Rice Runs 69 Times, Throws for 28 Yards, and Wins by 28
Twenty-eight passing yards. That was Rice's entire aerial attack in a 31-3 win over Houston Christian, and it was plenty. Rice ran 69 times for 474 yards and never needed to be told twice.
Houston Christian actually scored first, a 42-yard Lukasz Smolen field goal with 9:24 left in the first quarter. That was the last time anything went its way on the scoreboard. DAndre Hardeman Jr. ran in from two yards to make it 7-3 late in the quarter, Quinton Jackson added a seven-yard score in the second, and Enock Gota's 26-yard field goal made it 17-3 at the break. Nobody scored in the third quarter. Then Rice put its foot down: Jackson ran 12 yards for a touchdown at 13:19 of the fourth, and Gael Ochoa broke off a 29-yard run at 10:16 to make it 31-3.
The ground game was a committee. Tyvonn Byars carried 16 times for 104 yards, Hardeman had 11 carries for 77 and a touchdown, and Jackson scored twice on 10 carries. Rice also sacked the other side three times and did not throw an interception or lose a fumble. A passing game that small is a number you do not see often, and the run game made it irrelevant.
Rice is 1-0 and Houston Christian is 0-1. For fantasy owners, this was a backfield where three players cleared 10 points and none of them did it through the air. Jackson's two scores are what made the difference between a good week and a fine one.