University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
Rice
Southern Miss Cruises Past Rice, 65-10
11/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
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HOUSTON - Nick Mullens threw five touchdown passes in the first half and Southern Miss established several school records in defeating Rice 65-10 here Saturday afternoon at Rice Stadium.
The Golden Eagles (7-3 overall, 5-1 C-USA West) won their fourth consecutive game as the team won its first contest in Houston against the Owls in three tries.
Southern Miss set school records for total offensive yards with 682, bettering its previous total of 654 set against Rice in 2011, as well as for passing yards with 501, while throwing a school-best seven team passing touchdowns. The team's point total was the most for the program since scoring 70 at home against UAB on Nov. 1, 2008.
Mullens threw a touchdown pass for the 12th-straight game with 3:13 left in the opening quarter as he hit Ito Smith for the first of two scoring plays in the half from 28 yards out to put Southern Miss up, 7-0. He has thrown 13 touchdown passes in the last three games.
The Golden Eagles then broke open the game in the second period with a school-record quarter point total of 35 to take a 42-0 lead at intermission.
The visitors' first points of the second quarter started on a fake field goal after a stalled drive that had holder Tyler Sarrazin throw to Xavier Thigpen on a shovel pass for a six-yard score.
Then, in the space of 1 minute, 26 seconds, Mullens connected with Mike Thomas for touchdown throws of 50 and 51 yards to extend the lead to 28-0. Thomas finished with 126 yards in the contest and tallied his sixth 100-yard receiving game in the last seven contests and he now has eight for his career, which is second on the school charts.
Mullens then hit D.J. Thompson on a 13-yard strike one play after Rice fumbled deep in their own end to make the score 35-0 with 5:04 left in the opening half and scored for the final time with 30 seconds before the half as he and Smith connected for the second time, with the touchdown pass coming from 16 yards. For the day, Mullens collected 386 passing yards on 23-of-31 attempts, tying a school record for most touchdowns in a game (five) while tying the single-season school mark for passing scores with 30 along with Austin Davis (2011).
Jalen Richard increased the Golden Eagle lead to 49-0 on a 60-yard touchdown run just 90 seconds into the second half and Stephen Brauchle nailed a career-long tying field goal from 39 yards to put the visitors up 52-0 after three quarters.
Meanwhile, the Golden Eagle defense limited their opponent to under 300 total offensive yards for the fifth consecutive game. Rice managed just 107 rushing and 107 passing yards for a total of 214. The Golden Eagles also notched a season-high six sacks in the contest.
Rice scored twice in the final quarter, on a 33-yard field goal from Hayden Tobola and on a 20-yard pass to Nate German from Driphus Jackson. Tyler Matthews put the final points on the board for the Golden Eagles as he hit Jarrell Aaron for a 47-yard touchdown pass. It was Aaron's first catch of his career.
The Golden Eagles return to action next week at Carlisle-Faulkner Field at M.M. Roberts Stadium as they entertain Old Dominion in the final regular-season home contest of the season. Game time is set for 2:30 p.m.
