Owls Take on Southern Miss in 2020 Road Opener

Game #2
What: Rice (0-1/0-1) vs. Middle Tennessee (1-4/1-1)
When: Saturday, October 31
Where: Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Stadium: M.M. Roberts Stadium (47,000)
Television: ESPN3 Jason Baker (PxP), Dustin Almond (Analyst)
Where to Find the Game: ESPN3
Rice Radio: JP Heath (play-by-play), Nate Griffin (analyst),
Audio Streaming: Stretch Internet, Rice Game Day App, TuneIn app
Live Stats: RiceOwls.com
Series Information: Southern Miss leads 6-4 (3-2 in Hattiesburg)

Series History
O3, 2007         W 31-29          Hattiesburg, Miss.
O18, 2008       W 45-40          Houston
O1, 2011         L 48-24            Hattiesburg, Miss.
O27, 2012       W 44-17          Houston
S27, 2014       W 41-23          Hattiesburg, Miss.
N14, 2015       L 65-10            Houston
O1, 2016         L 44-28            Hattiesburg, Miss.
N11, 2017       L 43-34            Houston
S22, 2018       L 40-22            Hattiesburg, Miss.
O26, 2019       L 20-6              Houston

Series Notes

This is the 11th meeting between the two schools, all of them as members of Conference USA
The 10 games are the second most for the Owls vs. any team in the conference since their debut in 2005 (UTEP 15). Four meetings were when the schools were in opposite divisions of the conference, but they have now met in six consecutive years as members of the West Division
Southern Miss leads the series 6-4 (thanks to wins in the last five games), including a 3-2 lead in games in Hattiesburg.
USM took the most recent meeting, 20-6 at Rice Stadium last year. It was the lowest scoring game in the series and the first time since the first game in 2007 that the winning team did not score at least 40 points.
The teams have combined to average 65.4 points during the 10 games of the series.
The teams first met in 2007 in Hattiesburg on a Wednesday thanks to ESPN, as the Owls held on for a 31-29 win for David Bailiff's first win at Rice. Future NFL draftee and current Bengals TE coach James Casey was called upon to play seven positions for a depleted Rice squad during the game.
Rice's 44-17 win at Rice Stadium in 2012 was the first of a five-game winning streak to close the year and earn the Owls a berth in the Armed Forces Bowl.

109th Season - At Last
After several delays due to the ongoing pandemic after reporting to campus in late July, Rice opened its 109th season of football two days shy of the anniversary of its first football game, which remains the latest start to a season in school history. (See below). The Owls will return to the road for the first time in 336 days when they travel to Hattiesburg this Saturday to take on Southern Miss.

The Time of the Season
Saturday will be the 12th time the Owls have played on Halloween, the first since 2013 when the Owls fell at North Texas 28-16. Rice is 4-6-1 on candy's greatest day with the last win coming in 1998 when Chad Richardson demolished defending WAC champion Colorado State's defense to the tune of 224 yards and three touchdowns. Richardson's total is a school record for quarterbacks and is tied for the 5th best single-game effort in school history (matched by current Owl Juma Otoviano's effort vs. ODU in the final game of 2018).

All-Hallow's Eve Team (Rice Letterman Edition)
Jeremy (Norman) Bates 1997, 1999
Everett (Tim) Burton 1993-94-95
Dan (John) Carpenter 2016
Jerry Graves 1956-57-58
Rolf (Freddy) Kreuger 2003-04-05-06
Jordan (Michael) Myers 2017-18-19 Present
Don Slay 1981-82
*Special citations to the 10 (Christopher) Lee's, captained by Tommy Lee (1989) and the four (Vincent) Price's, represented by Herman Price (1936-37).

Izzo Named to Pats All-Dynasty Team
Former Owl Larry Izzo is one of 42 players tabbed by the New England Patriots Hall of Fame as members of the team's All-Dynasty Team. Izzo, who was named the Owls MVP in 1995 and was twice named to the All-SWC team, played on three of New England's championship teams (2001, 2003, 2004) as a special teams standout. He currently serves as the special teams coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks.

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