Gore runs for bowl record 329 yards, Southern Miss tops Rice

Associated PressDec 17, 2022, 11:36 PM EST

Robert McDuffie-USA TODAY Sports

MOBILE, Ala. – Frank Gore Jr. ran for an NCAA bowl-record 329 yards and accounted for three touchdowns to help Southern Miss hold off Rice 38-24 on Saturday night in the LendingTree Bowl.

Gore, the son of the former NFL star, had a 64-yard scoring run in the second quarter, threw an 18-yard touchdown pass in the third and ran for 55 yards for another score in the fourth. He also ran 59 yards to set up the go-ahead touchdown for the Golden Eagles (7-6).

Gore, who had 21 carries, broke the mark of 317 yards set by Appalachian State’s Camerun Peoples in the 2020 Myrtle Beach Bowl against North Texas. Gore broke the Southern Miss record of 304 by Sam Dejarnette against Florida State in 1982.

“He’s a special guy,” Southern Miss coach Will Hall said. “He’s really learned how to be a leader. He’s really learned how to handle the responsibility of being Frank Gore Jr., and he has embraced that, and he’s embraced the whole deal of to whom much is given, much is required.

“He’s always intense and competitive and I’m just really proud he was able to have a performance like this on a national stage where a lot of people could see it. He’s got a chip on his shoulder like his short coach does.”

Rice quarterback AJ Padgett threw for 295 yards and three touchdowns – all in the third quarter – to give the Owls (5-8) a brief 24-17 lead. He threw 26 and 32 yards to Isaiah Esdale to tie a game Southern Miss led 17-3 at halftime, then connected with Bradley Rozner to put Rice up 24-17 with 5:06 left in the third.

Gore’s 18-yard touchdown pass to Ty Mims – his seventh passing score of the season – tied it at 24 after three quarters. Trey Lowe threw a 26-yard touchdown to Jason Brownlee on the second play of the fourth quarter to give the Golden Eagles the lead at 31-24, and Gore’s 55-yarder capped the scoring with 2:57 left.

“We did a lot of good things in that third quarter, but you have to take your hat off to Southern Miss that they were able to run the ball the way they did,” Rice coach Mike Bloomgren said. “It was kind of the Frank Gore show. But we knew what kind of back Frank Gore Jr. is, what a great back, what a great runner he is. Tonight he was phenomenal. We didn’t do a good enough job tackling, and we didn’t make enough plays on offense to win the game.”

Gore said his father was at the game, and met him on the field prior to the trophy presentation. Frank Gore Sr.’s career-best rushing total in a 16-year NFL career was 212 yards for the San Francisco 49ers against Seattle in 2006.

“I told him (about the record) when he came on the field and let him know that I’m the best in the family,” the younger Gore said. “Thanks to my O-line, they opened up a lot of good holes and got me into the secondary. As Coach (Hall) said, the first person could rarely tackle me. And if you’re able to get down the field untouched, that leads to a lot of big plays.”

Linebacker Daylen Gill had three of Southern Miss’ season-high five sacks.

Lowe threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Jakarius Caston to give Southern Miss a 7-0 lead at the 12:20 mark of the first quarter. Gore’s 64-yard run made it 14-0 early in the second.

Field goals of 34 yards by Rice’s Christian VanSickle and 18 yards by Southern Miss’ Brooks Bourgeois closed out the first-half scoring.

IMPRESSIVE BLOODLINES

Gore was not the only player on the field with famous NFL relatives. Rice wide receiver Luke McCaffrey, the son of former Denver Broncos receiver Ed McCaffrey and the younger brother of San Francisco 49ers star Christian, caught seven passes for 67 yards and also ran for 11 yards.

Luke McCaffrey transferred to Rice in 2021 from Nebraska, where he was a quarterback. He converted to receiver this past spring.

THE TAKEAWAY

Southern Miss: The Golden Eagles finish with a winning record in the second season under coach Will Hall and snapped a two-game losing streak vs. the Owls, their former Conference USA rival. Southern Miss now leads the all-time series 7-6 and is 12-15 in bowl games.

Rice: The Owls, the only FBS team with a losing record to play in a postseason game this year, is now 7-6 all-time in bowls. Rice was in the postseason for the first time since 2014.

Rice beats UTEP, reaches 5 wins for first time since 2015

Associated PressNov 4, 2022, 12:01 AM EDT

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

HOUSTON – TJ McMahon threw for a career-high 334 yards, including a go-ahead 23-yard touchdown to Bradley Rozner with 25 seconds left, and Rice edged UTEP 37-30 on Thursday night.

Rice (5-4, 3-2 Conference USA) reached five wins in a season for the first time since 2015.

UTEP backup QB Calvin Brownholtz ran for a 25-yard score to tie the game at 27-all with 11:17 left in the fourth quarter. The teams traded field goals with UTEP tying it with 2:35 left.

Rice used back-to-back 13-yard plays to get to midfield and McMahon later found Rozner in the corner of the end zone for their sixth connection of the game.

McMahon was 21 of 31 with two touchdowns and one interception, and Rozner had 142 receiving yards and a score. Christian VanSickle made field goals of 43, 21 and 38.

Brownholtz was 7-of-10 passing for 56 yards and he carried it eight times for 64 yards for UTEP (4-6, 2-4). Gavin Baechle also made three field goals, with a long of 51.

No. 14 USC routs Rice 66-14 in big debuts by Williams, Riley

Associated PressSep 5, 2022, 1:19 PM EDT

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LOS ANGELES – Southern California scored on every one of its possessions in the first three quarters. The Trojans’ defense also took three interceptions to the house, and a stadium filled with winning-starved fans went increasingly wild for each and every score.

Lincoln Riley‘s tenure is off to a rip-roaring start, and his players sound confident their revitalization of a powerhouse program will get even better.

“This is definitely a statement,” star receiver Jordan Addison said. “That’s what we wanted to do. Week 1, we had to show everybody that this wasn’t just no hype. We’re ready to play.”

Caleb Williams passed for 249 yards, rushed for 68 more and hit Addison for two touchdowns in No. 14 USC’s 66-14 victory over Rice on Saturday.

Calen Bullock, Shane Lee and Ralen Goforth returned three of USC’s four interceptions for touchdowns while the Trojans scored more points in Riley’s debut than they did in any game under Clay Helton, who was fired last season before USC sank to its worst record in 30 years.

With Williams going 19 for 22 while leading six consecutive scoring drives to open the game, USC had its highest-scoring performance since 2008, when the program still reigned near the top of college football under Pete Carroll.

Riley and Williams left Oklahoma during the offseason and reunited in Los Angeles to rebuild the Trojans, who are hoping for a swift return to regular national title contention. Riley hasn’t shied away from high expectations, and his team’s first outing was tantalizing.

“It’s a fun moment to finally be here,” Riley said. “I think the team was anxious and excited after all the buildup, and just ready to go play, and we responded well. … It’s one of those moments that you don’t want to minimize. It’s meaningful to us all, but those of us that have been on these journeys before, we understand this is just the beginning, and there’s so much left, so much better to play.”

Newcomers made big plays all over the field for the Trojans, who welcomed 24 transfers in the offseason. Stanford transfer Austin Jones and freshman Raleek Brown rushed for early touchdowns, while Addison – last season’s Biletnikoff Award winner at Pitt – scored on USC’s opening drive and finished with five catches for 54 yards.

Darwin Barlow also rushed for a score in the Trojans’ 538-yard attack.

“We have a lot of confidence, and we didn’t just build that confidence coming out here in the first game,” Williams said. “We built that through workouts. We built that recently. Just coming together, all one, that’s the best way to do it.”

Wiley Green passed for 69 yards for Rice before leaving with a right arm injury in the second quarter after Bullock returned his interception 93 yards. Orange County native TJ McMahon took over, but threw three interceptions in the schools’ first meeting since 1971.

Ari Broussard rushed for two scores, and Cameron Montgomery had 99 yards on the ground for the Owls.

After Bullock’s electrifying TD, Alabama transfer Lee brought his interception back 40 yards on the opening drive of the third. Goforth made a 31-yard TD return on Rice’s next drive.

“There’s four plays that really led to this game going the way it did from a lopsided manner, and that’s really those four interceptions, and certainly the three that were pick-6’s,” Rice coach Mike Bloomgren said. “I mean, that’s something that’s really hard to deal with. I’m just proud that our kids did keep fighting.”

USC hadn’t returned three interceptions for scores since Nov. 11, 1982, at Arizona. The Trojans fell one short of the NCAA record for pick-6’s.

“Hopefully we can get four pick-6’s next week,” Riley said with a laugh when asked where his defense needs to improve. “That would be awesome.”

HOT ONE

A success-starved crowd of 60,113 braved 95-degree temperatures around kickoff to welcome Riley, Williams, Addison and the rest of the new Trojans to the 99-year-old Coliseum.

“This stadium is so elite,” Riley said. “Even those of us that have coached in a lot of really cool stadium, this place, watching a college football game here, I don’t know how it gets any better.”

RALEEK THE FREAK

Brown had a stellar debut with 76 combined yards on just eight touches, and he celebrated his impressive 14-yard TD run by striking a Heisman pose.

The freshman left the field postgame on a cart with ice around his right ankle, but the Trojans didn’t seem seriously concerned about his health.

THE TAKEAWAY

Rice: The Owls were competitive before the turnovers. The potential seriousness of Green’s injury is a much bigger concern than the blowout, but Bloomgren had no immediate update on his quarterback’s condition.

USC: The first quarter could resemble much of this season under Riley, who landed far more offensive talent than defensive difference-makers in the transfer portal. USC racked up 9.3 yards per play, but had some rough defensive stretches. Big 12-style, high-scoring shootouts could be the norm.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

USC has spent nearly every September during the 13 seasons since Carroll’s departure failing to live up to overly optimistic early rankings. This new team is still imperfect, but Riley’s Trojans immediately look like they deserve their spot.

UP NEXT

Rice: Host McNeese State on Saturday.

USC: At Stanford on Saturday.