Rice had 25 days to stew over the 76 points it gave up to Louisiana Tech in its regular-season finale.
Fresno State was the unsuspecting victim of an Owls squad that avenged its worst defensive game of the season with one of the best.
HAWAII BOWL
30
Rice
6
Fresno State
|
The lowest scoring Hawaii Bowl in its 13-year history ended with Rice holding the Bulldogs without a touchdown in a 30-6 victory Wednesday at Aloha Stadium.
Any of the crowd of 13,922 — the smallest in Hawaii Bowl history — that came to see offense only got it from Owls quarterback Driphus Jackson, who threw for 318 yards and three touchdowns.
All Fresno State (6-8) could provide were two field goals from Kody Kroening. Otherwise, it was all Owls (8-5) as the Bulldogs were held to season-lows in points and passing yards (93).
"These are prideful young men. Nobody likes to be embarrassed," Rice coach David Bailiff said, referring to the 76-31 loss at Louisiana Tech on Nov. 29. "I really thought after that game we would respond the way we did today."
Fresno State starter Brian Burrell was 10-for-20 for 44 yards and two interceptions before he was pulled for backup Zack Greenlee with the game mostly out of reach.
The Bulldogs finished with their first losing season under third-year coach Tim DeRuyter, who is 0-3 in bowl games.
Fresno State has been outscored 118-36 in the postseason under DeRuyter, including 73-16 in Hawaii. The Bulldogs lost 43-10 to SMU two years ago on Christmas Eve.
"It’s frustrating. We’ve got to figure out a way to get over the top," DeRuyter said. "That’s going to be our charge this year. We’ve got to learn how to finish."
Jackson, named Rice’s most valuable player, finished off the Bulldogs with a 58-yard screen pass to running back Darik Dillard that set up a 1-yard Dillard run to make it 30-6.
Jackson threw for more than 300 yards for the second time this season, finishing 15-for-24.
Two of those scores came during a 19-second span late in the second quarter.
Jackson capped off 5-play, 78-yard drive with a 14-yard pass over the middle to Jordan Taylor for the game’s first touchdown.
On the next play, Burrell threw the first of his two picks on a deep ball that ended up in the hands of cornerback J.T. Blasingame.
Jackson then fired deep for receiver Mario Hull, who had to come back to a ball that was underthrown. It got the defender turned around and allowed Hull to then zip past him into the end zone for a 69-yard score to make it 16-3.
"You couldn’t ask for a better momentum shift," Jackson said. "It almost reminds me of basketball, because in basketball they talk about how it’s a game of runs and highs and lows. We were on an extreme high at that moment."
The mood on offense quickly changed as the Owls managed only one first down and 4 total yards in the second quarter.
The defense didn’t let it become a problem as Rice continued to hound Fresno State.
Defensive tackle Dylan Klare had two of the Owls’ four sacks and Rice made 12 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, costing the Bulldogs 46 yards.
Free safety Julius White had two of his seven tackles go for losses. He played a big part in bottling up Fresno State’s leading rusher, Marteze Waller, who ran for 71 yards on 15 carries.
"Everyone kind of had that chip on their shoulder," White said. "We needed to make a statement on national TV."
The Owls did so by shutting out Fresno State in the second half. Defensive end Brian Nordstrom blocked a 44-yard field goal try by Kroening that could have made it a one-possession game.
The Bulldogs were forced to punt three other times and failed to convert on three different fourth downs.
"This was an important game to us after losing the West Division championship (to Louisiana Tech)," Bailiff said. "This really cements the senior class’ legacy as the winningest senior class in school history."
White was one of six Owls who became the first in school history to start in three different bowl games.
RICE 30, FRESNO STATE 6
| Fresno St. |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
— |
6 |
| Rice |
16 |
0 |
7 |
7 |
— |
30 |
First Quarter
Rice–FG Hairston 21, 10:32.
Fre–FG Kroening 44, 2:16.
Rice–Taylor 14 pass from Jackson (kick failed), :23.
Rice–Hull 69 pass from Jackson (Hairston kick), :04.
Second Quarter
Fre–FG Kroening 40, 8:53.
Third Quarter
Rice–Parks 40 pass from Jackson (Hairston kick), 6:18.
Fourth Quarter
Rice–Dillard 1 run (Hairston kick), 10:07.
A–25,365.
Individual Statistics
RUSHING–Fresno St.: Waller 15-76, Quezada 12-52, Burrell 9-32, Greenlee 4-7, Root 1-1, J.Harper 1-(minus 6). Rice: Davis 13-46, Turner 6-42, Jackson 13-41, Hamilton 2-5, D.Pollard 1-3, Ja.Carter 1-2, Dillard 2-1, Team 2-(minus 3).
PASSING–Fresno St.: Burrell 10-20-2-44, Greenlee 7-18-0-49. Rice: Jackson 15-24-0-318, Turner 1-2-0-8.
RECEIVING–Fresno St.: J.Harper 4-25, Watson 4-14, J.Johnson 2-15, Quezada 2-6, Peck 1-14, Hardaway 1-8, Olsen 1-7, Connette 1-4, Waller 1-0. Rice: Parks 5-109, Taylor 5-61, Hull 3-82, Dillard 2-57, Z.Wright 1-17.
