Troy takes on Rice as New Orleans Bowl comes home

Dec 22, 2006 - 9:41 PM By PA SportsTicker

Sun Belt Conference champion Troy looks for its first postseason victory when it meets Rice in the New Orleans Bowl on Friday.

The game between the Trojans and Owls will be the first bowl game played in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. Last year, this contest was played in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Playing a tough non-conference slate to open the season, Troy (7-5) won its opener, then lost four straight. Among the losses were road setbacks to perennial powers Florida State, Georgia Tech and Nebraska.

After a loss to UAB left them at 1-4, the Trojans won four straight games and six of their last seven to finish the season with their first Sun Belt Conference crown.

The Sun Belt champion is 1-4 in the five-year history of the New Orleans Bowl, including three straight losses to teams from Conference USA.

Rice (7-5) was 1-10 last year and looked to be headed for another disastrous season after losing its first four games. The Owls rebounded to win six straight to close the season and earn their first bowl berth since 1961, when they lost to Kansas in the Bluebonnet Bowl.

On Thursday, Justin Robinson had two interceptions to highlight a stellar defensive performance as 19th-ranked Brigham Young rolled to a 38-8 victory over Oregon in the Las Vegas Bowl.

John Beck threw for a Las Vegas Bowl-record 375 yards and two touchdowns and Jonny Harline was named MVP after hauling in nine catches for a career-high 181 yards and a TD for BYU (11-2), which won its first bowl since 1996, ending a four-game losing streak in postseason contests.

The Ducks (7-6), who ended their season with four straight setbacks, were shut out through three quarters for the first time this campaign.

The bowl season thus far has been marked by blowouts. Jeff Ballard and No. 25 TCU kicked off the slate Tuesday with a dominant 37-7 victory over Northern Illinois in the Poinsettia Bowl.

The New Orleans Bowl is the third of 32 bowls over a 20-day span, which will end with top-ranked Ohio State meeting second-ranked Florida in the BCS National Championship in Glendale, Arizona on January 8.

On Saturday, New Mexico and San Jose State meet in the New Mexico Bowl, South Florida takes on East Carolina in the Papajohns.com Bowl and Tulsa and Utah play in the Armed Forces Bowl.