Saturday, October 30
Houston, TX
1 p.m.
Rice University
vs
North Texas
Photo by: David Beach
Homecoming 101-Rice hosts North Texas
10/30/2021 7:17:00 AM | Football
Kickoff set for 1 p.m.
Game #8
What: Rice (3-4/2-1) vs. North Texas (1-6/0-3)
When: Saturday, October 30
Where: Houston, Texas
Stadium: Rice Stadium 47,000)
Television: ESPN 3 (Matt Pedersen, play-by-play; Taylor McHargue, analyst)
Where to Find the Game:ESPN 3
Rice Radio: JP Heath (play-by-play), Nate Griffin (analyst), Jason Metko (sidelines)
Audio Streaming: Stretch Internet, Rice Game Day App, TuneIn app
Live Stats: RiceOwls.com
Digital Game Program: Rice hosts North Texas
Series Information: This is the 12th meeting, North Texas leads the series 6-5
N19, 1988 L 33-17 Houston
S27, 2008 W 77-20 Houston
S11, 2010 W 33-32 Denton
O31, 2013 L 28-16 Denton
O25, 2014 W 41-21 Houston
S19, 2015 W 38-24 Denton
S24, 2016 L 42-352ot Houston
N25, 2017 L 30-14 Houston
O27, 2018 L 41-17 Denton
N23, 2019 W 20-14 Houston
N21, 2020 L 27-17 Denton
Series Notes
• The series began with a non-conference meeting in 1988 when the Mean Green, who were headed to the 1-AA playoffs, stormed to a 33-3 lead and won 33-17.
• North Texas has won three of six at Rice Stadium, including back-to-back wins in 2016 & 2017.
• The schools have split the six previous meetings at Rice Stadium with the Owls winning the most recent in 2019, 20-13.
• Rice's first win over the Mean Green came in 2008 as the Owls scored their most points in a game in the modern era, winning 77-20. Chase Clement and Jarett Dillard etched their names into the NCAA record book, becoming the most productive duo in NCAA history by connecting on three touchdown passes to raise their career total to 41. They went on to finish with 52.
• Dillard caught three TD passes from Clement and one from running back Jeremy Goodson to set a school record with four on the day
Homecoming 101
After holding a virtual only alumni gathering in 2020 due to COVID-19, Rice will hold its 101st Homecoming game on Saturday when the Owls host North Texas. While it began playing football in 1912, the tradition of Homecoming did not make its first appearance at Rice until 1919 when the Owls trounced Arkansas 40-7 to cap the first eight -win season in school history (8-1). The first 10 Homecoming games were held on Thanksgiving Day and after not having a designated game in 1930, the football game was the centerpiece of the annual alumni gathering over the next 90 succeeding falls until 2020. The Owls have posted a 47-50-3 record in Homecoming games, including wins in 10 of the last 14 games.
Familiar Setting
Saturday's game will be the third of four consecutive Homecoming games for Rice. The Owls opened the stretch two weeks ago at UTSA and continued last Saturday at UAB. The close out the stretch of halftime presentations next Saturday by providing the competition for Charlotte's gathering of alumni on November 6.
Streak Breakers
Rice handed UAB its first home loss in a conference game since the program restarted in 2017. The Blazers had won 15 consecutive conference home games prior to Saturday. Rice's last two road wins have snapped notable streaks for the hosts. The Owls ended a 10-game conference winning streak for Marshall in 2020 with their 20-0 win.
Green and Taylor Pile Up the Honors
Quarterback Wiley Green and safety Gabe Taylor picked up multiple honors for their performances in Rice's 30-24 win over defending Conference USA champion UAB last Saturday. They were named C-USA's Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, the first Rice teammates to be honored by the conference the same week since Chris Boswell (special teams) and Charles Ross (offense) were recognized in 2013 after the Owls' 52-14 win over LA Tech. They are first to capture the offensive and defensive honors for Rice since Jarett Dillard and Brian Raines were cited for their performance against SMU in 2006 while leading the Owls to a 27-24 win which clinched their first bowl berth since 1961. Taylor was earned weekly honors from the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award and the Frisco Bowl, while Green was named to the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose honorable mention list.
Green guided the Owls offense with precision passing, completing 77% of his passes (17-22) for 205 yards and a career-best three touchdown passes. Seven of his 17 completions converted either third or fourth downs for the Owls, three of them on a 13-play, 72 yard drive to a field goal that ate up over half of the fourth quarter and gave the Owls a two-score lead. The last of those completions was a 17-yarder to Cedric Patterson III on third and seven to place the ball at the UAB 12. The win snapped a four-game losing streak for Rice vs. UAB overall and a three-game losing streak in Birmingham. Taylor was credited with a career-best 10 tackles, forced a fumble and knocked down a game-ending Hail Mary pass in the Owls' 30-24 win over defending conference champion UAB. He set up the Owls second touchdown in the opening minutes of the game by forcing a fumble on the Blazers first play from scrimmage after the Owls had taken a 7-0 lead. Two of his ten tackles forced Blazers punts at the end of the second and start of the third quarter with Rice holding a 20- 14 lead. After the Owls had retaken the lead with 3:22 left in half and the Blazers receiving the ball to open the second, Taylor's stop on third and four stop at the UAB 34 forced the first Blazers punt of the day. On the opening series of the second half, Taylor made tackles on two of three plays, including stopping a third and three effort. Rice responded with a 10-play, 65 yard drive to push the lead to 27-14. He ended the game by knocking down Dylan Flowers' final pass attempt as the clock ran out.
What: Rice (3-4/2-1) vs. North Texas (1-6/0-3)
When: Saturday, October 30
Where: Houston, Texas
Stadium: Rice Stadium 47,000)
Television: ESPN 3 (Matt Pedersen, play-by-play; Taylor McHargue, analyst)
Where to Find the Game:ESPN 3
Rice Radio: JP Heath (play-by-play), Nate Griffin (analyst), Jason Metko (sidelines)
Audio Streaming: Stretch Internet, Rice Game Day App, TuneIn app
Live Stats: RiceOwls.com
Digital Game Program: Rice hosts North Texas
Series Information: This is the 12th meeting, North Texas leads the series 6-5
N19, 1988 L 33-17 Houston
S27, 2008 W 77-20 Houston
S11, 2010 W 33-32 Denton
O31, 2013 L 28-16 Denton
O25, 2014 W 41-21 Houston
S19, 2015 W 38-24 Denton
S24, 2016 L 42-352ot Houston
N25, 2017 L 30-14 Houston
O27, 2018 L 41-17 Denton
N23, 2019 W 20-14 Houston
N21, 2020 L 27-17 Denton
Series Notes
• The series began with a non-conference meeting in 1988 when the Mean Green, who were headed to the 1-AA playoffs, stormed to a 33-3 lead and won 33-17.
• North Texas has won three of six at Rice Stadium, including back-to-back wins in 2016 & 2017.
• The schools have split the six previous meetings at Rice Stadium with the Owls winning the most recent in 2019, 20-13.
• Rice's first win over the Mean Green came in 2008 as the Owls scored their most points in a game in the modern era, winning 77-20. Chase Clement and Jarett Dillard etched their names into the NCAA record book, becoming the most productive duo in NCAA history by connecting on three touchdown passes to raise their career total to 41. They went on to finish with 52.
• Dillard caught three TD passes from Clement and one from running back Jeremy Goodson to set a school record with four on the day
Homecoming 101
After holding a virtual only alumni gathering in 2020 due to COVID-19, Rice will hold its 101st Homecoming game on Saturday when the Owls host North Texas. While it began playing football in 1912, the tradition of Homecoming did not make its first appearance at Rice until 1919 when the Owls trounced Arkansas 40-7 to cap the first eight -win season in school history (8-1). The first 10 Homecoming games were held on Thanksgiving Day and after not having a designated game in 1930, the football game was the centerpiece of the annual alumni gathering over the next 90 succeeding falls until 2020. The Owls have posted a 47-50-3 record in Homecoming games, including wins in 10 of the last 14 games.
Familiar Setting
Saturday's game will be the third of four consecutive Homecoming games for Rice. The Owls opened the stretch two weeks ago at UTSA and continued last Saturday at UAB. The close out the stretch of halftime presentations next Saturday by providing the competition for Charlotte's gathering of alumni on November 6.
Streak Breakers
Rice handed UAB its first home loss in a conference game since the program restarted in 2017. The Blazers had won 15 consecutive conference home games prior to Saturday. Rice's last two road wins have snapped notable streaks for the hosts. The Owls ended a 10-game conference winning streak for Marshall in 2020 with their 20-0 win.
Green and Taylor Pile Up the Honors
Quarterback Wiley Green and safety Gabe Taylor picked up multiple honors for their performances in Rice's 30-24 win over defending Conference USA champion UAB last Saturday. They were named C-USA's Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, the first Rice teammates to be honored by the conference the same week since Chris Boswell (special teams) and Charles Ross (offense) were recognized in 2013 after the Owls' 52-14 win over LA Tech. They are first to capture the offensive and defensive honors for Rice since Jarett Dillard and Brian Raines were cited for their performance against SMU in 2006 while leading the Owls to a 27-24 win which clinched their first bowl berth since 1961. Taylor was earned weekly honors from the Paycom Jim Thorpe Award and the Frisco Bowl, while Green was named to the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose honorable mention list.
Green guided the Owls offense with precision passing, completing 77% of his passes (17-22) for 205 yards and a career-best three touchdown passes. Seven of his 17 completions converted either third or fourth downs for the Owls, three of them on a 13-play, 72 yard drive to a field goal that ate up over half of the fourth quarter and gave the Owls a two-score lead. The last of those completions was a 17-yarder to Cedric Patterson III on third and seven to place the ball at the UAB 12. The win snapped a four-game losing streak for Rice vs. UAB overall and a three-game losing streak in Birmingham. Taylor was credited with a career-best 10 tackles, forced a fumble and knocked down a game-ending Hail Mary pass in the Owls' 30-24 win over defending conference champion UAB. He set up the Owls second touchdown in the opening minutes of the game by forcing a fumble on the Blazers first play from scrimmage after the Owls had taken a 7-0 lead. Two of his ten tackles forced Blazers punts at the end of the second and start of the third quarter with Rice holding a 20- 14 lead. After the Owls had retaken the lead with 3:22 left in half and the Blazers receiving the ball to open the second, Taylor's stop on third and four stop at the UAB 34 forced the first Blazers punt of the day. On the opening series of the second half, Taylor made tackles on two of three plays, including stopping a third and three effort. Rice responded with a 10-play, 65 yard drive to push the lead to 27-14. He ended the game by knocking down Dylan Flowers' final pass attempt as the clock ran out.
Players Mentioned
WBB: Rice vs. Marshall Postgame Presser
Wednesday, March 09
VB: Rice-Texas Postgame Presser
Saturday, December 04
VB: Rice-San Diego Postgame Presser
Thursday, December 02