Owls dig too deep of a hole to escape skid
Losing streak hits 9 after Miners build early 27-point lead
With 3:36 remaining in its game against UTEP, Rice received the ball down by eight points with an opportunity to draw even.
But for a team that has struggled to close games, the Owls’ final full drive transpired about as poorly as it could have for an offense guided by freshman quarterback Wiley Green.
Green was sacked on first down before almost throwing an interception on the next play. On thirdand-long, Green was sacked again. UTEP intercepted him on fourth-and-20 to effectively end Saturday’s game as the Miners prevailed 34-26 at Rice Stadium to end their 20-game losing streak.
“Those last four plays were tough. We felt like we had a lot of momentum, we felt like we had a lot going for us,” Green said. “I came out there just trying to sling the ball as best I could and at the end of the day I need to make sure to protect it more often.”
Green threw for 312 yards and a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns and interceptions. But his turnovers were hardly the only reason Rice lost its ninth in a row.
Fast start for Wadley
The Miners (1-8, 1-4 in Conference USA) began chipping away at the Owls (1-9, 0-6) almost as soon as the game started.
On the first drive, UTEP went 75 yards in six plays before running back Quardraiz Wadley capped the series with a 12-yard touchdown run.
From the opening snap of the second quarter, the Miners continued to dig in. It only took a second for Kai Locksley to break the goal line on a quarterback sneak for a touchdown.
Five minutes later, Wadley performed his best impression of Moses. The junior running back took a pitch in the backfield and veered right before parting his own pathway to the end zone by blasting through a posse of defenders and nearly dragging another with him.
“They started the game with a big play and from that point on it was like all the wind came out of our sails,” Rice coach Mike Bloomgren said. “We’re trying to reset the space between their ears and make them realize that each play is a separate lifetime.”
On virtually the same play that he began the quarter, Locksley punched his way across the goal line again to establish a 27-0 lead with 17 seconds remaining in the half.
But that still left enough time for the Owls to drive up field for points.
Green hit running back Austin Walter on back-to-back throws totaling 50 yards, pulling Rice within range for a 43-yard Haden Tobola field goal as the final two seconds on the clock expired.
Rice sought to shift the tone of the contest on its opening drive of the second half.
Green hit receiver Aaron Cephus for a 20-yard gain and then found Aston Walter, who went for 37 yards, two plays later. But 10 yards away from a touchdown, the Owls failed to convert a fourth-down attempt, coming up empty.
A series later, as the Owls sought to regain possession following a UTEP punt, Austin Trammell muffed the ball, handing it over to the Miners just 25 yards away from another score. UTEP running back Treyvon Hughes capitalized shortly after, galloping into the end zone from 19 yards out.
23 unanswered points
Rice put its first touchdown on the board on the following series when Emmanuel Esukpa ran the ball in for his first touchdown since Sept. 8. It was the first of 23 unanswered points by the Owls, whose defense forced a pair of takeaways to help reduce the deficit.
“This has been very difficult,” Bloomgren said. “I’ve been on teams where you felt like they weren’t giving you everything they could, but I don’t think that’s the case because you look at the way the first half went, you could’ve easily seen this game ending 70-3.”
Rice eventually capitalized in the fourth quarter; first on a 20yard scoring throw from Green to Trammell, before the duo linked up on a 53-yard strike with more than eight minutes remaining to trim the margin to eight points.
Rice began its final full drive from its own 20, but UTEP pushed the Owls back to the 10 before the game-sealing pick.
“It’s like two completely different ballgames, two completely different teams when you look at that first half and that second half,” Bloomgren said. “We’re past the point of moral victories. Love that they fight, (but) we’ve got to win games.”