HOUSTON – HCU football struck first for an early 3-0 lead but the Rice triple option proved too much as the Owls defeated the Huskies, 31-3, at Rice Stadium on Saturday night.
The Huskies (1-1) kicked off to start the game and the defense came up with a fourth down stop near midfield. The offense moved the ball with a healthy dose of running back
Champ Dozier before stalling out at the Rice 24.
Lukasz Smolen then booted a 42-yard field through the uprights to give HCU an early 3-0 lead.
The Owls (1-0) took their next drive 71 yards on 15 plays, chewing up 8:18 of game clock in the process, and capped the drive with a two-yard touchdown run by D'Andre Hardeman to go up, 7-3. HCU's next possession started at the team's own 31. After moving the ball past midfield to the Rice 47 a pass attempt on fourth down was incomplete for a turnover on downs.
Rice put together two more long drives in the second quarter that resulted in 10 points to make it a 17-7 game at halftime.
HCU received the opening kick of the second half but the Huskies' drive stalled near midfield and resulted in a punt. The Huskies' defense then made a fourth down stop on the next possession to get the ball back at their own 16-yard line. HCU moved the ball with a pair of first downs that included a 22-yard completion from
Cutter Stewart to
Mason Graham but the drive ended at the Owls' 40 when Stewart was stopped on a fourth-and-one rush.
The Owls scored on each of their next two possessions, moving 60 yards down field on an 11-play drive and then scoring with a 44-yard drive coming off an interception. The Huskies moved the ball better in the second half, totaling 180 yards of offense after managing just 64 in the first half.
Dozier finished the night with 10.8 yards per carry after racking up 86 yards on eight carries, including a 49-yard rush. Overall, he totaled 127 all-purpose yards with 41 yards on two kickoff returns. As a team, the Huskies rushed for 148 yards while picking up 96 yards through the air for 244 total yards of offense.
Defensively for the Huskies, reigning FCS National Defensive Player of the Week
Jayven Anderson led the way with 10 tackles and one tackle for loss.
Trent Zappe finished with nine tackles while
Javon Bejarano had eight and
Matai Tomas ended the night with seven tackles and one TFL.
The Owls, meanwhile, rushed for 465 yards with five different players accumulating at least 50 yards on the ground. Rice put the ball on the ground 70 times while registering just 10 passing attempts.
HCU is set for its home opener next Saturday, Sept. 12, with Arkansas Baptist coming to town for a 6:00 p.m. kickoff at Husky Stadium.
