Southwest Roundup : Houston Buries Rice With Its Passing Game

Jason Phillips and James Dixon of Houston became the first teammates in National Collegiate Athletic Assn. history to finish 1-2 in the nation in receiving as they helped the Cougars defeat Rice, 45-14, Saturday in a Southwest Conference game at Houston.

Against the Owls, who finished 0-11 this season and have lost 18 straight--the nation’s longest losing streak--Phillips caught 11 passes for 207 yards and Dixon caught 15 for 108.

Phillips finished the season with 108 receptions and 1,444 yards; Dixon had 102 and 1,103.

Phillips, who had 99 catches last season, said: “I should have had 100 catches 2 or 3 games ago.”

Quarterback Andre Ware had a big game against Rice, completing 39 of 53 passes for 471 yards and 5 touchdowns.

The Cougars also became the NCAA’s first team to have double 1,000-yard receivers and a 1,000-yard rusher.

Houston running back Chuck Weatherspoon, who had 29 yards in 7 carries Saturday, finished the regular season with 1,004 yards.

“That 1,000 yards by Chuck took off the double coverage and helped us and showed the versatility of our offense,” Dixon said.

The Cougars (9-2 overall and 5-2 in conference play) will meet Washington State in the Aloha Bowl Dec. 25.

Though Houston won easily, Rice battled to a 14-14 halftime tie.

“We came out with a lot of emotion, and that’s what got us through the first half,” Owl quarterback Quentis Roper said. “In the second half, we got banged up and fatigued. We lost some emotion in the second half.”

Rice Coach Jerry Berndt said the Owls finally ran out of inspiration.

“You can only play so long with emotion,” Berndt said. “The discrepancy in the skill levels became apparent in the second half.”

Ware hit Dixon with a 3-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter.

Phillips took a short pass and turned it into a 64-yard touchdown pass play in the third quarter, breaking open the game. Ware also hit Patrick Cooper with a 3-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter. Ware added his fifth touchdown pass, a 10-yard toss to Jet Brown, with 11:47 to play.

Tulsa 32, Colorado State 28--T.J. Rubley threw for 4 touchdowns--3 to Dan Bitson--to give the Golden Hurricane a victory over the Rams at Tulsa.

Tulsa (4-7), an independent, had a 22-0 lead midway through the first quarter but had to recover an onside kick to preserve the victory over the Rams (1-10), who play in the Western Athletic Conference.

Bitson, who recovered the onside kick, had given the Hurricane a 32-16 lead by scoring on a 49-yard fourth-quarter pass play.

But Colorado State’s Scott Whitehouse went 10 yards for a score with 7:27 to play, and then fullback Todd Yert scored on a 1-yard run with 58 seconds left. Both 2-point conversion attempts failed.

On the game’s third play, Rubley hit Bitson streaking down the right sideline for a 65-yard touchdown pass play. Rubley passed to tight end Gary Treat for an 11-yard touchdown 2 minutes later, then teamed with Bitson for a 74-yard scoring pass play with 7:30 left in the period.

Colorado State, led by quarterback Scooter Molander, closed to 25-16 early in the fourth quarter. Molander threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Greg Scott in the second quarter, then split end Mark Holmes caught a deflected pass from Molander in the end zone for the Rams’ second score.

Mike Brown added a 29-yard field goal.