Troy throttles Rice as New Orleans Bowl returns home

Dec 23, 2006 - 7:56 AM By PA SportsTicker

In the first bowl game played in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina, Troy had a historical first of its own.

Omar Haugabook threw four touchdown passes and ran for a score as the Trojans routed Rice, 41-17, in the New Orleans Bowl for the first bowl victory in school history.

Haugabook completed 14-of-28 passes for 218 yards and one interception and rushed 14 times for 92 yards for Troy, as it broke a three-game losing streak by the Sun Belt Conference champions in the bowl.

The Trojans (8-5) jumped out to a 21-7 lead in the opening quarter against Rice, which had a six-game winning streak snapped.

Haugabook gave the Trojans a 7-0 lead with a two-yard touchdown run and then threw a three-yard scoring pass to Gary Banks for a 14-0 lead.

After Rice (7-6) closed to 14-7 on Joel Armstrong's 11-yard pass to Mike Falco, Haugabook connected with Mykeal Terry on a 56-yard TD pass for a 21-7 lead.

"It was a real good game for me," Haugabook said. "They played a lot of man defense. We were working really hard in practice to beat their man pressure, and we did. Eventually they started blitzing me, trying to get me, but they never did."

It was the third blowout in as many bowl games.

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.

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 was 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.