Rice and Charlotte Kick Off Football Weekend

Game #4
Who: Rice (2-1/0-0) vs. Charlotte (1-2/0/0)
When: Thursday, 6:30 p.m. CT
Where: Charlotte, North Carolina
Stadium: Jerry Richardson Stadium
Television: ESPN Matt Barrie (Play by Play), Tom Luginbill (Analyst), Harry Lyles Jr. (Sidelines)
Rice Radio: JP Heath (play-by-play), Nate Griffin (analyst)
Audio Streaming: RiceOwls.com, Rice Game Day App, Varsity Network
Live Stats: Sidearm
Digital Game Program: Game 4 Charlotte
Series Information: Tied 3-3

2025 Rice Football Fact Book
Full Game Notes
Series Notes
• This is the seventh meeting in the series, with the schools splitting the first six and each holding a 2-1 edge on the road.
• Charlotte rallied for a 21-20 win at Rice Stadium last season, driving 77 yards in 58 seconds and scoring a touchdown with 47 seconds left in the game.
• Rice is 2-1 at Jerry Richardson Stadium, including a 28-7 win in the Owls' last appearance, which was also the Owls' most-recent road win.
• Dean Connors ran for a career-high 184 yards and AJ Padgett accounted for three touchdowns as Rice scored in each quarter.
• The 21-point margin of victory was the largest for Rice in the series.
• The Owls rallied from a 21-0 deficit in the second quarter to win 22-21 in 2016 in their first appearance in Charlotte.
• QB Tyler Stehling ran for a career-high 93 yards and scored the final two touchdowns to cap the comeback.
•The win was the first for Rice in the state of North Carolina…. The Owls are 2-7-1 all-time in the state (2-1 at Charlotte, 0-3 at Duke; 0-1-1at Wake Forest; 0-2 at East Carolina).

Familiar Setting
Rice opens its third season of American Conference play in a familiar setting for many members of the staff as the Owls face Charlotte. Dunlevie Family Head Football Coach Scott Abell and six of his coaches came to Rice from Davidson College as did General Manager Steven Jackson. Chief of Staff Nick Decker came to Rice from Charlotte as did head strength and conditioning coach Lew Caralla and his three assistants.

For Openers
Rice is opening its American Conference slate on the road for the third time in as many years. The Owls made their debut in the conference on 9/23/23 with a 42-28 loss at South Florida and opened the 2024 American schedule with a 31-17 loss at Army. The Owls have dropped their last four games when opening the conference season on the road (2018, 2019, 2023, 2024) and have won the last two conference openers played at home (2021 & 2022).

Notable

Rice has opened 2-1 for the second time in the last three years and is looking to start a season 3-1 for the first time since 2001, when the Owls won six of the first seven.
Scott Abell has opened his career at Rice 2-1, the first coach to have two wins in the first three games of his career at Rice since Al Conover opened the 1972 season 2-0-1. The last Rice coach to open 3-1 was Bo Hagan in 1967.
The Owls are 7-9 all-time in the American and 2-6 on the road… They have lost their last four conference road games, with the last win coming in Charlotte (28-7 in 2023).
This is Rice's seventh time playing on a Thursday since 2006… Rice is 3-3 overall, but has won its last two Thursday night games (on the road at Tulsa in 2023 and at home vs. UTEP in 2022.
Rice is 2-0 this year when the opponent scores first.
78 Owls saw action in the 38-17 win over Prairie View, with 27 being credited with at least an assisted tackle and 12 carrying the ball at least once.
The Owls' 347 rushing yards were the most since they ran for 349 vs. Texas Southern…Rice has won its last nine games when topping 300 yards on the ground, with the last loss coming at Texas A&M in the 2013 season opener… Rice rushed for 306 yards in a 52-31 loss.
Rice is 25-10 since 2000 when topping 300 yards rushing.

Up Next
Rice will make its first trip to Annapolis since 2003, a week from Saturday, when the Owls face Navy at 2:30 with national coverage courtesy of CBS SN.

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