Texas Football: 5 thoughts after Longhorns drubbing of Rice

What did the 48-13 win over the Rice Owls mean for the Texas football program just ahead of the Week 4 conference opener against Oklahoma State?

The blowout most should’ve expected happened for the Texas football program on Sep. 21 happened against the Rice Owls. Not much of a spotlight fell on Texas as they took on a winless Rice team out of the Conference-USA this weekend. Texas did need a bounce back outing in Week 3 after falling short in dramatic fashion to the No. 4 ranked LSU Tigers in Week 2.

However, Texas got back on track as needed by beating Rice by the final score of 48-13. Rice had trouble in most phases of the game, and Texas got rolling early. This game was dominated by Texas most of the way as it wasn’t until the fourth quarter that Rice got anything going. Rice scored all of its 13 points in the final quarter.

For the second time in three games, head Texas football coach Tom Herman got to toss in the backups for a good amount of playing time in the second half. This was the second Group of Five opponent that Herman got to test out his younger players against. A 45-14 win over the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in the season opener had almost the exact same narrative as this win over Rice.

Texas-Rice was one of the less followed night games in the Big 12 in Week 3. With a slate that featured Texas Tech taking on Arizona, TCU battling Purdue, and Oklahoma traveling to face UCLA, Texas-Rice got lost in the whirlwind.

Here’s a look into the five thoughts to wrap up for the Texas Longhorns football program after beating the Rice Owls 48-13 at NRG Stadium in Houston.