This is Rice Football On Homecoming Night

By Andrew Hard

Saturday's Game: Rice Owls 52, Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 14 (Rice Stadium, Houston, TX)



This wasn't a pregame shot. It wasn't an end-of-game blowout shot. And it wasn't a meaningless cupcake game against Central Directional State. No, this was a live shot during the 2nd quarter of Saturday's Conference USA matchup between the 6-3 Rice Owls and the 4-5 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.

And ohbytheway, it was homecoming for the bowl-bound Owls. I think the blue blob-ish around the 40 yard line (behind the small tarp) is the band... I have no idea where the student section is. Maybe they were all so confident Rice would win that they just didn't show up (rightly so -- Rice won by 38)? Or they were just crushing the books in the library on a Saturday night (more likely)?

There were two places they weren't -- at this game, and at the Ginger Man pub down the street, where my wife and found ourselves in the middle of the third quarter by the time Rice had more points than fans in attendance. And if you think that this small crowd still packed a punch, think again -- when the Owls scored their third touchdown on a 30-yard toss sweep, the fans on the alumni side DIDN'T EVEN STAND UP! Apparently, anything more than a golf clap is completely inappropriate for even the most diehard Owl football fans. As far as I could tell, there weren't any.

If you're looking for a good "fan experience" at a Rice game, though, there is a positive note to this sad story: they serve beer at the stadium.

College football count: 15/123; Total count: 58/592.

--The Road to 592 is a pipe dream started by a diehard Atlanta fan trying his best to keep up with all the new stadiums (being Atlanta and all). Read up on my unending pursuit here and check out the full list of venues here. For those sick of conference realignment, you can also relish in another pipe dream of mine -- the 28-team SEC. Follow me on Twitter @andrewhard592.