Saturday, November 20
El Paso, TX
3 p.m.
Rice University
at
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UTEP
Photo by: Maria Lysaker | Rice Athletics
Owls Close Road Campaign in El Paso
11/20/2021 8:36:00 AM | Football
Rice @ UTEP
Game #11
What: Rice (3-7/2-4) vs. UTEP (6-4/3-3)
When: Saturday, November 20
Where: El Paso, TX
Stadium: Sun Bowl (46,670)
Television: ESPN + Erik Eiken (play by play) Trevor Vittatoe (analyst)
Where to Find the Game: ESPN +
Rice Radio: JP Heath (play-by-play), Nate Griffin (analyst) David Pillen (sidelines)
Audio Streaming: Stretch Internet, Rice Game Day App, TuneIn app
Live Stats: RiceOwls.com
Digital Game Program: Game 11: Rice @ UTEP
Series Information: This is the 24th meeting between the schools, with Rice leading the overall series 15-8, including a 6-5 advantage in games at the Sun Bowl.
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
• Rice leads the series 11-4 as members of C-USA
• The 11 wins vs. UTEP and the five wins at the Sun Bowl since 2005 are the Owl's best vs. C-USA opponents.
• 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 8 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.
Down to the Wire
Five of the Owl's last seven games have come down to the final play. In their wins over TSU, Southern Miss, and UAB, opponents were throwing to the end zone while the last two (North Texas and Charlotte) were decided in overtime.
On The Clock
Rice and UTEP head into Saturday's game as the top two teams in C-USA in terms of the f time of possession. The Owls have averaged 33:58 per game while the Miners have held on to the ball 32:40.
Interior Defense
Super Senior DT Elijah Garcia is second on the team with a career-best 55 tackles and leads the team with 24 total quarterback pressures per PFF (sacks, hits & hurries). His 55 tackles this year are the most by an Owls interior defender since 2013 when Christian Covington compiled 59 in 14 games. The last interior defender with more than 59 tackles was Matt Sign, who finished the 1992 season with 66. Garcia has 178 career tackles in 49 games, the most of any active interior defender in C-USA,
Long and Short of It
Jordan Myers has scored eight times on the ground for the Owls this year, needing to cover only one-yard seven times while his eighth was a 64-yard jaunt vs. Texas Southern. Myers' eight rushing TDs are the most since Austin Walters had eight in 2019. The last Owl to score more than eight times on the ground was Darik Dillard with 11 in 2014. His 11 scores are tied for sixth on the Rice career chart.
Century Marks
August Pitre III posted Rice's fifth 100-yard receiving day of the year, finishing with a career-high 133 vs. WKU. The last time the Owls had receivers top 100 yards five times in a season was 2in 019. They had six in 2014 and 17 in 2008. Jake Bailey became the third Rice receiver to top 100 yards in a game this year with his career-best 143 yards on 10 receptions against North Texas and matched that effort at Charlotte. Cedric Patterson III totaled 108 vs. Texas Southern while Pitre matched him with 108 at UAB and then added 133 vs. WKU. They are the first trio to top 100 yards receiving in a season for the Owls since 2015 (Dennis Parks, 163; Nate German, 138; Zach Wright 116). Bailey's 143 yards matched Austin Trammell's 2020 effort at Southern Miss as the 10th best receiving output for an Owl in C-USA play. His back-to-back 143-yard efforts matched Austin Trammell's efforts vs. Southern Miss and North Texas last year.
Up Next
Rice returns home to close out the 2021 regular season as the Owls host LA Tech for Senior Day. Kickoff is set for noon.
What: Rice (3-7/2-4) vs. UTEP (6-4/3-3)
When: Saturday, November 20
Where: El Paso, TX
Stadium: Sun Bowl (46,670)
Television: ESPN + Erik Eiken (play by play) Trevor Vittatoe (analyst)
Where to Find the Game: ESPN +
Rice Radio: JP Heath (play-by-play), Nate Griffin (analyst) David Pillen (sidelines)
Audio Streaming: Stretch Internet, Rice Game Day App, TuneIn app
Live Stats: RiceOwls.com
Digital Game Program: Game 11: Rice @ UTEP
Series Information: This is the 24th meeting between the schools, with Rice leading the overall series 15-8, including a 6-5 advantage in games at the Sun Bowl.
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
• Rice leads the series 11-4 as members of C-USA
• The 11 wins vs. UTEP and the five wins at the Sun Bowl since 2005 are the Owl's best vs. C-USA opponents.
• 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 8 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.
Down to the Wire
Five of the Owl's last seven games have come down to the final play. In their wins over TSU, Southern Miss, and UAB, opponents were throwing to the end zone while the last two (North Texas and Charlotte) were decided in overtime.
On The Clock
Rice and UTEP head into Saturday's game as the top two teams in C-USA in terms of the f time of possession. The Owls have averaged 33:58 per game while the Miners have held on to the ball 32:40.
Interior Defense
Super Senior DT Elijah Garcia is second on the team with a career-best 55 tackles and leads the team with 24 total quarterback pressures per PFF (sacks, hits & hurries). His 55 tackles this year are the most by an Owls interior defender since 2013 when Christian Covington compiled 59 in 14 games. The last interior defender with more than 59 tackles was Matt Sign, who finished the 1992 season with 66. Garcia has 178 career tackles in 49 games, the most of any active interior defender in C-USA,
Long and Short of It
Jordan Myers has scored eight times on the ground for the Owls this year, needing to cover only one-yard seven times while his eighth was a 64-yard jaunt vs. Texas Southern. Myers' eight rushing TDs are the most since Austin Walters had eight in 2019. The last Owl to score more than eight times on the ground was Darik Dillard with 11 in 2014. His 11 scores are tied for sixth on the Rice career chart.
Century Marks
August Pitre III posted Rice's fifth 100-yard receiving day of the year, finishing with a career-high 133 vs. WKU. The last time the Owls had receivers top 100 yards five times in a season was 2in 019. They had six in 2014 and 17 in 2008. Jake Bailey became the third Rice receiver to top 100 yards in a game this year with his career-best 143 yards on 10 receptions against North Texas and matched that effort at Charlotte. Cedric Patterson III totaled 108 vs. Texas Southern while Pitre matched him with 108 at UAB and then added 133 vs. WKU. They are the first trio to top 100 yards receiving in a season for the Owls since 2015 (Dennis Parks, 163; Nate German, 138; Zach Wright 116). Bailey's 143 yards matched Austin Trammell's 2020 effort at Southern Miss as the 10th best receiving output for an Owl in C-USA play. His back-to-back 143-yard efforts matched Austin Trammell's efforts vs. Southern Miss and North Texas last year.
Up Next
Rice returns home to close out the 2021 regular season as the Owls host LA Tech for Senior Day. Kickoff is set for noon.
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Players Mentioned
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