Rice — American Athletic
HC
Scott Abell · Rice Stadium · Houston, TX · 47,000 cap
PPA off / def
0.04 / 0.24
2025
Class rank
#104
class of 2026
Returning PPA
39%
returning production
| 1996 |
OSU W 70–7 | Columbus |
| 1993 |
OSU W 34–7 | Columbus |
2026 schedule
2025 results (5–8)
Statistical comps — 2025 Rice's closest analogs
Nearest neighbors by z-scored success rate, explosiveness, run rate & havoc (offense + defense), 2015–25.
2025 leaders
Transfer portal — 2026 (20 in / 22 out)
Origins
Neely coached 27 seasons and won four Southwest Conference titles when Rice competed with Texas and A&M as a peer. The smallest school in the FBS at about 4,500 undergraduates, and the only one that plays like it does not mind.
Founded 1912 · Endowed by William Marsh Rice, who was murdered by his butler for the money · first football 1912 · defined by Jess Neely
All-time record
All-time
494–668–32
1912–2025
Win %
42.7%
114 seasons played
Winning seasons
37
32% of seasons
| Best seasons | W | L | Conference |
|---|
| 1949 | 10 | 1 | Southwest |
| 2008 | 10 | 3 | Conference USA |
| 2013 | 10 | 4 | Conference USA |
| 1934 | 9 | 1 | Southwest |
| 1953 | 9 | 2 | Southwest |
Season records from CollegeFootballData, which is why the span starts at 1912 — that is where its coverage of this program begins, not necessarily the first year it fielded a team.
Play-calling tendencies (2025 · garbage time excluded)
| Situation | Plays | Run % | Success % | Nat'l | Avg yds | Expl % |
|---|
| 1st down | 291 | 81% |
38% | 127 of 136 | 4.8 | 8% |
| 2nd down | 242 | 71% |
36% | 124 of 136 | 4.1 | 9% |
| 3rd & short (≤3) | 41 | 83% |
68% | — | 6.7 | 10% |
| 3rd & medium (4–7) | 57 | 60% |
26% | — | 3.6 | 5% |
| 3rd & long (8+) | 60 | 38% |
18% | — | 3.6 | 8% |
| 4th down | 28 | 57% |
57% | — | 5.9 | 7% |
147 drives · 25% ended in points · 7.0 plays and 33.3 yards per drive · 0.18 PPA per drive
Success: 50% of yardage needed on 1st, 70% on 2nd, 100% on 3rd/4th. Explosive: 12+ yd rush / 16+ yd pass. National rank is shown only for 1st and 2nd down, where every team has 100+ plays; the later buckets average 18-43 and a rank there would be noise.
League leaderboard →Most valuable plays (by PPA, 2025)
| Wk | Opp | Play | Yds | PPA |
|---|
| 9 | UConn |
(11:08) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 Q.Jackson rush middle for 73 yards gain to the UCONN00 TOUCH… |
73 | 6.69 |
| 6 | Florida Atlantic |
Quinton Jackson run for 68 yds for a TD (Enock Gota KICK) |
68 | 6.47 |
| 3 | Prairie View A&M |
Aaron Turner run for 52 yds for a TD (Enock Gota KICK) |
52 | 6.35 |
| 9 | UConn |
(01:37) No Huddle-Shotgun #4 C.Jenkins pass complete deep left to #10 Q.Jackson caught at … |
75 | 6.08 |
| 7 | UTSA |
Daelen Alexander run for 57 yds to the UTSA 3 for a 1ST down |
57 | 4.84 |
| 14 | South Florida |
(09:09) No Huddle-Shotgun #5 D.Devillier pass complete short middle to #1 A.Turner caught … |
55 | 4.57 |
| 7 | UTSA |
Lucas Scheerhorn pass complete to James Falk for 20 yds James Falk fumbled, recovered by R… |
20 | 3.87 |
| 3 | Prairie View A&M |
Semaj Pierre run for 17 yds to the PV 40 for a 1ST down Prairie View A&M Penalty, (15 Yard… |
32 | 3.49 |