2012 Rice Owls football team

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2012 Conference USA football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
UCF xy		7	–	1					10	–	4
East Carolina x		7	–	1					8	–	5
Marshall		4	–	4					5	–	7
Memphis		4	–	4					4	–	8
UAB		2	–	6					3	–	9
Southern Miss		0	–	8					0	–	12
West Division
Tulsa xy$		7	–	1					11	–	3
SMU		5	–	3					7	–	6
Rice		4	–	4					7	–	6
Houston		4	–	4					5	–	7
UTEP		2	–	6					3	–	9
Tulane		2	–	6					2	–	10
Championship: Tulsa 33, UCF 27
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

The 2012 Rice Owls football team represented Rice University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by sixth year head coach David Bailiff and played their home games at Rice Stadium. They were a member of the West Division of Conference USA. They finished the season 7–6, 4–4 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for third place in the West Division. They were invited to the Armed Forces Bowl where they defeated Air Force.

Schedule

August 306:30 PMUCLA*

• Rice Stadium
• Houston, TX

CBSSNL 24–49 23,105 September 82:30 PMat Kansas*

• Memorial Stadium
• Lawrence, KS

FSNW 25–24 44,683 September 156:00 PMat Louisiana Tech*

• Joe Aillet Stadium
• Ruston, LA

ESPN3L 37–56 23,228 September 222:30 PMMarshall

• Rice Stadium
• Houston, TX

CSSL 51–54 ^OT14,204 September 292:30 PMvs. Houston

• Reliant Stadium
• Houston, TX (Bayou Bucket Classic)

FSNL 14–35 32,718 October 66:00 PMat Memphis

• Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
• Memphis, TN

FCSL 10–14 17,831 October 132:30 PMUTSA*

• Rice Stadium
• Houston, TX

FCSW 34–14 28,677 October 202:30 PMat Tulsa

• Chapman Stadium
• Tulsa, OK

FSNL 24–28 22,567 October 2712:00 PMSouthern Miss

• Rice Stadium
• Houston, TX

CSS/CSNHW 44–17 14,927 November 32:30 PMat Tulane

• Mercedes-Benz Superdome
• New Orleans, LA

W 49–47 15,467 November 172:30 PMSMU

• Rice Stadium
• Houston, TX (Battle for the Mayor's Cup)

CSS/CSNHW 36–14 20,710 November 246:00 PMat UTEP

• Sun Bowl Stadium
• El Paso, TX

FCSW 33–24 20,384 December 2910:45 AMvs. Air Force*

• Amon G. Carter Stadium
• Fort Worth, TX (Armed Forces Bowl)

ESPNW 33–14 40,754

• Source: Schedule

Game summaries

UCLA

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bruins	19	16	0	14	49
Owls	10	14	0	0	24

See also: 2012 UCLA Bruins football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–4	2006	UCLA, 26–16

UCLA's Johnathan Franklin rushed for 214 yards and three touchdowns in this rout. UCLA dominated both in the air with 303 yards passing compared to 184 yards for Rice, and on the ground with 343 yards rushing compared to 174 for Rice. This was despite Rice having about 8 1/2 minutes more of possession than UCLA. Franklin's performance was 2 yards short of a career-high. Quarterback Brett Hundley took the first snap of the game 72 yards for a touchdown. Rice was led by quarterback Taylor McHargue, who was 17 of 28 in passing for 179 yards and one interception; and had 129 yards rushing. In addition, Rice linebacker Cameron Nwosu set a NCAA record, blocking three PATs in the first half.

1st quarter scoring: UCLA – Brett Hundley 72-yard run (K. Fairbairn kick blocked); UCLA – Jerry Johnson 11-yard pass from Hundley (Fairbairn kick blocked); UCLA - Franklin 74-yard run (Fairbairn kick); RICE – Luke Willson 8-yard pass from T. McHargue (Chris Boswell kick); RICE - Boswell 53-yard field goal

2nd quarter scoring: RICE - McHargue 1-yard run (Boswell kick); UCLA – Devin Lucien 27-yard field goal; UCLA - Franklin 78-yard run (Fairbairn kick); RICE – Sam McGuffie 2-yard pass from McHargue (Boswell kick); UCLA – Damien Holmes 44-yard fumble recovery (Fairbairn kick blocked)

4th quarter scoring: UCLA – Joseph Fauria 4-yard pass from Hundley (Hundley pass failed); UCLA - Franklin 22-yard run (David Allen pass from Hundley)

@ Kansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	3	10	3	9	25
Jayhawks	10	7	7	0	24

See also: 2012 Kansas Jayhawks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–1	1961	KAN, 33–7

Last meeting was in the 1961 Bluebonnet Bowl.

@ Louisiana Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	0	17	6	14	37
Bulldogs	21	14	7	14	56

See also: 2012 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–2	2004	LATECH, 51–14

Marshall

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	Total
Thundering Herd	14	7	14	6	7	6	54
Owls	7	7	14	13	7	3	51

See also: 2012 Marshall Thundering Herd football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–2	2011	MARSH, 24–20

vs Houston

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	7	7	14	7	35
Owls	0	0	7	7	14

See also: 2012 Houston Cougars football team and Bayou Bucket Classic

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
11–27	2011	HOU, 73–34

@ Memphis

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	7	3	0	0	10
Tigers	0	0	14	0	14

See also: 2012 Rice Owls football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–1	2011	RICE, 28–6

UTSA

	1	2	3	4	Total
Roadrunners	0	3	11	0	14
Owls	6	7	14	7	34

See also: 2012 UTSA Roadrunners football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

@ Tulsa

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	7	14	0	3	24
Golden Hurricane	7	7	7	7	28

See also: 2012 Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–9–1	2011	TULSA, 38–20

Southern Miss

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Eagles	3	7	7	0	17
Owls	7	14	17	6	44

See also: 2012 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–1	2011	USM, 48–24

@ Tulane

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	14	14	7	14	49
Green Wave	7	3	28	9	47

See also: 2012 Tulane Green Wave football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
18–15–1	2011	Rice, 19–7

SMU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	7	0	7	0	14
Owls	6	14	3	13	36

See also: 2012 SMU Mustangs football team and Battle for the Mayor's Cup

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
40–48–1	2011	SMU, 27–24

@ UTEP

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	3	14	3	13	33
Miners	7	7	7	3	24

See also: 2012 UTEP Miners football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
9–6	2011	RICE, 41–37

Air Force–Armed Forces Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	7	0	7	19	33
Falcons	0	14	0	0	14

See also: 2012 Air Force Falcons football team and 2012 Armed Forces Bowl

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–5	1998	AF, 22–16