Saturday, September 17
Houston, Texas
6:30 p.m.
Rice University
2-1 , 0-0
33
vs
21
Louisiana
2-1 , 0-0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Louisiana
7
7
0
7
21
Rice
3
10
6
14
33
Photo by: Maria Lysaker | Rice Athletics
Rice Rolls Past Louisiana
9/18/2022 12:17:00 AM | Football
McMahon tops 300 yards to lead Owls
In Brief: TJ McMahon shook off a pair of first-quarter interceptions while his defensive teammates held Louisiana to the lowest total yardage by a Rice opponent since 2013 as the Owls snapped the longest active winning streak in the country by downing the Ragin' Cajuns 33-21 at Rice Stadium on Saturday night.
The Details: Louisiana entered the game with a 15-game winning streak overall and had not lost to Rice in its last two meetings, but the Owls turned the tables on the visitors with an efficient offensive performance that saw them convert all six red zone opportunities for the second straight week. On defense, the Owls held a Ragin' Cajuns offense that came in averaging 416 yards per game to just 175 yards and nine first downs, their best effort since they held Tulane to 123 yards and six first downs on Nov. 30, 2013. While Rice controlled most of the action in the first quarter, Louisiana led after one thanks to an interception return for a touchdown and led 14-13 at the half. But the Owls surged to a 27-14 lead thanks to a pair of McMahon touchdown passes and then answered a Louisiana touchdown to trim the lead to six with a 10-play, 70-yard scoring drive that ate up nearly all of the game's final nine minutes. McMahon rallied from a 5-10 with two interceptions and 39 yards first quarter to complete 20-26 for 264 yards and three scores in the final three frames. He finished the day with career-highs in yards (303), completions (25) and attempts (36). Luke McCaffrey caught 10 of McMahon's 25 completions, including his first two career receiving touchdowns and topped 100 receiving yards for the first time in his career (105). Rice (2-1) will to face off against crosstown rival Houston (1-2) next Saturday at 5:00 p.m. with possession of the Bayou Bucket on the line.
The Notes:
Team
Individual
The Details: Louisiana entered the game with a 15-game winning streak overall and had not lost to Rice in its last two meetings, but the Owls turned the tables on the visitors with an efficient offensive performance that saw them convert all six red zone opportunities for the second straight week. On defense, the Owls held a Ragin' Cajuns offense that came in averaging 416 yards per game to just 175 yards and nine first downs, their best effort since they held Tulane to 123 yards and six first downs on Nov. 30, 2013. While Rice controlled most of the action in the first quarter, Louisiana led after one thanks to an interception return for a touchdown and led 14-13 at the half. But the Owls surged to a 27-14 lead thanks to a pair of McMahon touchdown passes and then answered a Louisiana touchdown to trim the lead to six with a 10-play, 70-yard scoring drive that ate up nearly all of the game's final nine minutes. McMahon rallied from a 5-10 with two interceptions and 39 yards first quarter to complete 20-26 for 264 yards and three scores in the final three frames. He finished the day with career-highs in yards (303), completions (25) and attempts (36). Luke McCaffrey caught 10 of McMahon's 25 completions, including his first two career receiving touchdowns and topped 100 receiving yards for the first time in his career (105). Rice (2-1) will to face off against crosstown rival Houston (1-2) next Saturday at 5:00 p.m. with possession of the Bayou Bucket on the line.
The Notes:
Team
- It was the sixth meeting between Rice and Louisiana and the first since 1989. The series is tied at three.
- Rice leads 3-2 in games played in Houston, but the win snapped a two-game winning streak in the series for Louisiana. The Ragin' Cajuns won in both 1998 and 1989, while Rice's last win came at Rice Stadium in 1983.
- Rice snapped Louisiana's 15-game winning streak, which was the longest active streak in FBS.
- Rice scored 30 points in consecutive games for the first time since the first two games of the 2020 season.
Individual
- In his last 10 quarters at Rice Stadium (two in the final game of 2021 vs. LA Tech and four in starts vs. McNeese and Louisiana) McMahon has completed 58-85 passes for 768 yards and nine touchdowns while leading the Owls to three consecutive wins.
- WR Bradley Rozner caught 4 passes for 48 yards and a touchdown.
- It is his third touchdown of the year and the eighth of his career.
- WR Isaiah Esdale caught four passes for a season-high 64 yards.
- His 39-yard reception in the third quarter was his longest of the year.
- S George Nyakwol had his first interception of the season and the sixth of his career.
- K Christian VanSickle connected on field goals from 23 and 31 yards. It is his first career game with at least two field goals.
- With a half-sack, DE Josh Pearcy has 4.5 sacks in his career.
- LB Myron Morrison recorded his first career half-sack in the second quarter.
Team Stats
ULL
RIC
Total Yards
175
449
Pass Yards
114
303
Rushing Yards
61
146
Penalty Yards
85
65
1st Downs
9
27
3rd Downs
3
9
4th Downs
0
1
TOP
17:22
41:51
1st Quarter
ULL 0, RIC 3
RIC - VanSickle,Christian 23 yd field goal 7 plays, 33 yards, TOP 02:50
ULL 7, RIC 3
ULL - Anderson,Caleb 54 yd interception (Stafford,Preston kick)
2nd Quarter
ULL 7, RIC 10
RIC - McCaffrey,Luke 8 yd pass from McMahon,TJ (VanSickle,Christian kick) 13 plays, 83 yards, TOP 07:56
ULL 14, RIC 10
ULL - Williams,Terrence 11 yd pass from Fields,Chandler (Stafford,Preston kick) 3 plays, 17 yards, TOP 01:28
ULL 14, RIC 13
RIC - VanSickle,Christian 31 yd field goal 9 plays, 60 yards, TOP 01:19
3rd Quarter
ULL 14, RIC 19
RIC - Rozner,Bradley 12 yd pass from McMahon,TJ () 10 plays, 75 yards, TOP 04:40
4th Quarter
ULL 14, RIC 27
RIC - McCaffrey,Luke 6 yd pass from McMahon,TJ (Rozner,Bradley pass) 9 plays, 65 yards, TOP 06:07
ULL 21, RIC 27
ULL - Smith,Chris 22 yd run (Stafford,Preston kick), 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:08
ULL 21, RIC 33
RIC - Broussard,Ari 2 yd run (), 10 plays, 70 yards, TOP 06:14
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
25
TD
3
YDS
303
INT
3
Players Mentioned
QB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
OLB/DE
/ Football
WR
/ Football
K/P
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