Rice·Conference USA

2014 — The Winning Chapter

Rice's 2014 season (8-5) is a middle chapter: table-stakes progress, no crown in the ledger, the program still writing the book.

Record 8-5
Final result Bowl season Won the Hawaii Bowl
AP final — post-bowls
SP+ -0.5 last-week
Era —
The shape of the season · week by week, cumulative W-L below
L @ ND 17-48 L @ Texas A&M 10-38 L vs Old Dom 42-45 W @ Sout Mis 41-23 W vs Hawai'i 28-14 W @ Army 41-21 W vs Nort Tex 41-21 W @ Flor Int 31-17 W vs UTSA 17-7 L @ Marshall 14-41 W vs UTEP 31-13 L @ Loui Tec 31-76 W vs Fres Sta 30-6 Bowl

Who carried it

Season leaders, 2014.

Defining moments
The statement

The 2014 season's largest margin: Rice 30, Fresno State 6. A 24-point win — the year's high-water mark.

The setback

The season's deepest loss: Rice 31, Louisiana Tech 76. A 45-point margin the season is remembered by.

The postseason

The season's last act: Rice beat Fresno State 30-6 in the postseason.

"Go Owls"
— Rice fanbase voice · 2014· synthesized
What it meant

2014 is a middle chapter for Rice — neither a crown year nor a crisis. It is the kind of season that fills the ledger between the named ones and gives the arc its shape.