Saturday, October 26
Houston, TX
12 p.m.
Rice University
0-8 , 0-4
6
vs
20
Southern Miss
5-3 , 3-1
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Southern Miss
0
10
3
7
20
Rice
0
0
6
0
6
Photo by: Maria Lysaker - Rice Athletics
Golden Eagles Edge Owls
10/26/2019 4:56:00 PM | Football
Southern Miss 20, Rice 6
The Lede: Rice held Conference USA's top passing offense in check but Southern Miss answered with a stifling defensive effort of its own to take a 20-6 win at Rice Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Details: Southern Miss entered the game averaging 330.6 yards per game through the air and 443 yards per game, but the Owls set the early tone by forcing punts on each of the Golden Eagles first three drives and just 40 yards in the opening quarter. The teams combined for a scoreless first quarter for the first time in the ten games of the series, but USM broke through with a field goal and touchdown to take a10-0 lead at the half. The Golden Eagles drove deep into Owl territory on their first possession of the third quarter, but the Rice defense stiffened and forced a field goal. Rice responded with a 70-yard drive, highlighted by a pair of completions to Brad Rozner as well as a pass interference call against Rozner. Wiley Green found Austin Trammell behind the defense for a 15-yard score, to cut the margin to 13-6. Two series later, Naeem Smith intercepted his second pass in as many weeks to set the Owls up at the Southern Miss 29 late in the quarter, but USM responded with an interception of their own. Southern Miss broke through with a final touchdown with less than a minute remaining to end the scoring. The game was the lowest scoring in the history of the series and marked the first time since the inaugural game in 2007 when the winning team did not score at least 40 points.
The Defense: Rice held Southern Miss to 207 yards through the air, their second lowest total of the season (174 vs. Alabama) and forced a season-high five punts by the Golden Eagles. The Owls held them 10 points under their season scoring average and their lowest conference point total in their last eight games.
Mike Bloomgren:
"Obviously, the game didn't go the way we wanted. A lot of it has to do with some things Southern Miss did defensively. They mixed things up. Coach Hopson did a heck of a job. I think positives from our game is how our defense played with the exception of a few drives. We played really solid and we held an explosive offense in check. We held them to 13 points until the last drive of the ball game. That's a heck of an effort by our defense. I think special teams wise, our team is completely committed to special teams. They've been giving great effort in everything they do and we're seeing those results on special teams. We're doing a great job. Those are two unbelievable returners, probably the best returners in America on their team. We didn't give them a chance to get started and that's outstanding. The elephant in the room, of course, is our offense right now and the inability to score points. The inability to really give our team a chance. We're going to keep evaluating. Something will change offensively. The status quo is not good enough. The way we're doing things is not good enough."
The Notes:
Team
The Details: Southern Miss entered the game averaging 330.6 yards per game through the air and 443 yards per game, but the Owls set the early tone by forcing punts on each of the Golden Eagles first three drives and just 40 yards in the opening quarter. The teams combined for a scoreless first quarter for the first time in the ten games of the series, but USM broke through with a field goal and touchdown to take a10-0 lead at the half. The Golden Eagles drove deep into Owl territory on their first possession of the third quarter, but the Rice defense stiffened and forced a field goal. Rice responded with a 70-yard drive, highlighted by a pair of completions to Brad Rozner as well as a pass interference call against Rozner. Wiley Green found Austin Trammell behind the defense for a 15-yard score, to cut the margin to 13-6. Two series later, Naeem Smith intercepted his second pass in as many weeks to set the Owls up at the Southern Miss 29 late in the quarter, but USM responded with an interception of their own. Southern Miss broke through with a final touchdown with less than a minute remaining to end the scoring. The game was the lowest scoring in the history of the series and marked the first time since the inaugural game in 2007 when the winning team did not score at least 40 points.
The Defense: Rice held Southern Miss to 207 yards through the air, their second lowest total of the season (174 vs. Alabama) and forced a season-high five punts by the Golden Eagles. The Owls held them 10 points under their season scoring average and their lowest conference point total in their last eight games.
Mike Bloomgren:
"Obviously, the game didn't go the way we wanted. A lot of it has to do with some things Southern Miss did defensively. They mixed things up. Coach Hopson did a heck of a job. I think positives from our game is how our defense played with the exception of a few drives. We played really solid and we held an explosive offense in check. We held them to 13 points until the last drive of the ball game. That's a heck of an effort by our defense. I think special teams wise, our team is completely committed to special teams. They've been giving great effort in everything they do and we're seeing those results on special teams. We're doing a great job. Those are two unbelievable returners, probably the best returners in America on their team. We didn't give them a chance to get started and that's outstanding. The elephant in the room, of course, is our offense right now and the inability to score points. The inability to really give our team a chance. We're going to keep evaluating. Something will change offensively. The status quo is not good enough. The way we're doing things is not good enough."
The Notes:
Team
- Rice's defense forced a punt on the opening possession for a fourth straight game.
- The Rice defense held an opponent scoreless in the opening quarter for the third time this season.
- The last time Rice held Southern Miss scoreless in the opening quarter was 2014.
- CB Jason White made his first career start and set a career-high with five tackles.
- DE Kenneth Orji set a career-high with 10 tackles… He is the sixth current Owl to record double figures in tackles in a game in his career and the third this year.
- WR Austin Trammell caught five passes for 52 yards and a touchdown. It was his second touchdown of the year and the fifth of his career… His five receptions give him 108 in his career moving him into sole possession for 10th-place and leaves him four receptions from tying Ed Lofton for ninth on the Rice career list.
- DB Naeem Smith recorded his second interception in as many games and the Owls' fourth on the season.
- LB Blaze Alldredge recorded seven tackles, including 1.5 for loss. He now has 14.0 tackles for loss this year and 18.0 in his career… Alldredge's 14.0 tackles for loss this year move him past Larry Izzo (1994) for the third-most by a Rice linebacker since 1981.
Team Stats
USM
RICE
Total Yards
364
139
Pass Yards
207
131
Rushing Yards
157
8
Penalty Yards
73
30
1st Downs
18
14
3rd Downs
7
6
4th Downs
1
0
TOP
30:45
29:15
2nd Quarter
USM 3, RICE 0
USM - STEIN, Andrew 23 yd field goal 13 plays, 44 yards, TOP 4:54
USM 10, RICE 0
USM - PERKINS, Kevin 2 yd run (STEIN, Andrew kick), 10 plays, 67 yards, TOP 3:37
3rd Quarter
USM 13, RICE 0
USM - STEIN, Andrew 34 yd field goal 9 plays, 47 yards, TOP 4:24
USM 13, RICE 6
RICE - TRAMMELL, A. 15 yd pass from GREEN, Wiley (BARNES, Chris kickfailed) 7 plays, 70 yards, TOP 3:33
4th Quarter
USM 20, RICE 6
USM - PERKINS, Kevin 38 yd run (STEIN, Andrew kick), 9 plays, 88 yards, TOP 4:35
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
12
TD
1
YDS
104
INT
1
CMP
2
TD
0
YDS
27
INT
0
Players Mentioned
LB
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RUSH
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S
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WR
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CB
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