Rice 45, Southern Miss 40
10/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 18, 2008
Recap | Final Stats | Quotes | AP Gallery 
- This afternoon's game against Southern Miss marks the second time that these two Conference USA rivals have met on the gridiron. The only other meeting in the series came during the 2007 season in Hattiesburg, a 31-29 Rice win. Rice and Southern Miss will not meet again until the 2011 season.
- Rice game captains for the Southern Miss game were QB Chase Clement, WR Tommy Henderson, DL Will Moss and LB Brian Raines.
- Rice had one first-time starter in DL Michael Smith. Players making their Owl debuts included DL Brian Stacey, OL Matt Nordstrom and P Mark Brundage.
- DB Joseph Leary made his season-debut. The Copperas Cove native missed Rice's first six games due to a hamstring injury.
- Rice scored on its opening drive for the third time this season. It was the second straight home game that the Owls have scored a touchdown on their first possession. The eight-play, 56-yard drive was capped by a 17-yard touchdown pass from QB Chase Clement to WR Jarett Dillard.
- Dillard also has caught at least two passes in all 43 career appearances. The San Antonio native finished with seven receptions for 141 yards and three touchdowns. It's his fifth consecutive 100-yard game and 14th of his career.
- Dillard's 51-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter matched the second-longest scoring strike for his career. He hauled in a 65-yard touchdown in the second quarter at Tulsa during the 2006 season.
- Dillard capped his three-touchdown effort by adding a 44-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter. It's the third time this season and eighth time in his career that Dillard has scored at least three touchdowns in a game.
- The scoring strikes for Clement and Dillard extended their NCAA record to 45 career connections. Dillard also moved his NCAA record to 54 career touchdown receptions. He is now six away from tying Memphis' DeAngelo Williams (2002-05) for the overall C-USA touchdown record.
- Dillard now has 258 career receptions and is 14 away from tying Houston's Vincent Marshall (2003-06) for second place on the C-USA list. He also moves within 28 yards of Louisville's Arnold Jackson (1997-2000) for second place on the C-USA list.
- QB Chase Clement went 30-of-43 and racked up 444 passing yards. The 444 passing yards are the second-most in school history only behind his 541-yard effort against Tulsa last season. The Owls are 4-4 when Clement throws for more than 300 yards.
- The six touchdown passes for Clement equal his career-best and school record set against UTEP last season. The Alamo Heights product now has tossed 77 career touchdown passes and moved past UAB's Darrell Hackney (2002-05), Tulane's Patrick Ramsey (1998-2001) and Louisville's Dave Ragone (1999-2002) into sixth place on the C-USA list. He is one scoring strike shy of equaling Cincinnati's Gino Guidugli(2001-04) for the No. 5 spot.
- Clement is responsible for 95 career touchdowns (77 pass, 18 rush). He surpassed Memphis' Danny Wimprine (2001-04) for third place on the C-USA list.
- WR James Casey has recorded at least five receptions in 13 straight games dating back to the Houston game last season.
- His seven receptions allowed Casey to surpass Earl Cooper (1976-79) and Larry Davis (1967-69) for sixth place on the Rice all-time list. He now has 107 career receptions and is five catches shy of tying Ed Lofton (1973-75) for fifth place.
- WR Toren Dixon tied a career-best with seven receptions for a career-high 118 yards. It was Dixon's second 100-yard receiving this season.
- least one player record a 100-yard receiving game in 10 of its last 12 games. Dillard was joined by Dixon and Casey with over 100 yards receiving. The last time Rice had three receivers surpass 100 yards was against Tulsa last season.
- RB C.J. Ugokwe rushed for a career-best 90 yards on 17 carries. He broke a career-long 35-yard run during the first quarter. The 90 rushing yards were the most by a Rice RB since Justin Hill rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries at Southern Miss last season.
- WR Patrick Randolph matched a career-best with three catches for 41 yards. It was the fifth time this season that Randolph has notched three receptions.
- Rice struck for back-to-back touchdowns in a span of 24 seconds during the third quarter. The scoring plays pushed a 17-12 advantage to a 31-12 lead. The Owls scored two touchdowns over 52 seconds to end the first quarter during their 2008 home opener against SMU.
- The Rice defense limited Southern Miss to 12 points in the first half. It was the lowest point total since holding the Golden Eagles to seven points during last season's meeting in Hattiesburg.
- DB Travis Bradshaw tallied a career-best 11 tackles. It was the fourth time this season that Rice has had a defensive player record double-digit tackles. Bradshaw also forced a fumble, broke up two passes and blocked an extra point.
- DB Chris Jammer and LB Tanner Shuck also totaled career-highs with eight and five tackles, respectively.
- DL Todd Mohr recorded his first career sack in the second quarter.
- After going 6-for-6, PK Clark Fangmeier tied Brennan Landry's (2002-05) school record with 118 career PATs. The Houston native has 172 career points and passed Derek Crabtree (1998-2001) for fifth place.
- Rice continues conference play at Tulane next weekend. The Owls return to Rice Stadium for Homecoming against Army on November 8.
Players Mentioned
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