Rice Owls football

The Rice Owls football program represents Rice University in the sport of American football. The team competes at the NCAA Division I FBS level and have competed in Conference USA's Western Division since 2005. Rice Stadium, built in 1950, hosts the Owls' home football games.

Rice Owls football
2020 Rice Owls football team
First season1912
Athletic directorJoe Karlgaard
Head coachMike Bloomgren
2nd season, 5–20 (.200)
StadiumRice Stadium
(Capacity: 47,000)
Year built1950
Field surfaceFieldTurf
LocationHouston, Texas
NCAA divisionDivision I FBS
ConferenceConference USA
DivisionWest
Past conferencesSouthwest
(1915–1996)
WAC
(1996–2004)
All-time record466–589–32 (.443)
Bowl record7–5 (.583)
Conference titles8 (1934, 1937, 1946, 1949, 1953, 1957, 1994, 2013)
Division titles2 (2008, 2013)
RivalriesSMU (rivalry)
Houston (rivalry)
Texas (rivalry)
Consensus All-Americans6
ColorsBlue and Gray[1]
         
Fight songRice Fight
MascotSammy the Owl
Marching bandMarching Owl Band
WebsiteRiceOwls.com

History

1954 Cotton Bowl Classic

The Owls played in the eighteenth Cotton Bowl Classic against the Crimson Tide of Alabama. The game featured one of the most famous plays in college football history[2] when Rice's Dickey Moegle (later Maegle) burst free on a sweep play, and on his way down the sideline, was tackled by Tommy Lewis, who had come off the Alabama sideline without his helmet to tackle Moegle. Referee Cliff Shaw saw Lewis come off the bench and gave the Owls the 95 yard touchdown. Rice would win the game 28–6, with the only Crimson Tide score coming from Lewis. The yardage added to Moegle's 265 yards rushing, a Cotton Bowl Classic record that would stand until Tony Temple's effort in 2008. This would be the Owls' last bowl win until the 2008 Texas Bowl, a win which also secured the Owls their first 10-win season since 1949.[3]

Kennedy Speech
President Kennedy speaks at Rice Stadium on the American space program, 12 September 1962

Rice Stadium also hosted a speech by John F. Kennedy on September 12, 1962. In it, he used the Rice football team to challenge America to send a man to the moon.

But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.[4]

Conference affiliations

Head coaches
Name Seasons Overall Pct. Bowls
Philip Arbuckle 1912–1917,1919–1923 51–25–8 .655
John E. Anderson 1918 1–5–1 .214
John Heisman 1924–1927 14–18–3 .443
Claude Rothgeb 1928 2–7 .222
Jack Meagher 1929–1933 26–26 .500
Jimmy Kitts 1934–1939 33–29–4 .530 1–0
Jess Neely 1940–1966 144–124–10 .536 3–3
Bo Hagan 1967–1970 12–27–1 .313
Bill Peterson 1971 3–7–1 .318
Al Conover 1972–1975 14–28–2† .341
Homer Rice 1976–1977 4–18 .182
Ray Alborn 1978–1983 13–53 .197
Watson Brown 1984–1985 4–18 .182
Jerry Berndt 1986–1988 6–27 .182
Fred Goldsmith 1989–1993 23–31–1 .427
Ken Hatfield 1994–2005 55–78–1 .414
Todd Graham 2006 7–6 .538 0–1
David Bailiff 2007–2017 57–80 .416 3–1
Mike Bloomgren 2018–2019 5–20 .200

† 15–27–2 overall per NCAA due to 1975 forfeit win over Mississippi State.[5]

Championships

Conference championships

Rice has won seven conference championships, four outright and three shared.

Year Conference Coach Overall record Conference record
1934Southwest ConferenceJimmy Kitts9–1–15–1
1937Southwest ConferenceJimmy Kitts6–3–24–1–1
1946†Southwest ConferenceJess Neely9–25–1
1949Southwest ConferenceJess Neely10–16–0
1953†Southwest ConferenceJess Neely9–25–1
1957Southwest ConferenceJess Neely7–45–1
1994†Southwest ConferenceKen Hatfield5–64–3
2013Conference USADavid Bailiff10–47–1

† Co-championship

Division championships

Rice has won two division championships.

Year Division Coach Opponent CG result
2008†C-USA WestDavid BailiffN/A lost tiebreaker to Tulsa
2013C-USA WestDavid BailiffMarshallW 41–24

† Co-championship

Bowl games

Rice has participated in 12 bowl games, garnering a record of 7–5.

Season Coach Bowl Opponent Result
1937Jimmy KittsCotton Bowl ClassicColoradoW 28–14
1946Jess NeelyOrange BowlTennesseeW 8–0
1949Jess NeelyCotton Bowl ClassicNorth CarolinaW 27–13
1953Jess NeelyCotton Bowl ClassicAlabamaW 28–6
1957Jess NeelyCotton Bowl ClassicNavyL 7–20
1960Jess NeelySugar BowlOle MissL 6–14
1961Jess NeelyBluebonnet BowlKansasL 7–33
2006Todd GrahamNew Orleans BowlTroyL 17–41
2008David BailiffTexas BowlWestern MichiganW 38–14
2012David BailiffArmed Forces BowlAir ForceW 33–14
2013David BailiffLiberty BowlMississippi StateL 7–44
2014David BailiffHawaii BowlFresno StateW 30–6

Stadium
Rice Stadium as of April 2016

Rice Stadium was built in 1950, and has been the home of Owls football ever since. It hosted the NFL Super Bowl in January 1974. It replaced the old Rice Field (now Rice Track/Soccer Stadium) to increase seating. Total seating capacity in the current stadium was reduced from 70,000 to 47,000 before the 2006 season. The endzone seating benches were removed and covered with tarps, and all of the wooden bleachers were replaced with new, metal seating benches in 2006, as well. The stadium is also currently undergoing further renovations.

Rivalries

SMU

Rice and SMU were members of the same conference from 1918 through 2012, and have played each other 90 times as of 2012 with SMU leading the series 48–41–1. The rivalry is because Rice and SMU were two of four private schools in the Southwest Conference (Baylor and TCU were the others). Rice and SMU were also the two smallest schools in the conference, were located in the two largest cities of any teams in the conference (Houston and Dallas, respectively), and have historically been considered the two best private universities in Texas.

SMU leads the series 48–41–1 as of 2017.[6]

Houston

Rice participates in a crosstown rivalry with Houston. UH and Rice play annually for the Bayou Bucket, a weathered bucket found by former Rice guard Fred Curry at an antique shop. Curry had it designed into a trophy for $310. The two universities are separated by five miles in Houston. The Cougars lead the series 32–11.The Cougars' 2013 move from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference has jeopardized the status of the series.

Houston leads the series 31–11 after a win in September 2018.[7]

Texas
See also: Rice–Texas football rivalry
Rice v Texas game in 2006

Rice and Texas have maintained a largely one-sided rivalry beginning in the early days of the Southwest Conference. Texas' 28 consecutive victories from 1966–1993 represents the sixth longest single-opponent winning streak in college football history. In 1994, in a nationally televised ESPN game, Rice scored a major upset win over Texas, but since then Texas has resumed series dominance. Despite the dissolution of the Southwest Conference, Texas and Rice still play on a "near annual" basis, allowing the Longhorns to keep a high profile in the state's largest city and the fourth largest city in the United States.

Texas leads the series 72–21–1 as of the conclusion of the 2017 season.[8]

College Football Hall of Fame
See also: College Football Hall of Fame

Eight former Rice players and coaches have been inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame.[9]

Name Position Career Induction Notes
John HeismanCoach1892–19271954Inducted for his career as a coach at Oberlin, Akron, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Pennsylvania, Washington & Jefferson, Rice
Weldon HumbleG1941–1943, 19461961He was a consensus All- America choice. Like most athletes of his time, Weldon was required to suspend his career for military service during World War II.
James "Froggy" WilliamsEnd1946–19491965A consensus All-American and was also selected to the Cotton Bowl’s All-Decade team for the 1950s
Jess NeelyCoach1924–19661971Inducted for his career as a coach at Rhodes, Clemson, Rice
Bill WallaceHB1932, 1934–19351978Wallace was Rice's initial first team All-America selection
Dick MaegleHB1952–19541979He was consensus All-America and academic All-America in 1954
Buddy DialEnd1956–19581993Team's co-captain, Most Valuable Player, and was consensus All-America
Tommy KramerQB1972–19762012Senior Bowl MVP and 1976 George Martin Award winner

All-Americans

As of 2017, the following 18 players have been named All-America[10] with 6 selection being consensus.[11]

Name Position Year
Bill Wallace B 1934
H.J. Nichols G 1944
Weldon Humble † G 1946
Froggy Williams † E 1949
Joe Watson C 1949
Bill Howton E 1951
John Hudson T 1953
Kosse Johnson B 1953
Dicky Maegle † HB 1954
King Hill QB 1957
Buddy Dial † E 1958
Malcolm Walker C 1964
Tommy Kramer † QB 1976
Steve Kidd P 1985
Trevor Cobb HB 1991,† 1992
Charles Torello OG 1997
Jarett Dillard WR 2006, 2008
Kyle Martens P 2010

† Consensus selection

Other notable players

Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of July 30, 2020.[12]

2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031
at Arkansas at USC at Texas Sam Houston State at Louisiana Army Boise State Northwestern at Northwestern
Houston McNeese State Houston at LSU BYU Houston Baptist at Boise State
at Texas Louisiana Texas Southern Army
Texas Southern at Houston at BYU
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References
  1. Rice Athletics Branding Guidelines, Rules, & Regulations (PDF). August 19, 2019. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  2. Dickey Moegle in the 1954 Cotton Bowl Classic. Article. Retrieved on December 29, 2008.
  3. Associated Press (2008-12-30). "Rice rolls Western Michigan for first bowl win since '54". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
  4. "John F. Kennedy Moon Speech - Rice Stadium". Er.jsc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  5. "Al Conover Coaching Record". College Football at Sports-Reference.com.
  6. "Winsipedia - Rice Owls vs. SMU Mustangs football series history". Winsipedia.
  7. "Winsipedia - Houston Cougars vs. Rice Owls football series history". Winsipedia.
  8. "Winsipedia - Rice Owls vs. Texas Longhorns football series history". Winsipedia.
  9. "Inductees - Football Players & Coaches - College Football Hall of Fame". www.cfbhall.com.
  10. "2017 Media Guide" (PDF). riceowls.com. Rice Athletics. p. 177. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  11. "2017 FOOTBALL AWARD WINNERS" (PDF). ncaa.org. NCAA. p. 25. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  12. "Rice Owls Football Future Schedules". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
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