# 2016 Rice Owls football team

The 2016 Rice Owls football team represented Rice University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Owls played their home games at Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas, and competed in the West Division of Conference USA (C–USA). They were led by tenth year head coach David Bailiff. They finished the season 3–9, 2–6 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for fifth place in the East Division.

## Schedule

Rice announced its 2016 football schedule on February 4, 2016. The 2016 schedule consisted of 6 home and 6 away games in the regular season. The Owls hosted C–USA foes Florida Atlantic, North Texas, UTEP, and UTSA, and traveled to Charlotte, Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss, and Western Kentucky (WKU).
The team played four non–conference games, two home games against Baylor from the Big 12 Conference and Prairie View A&M from the Southwestern Athletic Conference, and two road games against Army, which was independent from a conference, and Stanford from the Pac-12 Conference.
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 7:00 pm | at Western Kentucky | Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith StadiumBowling Green, KY | CBSSN | L 14–46 | 19,286 |
| September 10 | 11:00 am | at Army* | Michie StadiumWest Point, NY | CBSSN | L 14–31 | 27,013 |
| September 16 | 7:00 pm | No. 21 Baylor* | Rice StadiumHouston, TX | ESPN | L 10–38 | 27,047 |
| September 24 | 5:00 pm | North Texas | Rice StadiumHouston, TX | CUSA.tv | L 35–42 $^{2OT}$ | 20,792 |
| October 1 | 6:00 pm | at Southern Miss | M. M. Roberts StadiumHattiesburg, MS | CI | L 28–44 | 28,325 |
| October 15 | 6:00 pm | UTSA | Rice StadiumHouston, TX | beIN | L 13–14 | 20,134 |
| October 22 | 2:30 pm | Prairie View A&M* | Rice StadiumHouston, TX | CUSA.tv | W 65–44 | 21,538 |
| October 29 | 6:00 pm | at Louisiana Tech | Joe Aillet StadiumRuston, LA | CI | L 16–61 | 22,058 |
| November 5 | 2:30 pm | Florida Atlantic | Rice StadiumHouston, TX | ESPN3 | L 25–42 | 19,892 |
| November 12 | 1:00 pm | at Charlotte | Jerry Richardson StadiumCharlotte, NC | CI | W 22–21 | 14,306 |
| November 19 | 11:00 am | UTEP | Rice StadiumHouston, TX | ESPN3 | W 44–24 | 19,148 |
| November 26 | 7:00 pm | at Stanford* | Stanford StadiumStanford, CA | P12N | L 17–41 | 36,171 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time |||||||

## Game summaries
### WKU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Owls | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Hilltoppers | 16 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 46 |

### At Army

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Owls | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Black Knights | 14 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 31 |

### Baylor

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #21 Bears | 0 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 38 |
| Owls | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### North Texas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | 2OT | Total |
| Mean Green | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 42 |
| Owls | 10 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 35 |

### At Southern Miss

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Owls | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 28 |
| Golden Eagles | 3 | 10 | 21 | 10 | 44 |

### UTSA

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Roadrunners | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Owls | 6 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 13 |

### Prairie View A&M

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 7 | 7 | 16 | 14 | 44 |
| Owls | 14 | 31 | 13 | 7 | 65 |

### At Louisiana Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Owls | 0 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 16 |
| Bulldogs | 28 | 13 | 13 | 7 | 61 |

### Florida Atlantic

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| FAU Owls | 14 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 42 |
| Rice Owls | 7 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 25 |

### At Charlotte

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Owls | 0 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 22 |
| 49ers | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 21 |

### UTEP

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Miners | 3 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 24 |
| Owls | 6 | 28 | 7 | 3 | 44 |

### At Stanford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Owls | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 17 |
| Cardinal | 13 | 7 | 21 | 0 | 41 |