North Texas at Rice

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9-3

Rice

First Community Stadium, HoustonUNT -12.5

FINALNorth Texas 30, Rice 14UNT covered -12.5CLOSED UNT -12.5

Highlights

6 CLIPS · ESPN

North Texas QB throws pick-sixVIDEO: ESPN ↗

Win probability

EVERY PLAY · ESPN MODEL

RICE WINNING

UNT WINNING

KICKQ2Q3Q4FINAL

KICKOFF: UNT 83% · BIGGEST SINGLE-PLAY SWING: 16 PTS

Scoring plays

8 SCORES

Interception Return Touchdown

Brandon Douglas-Dotson 75 Yd Interception Return (Will Harrison Kick)

8:39
0-7

Rushing Touchdown

Nic Smith 13 Yd Run (Trevor Moore Kick)

5:17
7-7

Passing Touchdown

Rico Bussey Jr. 51 Yd pass from Mason Fine (Trevor Moore Kick)

11:58
14-7

Punt

Jaelon Darden 81 Yd Punt Return (Trevor Moore Kick)

9:35
21-7

Rushing Touchdown

Miklo Smalls 52 Yd Run (Will Harrison Kick)

7:17
21-14

Field Goal Good

Trevor Moore 44 Yd Field Goal

0:55
24-14

Field Goal Good

Trevor Moore 19 Yd Field Goal

3:30
27-14

Field Goal Good

Trevor Moore 43 Yd Field Goal

2:56
30-14

What happened

ESPN RECAP

Smith rushes for career-high 178 in North Texas' 30-14 win

HOUSTON -- Nic Smith rushed for a career-high 178 yards and a score and North Texas warmed up for the Conference USA championship game with a 30-14 victory over Rice on Saturday. The Mean Green (9-3, 7-1) will go after their first C-USA championship when its plays at Florida Atlantic next Saturday after losing at FAU 69-31 in a regular-season meeting on Oct. 21. Mason Fine passed for 195 yards and a touchdown, setting a North Texas single-season record with 27 TD passes. Rice (1-11, 1-7) scored first on Brandon Douglas-Dotson 's 75-yard interception return before Smith tied it in the first quarter with a 13-yard run. Fine put North Texas ahead to stay with a 51-yard pass play to Rico Bussey Jr . in the second quarter.

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Top performers

UNT

PASSINGMason Fine18/25, 195 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT

RUSHINGNic Smith26 CAR, 178 YDS, 1 TD

RECEIVINGRico Bussey3 REC, 71 YDS, 1 TD

RICE

PASSINGMiklo Smalls6/16, 107 YDS, 1 INT

RUSHINGMiklo Smalls17 CAR, 89 YDS, 1 TD

RECEIVINGAaron Cephus2 REC, 50 YDS

Team stats

UNT · RICE

383

TOTAL YARDS

282

195

PASSING

107

188

RUSHING

175

1ST DOWNS

4-11

3RD DOWN EFFICIENCY

4-13

TURNOVERS

3-20

PENALTIES

5-40

32:12

POSSESSION

27:48

FIRST COMMUNITY STADIUM, HOUSTON · ATTENDANCE 17,956

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North Texas vs Rice: head-to-head history