Football crushes UNT 77-20

By Brody Rollins     10/2/08 7:00pm

Turn the page on Tim Rattay and Troy Edwards. Forget about Colt Brennan and Davone Bess. Last Saturday afternoon, senior quarterback Chase Clement and senior wide receiver Jarett Dillard became the most prolific scoring duo in college football history. To put it in perspective, there has not been a diad this hot since Carrie Bradshaw set her sights on Mr. Big in episode one of Sex and the City. By connecting on three touchdowns in a 77-20 wipeout of the University of North Texas, Clement and Dillard broke the NCAA all-time record for most touchdowns between a receiver and quarterback pair. The three touchdowns gave them a total of 41 and set them two ahead of the previous record holders.

"You really don't recognize what it is until it's broken," Dillard said. "I really didn't recognize it until our equipment manager came to me and said she was sending the ball to the College Football Hall of Fame. That brought my jaw down. I'm just in a state of shock."

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Dillard added one more score when he jumped over the top of a UNT defensive back and hauled in a 30-yard pass from junior running back Jeramy Goodson. Dillard's four receptions for touchdowns in the game broke the Rice record and landed him in a tie for most career receiving touchdowns in NCAA history with 50.

Dillard and Clement received conference-wide and national recognition this week for their record-setting performance when they were named the Conference USA Co-Offensive Players of the Week and the Walter Camp Football Foundation Bowl Subdivision National Offensive Players of the Week.

Tomorrow Dillard, Clement and the rest of the Owls will have their hands full when they face the University of Tulsa in a nationally televised game on the CBS Sports Network at 7 p.m.

Under former Rice head coach Todd Graham, the Golden Hurricane have surged to a 4-0 record this season and were preseason favorites to win the C-USA outright.

Tulsa won last week against the University of Central Arkansas, beating them with a final score of 62-34. Graham has already had to field questions regarding an undefeated season and a possible berth in a BCS bowl. The Golden Hurricane has only one remaining non-conference game against a depleted University of Arkansas team, making this match-up of C-USA unbeatens all the more compelling.

Leading the Golden Hurricane is senior quarterback David Johnson, who is starting his first complete season after serving as backup to Paul Smith, now a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad. Despite spending four years on the bench, Johnson has managed to put up strong numbers this year. Going into last weekend's game, he was rated first in the NCAA for quarterback efficiency. Thus far, he has thrown for 19 touchdowns, four interceptions and led the offense to an average of just over 54 points per game.

The first quarter of last week's game had the makings of another shootout as the Rice and UNT defenses combined for just one defensive stop. Mean Green quarterback Giovanni Vizza threw for 131 yards in the first quarter and kept the Rice defense on its heels.

The Owls missed 20 tackles in the game, most in the first half. Like UNT, the Golden Hurricane also possesses a quality run game that ranks 20th nationally. Tackling is a must for the Owls as it is unlikely the Golden Hurricane is going to turn the ball over six times.

"That's what's led to a lot of [Tulsa's] production, it's just people missing tackles. A little three and four-yard bubble screen all of a sudden goes 31 yards," said Bailiff.

Momentum swung fully in the Owls' favor in the early part of the second quarter when Rice recovered a muffed punt after being unable to drive the length of the field for the first time all game. Two plays later, the Owls punched the ball into the end zone on a three yard run by junior running back Marcus Knox, extending their lead to 42-20.

Rice only extended their lead from there and the 57-point margin of victory ended up being Rice's largest since 1944 when they beat Galveston Air Force Base 57-0. The 77 points scored by the Owls was the most they have scored since 1916, when they recorded a 146-3 victory over Southern Methodist University.

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