EL PASO, Texas (AP) - Charles Ross ran for 154 yards and two touchdowns and Rice became bowl-eligible with a 33-24 win over UTEP Saturday night.
Ross scored on a 9-yard run to give Rice a 26-21 lead in the fourth quarter and after UTEP answered with a field goal, Jeremy Eddington returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown. Eddington also ran for another score for the Owls (6-6, 4-4 Conference USA), who have won four in a row. Taylor McHargue threw for 207 yards to help give Rice a chance to go to its first postseason game since the 2008 Texas Bowl.
Nick Lamaison threw a pair of touchdown passes for the Miners (3-9, 2-6). The game was the final one for UTEP's Mike Price, who is retiring after 31 years as a college head coach.
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| Scoring Summary |
| UTEP | Jordan Leslie 65 yd pass from Nick Lamaison (Steven Valadez kick) |
| RICE | Chris Boswell 43 yd FG |
| RICE | Charles Ross 4 yd run (Chris Boswell kick) |
| UTEP | Michael Edwards 4 yd pass from Nick Lamaison (Steven Valadez kick) |
| RICE | Jeremy Eddington 6 yd run (Chris Boswell kick) |
| UTEP | Nathan Jeffery 0 yd run (Steven Valadez kick) |
| RICE | Chris Boswell 51 yd FG |
| RICE | Charles Ross 9 yd run (failed 2pt rush) |
| UTEP | Steven Valadez 35 yd FG |
| RICE | Jeremy Eddington 97 yd kick return (Chris Boswell kick) |
| Team Stats | ||
| RICE | UTEP | |
| First Downs | 25 | 17 |
| Third Down Efficiency | 11-19 | 1-11 |
| Fourth Down Efficiency | 0-1 | 1-1 |
| Plays-Net Yards | 85-453 | 59-443 |
| Rushes-Yds | 55-246 | 32-148 |
| Passing Yds | 207 | 295 |
| Kick Return Yds | 210 | 13 |
| Punt Return Yds | 2 | 0 |
| Passes | 21-30-0 | 10-27-0 |
| Punts | 4-140 | 8-344 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 2-2 | 2-0 |
| Penalties-Yds | 1-15 | 2-20 |
| Time of Poss. | 37:32 | 22:28 |
| Individual Stats |
| RUSHING |
| RICE: Charles Ross 23-154, Jeremy Eddington 13-59, Taylor McHargue 15-17, Brandon Hamilton 2-9, Driphus Jackson 1-4, Luke Turner 1-3 |
| UTEP: Nathan Jeffery 13-95, Laquintus Dowell 3-25, Nick Lamaison 10-14, Blaire Sullivan 6-14 |
| PASSING |
| RICE: Taylor McHargue 21-30-207-0 |
| UTEP: Nick Lamaison 8-22-249-0, Blaire Sullivan 1-4-51-0, Nathan Jeffery 1-1--5-0 |
| RECEIVING |
| RICE: Vance McDonald 9-99, Jordan Taylor 4-57, Donte Moore 4-30, Sam McGuffie 2-7, Jeremy Eddington 1-10, Dennis Parks 1-4 |
| UTEP: Michael Edwards 5-121, Jordan Leslie 3-168, Cole Freytag 1-11, Nathan Jeffery 1--5 |
| Standings | |||
| Team | Standings | Conference | Overall |
| Rice | 3rd Conference USA West | 4-4 | 7-6 |
| Texas-El Paso | 5th Conference USA West | 2-6 | 3-9 |
