North Texas vs. Rice Game Notes
9/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 27, 2008
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- This afternoon's game against North Texas was only the second time that these Lone Star state foes have met on the gridiron. The Mean Green picked up a 33-17 victory on Nov. 19, 1987 at Rice Stadium. It also opens a home-and-home series against UNT. The Owls will head to Denton during the 2010 season.
- Rice game captains for the North Texas game were QB Chase Clement, DL Will Moss, DB Andrew Sendejo and OL Austin Wilkinson.
- Rice improves to 3-5 against Sun Belt conference schools. The Owls last played a Sun Belt school in the 2006 New Orleans Bowl, a 41-17 setback against Troy.
- Rice had one first-time starter in DL John Gioffre. Players making their Owl debuts included OL Keshawn Carrington, OL Kody Emmert and OL Scott Nimmons.
- The Rice offense scored eight touchdowns on its 10 first-half possessions. It was the 14th time in school history that the Owls have eclipsed the 50-point mark. Rice scored 56 points during the 2007 season against UTEP. The Owls finished with 77 points, a new Conference USA single-game record. The previous record was 72 points by Tulane against Southwestern Louisiana on October 31, 1998.
- The 77 points scored by the Owls also were the second-most in school history. The only other time that Rice has scored more points in a game was against SMU in a 146-3 victory on November 17, 1916.
- The 57-point margin of victory was the largest since a 57-0 triumph over Galveston Army-Air Force on September 23, 1944.
- Rice took the opening kickoff 77-yards on five plays for a touchdown. It was the second time that the Owls have scored on their opening possession this season. The drive was capped by a 50-yard touchdown from QB Chase Clement to WR Toren Dixon. The scoring strike was a career-long reception for Dixon and a season-best for the Owls. Rice's longest offensive play last season was a 61-yard touchdown pass from Clement to WR James Casey against Tulane.
- With 7:06 remaining in the first quarter, Clement found WR Jarett Dillard for a 3-yard touchdown pass. It was the San Antonio duo's 39th all-time touchdown pass combination and matched an NCAA record held by Louisiana Tech's Tim Rattay and Troy Edwards (1997-98) along with Hawai`i's Colt Brennan and Davone Bess (2005-07).
- With 14:52 left in the second quarter, WR Jeramy Goodson connected with Dillard for a 30-yard touchdown. It snapped a streak of 21 consectutive touchdowns for Dillard received by Clement. The last time that Dillard caught a touchdown pass from someone other than Clement was in the fourth quarter of the 2007 New Orleans Bowl from QB Joel Armstrong.
- Clement and Dillard went on to set the NCAA record later at the 4:40 mark of the second quarter hooking up on an 18-yard pass. The duo added a third touchdown right before halftime for their 41st career connection.
- Clement tossed five touchdown passes and moved past Tulane's Shaun King for ninth place on the C-USA list. He now has 69 career touchdown passes and is two away from matching UAB"s Darrell Hackney for eighth place.
- Clement also ran for two touchdowns and is now responsible for 87 career touchdowns. He is now tied for fourth place with Louisville's Chris Redman on the C-USA list. Clement vaulted past East Carolina's David Garrard, Louisville's Dave Ragone, Cincinnati's Gino Guidugli and Tulane's Shaun King.
- Clement completed his first 11 passes against the Mean Green. Dating back to the third quarter of the Texas game, Clement had completed 16 straight passes over three quarters.
- With his 298 yards passing, Clement eclipsed 7,000 career passing yards. He now has 7,092 career passing yards and is three yards shy from matching Jeff Kelly of Southern Miss for 15th place on the C-USA list.
- Dillard capped his career day with eight receptions for 114 yards and a career-high four touchdowns. His four touchdown receptions also set a school record in addition to equaling a C-USA single-game mark held by Louisville's Lavell Boyd against Houston on October 23, 1999.
- The four touchdown receptions also allowed Dillard to equal the NCAA mark with 50 career touchdown receptions. He passed Marshall's Darius Watts and tied Louisiana Tech's Troy Edwards.
- Dating back to the Houston game last season, the Rice offense has had at least one player record a 100-yard receiving game in eight of its last 10 games. Dillard was joined by Dixon, who racked up a career-best 101 yards on four catches with a touchdown.
- WR James Casey caught eight passes for 92 yards. The Azle native has totaled a team-high 45 receptions this season after tallying 46 catches in 2007.
- WR Patrick Randolph matched a career-best with three catches for 21 yards and a touchdown.
- RB C.J. Ugokwe finished with seven carries for 54 yards, including a career-best 32-yard scamper in the seoond quarter.
- The Rice defense returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the second half. DE Arnaud Gascon-Nadon and DB Christopher Douglas struck 1:28 apart in the third quarter. The Owls notched two interception returns for touchdowns in the first half at SMU last season.
- LB Tanner Shuck recorded his first two career sacks for a loss of 25 yards.
- DB Andrew Sendejo had his three game streak of double-digit tackles come to a close. He tallied three tackles, a fumble recovery and a blocked PAT.
- PK Clark Fangmeier became the second Rice kicker to convert 100 career PAT's. The Houston native is nine PATs away from matching Brennan Landry's (2002-05) school record.
- With his 11 points, Fangmeier also moved past Froggy Williams (1946-49) into sixth place on the Rice scoring list. He is now five points away from matching Derek Crabtree (1998-2001) for fifth position.
- Fangmeier's 11 PATs also set a school record in addition to a C-USA single-game record. The previous C-USA mark was 10 held by Louisville's Art Carmody and Tulane's Brad Palazzo.
- Rice returns to Conference USA action and heads to Tulsa next weekend. The Owls are slated to make their fifth television appearance in 2008. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on CBS College Sports.
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