The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Rice
Football welcomes Rice Saturday for home opener
09.07.2015 | Football
Longhorns-Owls game set for 7 p.m. Central from Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium
Texas-Rice Game Notes (PDF) | Tickets
Texas will play host to the Rice Owls Saturday in its 2015 home opener. The Longhorns (0-1) are coming off a 38-3 loss at No. 11/11 Notre Dame. The Owls (1-0) enter Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium following a 56-16 win against Wagner. Texas has won the last 12 meetings between the Horns and Owls with their last loss coming in 1994. In fact, Texas is 40-2 against Rice since 1965. The game will kick off at 7 p.m. Central and air nationally on Longhorn Network. The Longhorn IMG Radio Network broadcast, including flagship 104.9 FM in Austin, begins at 6 p.m. Listen on participating Longhorn Radio Network affiliates, including the Austin Radio Network. The game can also be heard online at TexasSports.com. Tickets are available through TexasSports.com or by calling (512) 471-3333.
UT in Home Openers: After starting the season on the road for the first time since 2010, Texas plays its home opener in Week 2 of the season. The Longhorns have won 15 straight home openers. The last time Texas lost its first home game of the season was 1999 when the Longhorns lost 23-20 to North Carolina State to begin the season. Texas is 20-1 in home openers since 1994. The last time Texas lost consecutive home openers was from 1989-92 when the Horns lost to Penn State, No. 20/18 Colorado, No. 13 Auburn and No. 21/NR Mississippi State. The Horns ended that four-game losing streak in home openers in 1993 with a 21-21 tie against No. 6/4 Syracuse.
Starters Returning: Texas welcomes back starters at 11 positions, including six on offense and five on defense. Ten offensive players who started a game in 2014 return, including offensive linemen Sedrick Flowers, Marcus Hutchins and Kent Perkins, who each started all 13 games. There are 12 defensive players back who had starts in 2014, including three with 10 or more. Cornerback Duke Thomas started all 13 games, safety Dylan Haines had 12, and defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway 10. The Longhorns also return place-kicker Nick Rose.
Starters Lost: The Longhorns are replacing 11 offensive and defensive starters, as well as their punter. The defense was hit hardest with six starters having departed, four of whom were taken in the 2015 NFL Draft. Two of them - DT Malcom Brown and LB Jordan Hicks - earned All-America honors in 2014. Brown, a consensus first-team All-American, was also a finalist for both the Bronko Nagurski Trophy (nation's top defensive player) and Outland Trophy (nation's best interior lineman). Texas also lost Quandre Diggs, a four-year starting cornerback, defensive end Cedric Reed, a two-time All-Big 12 player, and two-year starting safety Mykkele Thompson. In addition to starting running back Malcolm Brown, the offense lost two of its starting wide receivers in Jaxon Shipley and John Harris. Shipley ended his career third on the UT all-time receptions list (218) and sixth in receiving yards (2,510), and Harris became one of only six players in school history with at least 1,000 receiving yards in a season with 1,051. Nine of the 10 departing offensive and defensive starters were either selected in the 2015 NFL Draft or signed as free agents. William Russ and Michael Davidson each served as the No. 1 punter last season, and both were seniors. Russ ended his career No. 4 on the school's all-time punting average (42.35) chart, with all of his 66 attempts occurring last season.
Freshmen Starters: Texas had a strong 2015 recruiting class and many of the newcomers wasted little time to make an impact during preseason camp. Seven freshmen were listed as first-teamers on the depth chart heading into the Notre Dame game. There were three on offense, three on defense and punter Michael Dickson. The Longhorns ended up with five freshmen starters in their opening lineup. On offense, WR John Burt, LT Connor Williams and RG Patrick Vahe started the game. On defense, LB Malik Jefferson and CB John Bonney were in the starting lineup. In addition, Dickson served handled the punting chores. Redshirt freshman Edwin Freeman is listed as the first team weakside linebacker, but the Horns opened the Notre Dame game with five defensive backs.
First-And-Goal
• Texas saw its streak of 15 straight season openers snapped in Saturday's loss to Notre Dame. That streak was the fourth-longest active stretch in the nation.
• Duke Thomas, who leads the team with 24 careeer starts, is the lone senior listed in the secondary's depth chart. In fact, there are only four seniors in the entire defensive depth chart. Conversely, there are 12 freshmen (eight true/four redshirts) listed in the defensive depth chart, including three first-teamers (LBs Malik Jefferson and Edwin Freeman, and CB John Bonney).
• The offense has more experience than the defense with seven seniors listed in the depth chart, though Sedrick Flowers has the most career starts with only 15. There are eight freshmen (six true/two redshirts) in the offensive depth chart.
• More than half of the Longhorns who saw action vs. Notre Dame were freshmen or sophomores. Of the 59 players who took the field, 32 were freshmen (21) or sophomores (11). There were just 12 seniors who played, including eight starters.
Youth In Action: Texas may have one of the youngest teams in the nation. The Longhorns played 21 freshmen, including 15 true freshmen, in the season opener vs. Notre Dame. Only Clemson (27), Florida State (23) and NC State (23) played more freshmen in their first game, and just Georgia (19) had more true freshmen get on the field. During the season opener, the UT true freshmen who played included CB Kris Boyd, WR John Burt, CB Davante Davis, P Michael Dickson, LB Breckyn Hager, DB Holton Hill, LB Malik Jefferson, S P.J. Locke III, WR DeAndre McNeal, WR Ryan Newsome, DE Charles Omenihu, RG Patrick Vahe, RB Chris Warren III, LB Anthony Wheeler and LT Connor Williams. CB John Bonney, LB Edwin Freeman, QB Jerod Heard, DT Jake McMillon, DT Chris Nelson and DE Derick Roberson were the redshirt freshmen who played vs. Notre Dame.
By The Numbers…
4: Four of five starters return on the offensive line: LT Marcus Hutchins, LG Sedrick Flowers, C Taylor Doyle and RG Kent Perkins. That group has accounted for 52 career starts, with all but two occurring last season. Flowers and Perkins each started once in 2013. Jake Raulerson also started five games last year as a redshirt freshman. Center Dominic Espinosa was the lone returning offensive line starter heading into 2014.
5: The Longhorns return five of their top six rushers from last season, though the lone departure is leading ground gainer Malcolm Brown. He posted 708 rushing yards and ended his career No. 9 on the UT all-time list (2,678).
8: The Longhorns have eight of their top 15 tacklers back from last season, but only one among the top seven. Dylan Haines was third on the team with 86.
10: Texas returns 10 of the 15 players who caught a pass in 2014, but will have to replace its top two receivers. John Harris posted 68 catches for 1,051 receiving yards and Jaxon Shipley had 59 receptions for 577 yards.
15: Senior Johnathan Gray ranks No. 15 on the school's all-time rushing list (2,158).
17: Duke Thomas (10) and Dylan Haines (7) accounted for 17 of the team's 41 pass breakups (41.5 percent) last season.
18: Texas has just 18 seniors (14 scholarship), on its roster.
176: Over the last nine years, Texas has the most Academic All-Big 12 selections of any team in the conference with 176.
