Rice University
4-8 , 3-5
UAB
4-8 , 3-5
Rice Wins Thriller Over UAB, 28-23
11/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 27, 2010
Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery 
HOUSTON - Two weeks after a enduring a potentially spirit-crushing loss to Tulane in the last seconds at the Louisiana Superdome, the Rice Owls concocted a last-second rally of their own to send 18 Rice seniors out in memorable fashion, downing UAB 28-23 at Rice Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Jeremy Eddington burst up the right sideline to score from 22-yards out with 44 seconds remaining to cap a quarter in which the Owls dominated the time of possession and allow the Owls to extend their home winning streak in November to seven games. The Owls have not lost a November home game since falling to Tulsa in the final game of the 2007 season.
"We are like the Texas weather; hang around and something will change, " Rice head coach David Bailiff said. "Our kids kept battling on offense and defense. You look up and you have a 19 play drive for points that lasted 9 minutes. I think that was one of the keys to our ability to control the football to keep them off the field. Then our defense got the big fourth down stop at the end of the game.
Trailing 17-14 late in the third quarter, the Owls embarked on a methodical 19-play, 83 yard drive that drained the final quarter of nearly half its length and saw Rice overcome a pair of penalties that left it facing first and 20 situations.
Taylor McHargue, who finished the day 13 of 22 for 125 yards and one touchdown, hooked up with senior Patrick Randolph for crucial completions, including a 17-yarder on third down to give the Owls just the exact yardage they needed.
"I thought Pat (Randolph) had his biggest game as a Rice Owl." Bailiff stated "I thought Chris Jones made some plays on the ball. His play was a big difference in the game tonight, so was Pat's. Pat did some things tonight where you knew they were seniors playing up to their capabilities. I was proud of them all. It was Pat's finest game as well as Chris's."
McHargue closed out the drive by hitting Vance McDonald with a two-yard scoring pass to put Rice back in front 21-17, but the Blazers answered quickly as Bryan Ellis hit Pat Shed with a 32-yard scoring pass less than two minutes later. However, the PAT was missed, leaving the Owls only needing a field goal for the win at 23-21.
The Owls covered 65 yards in 4:16. McHargue rushed for 26 yards on his own during the final drive, but it was the freshman Eddington, running out of the Wild Owl formation, who took the shotgun snap and covered the final 22 yards to give the Owls their margin of victory.
"It is amazing what Taylor McHargue has been able to do for us since he has come back healthy," Bailff stated. "It is ability to extend plays and to extend drives with his feet. You saw him scramble tonight and pick up some first downs. You saw him on a quarterback draw pick up first downs. He rushed for 78 yards tonight."
Eddington scored twice on the day to finish the season with 10 touchdowns in just seven games since his redshirt was pulled.
"I am proud of Jeremy Eddington," Bailiff noted. "He kept plugging away and plugging away and running hard and moving piles and finally broke one late in the game when we needed it. Jeremy is tough. Thursday he was not sure he could play. His ankle was sore and he kept getting treatment and makes the play to win the game for us. A lot of individual performances in there and I am proud of every one of them."
Bailiff also had special praise for senior linebacker Justin Hill, who led the Owls with eight tackles and a pass breakup despite playing with an injured shoulder for the past several weeks.
I thought Justin Hill was amazing today, and people do not realize, and I can say it now, the pain that Justin has played in," Bailiff noted. "His shoulder has been knocked down. He has refused to give up. Today when he had that big PBU down there, he has been playing with one arm. He continues to answer the bell. He continues to give it his all. You cannot ask any more from this senior class than we did. We would have loved to go to a bowl game and that was our goal and we did not go. We did win 3 conference games. We had a chance to do something that did not get done. It was nice to win 2 in a row. It is nice to build on that and send these seniors out on a high note.
"I am proud of this football team," Bailiff stated. "I am proud of the seniors. We hung together to win our last two conference games in a row. Our last two at home was fitting for this senior class. It gives us a lot of hope for the future if you look at the young men and their ages that are making plays."
Team Stats
UAB 0, RICE 7
RICE - McGUFFIE, Sam 5 yd run (BOSWELL, Chris kick), 9 plays, 61 yards, TOP 3:44
UAB 7, RICE 7
UAB - WILLIAMS, Jacki 23 yd pass from ELLIS, Bryan (ZAHN, Josh kick) 5 plays, 67 yards, TOP 1:57
UAB 7, RICE 14
RICE - EDDINGTON, Jere 9 yd run (BOSWELL, Chris kick), 6 plays, 47 yards, TOP 2:40
UAB 14, RICE 14
UAB - SHED, Pat 12 yd pass from ELLIS, Bryan (ZAHN, Josh kick) 11 plays, 71 yards, TOP 4:06
UAB 17, RICE 14
UAB - ZAHN, Josh 27 yd field goal 10 plays, 52 yards, TOP 5:06
UAB 17, RICE 21
RICE - McDONALD, Vance 2 yd pass from McHARGUE, Taylo (BOSWELL, Chris kick) 19 plays, 83 yards, TOP 9:32
UAB 23, RICE 21
UAB - SHED, Pat 32 yd pass from ELLIS, Bryan (ZAHN, Josh kickfailed) 6 plays, 69 yards, TOP 1:54
UAB 23, RICE 28
RICE - EDDINGTON, Jere 22 yd run (BOSWELL, Chris kick), 10 plays, 65 yards, TOP 4:16
