Rice Falls To No. 8 Texas

Saturday, September 16

Reliant Stadium

5:00 PM

Rice University

0-3 , 0-1

Texas

2-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Texas

Rice

9/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

Sept. 16, 2006

Final Stats

HOUSTON After putting together back-to-back stout efforts in losses to Houston and UCLA, Rice ran afoul of a Texas Longhorn squad smarting from a loss of its own the week before, as the Horns romped to a 52-7 win at Reliant Stadium on Saturday night.

Just as they had the first two weeks, the Owls found themselves in a quick hole, falling behind 17-0 in the first quarter. But unlike their last two games, where they answered those early salvos with points of their own, the Owls could not stall the Texas attack. Texas added three more scores in the second quarter to open up a 38-0 halftime lead.

"I told our kids we did a horrible job of getting them prepared to play this game," Rice head coach Todd Graham said. "If we get prepared, we're capable of playing at a high level. Texas is a very, very good football team and you absolutely can not come out and not be ready to play.

"They are, by far, the best team we've played to this point, but this is also the worst game we've played to this point," he added.

Texas piled up 493 yards of total offense and was stymied by a school record 19 penalties on the day.

Jarett Dillard again sparked the Owls offense. For the second straight week, he established a new career high for catches, latching on to nine on the night for 91 yards and a score. His six-yard scoring grab from Joel Armstrong extended his streak of games with a touchdown catch to five. He now has 20 catches in the first three games, and 55 in his first 14 collegiate contests.

"We need to give him (Dillard) the ball more and get him more one-on-one opportunities," Armstrong said. "He's one of our playmakers and we try to get the ball to him,"

Armstrong hit on 18 of 29 passes for 180 yards and a touchdown. His totals for attempts and completions were both career highs, while his yardage total was just five yards shy of his best effort, which came last year against UCF.

The Owls now hit the road for three straight road games, starting with a 2:30 assignment at Florida State next Saturday. The road swing moves on with stops at Army and Tulane before the Owls finally return to Rice Stadium on October 14.