2012 Rice Owls football team

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.

2012 Rice Owls football
Armed Forces Bowl champion
Armed Forces Bowl, W 33–14 vs. Air Force
Conference	Conference USA
Division	West Division
Record	7–6 (4–4 C-USA)
Head coach	David Bailiff (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	John Reagan (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Chris Thurmond (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Rice Stadium

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

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	6:30 pm	UCLA*	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	CBSSN	L 24–49	23,105
September 8	2:30 pm	at Kansas*	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	FSN	W 25–24	44,683
September 15	6:00 pm	at Louisiana Tech*	Joe Aillet Stadium Ruston, LA	ESPN3	L 37–56	23,228
September 22	2:30 pm	Marshall	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	CSS	L 51–54 OT	14,204
September 29	2:30 pm	vs. Houston	Reliant Stadium Houston, TX (rivalry)	FSN	L 14–35	32,718
October 6	6:00 pm	at Memphis	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN	FCS	L 10–14	17,831
October 13	2:30 pm	UTSA*	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	FCS	W 34–14	28,677
October 20	2:30 pm	at Tulsa	Chapman Stadium Tulsa, OK	FSN	L 24–28	22,567
October 27	12:00 pm	Southern Miss	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	CSS/CSNH	W 44–17	14,927
November 3	2:30 pm	at Tulane	Mercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, LA		W 49–47	15,467
November 17	2:30 pm	SMU	Rice Stadium Houston, TX (Battle for the Mayor's Cup)	CSS/CSNH	W 36–14	20,710
November 24	6:00 pm	at UTEP	Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, TX	FCS	W 33–24	20,384
December 29	10:45 am	vs. Air Force*	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX (Armed Forces Bowl)	ESPN	W 33–14	40,754
*Non-conference game Homecoming All times are in Central time

• Source: Schedule Archived July 7, 2018, at the Wayback Machine

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

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 an 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

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

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

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

@ 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

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

@ 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

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

@ 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

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

@ 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

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