Saturday, October 28
Houston, Texas
3 PM
Rice University
4-4 , 2-2
28
vs
30
Tulane
7-1 , 4-0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Tulane
10
17
0
3
30
Rice
7
0
14
7
28
Photo by: Maria Lysaker - Rice Athletics
Owls Comeback Falls Short Against #22 Tulane
10/28/2023 8:14:00 PM | Football
Storm back from 20-point deficit
Houston-Rice roared back from a 20-point deficit against 22nd-ranked Tulane, but the Green Wave held off the Owls' hopes of an upset by grinding out the last 8:10 on the clock to escape with a 30-28 win at Rice Stadium on Saturday.
Details-Tulane jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the game's first six minutes and became the first team since Texas in the opener to outscore Rice in the first quarter. Rice answered by driving 82 yards in seven plays to cut the lead to 10-7 on a five-yard run by Juma Otoviano. Tulane scored 17 straight points in the second quarter to take a 27-7 lead into the locker room, but Rice served notice that the outcome was not necessarily a certainty by scoring on three of four second-half possessions. Otoviano's three-yard run capped a 12-play, 75-yard drive to open the second half. Gabriel Taylor stepped in front of a Michael Pratt pass on the Green Wave's next possession and raced up the sideline for 72 yards to set Rice at the Tulane three. Boden Groen made a diving catch of a pass from JT Daniels two plays later to draw Rice to within six at 27-21. After the teams traded punts for the only time in the game, Tulane extended the lead to 30-21, but Daniels answered with a 35-yard scoring strike to Luke McCaffrey to pull Rice to within two at 30-28. Any hopes for an Owl victory ended when Tulane exhausted the final 8:10 while marching from its 32 to the Rice four.
Next Up-Rice will welcome SMU back to Rice Stadium for the first time since 2012 as the Owls celebrate their 103rd homecoming with a 6:30 kickoff next Saturday at Rice Stadium.
Game Notes
Team
• Rice fell to 4-4 on the year and 2-2 in the AAC.
• Rice's 97 first-quarter points are the most in a season since scoring 99 in 1997.
• This is the first time Rice has faced two ranked opponents in a season since 2016 (No. 19 Baylor, No. 24 Stanford).
• The 28 points are the most against a ranked opponent since scoring 31 at No. 7 Texas A&M on Aug. 31, 2013.
Individual
• QB JT Daniels was 18-of-29 for 189 yards and two touchdowns.
• With 189 yards, he now has 2,362 passing yards on the year, passing Driphus Jackson (2015) and Taylor McHargue (2012 and 2013) for fifth-place on Rice's season list.
• He now has 19 passing touchdowns on the year and 64 in his career.
• His 19 touchdowns moved him past Jackson (2015), TJ McMahon (2022) and McHargue (2015) for seventh-place on Rice's season list.
• Daniels has 173 completions on the year, the eighth-best season mark at Rice.
• RB Juma Otoviano scored two touchdowns in a game for the second time this year and third time in his careere.
• WR Luke McCaffrey had five receptions for 79 yards and a touchdown.
• The 35-yard touchdown was his eighth of the season and 14th of his career.
• His eight TD receptions this year moved him into a tie for seventh at Rice with Vance McDonald (2010), Jordan Taylor (2013) and Mario Hall (2014)
• His 14 career TD receptions at Rice are the ninth-best in school history. Keith Roy (1973-76), McDonald (2009-12) and Bradley Rozner (2019-22) are tied for sixth with 15.
• McCaffrey went over 100 career receptions.
• TE Boden Groen's four-yard touchdown reception was the first of his career.
• S Plae Wyatt led the team with a career-high 12 tackles, his second career double-digit tackle game.
• S Jonathan Jean recorded a career-high 11 tackles, his first career double-digit tackle game.
• Jean also recorded his second career sack in the fourth quarter. He now has sacks in consecutive games.
• It is the second time this season that Rice had two players with at least 10 tackles (Chris Conti and Myron Morrison at USF).
• S Gabriel Taylor recorded his second interception of the year and the seventh of his career.
• With his 72-yard interception return, Taylor moved into eighth place on the school career interception yardage list with 178.
• DT Michael Larbie recorded his first career solo sack in the third quarter.
Details-Tulane jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the game's first six minutes and became the first team since Texas in the opener to outscore Rice in the first quarter. Rice answered by driving 82 yards in seven plays to cut the lead to 10-7 on a five-yard run by Juma Otoviano. Tulane scored 17 straight points in the second quarter to take a 27-7 lead into the locker room, but Rice served notice that the outcome was not necessarily a certainty by scoring on three of four second-half possessions. Otoviano's three-yard run capped a 12-play, 75-yard drive to open the second half. Gabriel Taylor stepped in front of a Michael Pratt pass on the Green Wave's next possession and raced up the sideline for 72 yards to set Rice at the Tulane three. Boden Groen made a diving catch of a pass from JT Daniels two plays later to draw Rice to within six at 27-21. After the teams traded punts for the only time in the game, Tulane extended the lead to 30-21, but Daniels answered with a 35-yard scoring strike to Luke McCaffrey to pull Rice to within two at 30-28. Any hopes for an Owl victory ended when Tulane exhausted the final 8:10 while marching from its 32 to the Rice four.
Next Up-Rice will welcome SMU back to Rice Stadium for the first time since 2012 as the Owls celebrate their 103rd homecoming with a 6:30 kickoff next Saturday at Rice Stadium.
Game Notes
Team
• Rice fell to 4-4 on the year and 2-2 in the AAC.
• Rice's 97 first-quarter points are the most in a season since scoring 99 in 1997.
• This is the first time Rice has faced two ranked opponents in a season since 2016 (No. 19 Baylor, No. 24 Stanford).
• The 28 points are the most against a ranked opponent since scoring 31 at No. 7 Texas A&M on Aug. 31, 2013.
Individual
• QB JT Daniels was 18-of-29 for 189 yards and two touchdowns.
• With 189 yards, he now has 2,362 passing yards on the year, passing Driphus Jackson (2015) and Taylor McHargue (2012 and 2013) for fifth-place on Rice's season list.
• He now has 19 passing touchdowns on the year and 64 in his career.
• His 19 touchdowns moved him past Jackson (2015), TJ McMahon (2022) and McHargue (2015) for seventh-place on Rice's season list.
• Daniels has 173 completions on the year, the eighth-best season mark at Rice.
• RB Juma Otoviano scored two touchdowns in a game for the second time this year and third time in his careere.
• WR Luke McCaffrey had five receptions for 79 yards and a touchdown.
• The 35-yard touchdown was his eighth of the season and 14th of his career.
• His eight TD receptions this year moved him into a tie for seventh at Rice with Vance McDonald (2010), Jordan Taylor (2013) and Mario Hall (2014)
• His 14 career TD receptions at Rice are the ninth-best in school history. Keith Roy (1973-76), McDonald (2009-12) and Bradley Rozner (2019-22) are tied for sixth with 15.
• McCaffrey went over 100 career receptions.
• TE Boden Groen's four-yard touchdown reception was the first of his career.
• S Plae Wyatt led the team with a career-high 12 tackles, his second career double-digit tackle game.
• S Jonathan Jean recorded a career-high 11 tackles, his first career double-digit tackle game.
• Jean also recorded his second career sack in the fourth quarter. He now has sacks in consecutive games.
• It is the second time this season that Rice had two players with at least 10 tackles (Chris Conti and Myron Morrison at USF).
• S Gabriel Taylor recorded his second interception of the year and the seventh of his career.
• With his 72-yard interception return, Taylor moved into eighth place on the school career interception yardage list with 178.
• DT Michael Larbie recorded his first career solo sack in the third quarter.
Team Stats
TLN
RIC
Total Yards
457
271
Pass Yards
263
189
Rushing Yards
194
82
Penalty Yards
45
40
1st Downs
24
15
3rd Downs
5
4
4th Downs
2
0
TOP
36:05
23:55
1st Quarter
TLN 3, RIC 0
TLN - Ambrosio,Valentino 44 yd field goal 5 plays, 49 yards, TOP 02:03
TLN 10, RIC 0
TLN - Brown,Yulkeith 26 yd pass from Pratt,Michael (Ambrosio,Valentino kick) 4 plays, 78 yards, TOP 01:49
TLN 10, RIC 7
RIC - Otoviano,Juma 5 yd run (Horn,Tim kick), 7 plays, 82 yards, TOP 03:50
2nd Quarter
TLN 17, RIC 7
TLN - Pratt,Michael 1 yd run (Ambrosio,Valentino kick), 13 plays, 75 yards, TOP 06:27
TLN 24, RIC 7
TLN - Bauman,Alex 1 yd pass from Pratt,Michael (Ambrosio,Valentino kick) 8 plays, 50 yards, TOP 04:12
TLN 27, RIC 7
TLN - Ambrosio,Valentino 41 yd field goal 3 plays, 35 yards, TOP 00:16
3rd Quarter
TLN 27, RIC 14
RIC - Otoviano,Juma 3 yd run (Horn,Tim kick), 12 plays, 75 yards, TOP 07:16
TLN 27, RIC 21
RIC - Groen,Boden 4 yd pass from Daniels,JT (Horn,Tim kick) 2 plays, 3 yards, TOP 00:45
4th Quarter
TLN 30, RIC 21
TLN - Ambrosio,Valentino 43 yd field goal 8 plays, 30 yards, TOP 03:49
TLN 30, RIC 28
RIC - McCaffrey,Luke 35 yd pass from Daniels,JT (Horn,Tim kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:25
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
18
TD
2
YDS
189
INT
1
Players Mentioned
LB
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TE
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S
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DL
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WR
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QB
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RB
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WR
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SAF
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SAF
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