Saturday, October 2
Houston, Texas
5:30 p.m.
Rice University
2-3 , 1-0
24
vs
19
Southern Miss
1-4 , 0-1
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Southern Miss.
7
0
7
5
19
Rice
7
3
14
0
24
Photo by: Maria Lysaker | Rice Athletics
Defense Slams the Door on Southern Miss Comeback
10/2/2021 11:23:00 PM | Football
Four interceptions and five sacks key Owls win in C-USA Opener
In Brief: Jake Constantine threw a pair of touchdown passes while an aroused Rice defense repeatedly responded with big plays in crucial situations to spark the Owls (2-3) to a 24-19 win over Southern Miss (1-4) on Saturday night at Rice Stadium.
The Details: Rice never trailed on the way to its first win in a conference opener since 2017, opening and closing the first half with scoring drives and then adding 14 points in the first five minutes of the second half. Southern Miss refused to fold and the Owls needed a pair of fourth quarter interceptions to hold off the Golden Eagles and even the series at six wins each. The Owls picked off four passes and sacked Southern Miss quarterbacks five times, their highest total since 2017. George Nyakwol's first quarter interception on USM's opening drive set the stage for Constantine's first touchdown, a 39-yard connection with Jake Bailey. His second was a 19-yard hookup with Robert French that saw French wrest the ball away from a Golden Eagle defender to score his first career touchdown. Moments later Naeem Smith picked off his first pass of the year and the Owls wasted little time in converting, with Cedric Patterson racing in from 39-yards on an end around play to put the Owls up 24-7. Southern Miss struck back with a 95-yard kickoff return and held the Rice offense in check the rest of the way. After a field goal cut the margin to 24-17 early in the fourth, Southern Miss converted an onside kick. But a pair of costly penalties and a key pass breakup by Antonio Montero thwarted that threat. On their next possession, the Eagles moved to the Rice 46 before Miles McCord intercepted at the Rice 29. Southern Miss mounted one last drive with just over three minutes left and moved to the Rice 42, but a deep throw by Jake Lange was run down by Kirk Lockhart at the Rice seven for the fourth interception.
Up Next: Rice will take next Saturday off before opening a two-game conference road swing with a game at UTSA on October 16 and continues at UAB on October 23. The Owls will return home to fittingly celebrate Homecoming on October 30 against North Texas.
The Notes:
Team
Individual
The Details: Rice never trailed on the way to its first win in a conference opener since 2017, opening and closing the first half with scoring drives and then adding 14 points in the first five minutes of the second half. Southern Miss refused to fold and the Owls needed a pair of fourth quarter interceptions to hold off the Golden Eagles and even the series at six wins each. The Owls picked off four passes and sacked Southern Miss quarterbacks five times, their highest total since 2017. George Nyakwol's first quarter interception on USM's opening drive set the stage for Constantine's first touchdown, a 39-yard connection with Jake Bailey. His second was a 19-yard hookup with Robert French that saw French wrest the ball away from a Golden Eagle defender to score his first career touchdown. Moments later Naeem Smith picked off his first pass of the year and the Owls wasted little time in converting, with Cedric Patterson racing in from 39-yards on an end around play to put the Owls up 24-7. Southern Miss struck back with a 95-yard kickoff return and held the Rice offense in check the rest of the way. After a field goal cut the margin to 24-17 early in the fourth, Southern Miss converted an onside kick. But a pair of costly penalties and a key pass breakup by Antonio Montero thwarted that threat. On their next possession, the Eagles moved to the Rice 46 before Miles McCord intercepted at the Rice 29. Southern Miss mounted one last drive with just over three minutes left and moved to the Rice 42, but a deep throw by Jake Lange was run down by Kirk Lockhart at the Rice seven for the fourth interception.
Up Next: Rice will take next Saturday off before opening a two-game conference road swing with a game at UTSA on October 16 and continues at UAB on October 23. The Owls will return home to fittingly celebrate Homecoming on October 30 against North Texas.
The Notes:
Team
- Rice improved to 2-3 on the season and is 1-0 in C-USA play for the first time since 2017.
- Rice won consecutive home games for the first time since the last game of 2014 and first game of 2015, consecutive home games in the same season for the first time since 2014 and won back-to-back home games for the first time since 2010.
- The Owl have won six of their last nine conference games.
- The five sacks and nine TFLs were the most for the Owls since they matched those numbers vs. North Texas in 2017.
- The four interceptions were a season high and the Owls have picked off nine passes in their last three conference games.
Individual
- QB Jake Constantine was 16-of-22 for 192 yards and two touchdowns.
- WR Jake Bailey caught five passes for a career-high 83 yards and a touchdown.
- TE Jack Bradley caught a career-high five passes for 47 yards.
- WR Cedric Patterson III scored on a 39-yard run in the third quarter. It was his first career rushing touchdown.
- TE Robert French caught a 19-yard touchdown in the second quarter. It was his first career touchdown reception of his collegiate career and his first since September 1, 2017 as a senior at Bartram Trail High School.
- The 19-yard reception was the longest of his career.
- S George Nyakwol recorded his second interception of the year and the fifth of his career.
- He is the first player with interceptions in back-to-back games since Prudy Calderon in 2018.
- Nyakwol also recorded his first sack of the year in the fourth quarter. It was his second sack of his career.
- K Christian VanSickle connected on a 41-yard field goal in the second quarter. It was his first career field goal and came on his first career attempt.
- It was Rice's longest field goal of the year.
- DE Ikenna Enechukwu recorded his second sack of the year. He has 3.5 sacks in his career.
- NT Elijah Garcia recorded a career-high two sacks. He has 4.5 sacks in his career.
- DE Josh Pearcy led the Owls with a career-high 11 tackles. It was his first career double-digit tackle game.
- DE Trey Schuman recorded 10 tackles. It was his first career double-digit tackle game.
- Schuman recorded his first sack of the year and the third of his career.
Team Stats
USM
RICE
Total Yards
378
325
Pass Yards
321
207
Rushing Yards
57
118
Penalty Yards
90
40
1st Downs
21
15
3rd Downs
4
8
4th Downs
1
0
TOP
28:22
31:38
1st Quarter
USM 0, RICE 7
RICE - BAILEY, Jake 39 yd pass from Constantine, J. (VANSICKLE, C. kick) 6 plays, 74 yards, TOP 4:04
USM 7, RICE 7
USM - Pittman,Chandle 31 yd pass from Lange,Jake (Bourgeois,Brigg kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:56
2nd Quarter
USM 7, RICE 10
RICE - VANSICKLE, C. 41 yd field goal 10 plays, 58 yards, TOP 4:58
3rd Quarter
USM 7, RICE 17
RICE - FRENCH, Robert 19 yd pass from Constantine, J. (VANSICKLE, C. kick) 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:07
USM 7, RICE 24
RICE - PATTERSON, C. 38 yd run (VANSICKLE, C. kick), 1 plays, 38 yards, TOP 0:09
USM 14, RICE 24
USM - Harrell,Camron 95 yd kickoff return (Bourgeois,Brigg kick)
4th Quarter
USM 17, RICE 24
USM - Bourgeois,Brigg 26 yd field goal 13 plays, 77 yards, TOP 6:11
USM 19, RICE 24
USM - TEAM -1 yd safety
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
16
TD
2
YDS
192
INT
0
CMP
1
TD
0
YDS
15
INT
0
Players Mentioned
WR
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TE
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DB
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DE
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TE
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DL
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S
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CB
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LB
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DB
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WR
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OLB/DE
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DE
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S
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K/P
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