Rice Edges North Texas 32-31
9/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 11, 2010
DENTON, Texas - On a steamy night in North Texas, the Rice Owls weathered a series of body blows that might have crumbled a lesser team and rallied to take a 32-31 victory over North Texas at Fouts Field on Saturday night.
Chris Boswell tied a school record with four field goals, Nick Fanuzzi came on in relief of Taylor Mc Hargue to throw for 189 yards and a touchdown, Luke Willson caught four passes for 86 yards and the touchdown throw from Fanuzzi, Tyler Smith rushed for 87 second-half yards and the Owls defense clamped down the Mean Green's offensive attack moments after its most stunning success to spark the Owls to the win.
Both teams came into the game flush with confidence after promising performances against BCS conference teams that saw neither surrender more than 35 points. While the future of North Texas football steadily rises from a construction project just across Interstate 35, the current edition came into the game after rolling up over 450 yards in a 35-10 loss at Clemson.
The Owls were equally emboldened after a 34-17 loss to Texas in before most fans had settled into their seats, they put 10 points on the board.
After forcing a UNT punt on the Eagles' first possession, Taylor McHargue found Sam McGuffie alone along the right sideline for a 51-yard scoring pass on Rice's first play from scrimmage. The connection was the longest pass reception by an Owls running back since Quinton Smith turned a swing pass into an 80-yard touchdown reception against Houston in 2006.
The Owls offense was back on the field just two plays later after Trey Briggs covered a fumble caused by Travis Bradshaw at the North Texas 26. North Texas sacked McHargue on third down, but Boswell drilled a 50-yard field goal that cleared the bar with a first down to spare. It was the first field goal of 50-yards or more by an Owl since Luke Juist drilled a 53-yarder against Navy in 2005. Boswell added two more field goals in the first quarter, and the Owls took a 16-7 advantage into the second quarter.
With the lead whittled to 16-14, the Owls once again converted a turnover into points.
After Bradshaw recovered a fumble, Fanuzzi, who had taken over at quarterback for McHargue on the previous drive, found Willson along the Rice sideline and the rangy tight end rambled the rest of the way for a 22-yard score.
But North Texas, riding the hot hand of quarterback Nathan True, moved back down the field to cut the margin to 23-21 at the half.
Rice received the second half kickoff but could not produce a first down, and it took North Texas only two plays to grab its first lead of the night. After a five-yard run by Lance Dunbar, True found Tyler Stratford streaking across the middle for a 75 yard touchdown to stun the Owls.
But what seemed to be the turning point in North Texas' favor, actually proved to be the pinnacle of their night's work, as a Rice defense that had given up over 300 yards to that point, stiffened to allow only 116 more over the better part of two quarters, and only 55 over the final quarter.
Their first great test came as the fourth quarter began with North Texas sitting on the Rice 13 with a first down. A touchdown at that point would have put the Owls down by at least nine points, but Chris Jones stopped a second-down pass to Riley Dodge for just a one-yard gain and a third down throw fell incomplete to for a Mean Green field goal.
After forcing a three-and -out on North Texas' next possession, freshman Andy Erickson set the Owls up in prime position to re-take the lead. He returned a punt 14 yards to the North Texas 37 and Fanuzzi his Derek Clark for 20 yards to the UNT 17. Two plays later, Fanuzzi hit Willson for 13 yards to move the ball to the Mean Green three. Two plays later, Charles Ross rumbled in from the two, putting the Owls back on top 32-31, but Fanuzzi's attempt to hit Willson on the two-point conversion sailed high, leaving the Eagles in prime position for one last rally. Rice stymied North Texas possession after the touchdown, but the Owls could not run out the clock and punted the ball to the Mean Green with just over two minutes left.
Tune brought the crowd to its feet on first down, hitting Jamaal Jackson for 28 yards to midfield on first down. Michael Smith, who was playing on the same field where his late brother had led North Texas to a conference title, capped an emotional week of anticipation by busting through the line to sack Tune on first down. After an incompletion on second down, Tune was injured on another errant throw on third down and had to be carried from the field . Derek Thompson came on to complete a pass to Dunbar, but the talented running back, who had slashed for 105 rushing against the Owls, could not reach the first down marker, as Kevin Gaddis brought him down at the North Texas 44 to give the Owls the victory.
