• Football
  • Owls Fly Into Tulsa And Rice Football Leaves With A 42-10 Road Win In The American

Owls Fly Into Tulsa And Rice Football Leaves With A 42-10 Road Win In The American

Details
Football

JT Daniels threw for 342 yards and Dean Connors ran for a career-high 120 and three touchdowns as Rice came off the bye week and secured its largest conference victory since 2013, defeating Tulsa, 42-10, Thursday night at H.A. Chapman Stadium.

The Story

On Tulsa's second play of the game, Gabriel Taylor picked off Braylon Braxton at the Rice 30-yard line. Two plays later, Dean Connors went up the middle for a 54-yard touchdown. Jonathan Jean then recorded his first career sack, forcing a fumble that De'Braylon Carroll recovered. Two plays later, JT Daniels hit Luke McCaffrey for a 21-yard touchdown pass. After Tulsa kicked a field goal, the Owls drove to the TU 31. But on fourth-and-four, Daniels' pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and fell incomplete. The Golden Hurricane then scored on a 30-yard pass with 1:14 to play in the half. But that was enough time for the Owl, as they marched matched 74 yards in just 36 second, culminating in a 17-yard touchdown from Daniels to Landon Ransom-Goelz, as Rice took a 21-10 lead into halftime.

The Owls kept up the pressure to start the third quarter. After forcing a three-and-out, they worked their way down the field before Daniels scored on an eight-yard run. After another three-and-out, Rice was pinned at its own nine-yard line. But the Owls took 8:05, off the clock, needing 13 plays before Connors went over the top for the a two-yard touchdown. Connors added his third touchdown.

Team

  • Rice improves to 4-3 on the year and 2-1 in the AAC.
  • Rice improves to 9-10-1 all-time against Tulsa and 6-4 on the road.
  • The 32-point victory is Rice's largest in a conference game since defeating Louisiana Tech, 52-14, on Nov. 14, 2013.
  • It is also the biggest in a conference road game since Nov. 27, 2003 at Louisiana Tech (49-14).
  • Rice's 516 total yards are the most since gaining 620 against Texas Southern on Sept. 25, 2022.
  • Tulsa won the toss and deferred to the second half.
  • Rice forced a turnover on downs in the first quarter. It was their 10th fourth down stop this year.
  • Rice's 90 first quarter points are the most in a season since scoring 93 in 2003.
  • The Owls' three turnovers forced are the most this year.
  • Rice's 21 first half points are the most in a conference game since scoring 21 at UTEP on Nov. 20, 2021.
  • Rice outgained Tulsa in the third quarter, 166-to-9.

Individual

  • QB JT Daniels was 24-of-37 for 342 yards and two touchdowns.
  • It was his fourth 300-yard passing game this year and the 11th of his career.
  • He's the first Rice quarterback with consecutive 300-yard games since TJ McMahon in 2022 (vs. Louisiana, at Houston).
  • Daniels went over 9,000 career passing yards.
  • With 342 yards, he now has 2,137 passing yards on the year, passing TJ McMahon (2022), Bruce Gadd (1972) and Tyler Stehling (2016) for eighth-place on Rice's season list.
  • He now has 17 touchdowns on the year and 62 in his career.
  • His 17 touchdowns this year tie Taylor McHargue (2013) for ninth-place on Rice's season list.
  • Daniels also scored on a an eight-yard rush, his first rushing touchdown of the season and second of his career.
  • RB Dean Connors' ran nine times for a career-high 120 yards and three touchdowns.
  • It was his first career 100-yard game and Rice's first since Ari Broussard at Charlotte on Nov. 6, 2021.
  • He is the second player this year with three rushing touchdowns, joining Daelen Alexander against Houston on Sept. 9.
  • He now has four rushing touchdowns on the year.
  • His 54-yard touchdown was the longest run of his career.
  • It was also the longest run of the year and the longest since Cameron Montgomery's 57-yard rush against Southern Miss on Dec. 17, 2022.
  • WR Luke McCaffrey had six catches for 99 yards and a touchdown.
  • It was his seventh touchdown catch of the season and the 13th of his career.
  • McCaffrey moved into a tie for ninth-place with 13 career touchdown catches, tying Buddy Dial (1956-58), Froggy Williams (1946-49), Toren Dixon (2006-09) and Austin Trammell (2017-21).
  • He also moved into a tie for 10th-place with seven touchdown receptions this year, tying Bill Howton (1951), David Houser (1978) and Jordan Taylor (2014).
  • WR Landon Ransom-Goelz caught five passes for 58 yards and a touchdown.
  • It was his second touchdown of the year.
  • WR Matt Sykes caught his first pass as an Owl in the first quarter, a 32-yard reception.
  • TE Jack Bradley's 41-yard reception in the third quarter was the longest of his career.
  • With those two plays, Rice has 10 players this year with at least one 30-yard catch.
  • S Gabriel Taylor recorded his first interception of the year and the sixth of his career.
  • CB Jonathan Jean recorded his first career sack and forced fumble in the first quarter.
  • NT De'Braylon Carrol had his first career fumble recovery in the first quarter.
  • RUSH Josh Pearcy forced his second career forced fumble in the first quarter.
  • LB Myron Morrison recovered his second career fumble in the first quarter.