7, took them to a bowl game against Texas State. They had an extremely veteran team this past year and are looking to reload at the majority of their position on offense and defense.
Rice competes in the American Athletic Conference, one of the most competitive Group of 5 leagues in the country featuring opponents like Tulane (a playoff team in 2025), North Texas, Navy, South Florida, Memphis, East Carolina and Army. This is a rebuilding year for Abell and the Owls as they head into 2026. Only returning six of your 22 starters on offense and defense would be a difficult task for any head coach.
Let's take a look at the Owls.
2025 Record: 5-8 / 2-6 (Lost to Texas State 41-10 in Armed Forces Bowl)
2024 Record: 4-8 / 3-5
Rice Offense
Starters Returning - RB Quinton Jackson, WR Payton Matthews, RT Luke Miller
Starters Lost - QB Chase Jenkins (portal), WR Drayden Dickmann (portal), WR Aaron Turner, TE Micah Bennett, LT Sean Sullivan, LG Patrick Valent (portal), C David Stickle, RG Natane Fehoko,
The losses between graduation and the transfer portal were massive for Rice's offense. Thankfully, one of their most productive skilled players returns in their running back. Jackson (180 att., 889 yards, 4.9 YPC, 6 TD) was a hard runner to bring down last season and led the team in rushing touchdowns. Fellow running back D'Andre Hardeman Jr. (att., 325 yards, 4.0 YPC, 2 TD).
Matthews (4 rec., 93 yards, 23.3 YPC) is the lone returning starter in the receiving corps after losing players like Turner (63 rec., 398 yards, 6.3 YPC, 4 TD) and Dickmann (37 rec., 323 yards, 8.7 YPC, 3 TD). Miller (13 career starts), is the lone returning offensive lineman and will likely get moved to the left side after starting the final four games of the season at left tackle.
Rice Defense
Starters Returning - DE Joseph Mutombo, DT Dillan Botts, CB Jerrick Harper
Starters Lost - NT Blake Boenisch, LB Ty Morris (portal), S Marcus Williams (portal), RUSH Tony Anyanwu, LB Andrew Awe, VIPER Peyton Stevenson, FS Jack Kane, CB Amari Porter
The offense wasn't the only side of the ball that suffered from major attrition. The defense only returns three of its 11 starters from 2025. Amongst those is Mutombo (12 tackles, 1.5 sacks) at defensive end, Botts (16 tackles, 0.5 sacks) at defensive tackle and Harper (27 tackles, 2 passes defended) at cornerback.
Two of their potential starters, linebacker Morris (88 tackles, 2.5 sacks) and safety Williams (67 tackles, 5 passes defended), hit the portal while the other six players exhausted their eligibility. Defensive coordinator John Kay will have his work cut out for him this offseason to get the portal players up to speed and develop the young talent on the roster.
Portal Additions
Top Transfers - Offense: QB Jaccuri Brown (UCF), WR Barry Jackson Jr. (Cincinnati), WR Max Mosey (Holy Cross), TE Preston Zinter, C Leo Bluhm (Yale),
Top Transfers - Defense: DE Tariq May (Eastern Washington), LB Jesus Machado (Houston), CB Zach Cody (Coastal Carolina), S Koa Akui (Sacramento State), S AJ Brown (UAB),
The portal additions will play a major role in this offense. Brown, the quarterback transfer from UCF fits the mold of what Rice likes to do on offense. He's very much a dual threat quarterback and a big body in the backfield at 6-4, 220-pounds. Zinter is a linebacker turned tight end after transferring from Notre Dame. He has the opportunity to start after the departure of Bennett (2 rec., 33 yards, 16.5 YPC).
Defensively, they brought in two safeties expected to make a splash on the back end from day one. Akui (65 tackles, 6 passes defended, 5 INT) racked up big numbers while at Sacramento State. Brown (53 tackles, 1 forced fumble) was an extremely productive player at UAB for three years totaling 91 tackles 1.0 sack and one interception during his time down in Birmingham.
2026 Recruiting Class Ranking:
2026 SCHEDULE
-------
Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!