The sordid scene was thus: Texas had just gone out in front, 21-3, courtesy of a 99-yard, 12-play drive and then a 60-yard flea-flicker pass play from Colt McCoy to Jordan Shipley. On the ensuing kickoff, a touchback, naturally, the Owls started at their 20, with 7:22 remaining in the first half.

Rice quarterback Chase Clement hit Jarett Dillard for consecutive catches of eight and 18 yards, which, added to a four-yard gainer on the option by C. J. Ugokwe, setting up the Owls at midfield.

Chase then found JD wide open across the middle, and the All-American receiver slashed toward the far sideline and headed for the pylon. He got as far as the two before being bumped out of bounds. No problem, boys -- it's first and goal at the two, and we have Thor.

Coach Mack sent in 11 guys, each with one eye in the middle of their foreheads and huge ears that had to be pinned back inside their helmets. Somebody must've thrown some raw t-bones onto the turf comprising the Owl victory garden, because the crazed Horn behemoths were in the backfield instantly every time, trying to tear off each of Chase Clement's arms and legs. It would be insufficient to say, on each play, that "Chase was under a heavy rush."

First, he misfired to Toren Dixon. Then, he had James Casey wide open at the pylon, and hit him, but Thor couldn't quite haul it in. On fourth down, UT's Earl Thomas was flagged for pass interference against Thor -- it could have gone down as a second-degree felony.

Given a first down at the one, Chase tried to sneak it in but ran into a brick wall. Next play, UT's Deon Beasley mauled Jarett Dillard and got called for another pass interference.

Once again, Rice had first-and-goal at the one. Chase attempted to connect with JD, but Texas tackle Aaron Lewis knocked the ball down. Then the Rice OL was flagged for a false start, and it was second and goal from the six.

A quick screen to Thor got three of those back, but then Chase suffered another bat-down, next play, this time by UT's Lamarr Houston.

On fourth down, the Owls eschewed the field goal, and Chase connected with Jarett, but barely out of bounds. Never mind, the points would not have counted anyway, as the Owls were flagged for an illegal formation.

"It hurts to know that you are inside the two yard line, and you don't come out with seven points," JD said afterwards. "It doesn't matter what team is out there. You can have the Chicago Bears out there. If you're on the one-yard line, you have to score. That was just our fault."

The Rice offense actually moved the ball briskly throughout most of the first half. At least the movement was brisk until the Owl offense got inside the enemy red zone. That’s when Texas was able to stack up its superior athletes like so much cordwood and prevent the Owls from sawing through,  each and every time.

Take, for instance, the opening possession of the game. Rice’s first play from scrimmage, Chase ran the zone read, found a hole, and raced for 26 yards to midfield.

He then hit three straight short completions, one to Pat Randolph and two to James Casey, giving the Owls a second and four at the UT 31. From there, however, a CJ Ugokwe rush netted only two yards on second down, and then two short pass attempts went awry, and the Owls turned the ball over on downs.

Rice got a reprieve on Texas’ first offensive series when Colt McCoy connected with Quan Crosby crossing the middle with plenty of room to roam. The lanky UT receiver headed for the nearest pylon, but was hit at the five by Andrew Sendejo, whereupon he promptly coughed up the ball. Tumbling forward, the football nicked the pylon as it slithered out of bounds, and that, upon review by the press box officials, resulted in a touchback and a Rice possession at the 20.

From there, the Owls moved the ball once again. Right away, it was boom, boom. Chase first found a hole – for 19 yards to 39 and a first down. He then hit Jarrett Dillard in his first of nine receptions on the day; JD scampered 31 yards to the Texas 30.

However, on first down, the Rice OL was flagged for a false start,. That did not deter Chase and JD, though, who proceeded to connect for two straight passes for 21 yards, total, and suddenly the Owls were camped out at the Texas 14 yard line. Once again, however, the offensive strategy failed to deliver, as Ugokwe was limited to one yard on a halfback dive, and then Chase had to hurry up two passes which each fell incomplete.

This time, Clark Fangmeier came out and calmly nailed a 31 yard field goal, however, to put the owls ahead at 3-0 – in the event,  for the first time in since 1997 had the Owls led Texas during the course of a game.

Texas blew back to take the lead quickly, however,  traveling 60 yards in three plays, Colt McCoy getting the final eight yards himself for the touchdown.

But one can hardly blame poor field position for doing the Owls in, as it didn’t seem to matter much where the Longhorns started their possession. Rice played a great field position game next possession as, after once again moving the ball as far as the UT 46, Chase Clement nailed a delectable pooch-punt 45 yards out of bounds at the UT one yard line.

No matter, as Texas proceeded to reel off a 12-play, 99-yard drive that put them ahead 14-3.

An intentional grounding call sidelined  the ensuing Owl drive, and UT once again set up shop at its own 40. It was there that the wily McCoy handed off to his deep back, Chris Ogbonnaya, who promptly pitched back to the UT quarterback eight yards deep in the backfield . The entire Rice defensive eleven was sucked in, like the Washington Generals against the Harlem Globetrotters, and as Jordan Shipley jogged comfortably downfield, he was hit in mid-stride by McCoy’s pass, whereupon he waltzed into the end zone for a 60 yard pass-and-run touchdown completion.

That in itself was depressing enough, but it was followed by the aforementioned long Rice drive and subsequent  failure to score.

So, during the first half, Rice had driven inside the Texas 30 three times but had only a single field goal to show for it. The Rice offense had picked up 241 yards in the first half, yet trailed 24-3 as they trotted off the field for the halftime break.

The second half presented considerably rougher sledding for the Rice offense, although the Owls did get a boost when Terrance Garmon sacked second-string UT quarterback John Chiles and separated him from the ball, whereupon freshman DL Arnaud Gascon-Nadon made the recovery at the Texas 28.

It took the Owls five plays to go to 28 yards for the touchdown, Chase finding JD open under the goal posts for the final 15 yards.

At that point, only two minutes remained in the third quarter, and it appeared the Owls were on the verge of making this game respectable, trailing only 31 to 10.

However, give the credit that is due to the Venerable Mack Brown, the patron saint of football mercy, who, with a smile on his face, kept piling it on. Next possession, facing first and 15 at the Rice 46, and with Colt McCoy back in for the fumble-prone second-string UT quarterback, Chris Ogbonnaya hauled in a McCoy pass down the home sideline and raced in for the score, putting the game out of reach.

Gee, that Mack is such a wonderful guy, isn’t he?

Afterward, Jarett Dillard shrugged off any talk of Texas’ running up the score, choosing instead to focus on Rice’s performance deficiencies.

"Texas is a great team, and they did stop us in some areas, and we could not move it,"he told reporters.  "But we were dropping passes and committing penalties. That wasn't Texas. That was Rice beating Rice."

Chase Clement wasn’t a bit happy with the Rice offensive output, either. "I'm really upset with 10 points," he said. "We moved the ball up and down the field at times. I thought we played better than 10 points."