Rice gets first win, beats Middle Tennessee 31-28
Stewart, Rozner connect for 3rd TD of half
Tom Stewart launches a 34-yard pass to Brad Rozner, their third touchdown connection of the first half.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Tom Stewart threw three touchdown passes, Aston Walter ran for 106 yards and Rice beat Middle Tennessee 31-28 on Saturday for its first win of the season.
Stewart was 18-of-23 passing for 222 yards and threw all three of his scores to Brad Rozner, who finished with eight catches for 130 yards. Walter had 15 carries that included a 34-yard touchdown run.
Stewart threw TD passes from the 30 and 18, and his 34-yarder with 14 seconds left in the second quarter gave the Owls (1-9, 1-5 Conference USA) a 31-14 halftime lead.
Asher O'Hara threw for 338 yards and two touchdown passes and ran for another score for Middle Tennessee (3-7, 2-4).
The Blue Raiders fumbled the ball away on their first play from scrimmage but made it close with O'Hara's 7-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and O'Hara's 20-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Marshall with 3:22 remaining.
On the final drive, Rice converted on third-and-11 and chewed up more than three minutes of clock before punting into the Middle Tennessee end zone with 16 seconds remaining.
Game Information
2023 American Athletic Conference Standings
Team | CONF | OVR |
---|---|---|
SMU | 8-0 | 11-3 |
Tulane | 8-0 | 11-3 |
UTSA | 7-1 | 9-4 |
Memphis | 6-2 | 10-3 |
South Florida | 4-4 | 7-6 |
Rice | 4-4 | 6-7 |
Navy | 4-4 | 5-7 |
North Texas | 3-5 | 5-7 |
UAB | 3-5 | 4-8 |
Florida Atlantic | 3-5 | 4-8 |
Charlotte | 2-6 | 3-9 |
Tulsa | 2-6 | 4-8 |
Temple | 1-7 | 3-9 |
East Carolina | 1-7 | 2-10 |
2023 Conference USA Standings
Team | CONF | OVR |
---|---|---|
Liberty | 8-0 | 13-1 |
New Mexico State | 7-1 | 10-5 |
Jacksonville State | 6-2 | 9-4 |
Western Kentucky | 5-3 | 8-5 |
Middle Tennessee | 3-5 | 4-8 |
Louisiana Tech | 2-6 | 3-9 |
Sam Houston | 2-6 | 3-9 |
UTEP | 2-6 | 3-9 |
Florida International | 1-7 | 4-8 |