University of North Texas Athletics
Mean Green Football Unable To Hold Off Rice
9/28/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
HOUSTON, Texas (9/27/08) Chase Clement threw five touchdown passes and rushed for two of his own to lead the Rice football team to a 77-20 win against North Texas on Saturday night at Rice Stadium.
The Rice Owls combined for 502 yards of total offense, including 328 passing yards. Clement threw for 298 yards, completing 22-of-28 passes.
Rice forced six turnovers, resulting in five Owls touchdowns. The six Mean Green turnovers are the most since
Back-to-back defensive touchdowns by Rice in the third quarter put the game out of reach for the Mean Green. Giovanni Vizza threw three interceptions in the game, all in the third quarter. The
Vizza distributed the ball to seven different receivers. Casey Fitzgerald and Sam Dibrell led the receiving unit with seven catches each. Riley Dodge caught a personal-best four passes.
Cam Montgomery ran for two touchdowns in the first quarter. The touchdowns were the first two of the season for the running back. His first touchdown was a one-yard run, answering the Owls’ first scoring drive. The second was a 15-yard scamper, cutting Rice’s lead to 21-13.
A 50-yard pass from Clement to Toren Dixon put Rice on the scoreboard just two minutes into the game. After the first Montgomery TD, the second Rice drive found Clement connecting with Jarett Dillard for a three-yard touchdown to give Rice a 14-6 lead.
The Owls made the Mean Green pay after
Clement began the second quarter with a 30-yard touchdown strike to Dillard, his second TD reception of the game. Vizza responded with a touchdown pass of his own, a seven-yard throw to Lance Dunbar. Unfortunately, the Mean Green was unable to keep up with the Owls after the
Back to back fumbles by
Clement threw his fifth touchdown pass at the start of the third quarter and then Rice returned two Mean Green interceptions for touchdowns to make the score 77-20.
