Nov. 2, 2008

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EL PASO, Texas - Chase Clement threw for 372 yards and five scores, while James Casey and Jarett Dillard delivered the key catches as the Rice Owls reached bowl eligibility with a 49-44 win over UTEP in El Paso on Saturday night.

Clement's five TD passes game him 29 for the season to tie his school mark set last year, and moved him into a tie for second with Chris Redmond of Louisville on the Conference USA career list with 84, and he needs two to break the conference mark of 85 set by Kevin Kolb of Houston. He also rushed for one touchdown and his six scores brought his career mark for total touchdowns to 105, five shy of breaking Paul Smith's C-USA record of 109.

Casey tied his career high with 12 catches, including a career-best three for scores. He finished with 142 receiving, his fifth game with better than 100 yards this season and added a fourth score on a two-yard run.

Dillard caught eight for 93 yards to break the C-USA career record for receiving yards, finishing the game with 3,777. He and Clement connected on one scoring pass, to extend their NCAA mark for scoring passes by a duo to 46, as well as his career mark for touchdown receptions (55) and games with a touchdown catch (34).

The win was the Owls third straight and moved their season mark to 6-3 with three games remaining. It moved their C-USA record to 5-1, their best conference mark through six games since the 1960 Owls won five of their first six in the Southwest Conference.

UTEP stormed to a 17-7 lead in the first quarter before Rice came back to take a 28-20 halftime lead. After the Miners crept back to within a point at 21-20, the Owls took over at their own 10 with 1:28 left and proceeded to run nine plays and march 90 yards for Clement's nine-yard scoring pass to Dillard with eight seconds left in the half.

Rice failed to stop UTEP on its four second-half possessions, but Casey scored three times and the defense forced the Miners to settle for a field goal on one of their scoring drives to provide the final margin of victory.

In addition to Casey and Dillard's production, Clement relied on a pair of new targets in key moments of the game. He found sophomore Pierre Beasley wide open in the middle of the field for a 31-yard touchdown for the Owls first score of the game and Beasley's first career touchdown. Corbin Smiter, who started in place of Patrick Randolph who was injured, chipped in a career-best 75 yards on three catches.

Andrew Sendejo returned after missing most of the last three games with an ankle sprain and led the Owls with eight tackles.

The Owls return home for the final three games of the 2008 regular season. They will step out of conference play this week, hosting Army for Homecoming. After an opening date on November 15, they wrap up C-USA play with games vs. Marshall and Houston. All three home games are set for 2:05 kickoffs and tickets are on sale now by calling (713) 522-OWLs, or by clicking here..