UTSA Hangs on at Rice, 16-14, After a Fast First Half
UTSA scored all 16 of its points in the first half, scored none in the second, and still left Rice with a 16-14 win. Sometimes a lead is a lead.
UTSA (4-1 now) did it with the leg of Michael Petro, who kicked three field goals from 32, 53 and 22 yards. The first two put UTSA up 6-0 in the opening quarter. Rice's Jacurri Brown answered with a 38-yard touchdown run at 3:09 of the first to make it 7-6, the only time in the first half Rice led. Will Henderson III took it back with a 12-yard run at 12:26 of the second, and Petro's 22-yarder at 5:49 made it 16-7. That was the last UTSA score of the day.
Rice did not score again until 13:35 of the fourth quarter, when Brown ran in from a yard out to cut it to 16-14. There were no more points after that. Take away Petro's three field goals, nine points, and UTSA loses 14-7, so the kicker earned his dinner.
The team lines were unglamorous. UTSA had 317 total yards to Rice's 232, ran 41 times for 169, and sacked the quarterback three times. It also threw an interception and lost a fumble. Rice passed for just 88 yards and ran 46 times for 144, and lost a fumble of its own. UTSA is now 4-1 and Rice drops to 1-4.
For fantasy, Brown was the top scorer in the game at 25.1 points, and he did it with 96 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries while throwing for 88 yards.