HOUSTON – Florida Atlantic narrowly defeated rice 30-24 on Saturday, marking the sixth consecutive game in the series decided by six points or less. The Owls‘ season came too an end with the loss, finishing with a 6-6 overall record.
The hard-fought contest at Rice Stadium evened the all-time series between FAU and Rice at 3-3, and the series record at the stadium to 2-2. While the season concludes for Rice, the outcome highlights the consistently competitive nature of this matchup and sets the stage for a renewed rivalry in future seasons.
Rice’s offense saw a spark early in the game with a 68-yard touchdown run by Jackson just 1:26 into play – the Owls’ quickest score as Sept. 10, 2016, when Tyler Stehling connected with connor Cella for a 64-yard touchdown against Army. The team later orchestrated a season-long 90-yard scoring drive, surpassing their previous longest of 92 yards against south Florida on Nov.30, 2024. Rice finished the game with a season-high 137 passing yards.
Individually, Jackson led the charge with a career-long 68-yard touchdown and a total of 128 rushing yards, achieving his second 100-yard game of the season.He surpassed 2,000 all-purpose yards for his career, finishing with 2,030. Quarterback Jenkins delivered a career performance, completing 12 of 17 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown, including a career-best 46-yard pass. Jenkins has now thrown a touchdown in four consecutive games and has both passed and rushed for a touchdown in three games this season.
Defensively, Andrew Awe anchored the team with 10 tackles, his second double-digit tackle performance in the last three games, continuing a trend of strong defensive showings by Owls – marcus Williams previously recorded 12 tackles at Navy. Ty Morris also contributed substantially,exceeding 100 career tackles and achieving a career-high three tackles for loss,the most by an Owl since De’Braylon Carroll in the 2023 First Responders Bowl. Special teams also saw a standout performance from alex Bacchetta, who averaged a career-high 47.5 yards on four punts, including a 59-yarder matching his career-long.
