Owls Close Road Schedule at UAB

Game #11
Who: Rice (3-7/2-4) vs. UAB (2-8/1-5)
When: Saturday 1:00 p.m. CT
Where: Birmingham, Alabama
Stadium: Protective Stadium
Television ESPN + Justin Kutcher (play-by-play), Dave Steckel (analyst), Bridget Howard (sidelines).
Rice Radio: JP Heath (play-by-play), Nate Griffin (analyst), Jessica Morrey (sidelines)
Audio Streaming: RiceOwls.com, Rice Game Day App, Varsity Network
Live Stats: Statbroadcast
Digital Game Program: Game 11 UAB
Series Information: UAB leads 6-5

Full Game Notes
Series Notes

This will be the 12th meeting between the two schools (UAB leads 6-5), the seventh in Birmingham (UAB leads 4-2), and the second at Protective Field (Rice leads 1-0).
Rice is 10-7 vs. FBS schools in Alabama (Alabama 3-0; Auburn 2-0; UAB 5-6; Troy 0-1).
All five of Rice's wins in the series were by less than seven points and the average margin of victory is 3.8 points.
Three of Rice's five wins in the series have come at the end of each game (44 seconds in 2010, 3.5 seconds in 2006, and on the last play of overtime in 2013).
Chase Clement hit Jarett Dillard with a 9-yard scoring pass with 3.5 seconds left in 2006 to give Rice a 34-33 win at Rice Stadium.
Jeremy Eddington's 22-yard touchdown run with 44 seconds left gave the Owls a 28-23 win on Senior Day in 2010.
Luke Turner's one-yard run gave Rice a 37-34 win in overtime in 2013, setting the stage for a 17-13 win over Tulane one week later to earn a berth in the C-USA Championship game
The Owls' 30-24 win in their most recent visit to Birmingham in 2021 was the first home conference loss for UAB since the program restarted in 2017. The Blazers had won 15 straight C-USA games at home prior to the loss to Rice.
Pete Alamar will be looking to become the fourth of five Rice head coaches who faced UAB since the schools first met in 2005 to register a victory (Ken Hatfield 0-1; Todd Graham 1-0; David Bailiff 2-2; Mike Bloomgren 2-3).

Gamers
Josh Pearcy has played in 56 games and will set the school record for career games played with his next appearance. He tied Clay Servin's record with his start at Memphis. Chike Anigbogu has played in 55 games and will move into second all-time at Rice with appearances in the final two games of the regular season.

Looking at the Schedule

Rice's 2024 opponents have posted a combined 71-49 (.592) record this season... They were a combined 68-80 (.459) in 2023.
The combined league mark of the Owls 2024 AAC opponents is 33-19 (.635) compared with 35-29 (.547) last year. They have played both qualifiers for the AAC Championship game (Army and Tulane) and the top four in the current standings (Army, Tulane, Navy, and Memphis).
Six of Owls' 2024 opponents have qualified for bowl berths (Army, Memphis, Navy, Sam Houston, Tulane, UConn) and two others (UTSA and USF) are one win from qualifying.

Talking Defense

The Owls have held five of their last six opponents scoreless in the first quarter, only allowing a field goal to Tulane over that stretch.
Rice is third in the AAC in total defense, allowing 322.0 yards per game and 4.83 yards per play which would be the lowest season averages for the Owls since they allowed 313.7 per game and 4.79 per play in 1994.
The Owls lead the AAC and are ranked fourth nationally in pass defense (159.2 per game) and are holding opposing quarterbacks to a 53.1 completion percentage this season, their lowest since allowing 51.7 in 2013.
The Owls are allowing 1.2 rushing TDs this season, their lowest average since they 1.27 in 2002 (14 in 11 games).
Rice has allowed 21 plays from scrimmage of 30 or more yards this year compared with 32 in each of the last three seasons.
Opponents are averaging 23.7 points overall this season, the lowest average since 1998 (23.3). AAC foes are scoring 24.7, the lowest average since 2012 (20.2).

Catching On
Dean Connors leads FBS running backs with 55 receptions this season. His six receptions against Navy allowed him to pass Earl Cooper for the most career receptions by a Rice running back. His 106 receptions rank 12th all-time at Rice, while his 55 this season are four away from breaking into the Owls' single-season top ten. Connors is the first Owl RB to have more than 40 receptions in consecutive seasons and the third to have at least 1,500 yards rushing and 750 yards receiving. He topped 100 yards receiving for the first time in his career vs. UTSA and is 115 yards from Trevor Cobb's career record for receiving yards by a running back (892).

Up Next
The Owls welcome South Florida to Rice Stadium for the first time next Saturday on a day when they salute the departing seniors who will make their final appearance on their home field. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. with coverage on ESPN+

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Players Mentioned

Chike Anigbogu

Dean Connors

Josh Pearcy

Clay Servin

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