Rice University Athletics
Dillard and Raines Take C-USA Honors
11/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 27, 2006
Jarett Dillard and Brian Raines have been named the Conference USA Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week after their standout efforts led Rice to a 31-27 victory over SMU on Saturday to earn the school's first bowl bid since 1961.
Dillard caught six passes for 145 yards and three touchdowns, the last one coming with 4:05 left to go in the game and give the Owls the lead for good. He tied the NCAA record for consecutive games in a season with a touchdown pass (12), while extending his overall streak to 14 games, the second longest in NCAA history. He also broke the Rice season mark for receptions (82).
Raines was honored for his 11 tackles (10 unassisted) against the Mustangs. He also forced a pair of fumbles, one of which he recovered and he saved a potential touchdown when he ran down DeMyron Martin of SMU after a 64-yard gain at the Rice 1-yard line. The Owls defense then held SMU to force a field goal and set up Dillard's eventual game winning score.
This is the second weekly C-USA for Dillard, who was also honored for his three TD catches against UAB , while it is the first for Raines and for any Owl defender since Jason Hebert was honored by the WAC for the week of November 19, 2001.
Rice has won a total of six C-USA weekly honors this year. Chase Clement and Quinton Smith were previously honored for the offensive honor, while Clark Fangmeier earned the special teams version after his game-winning field goal against ECU.
