Tulane Football Schedule Breakdown: Rice

Tulane Football Schedule 2026

Week 1 - at Duke, September 5
Week 2 - South Alabama, September 12
Week 3 - at Kansas State, September 19
Week 4 - Southern Miss, September 26
Week 5 - OPEN DATE, October 3
Week 6 - at Army, October 10
Week 7 - Memphis, October 16
Week 8 - UTSA, October 24
Week 9 - at Charlotte, October 30
Week 10 - Tulsa, November 7
Week 11 - at Rice, November 14
Week 12 - North Texas, November 21
Week 13 - at South Florida, November 27

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Charlotte and Tulsa are behind TU, and now Tulane will look to continue to breeze through easier part of the schedule with a win. If Tulane is truly one of the premier teams in the American, they should not struggle against the aforementioned teams, let alone Rice.

Tulane was 2-0 against Charlotte and Tulsa last year. The Green Wave didn’t play Rice in 2025.

With the schedule TU has, regardless of whether they win the big games or not, these are absolute must win games that will help them in the long run.

Year Two

Rice is entering its second year under its new coaching staff that was brought in last year. Head coach Scott Abell, offensive coordinator Vince Munch, and defensive coordinator Jon Kay enter their sophomore year with transfer quarterback, Jacurri Brown (University of Central Florida).

The transfer is fresh into the system, but the Owls return a healthy amount of personnel, at least in regards to the offensive and defensive line. That homegrown d-line is surrounded by a surge of 2026 transfers looking to revitalize this Owl defense.

The trio of coaches are looking to establish a culture in year two. Another 8-loss season wouldn’t be ideal, but Abel would likely keep his job. The Owls have seen stagnation in the 2020’s, accumulating four 8-loss years out of six seasons during that same time period.

Nonetheless, Rice is looking to improve on last year because it wasn’t a terrible start to the Abell era.

Stacking the Box

Rice, like Army, is a run-first offense. Running the ball over 70% of the time. The Owls were extremely effective in their ground attack, ranking 25th in the country in rush yards per game (192.8).

This predictable, but effective way of attack was enhanced by their efficiency through the air. They didn’t throw it a lot, but their starting quarterback, Chase Jenkins, completed 69.2% of his passes with nine touchdowns and two interceptions in 2025.

We haven’t even mentioned his legs, with which he accumulated over 500 yards and another five touchdowns.

They’ll be looking for that same production from senior QB Brown, who’s struggled throughout his career at power four schools (UCF and Miami).

Brown is going to be another dual threat QB, given that’s what Abell would want from his starter to fit into this run heavy offense. Whether or not he’ll match that production is up to him, but either way, Tulane will have to be prepared to not let Rice control the flow of the game.

Controlling the Game

Rice’s run defense was solid last year, but it was there pass defense that would lag behind. If TU wants to handle buisiness on offense, they’ll either need to out-physical that Owl run defense, or take advantage of that weaker pass defense.

On the flip side, the Wave cannot afford to let the Owls run all over them and letting them control the clock. The defense should look to stuff early down runs, forcing that offense into a passing situation.

So the mantra for this week: let Jacurri Brown beat you with his arm, not his legs.

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