SMU sophomore quarterback Josh McCown completed 18 of 25 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Mustangs (2-5, 2-2 WAC) to a 27-2 upset of Rice (5-4, 4-1), which was previously unbeaten in Western Athletic Conference play. SMU took possession of the Mayor's Cup, given annually to the winner of the SMU-Rice football game (the award started last year).

The SMU defense limited the Owls, who entered the game averaging 37.3 points per game in conference play, to no points on the soggy Homecoming affair. An SMU bad snap on a punt led to a second quarter safety and Rice's only two points of the game.

"This football team has been through a lot of adversity this year," said SMU head coach Mike Cavan, who improved to 2-1 against Rice. "Today's win is a tribute to the assistant coaches and the players. We're 2-2 in the league and we've finally got something to hang our hat on. We've got to keep getting better."

Four different Mustangs reached the end zone Saturday, beginning with McCown's 12-yard pass to Damond Blueitt in the second quarter. After the safety brought the score to 6-2, McCown found Jeff Pennington on a one-yard TD pass, capping a nine-play, 60-yard drive with 2:08 left before halftime. Rodnick Phillips broke in from two yards with 13 seconds left in the third quarter to make it 20-2. Defensive end Luke Johnson blocked a punt and Roy Coats scooped it up and rambled 14 yards for the game's final score.

Throughout the entire game, SMU was much more efficient than Rice in clutch situations, converting nine of 16 third downs. The SMU defense forced two turnovers and held Rice to a .286 third down conversion percentage.

SMU improved to 11-4 vs. WAC opponents in the Cotton Bowl since joining the league. In addition, the Mustangs now lead the Rice series, 43-33-1, including two in succession at the Cotton Bowl.

Rice vs SMU - Box Score

  Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
  -----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
  Rice................  0  2  0  0  -  2       Record: (5-4,4-1)
  SMU.................  0 13  7  7  - 27       Record: (2-5,2-2)


  Scoring Summary:
  
  2nd 13:41 SMU - Blueitt, D. 12 yd pass from McCown, J. (Walterscheid, A kick failed), 12 plays, 68 yards, TOP 3:51, RICE 0 - SMU 6
      08:36 RICE - Rice Team safety, , RICE 2 - SMU 6
      02:08 SMU - Pennington, J. 1 yd pass from McCown, J. (Walterscheid, A kick), 9 plays, 60 yards, TOP 4:01, RICE 2 - SMU 13
  3rd 00:13 SMU - Phillips, R. 2 yd run (Walterscheid, A kick), 12 plays, 57 yards, TOP 5:27, RICE 2 - SMU 20
  4th 13:20 SMU - Coats, R. 14 yd blocked punt return (Walterscheid, A kick), , RICE 2 - SMU 27

                                     RICE      SMU
  FIRST DOWNS...................       18       17
  RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   57-240    39-87
  PASSING YDS (NET).............       45      197
  Passes Att-Comp-Int...........    9-3-1  25-18-0
  TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   66-285   64-284
  Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0
  Punt Returns-Yards............      1-8     3-48
  Kickoff Returns-Yards.........     3-90     1-30
  Interception Returns-Yards....      0-0     1-23
  Punts (Number-Avg)............   6-28.3   3-39.3
  Fumbles-Lost..................      2-1      1-0
  Penalties-Yards...............     6-57     8-76
  Possession Time...............    30:10    29:50
  Sacks By: Number-Yards........     2-19      0-0

  RUSHING: Rice-Tyler, Jamie 8-56; Bradley, Leroy 8-45; Richardson, Ch.
  12-43; Gary, Derek 16-38; Griffin, Antny. 8-32; Dawson, Dan 1-15; Hawkins,
  Vncnt. 3-11; Okoronkwo, Gbt. 1-0. SMU-McCown, J. 14-39; Phillips, R. 14-30;
  Briggs, K. 6-23; Freeman, J. 1-4; Pennington, J. 2-3; Cardwell, C. 1-3; Team
  1-minus 15. 

  PASSING: Rice-Richardson, Ch. 3-9-1-45. SMU-McCown, J. 18-25-0-197. 

  RECEIVING: Rice-Okoronkwo, Gbt. 3-45. SMU-Phillips, R. 4-54;
  Cunningham, C. 4-42; Cardwell, C. 4-36; Blueitt, D. 2-24; Brown, M. 1-25;
  McDearman, B. 1-10; Briggs, K. 1-5; Pennington, J. 1-1. 

  INTERCEPTIONS: Rice-None. SMU-Hart, T. 1-23. 

  Stadium: Cotton Bowl           Attendance: 16272
  Kickoff time: 2:08 pm   End of Game: 4:50 pm   Total elapsed time: 2:42    
  Officials: Referee: Jim Harvey; Umpire: Richard Brown; Linesman: Tim Pringle; 
  Line judge: Kelley Deterdin; Back judge: Robert Cameron; Field judge: Carl Cheffers; 
  Side judge: Homer Jackson; Scorer: Steve Selby;
  Temperature: 60 DEG.   Wind: CALM      Weather: Rain, 30.02 press.  
  
  SMU wins on Homecoming Weekend, hands Rice first WAC loss.

  SACKS (UA-A): Rice-Ruffin, Larry 1-0; Green, Brandon 1-0. SMU-None. 

  TACKLES (UA-A): Rice-Thompson, J.B. 3-5; Ortega, Travis 3-4; Sadler,
  Adrian 5-1; Smith, Judd 4-2; Dawson, Dan 2-4; Pittman, Rshrd. 1-5; Smith,
  Kenny 1-4; Hebert, Jason 2-2; Green, Brandon 2-1; Bedford, Karlon 1-2;
  Ruffin, Larry 1-2; Jackson, Jake 1-2; Forguson, B.J. 0-3; Johnson, Clint
  2-0; Shell, Antwan 1-1; Merritt, Willie 1-1; Kubesch, Wesley 0-2; Brown,
  Larry 1-0; McMillan, Josh 1-0; Sandoval, Aaron 1-0; Williams, Adam 0-1.
  SMU-Simonton, J. 8-8; Brown, R. 5-4; Garrett, K. 5-4; Hart, T. 3-3; Pratt,
  Markus 3-2; Williams, J. 2-3; Johnson, L. 0-5; Johnson, D. 0-5; Coats, R.
  2-2; Orr, J. 1-3; Croy, L. 0-3; Williams, B. 0-3; Woods, J. 1-1; Patman, J.
  0-2; Riley, C. 0-2; Schavrda, C. 1-0; Walterscheid, A 1-0; Gardner, T. 0-1;
  Graham, Tyler 0-1; Post, C. 0-1; Dorsey, T. 0-1.