Rice University
0-1
Texas
1-0
Owls Can't Hold Off Texas Surge
9/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 3, 2011
For the better part of three quarters, the Rice Owls provided more than enough evidence that their 100th season of football might possibly be headed for a memorable opening night.
But the Texas Longhorns offense caught its rhythm in over a 12 minute stretch to grind out three long touchdowns and turn a tight 13-9 game into a 34-9 win in front of a sellout crowd of 101,626 at DKR Memorial Stadium in Austin.
"I'm really disappointed," Rice head coach David Bailiff said. "It's one of those games you put a lot of work into, you go out there and expect to win and it hurts when you don't. I thought we played a tremendous first half, but the second half we gave up too many big plays."
The inspired Owls opened strongly, forcing a three-and-out by the Horns in their initial possession of the season, and then moved down the field to set up Chris Boswell for the first of his three field goals on the night. It marked the third consecutive game vs. Texas that the Owls scored first, all by field goals, and the second consecutive year that Boswell opened the scoring with a 42-yarder.
Texas responded with a field goal of its own and then capitalized on a Rice fumble of a punt to take a 10-3 lead in early in the second quarter. They added a second field goal to extend the margin to 13-3 before Boswell connected from 49 yards at the end of a 13-play, 50-yard drive to close the gap to 13-6 at the half.
After forcing a Texas punt on the Horns initial possession of the third quarter, the Owls threw a scare into the sellout crowd by quickly moving down field thanks to a Texas penalty and a 20-yard run by senior Tyler Smith to set up shop with a first and goal at the Longhorn 8-yard line. But the Texas defense stiffened and Boswell was called upon again, connecting from 26 yards out to move the Owls to within four points at 13-9.
The Longhorns struck back with a touchdown to push the lead to 20-9, but Rice responded by moving 22 yards on their first four plays to reach near midfield, but consecutive false start penalties stalled the drive. After Kyle Martens pinned Texas at its own one yard line after a 48-yard punt, Rice seemed poised to gain a field position edge. However Texas drove 99-yards for a score and followed that with a second long scoring march to put the game out of reach.
Smith finished with 67 yards rushing to lead the Owls, while sophomore Cameron Nwosu led the defense with 12 tackles in his starting debut. Martens showcased his All America credentials by averaging 48.6 on five punts, while Boswell's three field goals moved his career total to 14, good enough to move into a tie for 8th on the Rice career list.
The Owls will return to Rice Stadium on Saturday when they host the Purdue Boilermakers (1-0) who rallied on Saturday to take a 27-24 win over Middle Tennessee State. Kickoff is set for 2:30 with the game broadcast nationally by CBS Sports Network.
Team Stats
RICE 3, UT 0
RICE - Boswell, Chris 42 yd field goal 10 plays, 41 yards, TOP 3:52
RICE 3, UT 3
UT - Tucker, Justin 39 yd field goal 6 plays, 58 yards, TOP 3:04
RICE 3, UT 10
UT - Johnson, Cody 1 yd run (Tucker, Justin kick), 5 plays, 20 yards, TOP 1:59
RICE 3, UT 13
UT - Tucker, Justin 23 yd field goal 14 plays, 74 yards, TOP 6:17
RICE 6, UT 13
RICE - Boswell, Chris 49 yd field goal 13 plays, 50 yards, TOP 5:00
RICE 9, UT 13
RICE - Boswell, Chris 26 yd field goal 7 plays, 46 yards, TOP 2:22
RICE 9, UT 20
UT - Shipley, Jaxon 36 yd pass from Harris, John (Tucker, Justin kick) 8 plays, 72 yards, TOP 3:29
RICE 9, UT 27
UT - Whittaker, Fozz 7 yd run (Tucker, Justin kick), 8 plays, 99 yards, TOP 3:33
RICE 9, UT 34
UT - Whittaker, Fozz 26 yd pass from Gilbert, Garret (Tucker, Justin kick) 11 plays, 94 yards, TOP 5:17
