Owls Look to Even Conference Mark Against Pirates

Game #6 Rice (1-4/0-1) @ East Carolina (2-2/0-0) 12 p.m.
Stadium: Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium
Television: ESPN+ Evan Budrovich (Play by Play), Jay Sonnhalter (Analyst), Erin Summers (Sidelines).
Rice Radio: JP Heath (play-by-play), Nate Griffin (analyst)
Audio Streaming: RiceOwls.com, Varsity Network
Live Stats: Statbroadcast
Series Information: sixth meeting (Rice 3-2)

2026 Rice Football Fact Book
Series Notes
•This will be the sixth meeting between the schools and the first in Greenville since 2009.
• Rice leads the series 3-2, with the home team winning each of the first five, including a 24-17 win by Rice at then-Rice Stadium on 9/30/23, the Owls' first American Conference win.
• JT Daniels threw for 232 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Rice stymied East Carolina's last three drives with fourth-down stops.
• The Pirates tied the game on a touchdown and two-point conversion midway through the fourth, but Daniels needed just four plays to drive Rice 75 yards to take the lead for good.
• ECU won the last matchup in Greenville, 41-13, and won the initial meeting between the schools in 2005 on the Pirates' home field, 41-28, scoring the final 17 points after the Owls took a 28-24 lead into the final quarter.
• Rice's first win in the series was a dramatic 18-17 in 2006 as the Owls scored nine points in the last 2:35, capped by Clark Fangmeier's 40-yard field goal with :03 left.
• The win was the fifth of a season-ending six-game winning streak that sent Rice to its first bowl game since 1961.
• Jay Sonnhalter, the analyst for Saturday's ESPN+ broadcast, started at tight end for ECU in that game.

Of Note
•Kickoff for Saturday's game was moved up three hours due to potential weather issues later on Saturday from the remnants of Hurricane Isaias.
•Jacurri Brown is tied for the lead in the American Conference and tied for fifth nationally with 17 rushing plays of at least 10 yards this season.
•Brown is third in the conference with 495 yards on the ground, and his rushing total is the most for an Owl through five games since Charles Ross had 535 in 2013 and 687 after six on his way to 1,280.
•Rice held UTSA to 16 points on Saturday, the fewest points for the Roadrunners in a conference game since 2023 vs. Tulane.
•UTSA gained 204 yards and averaged 5.8 per play in the first half, but was held to 110 yards (3.3 per play) in the second.
•The Owls force a pair of turnovers against UTSA, which came into the game with one in its first four games.
•Rice is averaging 10.4 plays of at least 10 yards per game this season (52 in five games, compared with 9.1 last season (9.1).

Up Next: Rice returns to First Community Stadium next Saturday to host Tulsa at 3:30, as Rice celebrates Owltoberfest and hosts the annual Residential Colleges Challenge, with members of the

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