Rice 27, Charlotte 7: What We Learned

[caption id="attachment_19186" align="alignright" width="236"]Photo by Richard Badillo Photo by Richard Badillo[/caption] Slow start doesn’t inspire confidence. Here the Owls were, with only this game to play for before a long offseason, and they went into halftime tied 0-0 with one of the worst FBS teams in the country. Missed opportunities have been the story of this Rice season, and this was a far worse start than the Owls had in losses to UTEP and UTSA, two games that sting even more in hindsight. Thankfully, this one ended better than those disappointments. Driphus Jackson goes out on a high note. You’ll find no bigger fans outside Jackson’s family and the Rice locker room than our staff, and it’s been bittersweet to watch him put forth some great numbers in his senior season only to watch disappointing results come back. The personal numbers are beyond favorable for the Cedar Hill product, tallying up 2,226 yards through the air with 18 touchdowns and just 6 interceptions. It was a Rice career that deserved a bowl game ending. With little left to play for, Rice made this one count. The same couldn’t be said for all the other Texas teams playing on Saturday, as SMU got blown out by Memphis, UTEP and UNT took turns trying to not win their showdown, UTSA got blown out, and Texas State struggled with Idaho. The Owls, on the other hand, absolutely thumped Charlotte in the second half, ending a disappointing season on a high note. And that’s how it should have gone, as Rice is a 5-7 team that’s probably a little better, than their record, and Charlotte is probably worse than its 2-10 record. The trouble for the Owls is all came too late, at the end of a season that started with a lot of promise and ended with tons of question marks.