Owls Close Out Nonconference Slate in Fresno

Game #3    Rice (1-2) @Fresno State (2-1) 9:00 p.m. CT
Stadium: Valley Children's Stadium
Television: CW   Rick Allen (Play by Play), Will Blackmon(Analyst), Nigel Burton (Sidelines).
Rice Radio: JP Heath (play-by-play), Nate Griffin (analyst), Luke Mauro(Sidelines)
Audio Streaming: RiceOwls.com, Varsity Network
Live Stats:   Statbroadcast
Series Information: Eighth Meeting (Fresno 6-1)

2026 Rice Football Fact Book

Series Notes
•This is the eighth meeting between Rice and Fresno State in football and the first in the regular season as a non-conference game.
•The Bulldogs won each of the six regular season meetings with Rice when both schools were members of the WAC, while Rice won the most recent meeting, 30-6 in the 2014 Hawai'i Bowl.
•Driphus Jackson set a school bowl record by throwing for 318 yards and tied a second with three touchdown passes, while a rejuvenated Owls defense held Fresno State out of the end zone as the Owls finished the season 8-5… The Owls jumped out to a 16-3 lead in the first quarter, while the defense, which had given up 76 points in the regular season finale, bottled up the Mountain West's fourth-best offense, holding the Bulldogs to 158 yards and 22 points below their season averages.
•This will be the first meeting in Fresno since 2003 when Rice scored twice in the third quarter to take a 28-20 lead, but the Bulldogs closed to within three with a touchdown and two-point conversion with 4:33 remaining and then drove 53 yards in the final 1:46 to win on a walk-off 39-yard field goal.
•Linebacker Stone Combs has the most experience of any Owl against Fresno State, and has 14 tackles over three games while with Nevada.

Of Note
•Rice is 4-12-2 all-time vs. schools when they were members of the Pac-12 conference, with three of the four wins coming against Stanford (3-3).
•Rice has lost its last seven games vs. teams from the league (USC in 1971 and 2022, Stanford in 2016-17, and UCLA in 2005-6, 2012.
•The Owls' last win vs. a conference member came in 1970 when they blanked California 28-0 at Rice Stadium.
•Scott Abell is 4-3 in non-conference games at Rice.
•The Owls have produced a total of seven 100-yard games in the last two years (Quinton Jackson 3, Daelen Alexander, Jacurri Brown, Tyvomn Byars, Chase Jenkins 1 each).

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