Richard Dean, Correspondent
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Frank Gore Jr. #3 of the Southern Miss Golden Eagles rushes for a touchdown during the first half against the Rice Owls of the LendingTree Bowl at Hancock Whitney Stadium on December 17, 2022 in Mobile, Alabama. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
Rice’s first bowl appearance in eight years did not start well for the Owls, who fell behind 14 points at the break. Then, freshman quarterback A.J. Padgett came alive.
Two scoring passes in the first 64 seconds of the second half leveled the score against Southern Miss. At that point the LendingTree Bowl got interesting. Rice was gaining traction against its Sun Belt opponent, scoring 21 unanswered points.
Back-to-back touchdown passes from Padgett to Isaiah Esdale on Rice’s first two series of the second half shifted the momentum. Suddenly the Owls had a big-play offense.
And when Padgett threw his third touchdown of the third quarter, this one to Bradley Rozner, the Owls had their initial lead, leading by seven points.
But Rice could not hold onto a third-quarter lead or get a grasp on running back Frank Gore Jr., who rushed for an astounding 329 yards on 21 carries. The Owls failed to complete the comeback, losing 38-24 to Southern Miss, who scored the final 21 points at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Ala.
Gore put the game away on a 55-yard scoring run with 2:57 remaining.
The Owls of Conference USA had to pick things up offensively just to keep pace with Gore, who also had a 64-yard touchdown run and a non-scoring 59-yarder. Gore also threw a scoring pass to Tiaquelin Mims that evened the score 24-24.
Quarterback Trey Lowe III engineered the win for the Golden Eagles (7-6), throwing for 170 yards and two scores on 7-of-16 passing.
Playing in his third game, Padgett got his second start. He threw for 295 yards and three scores on 19-of-37 passing. His career looks promising to a program that has struggled to keep quarterbacks healthy. Padgett is the 13th different quarterback to start for Rice since 2017.
Padgett threw a pair of touchdowns to Esdale of 26 and 32 yards, and one to Rozner for 18 yards.
Offense and defense were in sync in the third quarter for the Owls. Lineman Ikenna Enechukwu was involved in two fumble recoveries, including one in the third quarter.
Receiver Luke McCaffrey, who missed the Owls’ final two regular-season games with an injury, was the team’s most productive player on offense in the first half. For the game, the one-time Nebraska quarterback caught seven passes for 67 yards.
Cam Montgomery added a 57-yard non-scoring third-quarter run for Rice (5-8), which dropped its fourth straight game.
As smoothly as the Owls moved the ball in the third quarter, the first half was the opposite. Rice fell behind 17-3 at halftime. A lost fumble in the opening half gave the Owls their 31st turnover in 2022, tied for the most in FBS.
The third quarter was a thing of beauty for Rice, outscoring USM 21-7. The Owls scored their first touchdown on the first drive of the half, getting to within 17-10. A good mix of plays sustained an 80-yard, seven-play drive. The series culminated on a 26-yard scoring pass from Padgett to Esdale, his first touchdown of the season.
But no one on the field was as dynamic as Gore. He displayed his breakaway speed on his 64-yard scamper for six points, his longest run of the season. He is the son of five-time Pro Bowler Frank Gore, who eclipsed 16,000 career rushing yards over 16 seasons in the NFL.
Defensively, the Owls came away with three takeaways. Late in the first half, Enechukwu stripped Lowe of the ball, recovered by linebacker Myron Morrison. In the second half, Izeya Floyd forced a fumble, and George Nyakwol recovered a fumble that gave the Owls the ball with less than five minutes remaining in the game and only down by seven points.
Rice struggled to move the ball until back-to-back-to-back 20-yard gains led to its first score, a 34-yard field goal from Christian VanSickle. The successful kick cut the deficit to 14-3 with 6:04 to play in the opening half.
Padgett teamed with McCaffrey for 20 yards to the Rice 40-yard line. Braylen Walker followed with a 20-yard end run to USM’s 40. Quinton Johnson caught a 20-yard pass to the 20-yard line before the Owls’ most successful drive stalled, setting the stage for VanSickle’s field goal.
Rice qualified for a bowl game despite a losing record because there were not enough six-win teams to fill the available spots and Rice was No. 1 in the Academic Progress Rate rankings.
The Owls last played in a bowl in 2014, hammering Fresno State 30-6 at the Hawaii Bowl.