Previewing the Houston Cougars Rivalry Matchup vs. The Rice Owls
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Following their dominant 27-0 season-opening win over Stephen F. Austin, the Houston Cougars now turn their attention to the Rice Owls in the potentially final Bayou Bucket Classic this coming weekend. Kickoff between the two Houston natives is set for 6 p.m. at Rice Stadium. Rice enters its home opener after narrowly defeating the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns 14-12.
In recent history, Houston has dominated the Bayou Bucket Classic, winning eight of the last 10 matchups against the Owls. In that time, the Cougars have averaged over 40 points (40.8) in a rivalry game that has been known for being a high-scoring affair. The Owls, on the other hand, have averaged a little over 20 points (22.2) in that same time frame.
While Houston currently holds the Bayou Bucket and has a firm grasp on the all-time record between the two teams (34-12), rivalries can be a completely different story with no scheduled Bayou Bucket Classic game for the 2026 season.
In last year's crosstown rivalry, the Cougars dominated every facet of the game with a 33-7 win over the Owls. The overwhelming victory also marked the first for newly hired head coach Willie Fritz back in 2024. This coming Saturday, Fritz and his staff will look to retain the Bayou Bucket for the foreseeable future with a win, while Scott Abell looks to make his mark quickly on the Rice program with a rivalry victory.
Evaluating the Owls After Week 1
Like I mentioned earlier, these two teams couldn't be more different based on how they began the season. While the hype surrounding Houston and their use of the transfer portal proved to be true in their win vs the Lumberjacks last week, the Owls program faces some uncertainty with their recent head coaching hire, Scott Abell.
Abell was named Rice’s 20th head football coach on November 26, 2024, after a record-setting seven-year run at Davidson. He led the Wildcats to seven straight winning seasons, multiple Pioneer Football League titles, three FCS Playoff appearances, and consistently top-ranked rushing offenses. The head coach is also known for transforming struggling programs into contenders quickly.
The Owls leaned heavily on their run game in their season-opener against the Ragin' Cajuns with over 80% of their total yards coming on the ground. Quinton Jackson, a redshirt junior running back, was a standout among the Owls with over 119 rushing yards on 22 attempts. While starting quarterback Chase Jenkins completed seven of his nine passes, it's evident that the plan was to run the ball from the very start.
First TD of the season belongs to Q-Jack!
— Rice Football (@RiceFootball) August 31, 2025
Rice 7 - Louisiana 3 pic.twitter.com/CgVOeDOohB
If not for the Owls’ defense stepping up in the 4th quarter, the game could have gone differently, as Louisiana’s defense made sustaining long drives very difficult.
Emphasis on Run Defense for the Cougars in Week 2?
By now, I'm sure you've gathered that the Cougars will need to defend the run well on Saturday to control the pace of the game. Last week, the Houston defense did just that with the Lumberjacks only rushing for 39 yards on 29 attempts.
Guys like Jalen Garner and Brandon Mack II stood out during the Stephen F. Austin game when it comes to rushing defense. Those veterans on the Houston defense will likely need to be even sharper when going up against a coach like Abell who excels at running the football.
