Rice Homecoming Through the Years
103 Years of Memories
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 has been the centerpiece of the annual alumni gathering each succeeding fall. The Owls have posted a 47-53-3 record in Homecoming games, including wins in 10 of the last 16 games. Special thanks to Dr. Melissa Kean, Rice Centennial Historian, for her research assistance in compiling this information.
- Nov. 11, 2023
vs. SMU, L 36-31
Homecoming Hopes Dashed by Mustangs
Rice saw its hopes for a dramatic rally fall just short as SMU held off a surge by an undermanned Owls team to escape with a 36-31 win and the Mayor's Cup.
- Oct. 29, 2022
vs. Charlotte, L 65-23
Owls Drop Homecoming Game to Charlotte
Rice saw its hopes for a Happy Homecoming and extending its home winning streak to five dashed as an inspired Charlotte team playing its first game for interim head coach Pete Rossomando exploded for 49 points over the last three quarters to defeat Rice 56-23.
- Oct. 30, 2021
vs. North Texas, L 30-24 (OT)
North Texas Edges Rice in Overtime
Rice drove 89 yards in the final minutes to tie the game, highlighted by a spectacular catch by Jake Bailey on 4th and 10, but North Texas held the Owls off the board to start overtime and then scored to take the win.
- 2020
No game (COVID-1)
- Nov. 2, 2019
vs. Marshall, L 20-7
Herd Rides First Half Air Attack to Down Owls
Marshall parlayed several first half big plays into a 17-7 halftime lead and blanked Rice in the second half to take a 20-7 win in the Owls' 100th Homecoming game.
- Nov. 4, 2018
vs. UTEP, L 34-26
Wiley Green threw for a career-high 313 yards and led a second-half rally that put Rice in position to fashion yet another memorable Homecoming afternoon, but UTEP hung on for a 34-26 win.
- Nov. 11, 2017
vs. Southern Miss, L 43-34
Nahshon Ellerbe punctured one of the top rushing defenses in Conference USA for 153 yards and four touchdowns, but Southern Miss answered with a flawless offensive effort of its own, scoring on eight consecutive possessions to hand Rice a 43-34 loss on Homecoming.
- Oct. 22, 2016
vs. Prairie View, W 65-44
Stehling's Career Day Leads Owls to Homecoming Haul
Tyler Stehling threw for five touchdowns and caught a sixth while becoming the fourth quarterback in school history to throw for more than 400 yards in a game to lead Rice to a 65-44 Homecoming win over Prairie View A&M
- Nov. 14, 2015
vs. Southern Miss, L 65-10
Southern Miss Crashes Homecoming
Nick Mullens threw for 386 yards and five touchdowns, four of them in a 35-point explosion in the second quarter to lead streaking Southern Miss to a 65-10 win at Rice Stadium on Saturday.
The win was the Golden Eagles first in three tries at Rice Stadium and snapped the Owls 10-year Homecoming winning streak as well as the Owls' 15-game home winning streak in the month of November.
- Nov. 8, 2014
vs. UTSA, W 17-7
Owls Extend Homecoming Mastery with 17-7 Win over UTSA
On a day reserved for honoring past accomplishments, the current members of the Rice football team added another chapter to their own recent history, downing UTSA 17-7 to win their sixth straight this season and their 10th consecutive homecoming game, while posting the most successful three-year run in school history and reach bowl eligibility for the third consecutive year.
"I'm proud of these kids, we didn't play our best game as a football team," Rice head coach David Bailiff said. "We figured out a way to win. These seniors have been a resilient bunch and they figure out ways to win. When you win games like this it's because of your seniors. They know we wanted to get to six today and become bowl eligible. But we want to win some more football games."
- Nov. 16, 2013
vs. Louisiana Tech, W 52-14
Ross and Owls Honor Coach with Homecoming Win
Charles Ross ran for five scores to tie the Conference USA record, and became the seventh Owl to rush for 1,000 yards in a season with a career-best 215 to lead the Rice Owls to an emotional 52-14 Homecoming victory over Louisiana Tech on Saturday night at Rice Stadium.
"That was a lot of fun," head coach David Bailiff said. "From the electricity and the great atmosphere of homecoming, the first kick, the way the offense decided to take the ball tonight and how they took the ball down the field to score I thought set the tone for the football game. We overcame a bad snap, we overcame some penalties, overcame a turnover and still got points. It was just that kind of night. It was a kind of night that we did a lot of right."
- Oct. 13, 2012
vs. UTSA, W 34-14
Linemen Lead the Way to Homecoming Win
On a day awash in tradition and commemoration, the Rice Owls extended their Homecoming winning streak and regained their footing after a frustrating three-week run, using a dominating performance along the line of scrimamge to down the UTSA Roadrunners 34-14 on Saturday afternoon at Rice Stadium.
"How nice was that?" Rice head coach David Bailiff asked. "All we had going on this weekend was a football game, a 100-year birthday party, Tommy Kramer coming in with the College Football Hall of Fame, and Homecoming. If you could pick one you definitely wanted to win, it would be that one."
- Nov. 5, 2011
vs. UTEP, W 41-37
Fanuzzi Fires Owls to Past UTEP
Nick Fanuzzi threw for a career-high 405 yards to lead the Rice Owls to one of their greatest offensive outputs in school history en route to a 41-37 Homecoming win over UTEP at Rice Stadium on Saturday.All week long, the Rice Owls impressed head coach David Bailiff with a spirited week of practice on the heels of their loss to Houston and on Saturday both coach and team savored the results of that work as the Owls extended their Homecoming winning streak to seven years and their November Rice Stadium winning streak to eight games.
- Oct. 16, 2010
vs. Housto, W 34-31
History repeated itself once again as the Rice Owls bounced back from a stinging defeat at the hands of Houston in 2009 to put together an inspired effort to defeat Houston 34-31 and reclaim the Bayou Bucket in front of a Homecoming crowd of 26,342 on Saturday.
In three previous instances when Houston had topped 60 points to defeat the Owls in their crosstown showdown, Rice had come back to win in two of the next three meetings (and lost by two in the third). After absorbing a 73-14 drubbing at the hands of the Cougars last November, this edition of Owls were of a mindset continue that trend.
- Nov. 14, 2009
vs. Tulane, W 28-20
Fate, so maddeningly cruel to Rice for the umpteenth time just one weekend ago at SMU, decided on Saturday to smile on the Owls. Finally
Victimized by three miscues in the kicking game against SMU, the Owls benefitted from a muffed PAT by Tulane and turned their fourth fourth-down conversion into a game-clinching score, defeating the Green Wave 28-20 at Historic Rice Stadium to record their first win of the season.
- Nov. 8, 2008
vs. Army, W 38-31
Clement Leads Rice To 38-31 Win Over Army
Chase Clement etched his name in yet another record book as the Rice Owls clinched a berth in their second bowl game in three years, downing Army 38-31 at Rice Stadium on Saturday.Clement threw for three touchdowns to break Kevin Kolb's C-USA record for career touchdown passes and added a fourth on the ground to tie Paul Smith's conference record for total touchdowns. He threw for 384 yards and rushed for 87 more to become the first player in Rice history to top 10,000 yards in total offense. He topped 300 yards passing for the fourth time in the last five games.
- Nov. 3, 2007
vs. UTEP, W 56-48
Four Touchdowns in the Fourth Quarter Put Rice over UTEP, 56-48
On a day when the Rice Owls honored a team who produced one of the great wins in school history, the 2007 Owls produced more that a few memories of their own, as Chase Clement shattered the school record with 498 yards of total offense and eight touchdowns, leading the Owls to a remarkable 56-48 Homecoming win over UTEP.Rice survived seven turnovers and a pair of successful sky kicks by UTEP to take their first win at home in 2007 and run their C-USA mark to 2-3. Three times in the comeback, they had to convert fourth-down plays to keep drive and their hopes of victory alive.
- Nov. 18, 2006
vs. East Carolina, W 18-17
Rice Bowl Hopes Alive and Kicking
Clark Fangmeier drilled a 40-yard field goal with three seconds remaining to lift the Rice Owls to a dramatic 18-17 Homecoming victory over East Carolina and keep their hopes for the school's first bowl bid since 1961 alive.The Owls trailed 17-9 with just over five minutes left in the game and starting quarterback Chase Clement in the locker room with an injury. Just as they had when Clement missed three games early in the year, Joel Armstrong and John Shepherd stepped into the fray, and they both converted crucial fourth down plays and combined to lead the Owls on a pair of drives that resulted in nine points in the final 2:37.
- Nov. 12, 2005
vs. Tulane, W 42-34
Rice Ends Losing Streak Against Tulane, 42-34
John Wall rushed for 156 yards and three touchdowns as Rice rolled up 392 yards on the ground, ending the nation's longest losing streak at 14 games with a 42-34 victory against Tulane on Saturday.Wall and backfield mate Quinton Smith each had 20 carries, with Smith pitching in another 143 yards and a touchdown. Wall scored from 25 and 75 yards before a 1-yard plunge, and Smith's 58-yard run provided the last of eight lead changes, putting Rice ahead 35-31 midway through the third quarter.
- Nov. 6, 2004
vs. Fresno State, L 52-21
Paul Pinegar threw three first-half touchdowns and Richard Marshall returned an interception 100 yards as Fresno State defeated Rice 52-21 on Homecoming '04
- Nov. 8, 2003
vs. Tulsa, L 31-28
Recap
Ed Bailey ran for a career-high 93 yards, but Tulsa scored with 57 seconds left to win the game. - Nov. 16, 2002
vs. Hawai'i, L 33-28
Recap
Hawai'i stopped Rice at the 11-yard line with eight seconds remaining in the game to hang on and defeat Rice. Marcus Battle scored on a 60-yard reverse and caught a 54-yard TD pass to lead Rice. - Nov. 10, 2001
vs. Tulsa, W 59-32
Recap
Kyle Herm lead Rice to 653 yards of total offense to rout Tulsa. - Nov. 4, 2000
vs. SMU, W 43-14
Recap
Dan Dawson returned a pair of interceptions for 113 yards, including a 55-yard touchdown as Rice rolled over the Mustangs. - Nov. 13, 1999
vs. UTEP, L 30-29
- Nov. 14, 1998
vs. UNLV, W 38-16
- Nov. 8, 1997
vs. TCU, W 38-19
- Nov. 2, 1996
vs. Utah, W 51-10
- Dec. 2, 1995
vs. Houston, L 18-17
- Nov. 5, 1994
vs. SMU, W 17-10
- Oct. 23, 1993
vs. Texas A&M, L 38-10
- Nov. 7, 1992
vs. Texas Tech, W 34-3
- Nov. 2, 1991
vs. Texas A&M, L 38-21
- Nov. 10, 1990
vs. SMU, W 30-28
- Oct. 28, 1989
vs. Texas A&M, L 45-7
- Nov. 12, 1988
vs. Baylor, L 20-10
- Oct. 24, 1987
vs. Texas A&M, L 34-21
- Nov. 13, 1986
vs. Baylor, L 23-17
- Nov. 2, 1985
vs. Arkansas, L 30-15
- Nov. 10, 1984
vs. SMU, L 31-10
- Oct. 22, 1983
vs. Texas A&M, L 29-10
- Oct. 16, 1982
vs. Texas Tech, L 23-21
- Oct. 24, 1981
vs. Texas A&M, L 51-26
- Nov. 8, 1980
vs. SMU, L 34-14
- Nov. 3, 1979
vs. Arkansas, L 34-7
- Nov. 11, 1978
vs. SMU, L 58-0
- Oct. 29, 1977
vs. Arkansas, L 30-7
- Nov. 6, 1976
vs. SMU, W 41-34
- Oct. 18, 1975
vs. SMU, W 28-17
- Oct. 26, 1974
vs. Texas, L 27-6
- Oct. 20, 1973
vs. SMU, L 27-16
- Oct. 28, 1972
vs. Texas, L 45-9
- Oct. 16, 1971
vs. SMU, L 16-10
- Oct. 3, 1970
vs. California, W 28-0
- Nov. 15, 1969
- Nov. 2, 1968
vs. Texas Tech, L 38-15
- Nov. 11, 1967
vs. Arkansas, L 23-9
- Nov. 12, 1966
vs. Texas A&M, L 7-6
- Nov. 13, 1965
- Nov. 14, 1964
- Nov. 9, 1963
- Oct. 13, 1962
- Nov. 11, 1961
vs. Arkansas, L 10-0
- Nov. 12, 1960
- Nov. 14, 1959
- Nov. 8, 1958
- Nov. 9, 1957
- Oct. 27, 1956
vs. Texas, W 28-7
- Nov. 5, 1955
- Oct. 30, 1954
- Nov. 14, 1953
- Nov. 1, 1952
- Nov. 17, 1951
- Oct. 28, 1950
- Nov. 5, 1949
- Nov. 20, 1948
- Nov. 8, 1947
- Nov. 2, 1946
- Nov. 10, 1945
- Nov. 18, 1944
- Nov. 13, 1943
- Nov. 21, 1942
- Nov. 8, 1941
- Nov. 23, 1940
- Nov. 28, 1939
- Oct. 22, 1938
- Nov. 13, 1937
- Nov. 21, 1936
- Nov. 16, 1935
- Nov. 10, 1934
- Dec. 2, 1933
- Nov. 26, 1932
- Nov. 28, 1931
- 1930
*There was an alumni reunion but no football game
- Nov. 30, 1929
- Nov. 29, 1928
- Nov. 24, 1927
- Nov. 25, 1926
- Nov. 26, 1925
- Nov. 27, 1924
- Nov. 29, 1923
- Nov. 30, 1922
- Nov. 24, 1921
- Nov. 25, 1920
- Nov. 27, 1919
vs. Arkansas, W 40-7
