Staying home:
Rice’s bowl hopes end with a 34-24 loss to UTSA.
SAN ANTONIO — Rice’s chance at making program history ended with a 34-24 loss to UTSA at the Alamodome on Saturday night..
The Owls’ seventh loss of the season will keep them from going to a bowl game for a school-record fourth consecutive season .
Rice coach David Bailiff said he felt sick to his stomach after the Owls (4-7, 2-5 Conference USA) lost their fourth league game in a row and failed to become bowleligible.
“More than anything, that’s what we wanted to get, this senior class out with a four-bowl-game legacy,” Bailiff said.
The loss was another question mark in a frustrating season for a young and inexperienced Rice squad. The problems that had persisted all season continued against the Roadrunners (38, 3-4). The Owls dropped passes, gave up big-yardage plays and were flagged for several silly penalties, including an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
That penalty came at a crucial time when UTSA with facing third-and-1 in the fourth quarter. Owls linebacker Alex Lyons drew the flag after he reacted to something a Roadrunners player had done.
“I was stunned that a junior captain would do that,” Bailiff said of Lyons. “He said, ‘I retaliated.’ And I said, ‘ We talked all week. Second guy gets caught.’ Unacceptable.”
The second quarter proved costly for Rice as UTSA converted 14 points off turnovers.
On the second play of the quarter, Owls quarterback Driphus Jackson was intercepted. One possession later, the Roadrunners’ Jarveon Williams ran 78 yards untouched for a touchdown midway through the quarter.
On Rice’s next possession, Jackson fumbled as he was sacked. He fumbled the ball on his way down. UTSA linebacker Marcos Curry recovered.
“I’m disappointed we won’t be going to another bowl game this year,” Jackson said after the game. “It hurts. It hurts a lot.”
Jackson, who was sacked four times, was 23-of-40 passing for 359 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
The Owls held the Roadrunners to three consecutive three-and-outs in the third quarter before giving up a touchdown.
Rice scored once in the third quarter when junior running back Darik Dillard went 3 yards up the middle to break the NCAA record for most combined touchdowns between brothers. It was Dillard’s 22nd touch- downin his three years with the Owls. Older brother Jarett, an All-America wide receiver at Rice from 200508, had 60 receiving touchdowns.
Rice’s best attempt at a comeback stalled at the UTSA 5-yard line in the fourth quarter when the Owls turned the ball over on downs.
“As a senior, I’m extremely disappointed we won’t go to a fourth bowl game,” defensive tackle Ross Winship said. “Timing is a really important thing. When the defense got it done, the offense couldn’t. And when the offense got it done, the defense couldn’t.”