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2023 Rice

6–⁠7 (4–⁠4 American Athletic Conference), coached by Mike Bloomgren.

Schedule and results

Rice in 2023, game by game: lost at No. 11 Texas 10–37; won vs. Houston 43–41; won vs. Texas Southern 59–7; lost at South Florida 29–42; won vs. East Carolina 24–17; lost vs. UConn 31–38; won at Tulsa 42–10; lost vs. No. 22 Tulane 28–30; lost vs. SMU 31–36; lost at UTSA 14–34; won at Charlotte 28–7; won vs. Florida Atlantic 24–21; lost vs. Texas State 21–45+52−27Lost 10–37 at No. 11 Texas-27No. 11 TexasWon 43–41 vs. Houston+2HoustonWon 59–7 vs. Texas Southern+52Texas SouthernLost 29–42 at South Florida-13South FloridaWon 24–17 vs. East Carolina+7East CarolinaLost 31–38 vs. UConn-7UConnWon 42–10 at Tulsa+32TulsaLost 28–30 vs. No. 22 Tulane-2No. 22 TulaneLost 31–36 vs. SMU-5SMULost 14–34 at UTSA-20UTSAWon 28–7 at Charlotte+21CharlotteWon 24–21 vs. Florida Atlantic+3Florida AtlanticLost 21–45 vs. Texas State-24Texas State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2at11TexasL 10–⁠3719%
Sep 9vsHoustonW 43–⁠4132%
Sep 16vsTexas SouthernW 59–⁠777%
Sep 23atSouth FloridaL 29–⁠4251%
Sep 30vsEast CarolinaW 24–⁠1743%
Oct 7vsUConnL 31–⁠3868%
Oct 19atTulsaW 42–⁠1031%
Oct 28vs22TulaneL 28–⁠3028%
Nov 4vsSMUL 31–⁠3634%
Nov 11atUTSAL 14–⁠3418%
Nov 18atCharlotteW 28–⁠753%
Nov 25vsFlorida AtlanticW 24–⁠2161%
Dec 26Bowls & playoffvsTexas StateFirst Responder BowlL 21–⁠4545%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Texas State 45–⁠21 in the First Responder Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the American Athletic Conference.

In program history: The 65th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 115 on file).

Record
6–⁠7
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 5th in American Athletic Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
384–⁠365
Coach
Mike Bloomgren
Elo
1420 +24 this season
SP+ rating
-10.2 No. 103 of 133; offense No. 69, defense No. 113, special teams No. 117
SRS
−6.0 No. 95 of 133 in FBS
Returning
43% of last season’s EPA, No. 84 of 131
Recruiting class
No. 86 roster talent No. 100 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Marques Tuiasosopo
Defensive coordinator
Brian Smith
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
Multiple 3–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense51st of 133
  • Defense42nd of 133
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted63rd of 133
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted69th of 133
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1443%1.3451st of 133
Defense0.0741%1.2542nd of 133
Opponent-adjusted0.11 off
0.11 def		42% off
43% def		—63rd off
69th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense4.8own 2918% allowed
Defense3.6own 3114% caused

CORE rating -6.6, 93rd of 133 (offense 0.7, defense 7.3).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsJ.T. Daniels QB2,443 yds
Passing touchdownsJ.T. Daniels QB21 TD
Rushing yardsDean Connors RB771 yds
Rushing touchdownsDean Connors RB7 TD
Receiving yardsLuke McCaffrey WR992 yds
Receiving touchdownsLuke McCaffrey WR13 TD
TacklesMyron Morrison LB68 tkl
SacksChike Anigbogu S2 sacks
InterceptionsGabe Taylor S2 INT

Top recruits in the 2023 class

Ashton Ojiaku ATH★★★No. 1146
Ty Morris LB★★★No. 1232
Joseph Mutombo DL★★★No. 1271
Hudson Perroni OL★★★No. 1343
Drayden Dickmann WR★★★No. 1397

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2023 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.835
Running backs13.00.830
Receivers33.00.823
Offensive line63.00.827
Defensive line23.00.835
Linebackers23.00.838
Defensive backs23.00.831
Athletes and specialists33.00.829
Whole class203.00.830

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2024

The 2024 draft
Rd 3Luke McCaffrey WRWashington Commanders

Roster 111

The 2023 roster

111 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2023 line; 59 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 5

The 2023 portal
J.T. Daniels QB★★★★★from West Virginia
Brant Banks OT★★★from Nebraska
Lavel Dumont OT★★★from Toledo
Matt Sykes WR★★★from UCLA
Coleman Coco SDEfrom Colgate

Transfers out 4

Jerry Johnson III RB★★★to Texas A&M
Aidan Siano LB★★★to Texas A&M
Garrett Braden LB★★no new school on file
Treshawn Chamberlain LB★★no new school on file

2023 American Athletic Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
SMU8–⁠011–⁠322
Tulane8–⁠011–⁠3
UTSA7–⁠19–⁠4
Memphis6–⁠210–⁠3
South Florida4–⁠47–⁠6
Rice4–⁠46–⁠7
Navy4–⁠45–⁠7
North Texas3–⁠55–⁠7
UAB3–⁠54–⁠8
Florida Atlantic3–⁠54–⁠8
Tulsa2–⁠64–⁠8
Charlotte2–⁠63–⁠9
Temple1–⁠73–⁠9
East Carolina1–⁠72–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.