Rice Owls @ Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
Rice gets first win, beats Middle Tennessee 31-28
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Tom Stewart threw three touchdown passes, Aston Walter ran for 106 yards and Rice beat Middle Tennessee 31-28 on Saturday for its first win of the season.
Stewart was 18-of-23 passing for 222 yards and threw all three of his scores to Brad Rozner, who finished with eight catches for 130 yards. Walter had 15 carries that included a 34-yard touchdown run.
Stewart threw TD passes from the 30 and 18, and his 34-yarder with 14 seconds left in the second quarter gave the Owls (1-9, 1-5 Conference USA) a 31-14 halftime lead.
Asher O'Hara threw for 338 yards and two touchdown passes and ran for another score for Middle Tennessee (3-7, 2-4).
The Blue Raiders fumbled the ball away on their first play from scrimmage but made it close with O'Hara's 7-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and O'Hara's 20-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Marshall with 3:22 remaining.
On the final drive, Rice converted on third-and-11 and chewed up more than three minutes of clock before punting into the Middle Tennessee end zone with 16 seconds remaining.
Game Information
Murfreesboro, TN
2025 Standings
| American Conference | CONF | OVR |
|---|---|---|
| Tulane | 7-1 | 11-3 |
| North Texas | 7-1 | 12-2 |
| Navy | 7-1 | 11-2 |
| East Carolina | 6-2 | 9-4 |
| South Florida | 6-2 | 9-4 |
| Army | 4-4 | 7-6 |
| Memphis | 4-4 | 8-5 |
| UTSA | 4-4 | 7-6 |
| Temple | 3-5 | 5-7 |
| Florida Atlantic | 3-5 | 4-8 |
| Rice | 2-6 | 5-8 |
| UAB | 2-6 | 4-8 |
| Tulsa | 1-7 | 4-8 |
| Charlotte | 0-8 | 1-11 |
| Conference USA | CONF | OVR |
|---|---|---|
| Kennesaw State | 7-1 | 10-4 |
| Jacksonville State | 7-1 | 9-5 |
| Western Kentucky | 6-2 | 9-4 |
| Louisiana Tech | 5-3 | 8-5 |
| Missouri State | 5-3 | 7-6 |
| Florida International | 5-3 | 7-6 |
| Delaware | 4-4 | 7-6 |
| Liberty | 3-5 | 4-8 |
| Middle Tennessee | 2-6 | 3-9 |
| New Mexico State | 2-6 | 4-8 |
| UTEP | 1-7 | 2-10 |
| Sam Houston | 1-7 | 2-10 |
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