Brenden Rice

UPDATES

Week 5: USC remained undefeated after a 48-41 road win versus Colorado.  Rice was targeted seven times and made five receptions.  He had 81 yards (16.2-yard average) and two touchdowns in the game.

Week 4: USC improved to 4-0 with a 42-28 win over Arizona State.  Rice had a season-high seven receptions on nine targets for 133 yards and two touchdowns.  He led the team in receiving for the game.

Week 3: DNP - idle

Week 2: USC moved to 3-0 with a 56-10 victory over Stanford.  Rice caught his only target and had 75 yards receiving and a touchdown in the game.  

Week 1: During USC's 66-14 rout of Nevada, Rice had a quiet day.  He was targeted four times and made three receptions for 37 yards.  He also recorded a touchdown in the game.

Week 0: As did Mario Williams, Rice took a backseat to other receivers in USC's 56-28 rout over visiting San Jose State. Of the 18 passing plays he was in on, Williams was targeted once, catching the one pass for 12 yards and a touchdown.

HISTORY — from college profile

In his 3-year career (2 years at Colorado and 1 year at USC), he has 66 receptions for 1,030 yards (15.6 avg) with 9 TDs, plus 22 kickoff returns for 555 yards (25.2 avg), an 81-yard scoring punt return and 6 carries for 54 yards (9.0 avg) while appearing in 31 games with 24 starts.  He has three 100-yard receiving games in his career.

2023: Rice will once again look to be a major contributor at wide receiver as a senior in 2023.

2022: Competed in all 14 games with 12 starts (all but Notre Dame and the Pac-12 Championship against Utah) in his first season with the Trojans in 2022. He recorded 39 catches (4th for USC) for 611 yards (15.7 avg) with in four TDs...Rice also handled kick returns. He recorded three returns for 49 yards (16.3 avg) with a long of 18 yards...He had 1 reception for five yards and one kick return for 16 yards against Rice...He had four catches for 18 yards against Fresno State. He tallied three catches for 28 yards at Oregon State...Had three catches for 72 yards against Arizona State...He collected 3 catches for 38 yards against Washington State...He notched 5 catches for 62 yards and a TD at Arizona...He had three catches for 70 yards and a TD against Colorado. He recorded three catches for 34 yards at UCLA and had one catch for 25 yards against Notre Dame. He collected three catches for 42 yards in the Pac-12 Championship against Utah...He had six catches for 174 yards and 2 TDs in the Cotton Bowl against Tulane. 

—at University of Colorado— 

2021 (soph): He was one of the Pac-12’s top wideouts and kick returners as a redshirt freshman in 2021...Overall while starting all 11 games that he played in 2021 (he missed Utah with an injury), he had 21 receptions for 299 yards (14.2 avg), both second on the team, with 3 TDs, along with 17 kickoff returns for 469 yards (27.6 avg), both team highs, and 6 carries for 54 yards (9.0 avg)...He ranked 14th nationally in kickoff returns (27.6 avg, third in Pac-12)...He had a 44-yard kickoff return against Northern Colorado, 2 catches for 10 yards against Texas A&M, three receptions for 25 yards and a 22-yard kickoff return against Minnesota...three catches for 111 yards (with a 62-yard TD) and two carries for nine yards against Arizona, a 6-yard grab and two kickoff returns for 87 yards at California...Made five catches for 102 yards with a TD...Racked up 162 yards on kickoff returns for 162 yards at Oregon...Had a 5-yard TD catch, 34-yard kickoff return and two rushes for 13 yards against Oregon State...Logged 3 kick returns for 68 yards at UCLA.

2020 (fr): As a first-year freshman in 2020 while appearing in all 6 games (with 1 start, versus Texas in the Alamo Bowl), he had 6 receptions for 120 yards (20.0 avg) with 2 TDs, 2 kickoff returns for 37 yards (18.5 avg) and an 81-yard punt return for a TD.  He won Colorado’s Lee Willard Award on offense as the team’s top freshman.  He had 1 catch for 5 yards against UCLA, then had 2 grabs for 38 yards at Stanford, including a 34-yard TD, and 2 receptions for 16 yards versus San Diego State.  He had a 61-yard TD catch and 81-yard scoring punt return against Utah, along with 2 kickoff returns for 37 yards, to become the first Buffalo since 1987 with a scoring catch and return in a game.  He made the 2020 National Football Foundation Academic All-Colorado first team.  

High school: He made 2019 PrepStar All-West Region, MaxPreps All-Arizona first team and Arizona Republic All-Arizona as a senior wide receiver at Hamilton High in Chandler (Ariz.)...In his career, he had 123 receptions for 2,139 yards (17.4 avg) with 27 TDs...As a senior in 2019, he had 49 catches for 851 yards (17.4 avg) with nine TDs (with a quartet of 100-yard receiving outings) and an 8-yard scoring run on offense, plus 15 tackles and a deflection on defense and 12 kickoff returns for 244 yards (20.3 avg) and 6 punt returns for 20 yards (3.3 avg) on special teams. As a junior in 2018, he made All-Arizona, posting 49 receptions for 729 yards (14.9 avg) with 11 TDs on offense, and added 17 tackles and an interception on defense and three kickoff returns for 66 yards (22.0 avg) and five punt returns for 75 yards (15.0 avg)...As a sophomore, he had 25 catches for 559 yards (22.4 avg) with seven TDs and six kickoff returns for 53 yards (8.8 avg)...He also played basketball and was a sprinter on the track team (with a best of 10.78 in the 100 meters and 21.84 in the 200 meters for third place finishes at the 2019 state Division I meet) at Hamilton.

PERSONAL

Majoring in American Popular Culture at USC. His father is legendary College and Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice, who starred at Mississippi Valley State (1981-84), where he was a two-time All-American, and for the San Francisco 49ers (1985-2000), where he was on three Super Bowl champions (MVP in XXIII), Oakland Raiders (2001-04), Seattle Seahawks (2004) and Denver Broncos (2004) and set NFL records for career receptions (1,549), receiving yards (22,895) and receiving touchdowns (197). Braeden's brother, Qualen Cunningham, was a defensive end at Texas A&M (2014-17). His half-brother, Jerry Rice Jr., was a wide receiver at UCLA (2011-12) and UNLV (2013). His stepfather, Rick Cunningham, was an offensive lineman at Oregon State and Texas A&M (1988-89) and in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts (1990), Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals (1992-94), Minnesota Vikings (1995), Oakland Raiders (1996-98) and in the CFL with the Montreal Alouettes (2000, 2002) and Edmonton Eskimos (2001-02).  He has done community service with the Feed My Starving Children non-profit organization.

2022

receiving
REC	YPR	TD	LONG	YDS
39.0	15.7	4.0	74.0	611.0

defensive
TFL	QB HUR	TOT	TD	PD	SACKS	SOLO
0.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0

kickReturns
LONG	YDS	NO	TD	AVG
18.0	49.0	3.0	0.0	16.3