Owls and Miners Set to Meet for 24th Time

Game #4
What: Rice (1-2/1-2) vs. UTEP (3-4,0-3)
When: Saturday, November 28
Where: Houston
Stadium: Rice Stadium (47,000)
Television: ESPN3 David Saltzman (PxP), Taylor McHargue (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: This is the 24th meeting between Rice and UTEP with Rice holding a 15-8 lead (6-5 in El Paso, 9-3 in Houston, 11-4 as members of C-USA overall including a 6-2 mark at Rice Stadium).

Series History
O26, 1996       W 48-21          El Paso, Texas
N22, 1997       W 31-13          Houston
N13, 1999       L 30-29            Houston
N11, 2000       L 38-21            El Paso, Texas
N17, 2001       W 27-17          Houston
O19, 2002       L 38-35            El Paso, Texas
N22, 2003       W 45-14          Houston
N13, 2004       L 35-282ot      El Paso, Texas
O29, 2005       L 38-31            Houston
N4, 2006         W 37-31          El Paso, Texas
N3, 2007         W 56-48          Houston
N1, 2008         W 49-44          El Paso, Texas
N21, 2009       W 30-29          Houston
O9, 2010         L 44-24            El Paso
N5, 2011         W 41-37          Houston
N24, 2012       W 33-24          El Paso, Texas
O26, 2013       W 45-7            Houston
N21, 2014       W 31-13          Houston
N6, 2015         L 24-21            El Paso, Texas
N19, 2016       W 44-24          Houston
S9, 2017         W 31-14          El Paso, Texas
N3, 2018         L 34-26            Houston
N30, 2019       W 30-16          El Paso, Texas

Series Notes

The 11 wins vs. UTEP and the six wins at Rice Stadium since 2005 are the Owls best vs. C-USA opponents.
This is the 22nd consecutive meeting between the two, Rice's longest active streak vs. any opponent.
Originally, this would have been the fifth time the teams closed their regular seasons by facing each other before the pandemic extended the season through December 12.
Jeremy Eddington's 97-yard kickoff return at the Sun Bowl in the final regular season game of 2012 sealed a 33-24 win for the Owls. The win also capped a streak of five wins over the last six games to clinch a berth in the Armed Forces Bowl.
The Owls won 31-14 in El Paso in 2017 one week after they were finally able to return to Houston due to Hurricane Harvey. They had opened the 2017 season by facing Stanford (and Rice head coach Mike Bloomgren) in Sydney, Australia and then spent most of the following week in Ft. Worth until returning home at the end of the week.
Chase Clement was responsible for eight touchdowns and earned a helmet sticker from ESPN after engineering an improbable 56-48 win over the Miners in 2007, leading the Owls to 28 points in the 4th quarter to overcome a 20-point deficit.

The Triggerman
Grad transfer Mike Collins has thrown for 802 yards and 10 touchdowns in his first three games with the Owls while completing 61.6% of his passes (53-86) and throwing only one interception. He currently leads C-USA with a passer rating of 176.3 (14th nationally) and 267 yards per game. (24th). Also of note:

802 yards passing are the most in the first three games of a season by an Owl since Chase Clement threw for 875 in the first three in 2008 and are the most to open a C-USA season since Clement threw for 897 in his first three in 2008.... He threw for 1,129 in the first four overall and 1,344 in the first four conference games in 2008.
802 yards are the most for an Owl in C-USA action for an Owl since Tyler Stehling threw for 1,412 in eight games in 2016.
10 TD passes in three games are the most over that span since Clement closed the 2008 regular season with 12 in the final three.
They are the most in the first three games of a C-USA season since the Owls joined the conference in 2005... Clement had nine in 2007 and 2008.
10 TD passes in C-USA play are the most in a season since Driphus Jackson threw 14 in eight games in 2015. Clement holds the record with 34 in 2008.

The Sheriff
Senior co-captain Austin Trammell has already established a career best with six touchdown receptions in the first three games of the season. Breaking down his start:

He leads C-USA with a 12.7 points per game average and in all-purpose yards (148.0) and is second in receiving yards per game (111.7) and third receptions per game (5.3).
His six touchdown receptions are the most for an Owl in a season Jordan Taylor had seven in 10 games in 2014 and his six in conference play are the most since Taylor had six in nine games in 2013... The last Owls with more than six TD receptions in C-USA play were James Casey (12) and Jarett Dillard (11) in 2008.
He is the first Owls receiver to catch six TD passes over three games since James Casey had seven and Jarett Dillard eight in three-game spans in 2008.
Now has 13 receiving touchdowns in his career, tying him with Froggy Williams (1946-49), Buddy Dial (1956-58) and Toren Dixon (2006-09) for eighth-place on Rice's all-time list.
He has caught at least one pass in 30 consecutive games (tied for 5th nationally) and has caught at least one touchdown in his last four games.

Starting With a Stop
The Owls defense has picked up where it left off in 2019, holding their first three opponents scoreless on the game's opening possession. The Owls have held their last 12 opponents off the scoreboard on their first possession of the game. Texas in 2019 was the last team to score on its opening drive.

Clean Starts
Rice has held its first three opponents this season scoreless in the first quarter this year and has not allowed an offensive touchdown over the last 120:59. Praise Amaewhule of UTEP is the last to score a first-quarter touchdown with a fumble recovery in the season finale last year, but the last offensive touchdown scored on the Owls was by UTSA in the seventh games of 2019 (Lowell Narcisse 8-yard pass to Zakhari Franklin with :59 left in the quarter). The Owls have not allowed more than 7 points in the first quarter since Texas scored 14 in the third game of 2019. Rice has outscored the opposition 19-0 this season in the first quarter and 53-6 while winning four of the last six games.

No Flag Zone
Rice once again leads the nation in fewest penalties per game. The Owls lead the nation with an average of 20 yards per game in flags and led the nation last year with an average of 27.5 per game.

None If By Land
Rice has not scored a rushing touchdown in the first three games of 2020, the longest stretch by the Owls since 2009 when they did not record a rushing touchdown in consecutive games vs. Tulsa, Navy and East Carolina. JoVoni Johnson was the last Owl to score on the ground, an 11-yard run with 4:27 left in a 30-16 win at UTEP to end the 2019 season.

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Mike Collins

JoVoni Johnson-McCray

Austin Trammell

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