University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Notes: Southern Miss vs. Rice
11/11/2017 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Southern Miss Postgame Notes
Southern Miss at Rice
Nov. 11, 2017
General
* Today's Attendance â€" 18,124.
* Captains â€" 6 Kelsey Douglas, 25 Ito Smith, 90 Rod Crayton.
* Southern Miss won the toss and elected to receive and defend the north goal.
* The Golden Eagles snapped a current two-game losing streak.
* Southern Miss captured its third-straight game versus Rice to even the series at 4-4 in a series dating back to the 2007 season. It was also the second consecutive win in Houston for the Golden Eagles.
* The winning team in all four of the Southern Miss-Rice contests played in Houston has seen the winning team score at least 40 points.
Offensive Notes
* Ito Smith became just the 10th player in FBS history to go over 4,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards for his career. Smith finished with 150 rushing yards and 23 receiving yards against the Owls to give him 4,141 on the ground and 1,409 receiving in his career.
* Smith registered a two-yard scoring rush in the second quarter and an 18-yard scoring run in the fourth to collect his 37th and 38th rushing touchdown of his career, just one behind Sammy Winder for second place on the school career chart. Smith also recorded his 21st career rushing touchdown with 150 yards on 24 carries.
* Korey Robertson caught a pass for the 23rd-straight game. He registered his fourth 100-yard receiving game and now has nine touchdown catches this season after a 5-yard and a 47-yard scoring grabs in the third quarter. He finished the game with a career-best 159 receiving yards on eight catches.
* Kwadra Griggs recorded his first 300-yard passing game with 331 and three touchdown passes.
* Freshman Tim Jones collected his first career touchdown on the longest reception of his young career, 51 yards, in the opening quarter.
Defensive Notes
* Xavier Thigpen registered two sacks to take the team lead with five on the season.
* Jacques Turner and Racheem Boothe each registered their first forced fumbles of their respective careers. Boothe finished the contest with a season-high 14 tackles.
* The Golden Eagles did not allow a point in the opening quarter for the fifth time this season.
Special Team Notes
* Parker Shaunfield upped his consecutive field goal string to 12 by making attempts of 42, 29 and a career-long 51 in the first half. Shaunfield's career long came on the last play of the half.
* The Golden Eagles did not punt in the contest.
