Rice Notes
11/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 24, 2007
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TEAM UPDATES:
The Owls set a season scoring record this year (377 points) in 12 games. The previous record with 350 last year in 13 games.
They also set a mark for team passing with 3,517 yards after a 541-yard passing effort against Tulsa. The record was 3,337 in 1976.
CLEMENT UPDATES:
C-USA Records: Chase Clement set C-USA single game marks with 601 yards of total offense, 84 offensive plays and 66 pass attempts. His record output allowed him to leacu C-USA in total offense for conference games, finishing with 3,118 yards of total offense in conference games,
Over 1,000: With his 17-yard run in the first quarter, Chase Clement went over 1,000 yards in career rushing. Clement finished the day with 60 yards on 17 carries to finish the season with 1,048 yards.
Completion mark: Clement completed 40-of-66 passes for 541 yards. He set a single-season record for completions, finishing the year with 300. The previous season record was 269 by Tommy Kramer in 1976.
Clement also broke the single-game record for pass completions (40) and attempts (66). The previous records were 35 completions by Joel Armstrong against Troy in the 2006 New Orleans Bowl (as well as twice earlier this season by Clement) while Kramer held the attempts record at 60 set in 1976 against Texas A&M.
The junior also crushed the school passing yardage record with 541 yards. The previous mark of 409 was set by Kramer in 1976 against Houston.
Total Offense: Set a Rice career mark for total offense, finishing the year with 6714. The previous season record was 6,336 by Tommy Kramer.
Clement's 601 yards of total offense surpassed the mark of 498 he previous set earlier this season in the Owls' win over UTEP. He now has produced the top three total offensive days in Rice history, and all have come in the last month. In addition to his effort against UTEP, he totaled 489 yards against SMU.
3,000 in a season: Clement became the second Owl to top 3,000 yards passing in a season with and went on to break the school record, finishing with 3,377.. Kramer held the previous school mark with 3,317 in 1976.
TD mark: With three touchdown completions, Clement finished 2007 with 29. That sets a Rice record formerly held by Kramer (1976), Calhoun (1981) and Clement (2006).
DILLARD UPDATES:
Touchdowns: Jarett Dillard became the eighth receiver in NCAA history to reach 40 career touchdown passes with his 25-yarder from Chase Clement in the second quarter. Dillard is second among active players with his 40 TD catches. Davone Bess of Hawai'i has 41. He has now scored a touchdown in 17 of his last 18 conference games and in 23 of his last 27 overall.
Receptions: Dillard extended his streak of catching at least two passes in a game to 36, second only to Bess, who has a streak of 37 straight games.
With his 89 receiving yards, he reached the 1,000 yard receiving plateau for the second straight year. He finished the 2007 season with 1056 receiving yards.
SENDEJO UPDATES:
Andrew Sendejo intercepted his fifth pass of the season today, it is the most by an Owl in a season since Dan Dawson intercepted seven in 2000. He topped double figures in tackles for the fourth time in the last six conference games and topped 100 tackles for the year, finishing with 107.
CASEY UPDATE:
James Casey added to his list of positions played this year when he returned punts vs. Tulsa. He also caught a career-high 11 passes. His previous best had been seven at Marshall. He is the second Owl to reach double figures in catches this year. Jarett Dillard did it twice. He finished the year with 46 receptions.
Casey was 8th in the league in receptions for conference games, having caught all but one of his passes this season in C-USA action.
BREAKUPS
Brandon King and Gary Anderson came into the day as the top two pass defenders in the conference USA and they added to those totals in their final game. With three breakups against Tulsa, King finished the year with 19 (16 PBU and 3 INT) while Anderson had one breakup to finish with 16 total (15 PBU and 1 INT).
PAT RETURN:
Brandon King's return of a blocked PAT for two points was the first by an Owl since Billy Stone returned one against Notre Dame in 1988. Of note, Stone was the first player in NCAA history to be credited with a PAT return after it was introduced for the 1988 season.
PAT BLOCKS:
George Chukwu blocked his second extra point of the season. He also blocked on against UTEP.
