Western Michigan takes down Rice, 28-21, in battle of physical ground games

The 2008 Texas Bowl showcased the first and only previous meeting between the Rice Owls and Western Michigan Broncos.

There hasn’t been much shared history between the programs, but the two share several characteristics that added intrigue to Saturday night’s tilt at Rice Stadium — ground-based offenses with an affinity for controlling the clock, led by physical quarterbacks and explosive tailbacks.

The teams produced nearly identical offensive outputs through both the ground and air, as Western Michigan slightly outgained Rice, 333-330. But the Broncos consistently remained one step ahead of the Owls throughout the contest and left Houston with a 28-21 victory.

“It took all three phases to get a tough road win in a hot, humid environment against a really physical team that loves to run the football and win in time of possession,” Western Michigan head coach Lance Taylor said. “For us to score 28 points on the road and outrush a rushing team, I thought was excellent. The two things that they really pride themselves on — being physical and grinding the game out — I thought we did an excellent job of that.”

The Broncos deployed just three ball carriers the entire night. Quarterback Broc Lowry and running backs Jalen Buckley and Ofa Mataele combined for 217 yards and three touchdowns on 42 attempts. Of the three, Buckley attained the most yards at 117 and provided the game’s greatest highlight. The reigning MAC Championship Game and Myrtle Beach Bowl MVP was renowned for his breakaway runs last December, and he finally hit his first home run of 2026 on a 66-yard scamper. That long run set up Western Michigan’s first touchdown, effectively sparking the offense for the remainder of the night.

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Rice countered with quarterback Jacurri Brown, who shouldered a significant load in the Owls’ option attack. The 6’4″, 225-pounder repeatedly bowled over the Western Michigan defense during a 128-yard rushing performance, keeping the Owls within striking distance until the finish line. Rice head coach Scott Abell said postgame that Brown shouldn’t have to be Superman every play, but the quarterback made several impressive improvisations in his best showing of the young season.

“I just play ball,” Brown said. “I think (Coach Abell is) putting us in the right positions. There are some plays I want back, and when things go off-schedule, that’s what I’m there for, to kind of be an eraser for some kind of mistake or even my own mistake. That’s the biggest thing about football. It’s not always going to be perfect. The biggest thing for us to make a step is to hone in on that, stay the course, and attack it and embrace it.”

After Brown tied the game at seven apiece late in the second quarter, the teams turned to a lesser-used facet of their offenses — the passing game. Western Michigan had not attempted 20 passes in any of its final five games of 2025, all of which were victories, but the Broncos weren’t afraid to go vertical through Lowry. With 1:48 remaining in the half, Lowry delivered a 34-yard shot to Aveion Chenault in the end zone to secure a 14-7 advantage.

“We’re trying to be balanced and explosive,” Taylor said. “Last year, we were a little bit one-dimensional, but we felt like we could win games that way. That really is week-to-week, how we need to win football games, how we need to set things up whether it be run game or pass game. We want to be balanced, we want to be explosive, and we want to win football games. We’re gonna do the things that we need to in the run game and pass game in order to get that done.”

Rice knotted the game at 14-14 in the early third quarter on a Tyvonn Byars rushing touchdown, and the momentum swung in the Owls’ favor. Western Michigan fumbled the ensuing kickoff, but Rice failed to capture its first lead when its 46-yard field goal attempt missed wide right. That was the only turnover of the night, even though Western Michigan fumbled four times in the victory.

“Our emphasis this whole week — you can ask anybody on our defensive staff, any defensive player, and I’m sure some of the offensive scout team players’ arms hurt — we were punching at the ball and trying to take the ball away every day with a conscious effort in practice,” Rice outside linebacker Austin Harnetiaux said. “When the offense puts the ball on the ground, we need those plays. That’s the biggest challenge that our defense is going to take in the next coming weeks. This is Week 3, but the stuff we showed on tape tonight and our fight and willingness to get the ball back is something that’s going to become core to our defensive DNA.”

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While Western Michigan didn’t force a turnover, the defensive excelled with sound tackling at the line of scrimmage. One of the standouts was a player with familiarity against Rice’s offense. Defensive tackle Zavian Tibbs spent the 2025 campaign at Houston and celebrated a rivalry win at Rice Stadium last September. With several hometown friends in the venue, the Killeen, TX native, who transferred to Western Michigan this offseason, tied for the team lead with seven tackles in the best performance of his college career.

“I already knew in my head Rice was a physical team,” Tibbs said. “They’re not gonna bow down easy. It wasn’t gonna be an easy game. I was at Houston, so I already knew what kind of game we were getting into.”

While Tibbs had experience against Abell’s option attack, the defensive tackle credited the coaching staff and scout team for their preparation against an unorthodox style of offense.

“(Defensive coordinator) Coach (Greer) Martini really had a good gameplan for us,” Tibbs said. “We just really attacked what they had in practice with our scout team. And our scout team gave us a good look of just the film and the tape they had. So we were really prepared.”

Western Michigan responded with a signature drive, traveling 72 yards in 16 plays while consuming 8:27 off the clock. Trailing 21-14 against a team known for its clock-eating habits, Rice risked a 4th-and-3 attempt from its own 27 with under seven minutes remaining. The Owls appeared to benefit from a pass interference call, but the flag was picked up when the officials determined defensive end Ahmed Tounkara deflected the ball at the line of scrimmage. Even though the gamble didn’t produce the desired result, Abell had zero regrets about his decision.

“Right decision to go for it,” Abell said. “I just thought we needed to try to keep our momentum, keep the football right then to drive the field and tie the game.”

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Western Michigan (2-1*, 0-0 MAC) hung on and handed Rice (1-2, 0-0 American) its second consecutive loss. The Owls played a respectable game against the defending MAC champions, which won 10 games last season and returned a bulk of their starters. Rice will look to carry the positives from this performance and carry it over to next Saturday’s non-conference finale at Fresno State.

“Just staying the course and not panicking,” Brown said. “If I were to do my scouting report on last year and compare it to this year, I would say we’re a better team. I think a lot of those games this year, we fought back. You can watch a lot of the games last year, guys probably didn’t fight back. I think that’s the biggest thing moving forward is staying the course, trusting our coaches, and if there’s bickering or anything in the locker room, cut that down and make sure that we’re all on the same course. Our goals don’t change.”

For Western Michigan, Saturday’s road win was another chapter in a highly emotional September. Earlier in the week, the FBS Oversight Committee confirmed that incorrect officiated procedures were followed in the Broncos’ controversial loss at Michigan but stated they did not have the authority to overturn the result. Through it all, the team has remained resilient, winning two consecutive games without trailing at any point.

“It shows a mature team. It shows a hungry team and one that is competitive,” Taylor said. “Nobody’s gonna say that this score was flashy or sexy. Nobody’s gonna say the way we play games or win games is flashy or sexy. But winning is hard and it’s fun, and our guys do whatever it takes week to week to win.”