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The Rice Owls football program represents
Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...
in the sport of
American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
. The team competes at the
NCAA Division I FBS The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...
level and compete in the
American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...
. Rice Stadium, built in 1950, hosts the Owls' home football games. Rice has the second-smallest undergraduate enrollment of any FBS member, ahead of only
Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...
.


History

Rice fielded its first football team in 1912, not long after opening its doors. Three years later, it joined the
Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...
as a charter member. For the better part of half a century, Rice was a regional and national powerhouse. However, by the early 1960s, Rice found it increasingly difficult to field competitive teams. For most of its tenure in the SWC, it was one of only four private schools in the conference, and by far the smallest in terms of undergraduate enrollment. However, by the latter part of longtime coach Jess Neely's tenure, Rice found itself competing against schools ten times or more its size, and often had more freshmen than Rice had total undergraduates. From 1964 to 1991, Rice had only one overall winning season, and only finished as high as third in SWC play once. Fred Goldsmith took over as head coach in 1989, and led the Owls to a 6-5 overall record and a tie for second place in 1992, their best finish in 28 years. However, a 61-34 loss to in-city rival
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...
kept them out of their first bowl game in 31 years. Goldsmith left for Duke in 1993 and was succeeded by former Clemson coach Ken Hatfield, who tallied only three winning seasons in 12 years. While the Owls were bowl-eligible in those three years, they didn't receive bowl bids due to their small alumni and fan base. Todd Graham became head coach in 2006, and led the Owls to their first bowl game in 35 years, the
2006 New Orleans Bowl The 2006 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl featured the Troy Trojans and the Rice Owls. Rice was making its first bowl appearance since the 1961 Bluebonnet Bowl. Troy quarterback Omar Haugabook started the scoring with a 2-yard touchdown run to give ...
. He left after only one year and was succeeded by David Bailiff, who took the Owls to three bowl games in 11 years, including their first 10-win seasons in half a century.


1954 Cotton Bowl Classic

The Owls played in the eighteenth
Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium in ...
against the Crimson Tide of Alabama. The game featured one of the most famous plays in college football history 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 Tony Temple (born September 13, 1985) is a former starting running back for the Missouri Tigers football team representing the University of Missouri. Temple played for the Tigers from 2004 to 2007. He entered the 2008 NFL Draft, but was not ch ...
's effort in
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
. This would be the Owls' last bowl win until the
2008 Texas Bowl The 2008 Texas Bowl was the third edition of the college football bowl game, and was played at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. The game was played at 7:00 PM US CST on Tuesday, December 30, 2008. The game, telecast on NFL Network, featured t ...
, a win which also secured the Owls their first 10-win season since 1949.


Kennedy Speech

Rice Stadium also hosted a "
We choose to go to the Moon "We choose to go to the Moon", officially titled the Address at Rice University on the Nation's Space Effort, is a September 12, 1962, speech by United States President John F. Kennedy to bolster public support for his proposal to land a ma ...
" 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 before 1970. :"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."


Conference affiliations

* Independent (1912–1914) *
Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...
(1915–1996) *
Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas. Due to most of t ...
(1996–2004) *
Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...
(2005–present)


Head coaches

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


Championships


Conference championships

Rice has won eight conference championships, five outright and three shared. † Co-championship


Division championships

Rice has won two division championships. † Co-championship


Bowl games

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


Stadium

Rice Stadium was built in 1950, and has been the home of Owls football ever since. It hosted the NFL
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the gam ...
in January 1974. It replaced the old
Rice Field Wendel D. Ley Track and Holloway Field is a stadium in Houston, Texas. It is primarily used for track and field and soccer for the Rice University Owls. It is bounded by Main Street (southeast), University Boulevard (southwest), Reckling Pa ...
(now
Rice Track/Soccer Stadium Wendel D. Ley Track and Holloway Field is a stadium in Houston, Texas. It is primarily used for track and field and soccer for the Rice University Owls. It is bounded by Main Street (southeast), University Boulevard (southwest), Reckling Par ...
) to increase seating. Total
seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile tha ...
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 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 The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...
(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.


Houston

Rice participates in a
crosstown rivalry A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes, affecting participants, management, and supporters all to varying degrees. The intensity of the rivalry can range anywhere from a light hearted banter to serious violen ...
with
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...
. 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 The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. ...
lead the series 33–11.The Cougars' 2013 move from Conference USA to the
American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...
has jeopardized the status of the series. Houston leads the series 33–11 after a win in September 2022.


Texas

Rice and
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
have maintained a largely one-sided rivalry beginning in the early days of the
Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...
. 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 ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
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.


College Football Hall of Fame

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


All-Americans

As of 2017, the following 18 players have been named
All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...
with 6 selection being consensus. † Consensus selection


Other notable players

*
Tony Barker Anthony Ray Barker (born September 7, 1968) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Kansas before transferring to Rice University following his sophomore ...
, LB Washington Redskins * Chris Boswell, K Pittsburgh Steelers * O.J. Brigance, LB multiple teams * James Casey, TE/FB multiple teams *
Bryce Callahan Bryce Jordan Callahan (born October 23, 1991) is an American football cornerback for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Rice, and signed with the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agen ...
, DB Chicago Bears *
Earl Cooper Earl Cooper (2 December 1886 Broken Bow, Nebraska – 22 October 1965 Atwater, California) was an American racecar driver. Racing career He began his racing career in 1908 in San Francisco in a borrowed car. He won the race, but lost his ...
, RB San Francisco 49ers *
Vince Courville Vincent Eric Courville (born December 5, 1959) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He was also a member of the Houston Gamblers in the United States Football League and the N ...
, WR multiple teams *
Christian Covington Christian Coral Cleveland Covington (born October 16, 1993) is a Canadian professional American football defensive end for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Rice and was drafted b ...
, DL Houston Texans * Patrick Dendy, DB Green Bay Packers *
Buddy Dial Gilbert Leroy "Buddy" Dial (January 17, 1937 – February 29, 2008) was an American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Rice University. Early yea ...
, WR, multiple teams *
Jarett Dillard Jarett Juma Porter Dillard (born December 21, 1985) is an American lawyer and former American football wide receiver of the National Football League. Dillard achieved success as a college football player for Rice, while earning his bachelor's deg ...
, WR Jacksonville Jaguars * Michael Downs, S Dallas Cowboys * Emmanuel Ellerbee, LB Seattle Seahawks *
Bert Emanuel Bert Tyrone Emanuel (born October 26, 1970) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the second round of the 1994 NFL Draft. He played college football at Rice. Emanue ...
, WR multiple teams * Jack Fox, P Detroit Lions *
Phillip Gaines Phillip Gaines (born April 4, 1991) is an American football cornerback who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the third round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at Rice. High school career Gaines attend ...
, DB multiple teams *
Darryl Grant Darryl Baris Grant (born November 22, 1959) is a former professional American football player who played defensive tackle for eleven seasons for the Washington Redskins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He play ...
, OL Washington Redskins *
Courtney Hall Courtney Caeser Hall (August 26, 1968 – April 29, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a center and guard in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Diego Chargers and spent the 1998 preseason with the Denver ...
, OL San Diego Chargers *
King Hill Stuart King Hill (November 8, 1936 – July 14, 2012) was an American football quarterback in the National Football League who played for the Chicago / St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles, and Minnesota Vikings. Football career After atte ...
, QB, multiple teams * Donald Hollas, QB Oakland Raiders * Robert Hubble, TE San Francisco 49ers * Larry Izzo, LB New England Patriots * N.D. Kalu, DE multiple teams *
Tommy Kramer Thomas Francis Kramer (born March 7, 1955) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) from 1977 to 1990. He played college football at Rice University and was selected by the ...
, QB Minnesota Vikings * Mike Martir, QB Canadian football * LaDouphyous McCalla, DB Saskatchewan Roughriders * Vance McDonald, TE Pittsburgh Steelers * Primo Miller, T Cleveland Rams * Cheta Ozougwu, DE, multiple teams * Ryan Pontbriand, DS Cleveland Browns * Frank Ryan, QB Cleveland Browns *
Andrew Sendejo Andrew Victor Sendejo (born September 9, 1987) is an American football free safety who is a free agent. He played college football for the Rice Owls, and was signed by the Sacramento Mountain Lions of the United Football League (UFL) as a free ...
, DB
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conferenc ...
* Scott Solomon, DE multiple teams * Seaman Squyres, HB Cincinnati Reds * Jordan Taylor, WR Denver Broncos * John Underwood, G Milwaukee Badgers * Austin Walter, RB San Francisco 49ers * Joe Watson, Detroit Lions * Bones Weatherly, LB Chicago Bears *
Luke Willson Luke Michael Willson (born January 15, 1990) is a Canadian former professional American football tight end. He has played for the Seattle Seahawks, the Detroit Lions, the Oakland Raiders, and the Baltimore Ravens. Willson played with the Canad ...
, TE Seattle Seahawks


Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of August 11, 2022.


References


External links

* {{American Athletic Conference football navbox American football teams established in 1912 1912 establishments in Texas