The source for Rice sports news

Rice Football to play Southern Miss in Lending Tree Bowl

By

For the first time since 2014, Rice football is going to a bowl game. The Owls will play Southern Miss in the Lending Tree Bowl.

Rice Football is back in the postseason. After finishing the regular season 5-7, the Owls qualified for bowl eligibility by way of Academic Progress Rate (APR), which rates programs based on their academic success. Rice will play Southern Miss, a familiar foe who clinched bowl eligibility in their final game of the regular season.

Up until this past season, Southern Miss was a member of Conference USA along with Rice. The Owls and Golden Eagles have split their 12-game history, 6-6 with Rice winning each of the last two games. This will be the first time the programs are meeting at a neutral site.

The Lending Tree Bowl is played on Saturday, December 17 at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:45 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

Liberty defeated Eastern Michigan in last year’s Lending Tree Bowl matchup. Georgia State (2020) and Louisiana (2019) are previous winners since Lending Tree took over the sponsorship rights. The bowl had previously been played under the following names: Dollar General Bowl, GoDaddy Bowl, GoDaddy.com Bowl, GMAC Bowl and the Mobile Alabama Bowl.

Rice Football Bowl History

Rice has played in 12 bowl games in program history and holds a postseason record of 7-5. Rice went 3-1 in four bowl games under previous head coach David Bailiff.

Season Bowl Opponent Result
1937 Cotton Bowl Classic Colorado W 28–14
1946 Orange Bowl Tennessee W 8–0
1949 Cotton Bowl Classic North Carolina W 27–13
1953 Cotton Bowl Classic Alabama W 28–6
1957 Cotton Bowl Classic Navy L 7–20
1960 Sugar Bowl Ole Miss L 6–14
1961 Bluebonnet Bowl Kansas L 7–33
2006 New Orleans Bowl Troy L 17–41
2008 Texas Bowl Western Michigan W 38–14
2012 Armed Forces Bowl Air Force W 33–14
2013 Liberty Bowl Mississippi State L 7–44
2014 Hawaii Bowl Fresno State W 30–6

Rice Football vs Southern Miss history

Season Location Result
2007 Hattiesburg, MS W, 31-29
2008 Houston, TX W, 45-40
2011 Hattiesburg, MS L, 48-24
2012 Houston, TX W, 44-17
2014 Hattiesburg, MS W, 41-23
2015 Houston, TX L, 65-10
2016 Hattiesburg, MS L, 44-28
2017 Houston, TX L, 43-34
2018 Hattiesburg, MS L, 40-22
2019 Houston, TX L, 20-6
2020 Hattiesburg, MS W, 30-6
2021 Houston, TX W, 24-19

Make sure you’re subscribed to The Roost on Patreon for breakdowns of the matchup, practice reports and more as the 2022 Rice Football season marches onward for a few more weeks.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Football: Bloomgren, bowls and the latest from South Main

By

Rice football faces a lot of uncertainty this week. From bowl possibilities to head coaching questions, here’s the latest from South Main.

It’s been a crazy couple of days on the Rice football front. There have, understandably, been lots of questions regarding the nuances of a five-win bowl berth and the latest on Mike Bloomgren after the team failed to reach six regular season wins.

Subscriber content.<br /> Please login to see the full post or visit our Patreon page.

This update should shed some light on those pressing issues and hopefully set the stage for the weeks to come.

Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Football officially bowl eligible as top 5-7 team

By

Despite the loss to North Texas, Rice football is bowl eligible. The 5-7 Owls will earn an invite to the postseason based on their APR score.

The hows and intricacies of the run-up to this moment were discussed in detail for subscribers this week, but the synopsis is this: Rice football is going bowling.

How does this work?

There aren’t enough six-win teams to fill out a complete field of 82 teams. That means the top 5-7 teams are eligible to take the open spots. Those invitations are given to teams with the highest APR (Academic Progress Rating) first and Rice sits atop that list of currently non-eligible teams.

Wins by Tennessee over Vanderbilt and Pitt over Miami ensured there’d be a spot for at least one 5-win team invited to the postseason. Should Buffalo lose to Akron next weekend, another spot would open.

There are currently some conflicting reports as to whether or not 6-6 App State (two FCS wins) would be invited over Rice with a waiver, but there’s still at least one spot remaining, even if that were to be the case.

When are bowls announced?

While UAB has already announced they are heading to the Bahamas, the majority of bowl games are typically announced the Sunday after conference championship games are complete. Rice football is most likely to find out where it’ll be heading that Sunday, although it’s always possible things get leaked or announced prior to that.

Will Rice football accept the invitation?

Technically, Rice could decline. But realistically, that seems farfetched. Rice has been to a bowl game since 2014 and set out with the expressed intent of doing that this year. Having them receive an invite under any circumstance and turn it down is extremely unlikely, regardless of anything else that might be going on with the program in the interim.

If for no other reason that rewarding the seniors and the classes that worked to get to this point, Rice football is expected to accept any invitation that comes there way.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Football 2022 Game Preview: North Texas

By

Rice football closes out the regular season against North Texas still in search of win number six. How to watch, key stats, x-factor picks and more.

North Texas was on bye last weekend. Rice football might have wished they were. The Owls were rocked on Senior Day, losing their starting quarterback to injury for the second week in a row. Now they’re headed to Denton, still in search of their sixth win to clinch bowl eligibility for the first time since 2014. Here’s everything you need to know about this week’s game.

Kickoff time | 1:00 PM CT
Venue | Apogee Stadium – Denton, TX
TV | ESPN+ (Viewing Guide)
Radio | Sports Map 94.1 (FM) / Stretch Internet (Online)

Audio / Visual Preview

We’ll preview Rice football vs North Texas on this week’s episode of the Blue and Gray Preview Show, streaming live on Wednesday at Noon on the Rice Athletics YouTube channel. Look for a recap of the game on the site afterward as well as on The Roost Podcast, which should be released early next week. Find us on the podcast page or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. (And consider leaving us a 5-star review while you’re at it.)

Sizing up the contenders

North Texas still has a great chance to make the Conference USA Championship Game. By virtue of their win over Western Kentucky earlier this year, they would make the title game with a victory on Saturday or with a Florida Atlantic loss to Western Kentucky. On the other side, Rice wants to secure a bowl trip. Both sides have plenty to play for in this one

Series History

All Time | North Texas leads, 7-5
Last Five | North Texas leads, 4-1
Last Meeting | Home 2021, North Texas won 30-24

Get the Inside Scoop

Get access to practice reports, analysis and special features during the week when you subscribe to our Starting Lineup Tier on Patreon today. If you want updates on how Rice football plans to attack this week’s opponent, position battles, standouts, injuries and more, this is your go-to source. Don’t miss out! Join now!

Become a Patron!

Rice Football Stat Notables

Passing | McMahon – 160/266 (60.2 percent), 2102 yards, 18 TD, 14 INT
Rushing | Montgomery – 75 carries, 449 yards (6.0 yards per carry), 0 TD / Otoviano – 51 carries, 297 yards (5.8 yards per carry), 1 TD
Receiving | Rozner – 39 receptions, 806 yards (20.7 yds/rec), 9 TDs / McCaffrey – 51 receptions, 656 yards (12.9 yds/rec), 6 TD / Esdale – 34 receptions, 392 yards (11.5 yds/rec), 0 TD
Tackles | Conti – 63 / Morrison – 58 / Taylor – 50
Pass Breakups | Dunbar – 7  / Taylor – 6 / Fresch – 5
Interceptions | Taylor, Morrison – 2 / Nyakwol, Chamberlain, Fresch, Narcisse – 1

North Texas Stat Notables

Passing | Aune – 185/321 (57.6 percent), 2912 yards, 29 TD, 11 INT
Rushing | Adeyi – 86 carries, 696 yards (8.0 yards per carry), 4 TD / Adaway III – 118 carries, 583 yards (4.9 ypc), 5 TD
Receiving | Burns – 34 receptions, 628 yards (18.5 yards per reception), 1 TD / Shorter – 19 receptions, 505 yards (26.6 yds/rec), 8 TD
Tackles | Davis – 105 / Nixon III – 74 / Richards  – 67
Pass Breakups | Texada – 15 / Gaddie – 10 / Wilson – 5
Interceptions | Texada – 3 / Wilson – 2 / Whitlock, Wood – 1

North Texas X-Factor | Be aggressive

Rice football is the most turnover-prone team in Conference USA and they don’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Extra possessions tend to result in more points and against a team like the Owls that have struggled to be consistent on that side of the ball, it spells opportunity. If North Texas attacks on defense and forces the issues, Rice has shown to make mistakes.

That could result in some big plays for the Owls when the Mean Green decide to take those risks, but entering into a potential shootout against this Rice team would likely just open the door for more turnover opportunities.

It doesn’t have to be reckless, but anything North Texas can do to confuse whoever Rice has a quarterback or punch out a ball when a ball carrier keeps it too far away could prove to be differential. Short fields continue to burn the Owls and there’s no reason to believe they’ve proven immune to this issue in a week’s time.

Rice X-Factor | Make the Mean Green throw

North Texas is 6-5 this season, but there’s been a consistent pattern in their wins: they don’t throw the football. In four of their six wins, North Texas has attempted fewer than 30 passes, completing 16 passes or fewer. They’ve won two pass-happy games (vs FIU, at WKU) both of which were blowouts in which North Texas could do whatever they wanted to on offense.

On the other side of the coin, the difference is stark. North Texas averaged 35 attempts in their five losses this year (vs 27 attempts in their wins). They complete 50.1 percent of their passes in losses vs 63.8 percent of their passes in wins.

North Texas wants to run the football. That’s going to be Plan A. The teams that get them off-script usually win. That’s exactly what the Owls need to do.

Injury Report (Subscribers only)

Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?

One Final Thing

On the bowl front, Rice is in with a win. However, there’s still a possibility Rice goes bowling with a loss. Stay tuned for more on how that would work later in the week. As for this game, a win is still well within reach.

The last two losses have two common threads for Rice football. First, they’ve been plated with a platoon at quarterback with the expected starter knocked out of the game before halftime. Second, they’ve been against two of the top three teams in the conference standings. The latter won’t change this coming week — North Texas is currently tied with Western Kentucky in the standings — but Rice will probably (knock on wood) get a quarterback through a complete game… right?

Whether it’s McMahon, Green, or someone else, building an offense around one guy and letting him execute it has worked this season for Rice more often than it’s not. In games in which Rice has not had its starting quarterback leave with an injury, the Owls are 5-3. They’re 0-3 when they lose their starter.

Ideally, it’s McMahon back under center next weekend. But even if it’s not, riding one arm through a full four quarters will give this team a better shot. As for who that is? That’s still to be determined.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Doom and Gloom: Rice Football falls to UTSA rain-soaked Senior Day

By

Rice Football never got hot on a cold and gloomy Senior Day, falling at home to UTSA in their final home game of the season.

On a cold and rainy Saturday morning, Rice football froze up. Injuries and missed opportunities stifled a Rice team that has yet to complete a complete four-quarter performance this season, despite notching five victories along the way. They did not get their sixth win on Saturday, falling to UTSA in a one-sided result on Senior Day. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

From bad to worse

On paper, the weather seemed to be something that should work in favor of the Owls, who entered their final home game of the season with a slew of injuries at several key positions. Starting quarterback TJ McMahon was unable to go, as were the Owls’ top four corners: Jordan Dunbar, Sean Fresch, Lamont Narcisse and Jojo Jean.

From a personnel standpoint, an ugly game with lot of running and field position battles was much preferred to an aerial back-and-forth against the Roadrunners and star quarterback Frank Harris.

Rice did get an ugly game, but the weather wasn’t at fault.

Quarterback Wiley Green was injured on the Owls’ second possession, getting blasted from behind and fumbling in the process. UTSA recovered and scored their second-consecutive touchdown on as many plays.

The Owls’ defense opened the game three-and-out and Green hit Bradley Rozner on a slant to get Rice out of the shadow of their own endzone. Then the drive stalled on fourth and one, Rice punted, and the tumultuous sequence of injuries and turnovers commenced.

Turnovers fall, but it’s not enough

At some point, the turnovers that have plagued Rice football this season were going to stop, or at the very least, they would slow down. Despite the Owls’ issues with protecting the football, tipped passes and fumbles from a myriad of different players seemed unlikely to persist forever. Despite the injuries and bad weather, Rice did a good job protecting the football against UTSA.

In their first 10 games, Rice won the turnover battle twice. They were +5 against McNeese and +1 against UAB. They won both games. Against FBS opponents, Rice hadn’t forced more than two turnovers in a game this season whereas they’d produced at least three giveaways four times.

The Roost Podcast: Stay tuned for the game recap this week – Rice Football vs UTSA

Against UTSA, Rice forced two turnovers. George Nykawol knocked the ball out himself and Myron Morrison made a play in coverage to intercept Frank Harris.

The Owls’ first turnover on offense came on a play in which Green was injured, with pressure coming unblocked off the edge. It’s not excusable by any means, but it wasn’t a lapse by a ballcarrier or decision-maker, the Achilles’ heel of the offense to this point. That came the very next drive when Kobie Campbell put the ball on the deck.

The third turnover came on an errant pass from Itraish, who was subsequently benched for true freshman AJ Padgett. That gave Rice a minus differential in the turnover margin once again.

It all comes down to quarterback, again

Watching Green leave with an injury with TJ McMahon standing on the sideline, already ruled out, was a gut punch for a Rice offense that has taken such large strides this season. Trailing at home with a backup, backup quarterback, there were two plays that highlighted what could have been.

With Shawqi Itraish at quarterback early in the second quarter and Rice trailing 21-0, Isaiah Esdale burst through double coverage on the far side of the field. He had seven yards on both defenders and plenty of green grass in front of him. It was a walk in touchdown. Itraish underthrew all three players, incomplete. Rice got no points on the drive.

Following a turnover by the Roadrunners shortly after, Rice dialed up a double reverse pass. The ball was tossed back to Itraish who had Bradley Rozner wide open down the field. He couldn’t release the ball quick enough, throwing it into the ground. Once more, no points.

It’s not all Itraish’s fault, but these two moments do highlight the challenges of calling an offense in the rain with your third string redshirt freshman quarterback at the controls. It’s hard. And you can’t miss your opportunities. On Saturday, Rice did and the result was, unfortunately, predictable.

The silver lining, if there was one, was an intriguing debut by true freshman AJ Padgett. He connected on a 43-yard touchdown pass to Bradley Rozner on fourth down in the fourth quarter. Could he see action in the season finale against UTSA? At this point, anything seems feasible.

One more?

As soon as the clock hit zero at Rice Stadium a few weeks ago, securing an upset for the visiting Charlotte 49ers, it seemed more likely than not that the Owls would find themselves here.

Defeating Western Kentucky or UTSA didn’t seem completely far-fetched, but the wiggle-room in the Owls’ search for six wins had evaporated. They needed to win one of their final three to reach that mark, but that stretch included games against the top three teams in the standings.

Now, it all comes down to this. Rice sits at 5-6, losers of back-to-back games for the first time this season. They travel to North Texas next weekend, in need of that final elusive win to clinch bowl eligibility for the first time since 2014.

Digging deeper

Every week we’ll have a stat, storyline or key learning from the game reserved for our subscribers. Haven’t joined yet? Sign up here:

Become a Patron!

Death, Taxes, Wiley Green and injuries

Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?
Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts