HOUSTON — Josh Stewart hauled in a pair of touchdowns receptions and UTSA held on for a 14-13 victory at Rice in Conference USA action on Saturday night at Rice Stadium.
The Roadrunners (3-3, 2-1 C-USA) built a 14-6 halftime lead, but they had to hold off a furious rally in recording their first-ever win at Rice Stadium.
Stewart led the offense with a career-high 103 receiving yards to record the Roadrunners' first 100-yard receiving game since David Morgan II at Arizona in the 2015 season opener.
Additionally, Jalen Rhodes rushed for a team-high 79 yards on 18 carries, while Jarveon Williams gained 40 yards on the ground to become the program's all-time rushing leader with 1,786 yards.
The offense was backed by a strong defensive effort led by La'Kel Bass' career-best 12 tackles and another 10 from Josiah Tauaefa, the nation's leading freshman, as the Roadrunners held their opponent to its fewest points since a 25-6 win at UTEP on Oct. 3, 2015.
"It feels phenomenal getting a conference win on the road and it feels even better to go to a venue where we have not had success and getting a hard-fought win against a team that was dangerous," head coach Frank Wilson said. "Rice was eager and we knew they would be. We knew they would play lights-out and they played extremely well. They made us earn our way. To see our young team earn their way, when tested, when pressed against adversity, and finding a way to win is certainly a step in the right direction. I am extremely proud of our team."
The Owls (0-6, 0-4 C-USA) grabbed an early 6-0 lead when Tyler Stehling drove the home squad 75 yards on 13 plays, capped with a 13-yard touchdown run by the senior signal caller. However, the extra-point try following the score bounced off the upright and the miss proved to loom large throughout the night.
On UTSA's second possession of the game, quarterback Dalton Sturm found Stewart open deep over the middle for a 75-yard touchdown. Victor Falcon's extra point gave the visitors a 7-6 lead.
In the second quarter following a muffed punt that was recovered by JaColbie Butler deep inside Rice territory, Sturm hooked up again with Stewart for a 28-yard scoring connection in the right corner of the end zone. The point after pushed the Roadrunners' lead to 14-6 with 5:01 left in the first half. It marked the Roadrunners' fifth score (four TDs/one FG) after forcing a special teams turnover this season.
Rice cut the deficit to 14-12 when Samuel Stewart hauled in a 13-yard touch pass from Stehling midway through the third quarter. The Owls elected to kick the extra point to make it a one-point contest.
UTSA threatened to put the game out of reach late in the fourth.
Sturm, who threw for 209 yards and the two TDs on 17-of-25 passing, hit Larry Stephens with a 5-yard pass on second-down-and-goal that gave the visitors the ball at the Rice 2-yard line. However, the Roadrunners were stopped short of paydirt on third and fourth downs, giving the ball back to the Owls with five minutes remaining.
Rice drove quickly to the UTSA 24, but Haden Tobola's 42-yard field goal attempt missed wide right with 1:27 left.
The Roadrunners ran the time down to 20 seconds before having to punt. Rice then put together passing plays of 18 and 19 yards down to the UTSA 27, but time expired as the home team was trying to stop the clock.
The Roadrunners will return home to host UTEP (1-5, 0-3) for their Homecoming contest at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22, at the Alamodome.
