Nov. 7, 2008

The Rice Owls (6-3/5-1) return to Rice Stadium on Saturday to celebrate Homecoming 2008 by hosting Army at 2 p.m., exactly 50 years to the day when the two schools met for the first time.

Rice-Army game program (PDF file)

The game will be broadcast locally on Houston's ESPN 97.5 The Ticket with David Saltzman, Nate Griffin and Matt McCabe describing the action. Fans outside the Houston market can listen to the broadcast on the internet. The game will also be webcast on-line through Owls All Access.

Army won that initial meeting by a score of 14-7, as the third-ranked Black Knights drove the length of the field in the game's final minutes to take their first lead of the day. Pete Dawkins, who would go on to win the Heisman Trophy that season, caught a 64-yard pass with 51 seconds left. Army's first touchdown came on a touchdown pass to Bill Carpenter, the legendary "Lonely End", while Rice's lone score came on a touchdown pass to All American wideout Buddy Dial.

Rice enters Saturday's game on a three-game winning streak and has reached bowl eligibility for the second time in the last three years. The Owls have not reached six wins in their first nine games for the first time 2001 when they went on to win seven of the first ten.

The game will feature a battle between one of the nation's most productive offenses and one of its most effective defensive units. Rice ranks third in the nation with a total of 31 touchdown passes this season and is seventh in passing (315.8 yards per game), ninth in scoring (41.4 points per game) and 13th in total offense (455.9 yards per game). The Owls are just eight points shy of breaking their school record for points in a season (377 set last year) and have already tied their record for touchdowns (51). Army boasts the 15th ranked pass defense in the country, and has allowed just 76 total points in the last five games.

Chase Clement heads into Saturday's action needing just a pair of touchdown passes to break the C-USA career mark of 85 set by Kevin Kolb of Houston and he is five total touchdowns away from Paul Smith's conference mark of 109 set last year. Clement and Jarett Dillard will be looking to extend their NCAA record for career touchdowns as a passing duo (46), while Dillard will be looking to add to his NCAA records for career touchdown receptions (55) and career games with a touchdown pass (34).

The Owls have an open date next Saturday, then return to C-USA action for the final two games of the season with home dates with Marshall (Nov. 22) and Houston (Nov. 29).

Tickets for the Homecoming matchup with Army are on sale on-line, by calling (713) 522-Owls, or in person at the Rice Stadium Ticket office.