Rice reaches bowl eligibility for second consecutive year

Special to Rice News
Chuck Pool

Taylor, McHargue and Ross spark Owls to 5th straight win

Jordan Taylor piled up the third-most receiving yards in school history, while Taylor McHargue threw for four scores and Charles Ross rambled for 152 yards as Rice beat the University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP) at Rice Stadium Saturday. The 45-7 victory clinched a bowl berth for Rice for the second year in a row.

Photo courtesy: Tommy LaVergne/Rice University

The win was the Owls’ (6-2) fifth straight this year, their eighth straight in Conference USA (C-USA) and their 11th in the last 13 games dating back to last year. It was also the Owls’ largest margin of victory in nine seasons of C-USA play and allowed them to keep pace with Tulane as C-USA’s two remaining unbeaten teams in conference action.

“I really am so proud of this football team,” Rice head coach David Bailiff said. “We’re sitting here after eight games 6-2, bowl-eligible, and I think we continue to improve as a football team. I think the best is still yet to come.”

Rice was staked to a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter, thanks to the powerful running of Charles Ross, who topped 100 yards early in the second stanza on his way to 153 for the game, and the first of three long connections between McHargue and Taylor. Their 60-yard effort put the Owls up 10-0, but UTEP found its footing on the next series as Blaire Sullivan hit Ian Hamilton with a 50-yard scoring pass.

This is the third time Bailiff has led the Owls to bowl eligibility in his seven seasons and, coincidentally, each of his three teams reached the threshold with a defeat of UTEP. Early on, Saturday’s encounter seemed to be on pace for another in a long series of wild offensive shootouts until a last-gasp dive by Julius White foiled an apparent long scoring run by UTEP.

Photo courtesy: Tommy LaVergne/Rice University

As Rice held a 17-7 lead with little more than five minutes left in the half, UTEP’s Aaron Jones bounced outside on a running play and set sail for the Owls’ end zone. White was the man to have a shot, and he tripped up Jones with his dive at the Rice three. After one carry for no gain, Jones again attacked the line of scrimmage, only to have Michael Kutzler loosen the ball from his grip, Paul Porras deliver a blow to knock the ball free and Ross Winship to fall on the loose ball, which ended the Miners’ last serious scoring threat.

“I think the turning point of the game was the second quarter when UTEP broke that long one on us, the defense gets that turnover on the six-inch line and the offense gets that 99-yard drive. It’s a 14-point swing,” Bailiff said. “I think that gave us the momentum we needed in the game.”

After fending off the UTEP deep threat at the end of the first half, the Rice defense held the Miners scoreless in the second half.

“I was really pleased with how we responded in the second half,” Bailiff said. “I think we came out and made plays — we had a bunch of people make plays today. The offensive line protected well. Charles Ross was amazing again – he had 150-plus rushing yards again. It was good to see Jordan Taylor get back involved. He’s a big receiver, and he’s playing big for us right now.”

Photo courtesy: Tommy LaVergne/Rice University

After being quiet for most of the third quarter, McHargue and Taylor gave the crowd a jolt late in the quarter when they connected for 72 yards and a score, then added a third connection from 23 yards early in the fourth.

Taylor finished the day with 185 yards and three touchdowns on just four receptions. This yardage total was the third-highest in school history, topped only by James Casey’s 208 and David Houser’s 196. McHargue threw for 259 yards on just eight completions, including a career-high four touchdowns.

Early in the game, Ross became the eighth Owl in school history to rush for 2,000 career yards and moved all the way to sixth on the Rice career list, finishing the night with 2,088.

While reaching bowl eligibility earlier than any other time in recent history accomplishes one of the team’s stated goals, Bailiff noted that this is only the beginning of achieving benchmarks, not the conclusion. “We’re thrilled to be bowl- eligible, but we have a lot of goals still out there,” he said. “We’re dreaming big still. We’re working hard. What’s amazing right now with where we are, it’s like ‘Wow, that was a great win, but it’s over. Now we have to go to work on North Texas.'”

The Owls will take on the North Texas Mean Green Oct. 31 in Denton.

“We have a tough game coming at us this Thursday,” Bailiff said. “It’s a short turnaround. We’ve got to be back to work in the morning, so we can’t enjoy this one very long.”