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Clements leads Owls into bowl eligibility
Reported by Rice Athletics
The Rice Owls are bowl-eligible for the second time in three years.
Chase Clement threw for 372 yards and five touchdowns, while also running for a sixth score. James Casey and Jarrett Dillard combined to catch four touchdowns as the Owls squeaked out their third straight win over UTEP, 49-44, Saturday in El Paso to move to 6-3 on the season.
With the win, Rice is now 5-1 in Conference USA, which marks its best conference mark through six games since 1960 when the Owls also won five of their first six in the Southwest Conference.
Rice went to the New Orleans Bowl two years ago, losng to Troy, 41-17.
Clement's five touchdown passes gives him 29 for the season to tie his school mark set last year, and move him into a tie for second with Chris Redmond of Louisville on the Conference USA career list with 84. With three games remaining, Clement needs two touchdown passes to break the conference mark of 85 set by Kevin Kolb of Houston.
Clement’s total of six touchdowns, including a run, brought his career mark to 105, five shy of breaking Paul Smith's C-USA record of 109.
Casey tied his career high with 12 catches, including a career-best three for scores. He finished with 142 receiving, his fifth game with better than 100 yards this season. He added a fourth score on a two-yard run. C.J. Ugokwe led the Owls on the ground with 105 yards on 19 carries.
Dillard caught eight passes for 93 yards to break the C-USA career record for receiving yards, finishing the game with 3,777. Dillard and Clement connected on one scoring pass, extending their NCAA mark for scoring passes by a duo to 46. Dillard extended his career mark for touchdown receptions to 55 and games with a touchdown catch to 34.
Rice took a 7-3 lead with 10:32 left in the first on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Clement to Pierre Beasley, which marked Beasley’s first touchdown reception of his career. UTEP, however, scored 14 straight to take a 17-7 lead with 6:47 left in the first, but Clement cut the lead to three with five minutes left in the first with a 37-yard touchdown strike to Casey.
Clement gave Rice the lead to start the second quarter with a 3-yard touchdown run, and after a UTEP field goal, Clement connected with Dillard for a 6-yard score just before the half to give the Owls a 28-20 lead.
Casey extended the Owls’ lead to 35-20 with 9:57 remaining in the third quarter on a 2-yard run, but the Miners clawed back within five with 10 unanswered points to end the quarter.
Casey caught his second touchdown pass of the game to start the fourth on a 4-yard strike from Clement, and after UTEP found the end zone to cut the lead to five again, Clement found Casey for a 12-yard score with 5:36 remaining to up the lead to 49-37. UTEP scored again with a little more than a minute remaining, but that was as close as they would get.
The Owls face Army at 2 p.m. Saturday at Rice Stadium for the Owls’ homecoming.
The Rice Owls are bowl-eligible for the second time in three years.
Chase Clement threw for 372 yards and five touchdowns, while also running for a sixth score. James Casey and Jarrett Dillard combined to catch four touchdowns as the Owls squeaked out their third straight win over UTEP, 49-44, Saturday in El Paso to move to 6-3 on the season.
With the win, Rice is now 5-1 in Conference USA, which marks its best conference mark through six games since 1960 when the Owls also won five of their first six in the Southwest Conference.
Rice went to the New Orleans Bowl two years ago, losng to Troy, 41-17.
Clement's five touchdown passes gives him 29 for the season to tie his school mark set last year, and move him into a tie for second with Chris Redmond of Louisville on the Conference USA career list with 84. With three games remaining, Clement needs two touchdown passes to break the conference mark of 85 set by Kevin Kolb of Houston.
Clement’s total of six touchdowns, including a run, brought his career mark to 105, five shy of breaking Paul Smith's C-USA record of 109.
Casey tied his career high with 12 catches, including a career-best three for scores. He finished with 142 receiving, his fifth game with better than 100 yards this season. He added a fourth score on a two-yard run. C.J. Ugokwe led the Owls on the ground with 105 yards on 19 carries.
Dillard caught eight passes for 93 yards to break the C-USA career record for receiving yards, finishing the game with 3,777. Dillard and Clement connected on one scoring pass, extending their NCAA mark for scoring passes by a duo to 46. Dillard extended his career mark for touchdown receptions to 55 and games with a touchdown catch to 34.
Rice took a 7-3 lead with 10:32 left in the first on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Clement to Pierre Beasley, which marked Beasley’s first touchdown reception of his career. UTEP, however, scored 14 straight to take a 17-7 lead with 6:47 left in the first, but Clement cut the lead to three with five minutes left in the first with a 37-yard touchdown strike to Casey.
Clement gave Rice the lead to start the second quarter with a 3-yard touchdown run, and after a UTEP field goal, Clement connected with Dillard for a 6-yard score just before the half to give the Owls a 28-20 lead.
Casey extended the Owls’ lead to 35-20 with 9:57 remaining in the third quarter on a 2-yard run, but the Miners clawed back within five with 10 unanswered points to end the quarter.
Casey caught his second touchdown pass of the game to start the fourth on a 4-yard strike from Clement, and after UTEP found the end zone to cut the lead to five again, Clement found Casey for a 12-yard score with 5:36 remaining to up the lead to 49-37. UTEP scored again with a little more than a minute remaining, but that was as close as they would get.
The Owls face Army at 2 p.m. Saturday at Rice Stadium for the Owls’ homecoming.
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