Rice University
1-0 , 1-0
SMU
0-1 , 0-1
Owls Open '08 In Style
8/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 30, 2008
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SMU vs. Rice Game Book in PDF Format 
Chase Clement and Jarett Dillard picked up right where they left off while Rice's defense created five turnovers to lead the Owls to a 56-27 win over SMU at Rice Stadium in front of 23, 146 on Friday night.
The win was the Owls third straight overall against the Mustangs and their 10th straight over SMU at Rice Stadium. The 56 points for the Owls were the second-most they have scored to open a season. They defeated Galveston Army-Air Force 57-0 and the last time they topped 50 points in an opener was in 1969 when they beat VMI, 55-0.
Rice won its opener for the first time since 2004, when they defeated Houston 10-7, twice exploding for 28 unanswered points to put a damper on SMU coach June Jone's debut with the Mustangs.
Clement tied his school record by tossing six touchdown passes, including three to Dillard to match his own school mark, including four in the first half after Rice had spotted the Mustangs an early 13-0 lead. Clement and Dillard's three TD connections raised their career combined total to 35, just three shy of the NCAA record for a passing duo.
Dillard's three touchdown receptions vaulted him into a tie for third on the NCAA career list with Aaron Turner of Pacific. Troy Edwards of Louisiana Tech holds the record with 50, while Darius Watts of Marshall is second with 47.
SMU opened the scoring, taking advantage of a fumbled punt by Brandon King and then upped the lead to 13-0 before Clement capped the first of four consecutive scoring drives by the Owls when he hit James Casey on a seven-yard pass for a score. After Mustang freshman quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell fumbled moments later, Clement wasted no time, hitting Patrick Randolph for a 35-yard scoring strike on the first play.
Clement and Dillard then hooked up for the first of three scores, a 21-yard strike that extended the lead to 21-13. Clement found Corbin Smiter for a 12-yard score with just over four minutes left to cap the Owls' first 28-point burst .
SMU closed the gap to 28-20 thanks to a second kick return miscue by the Owls, but Clement led the Owls back down the field and found Dillard for a nine-yard score to answer the Mustang tally.
Brandon King and Andrew Sendejo provided the spark for the Owls' final 21 points of the night. King picked off a Mitchell pass and returned it a career-best 54 yards to the SMU one, setting up a short plunge by Casey. Sendejo then did King one better, picking off a Mitchell pass and returning it 55-yards for a score. It was the second straight year that Sendejo has returned a pass for a touchdown against SMU.
Sendejo had one more chance to run with the ball, scooping up a ball stripped by safety Max Anyiam and returning it 34 yards to set Clement and Dillard up for a nine-yard score to close out the Rice scoring.
Clement finished the day passing for 258 yards, hitting on 24 of 37 passes, and rushing for 87 more. He became the first Rice player to top 7,000 yards in career total offense (7,059) and moved to within 76 yards of becoming the third Owl to top 6,000 yards in passing.
Clark Fagmeier converted all eight of his PAT attempts to tie the school record he currently shares with Derrick Crabtree. Fangmeier also had eight PATs last season against UTEP.
The Owls will start a three-game stretch of road games when they make their first of two consecutive trips to the state of Tennessee this Saturday to meet Memphis. They will be back in the Volunteer state next week when they travel to Nashville to meet Vanderbilt and then travel to Austin in two weeks for a game with Texas.
Rice returns home on September 27 to host North Texas.
Team Stats
SMU 7, RICE 0
SMU - ROBINSON,A. 26 yd pass from MITCHELL,B.L. (MORSTEAD,T. kick) 1 plays, 26 yards, TOP 0:09
SMU 13, RICE 0
SMU - HAYNES,Bradley 19 yd pass from MITCHELL,B.L. (MORSTEAD,T. kickfailed) 7 plays, 71 yards, TOP 3:28
SMU 13, RICE 7
RICE - CASEY, James 7 yd pass from CLEMENT, Chase (FANGMEIER, Clar kick) 6 plays, 73 yards, TOP 1:08
SMU 13, RICE 14
RICE - RANDOLPH, Patri 35 yd pass from CLEMENT, Chase (FANGMEIER, Clar kick) 1 plays, 35 yards, TOP 0:04
SMU 13, RICE 21
RICE - DILLARD, Jarett 21 yd pass from CLEMENT, Chase (FANGMEIER, Clar kick) 11 plays, 58 yards, TOP 3:54
SMU 13, RICE 28
RICE - SMITER, Corbin 12 yd pass from CLEMENT, Chase (FANGMEIER, Clar kick) 8 plays, 80 yards, TOP 2:25
SMU 20, RICE 28
SMU - ROBINSON,A. 22 yd pass from MITCHELL,B.L. (MORSTEAD,T. kick) 3 plays, 23 yards, TOP 1:03
SMU 20, RICE 35
RICE - DILLARD, Jarett 9 yd pass from CLEMENT, Chase (FANGMEIER, Clar kick) 11 plays, 74 yards, TOP 4:49
SMU 20, RICE 42
RICE - CASEY, James 1 yd run (FANGMEIER, Clar kick), 1 plays, 1 yards, TOP 0:04
SMU 20, RICE 49
RICE - SENDEJO, Andrew 55 yd interception (FANGMEIER, Clar kick)
SMU 20, RICE 56
RICE - DILLARD, Jarett 8 yd pass from CLEMENT, Chase (FANGMEIER, Clar kick) 1 plays, 8 yards, TOP 0:04
SMU 27, RICE 56
SMU - SANDERS,E. 32 yd pass from TURNER,Logan (MORSTEAD,T. kick) 8 plays, 88 yards, TOP 3:43
