No. 16 Okahoma 42, Rice 14

Rice (1-3) at Oklahoma (3-0) NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ Quentin Griffin ran for 117 yards and three touchdowns Saturday to lead No. 17 Oklahoma over Rice 42-14. Josh Heupel completed 27

Friday, September 22nd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Rice (1-3) at Oklahoma (3-0)

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ Quentin Griffin ran for 117 yards and three touchdowns Saturday to lead No. 17 Oklahoma over Rice 42-14.

Josh Heupel completed 27 of 35 passes for 324 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a TD for the Sooners (3-0).

While Oklahoma's balanced attack produced 532 yards, Rice's wishbone offense rushed for only 145 yards on 51 attempts and was stymied repeatedly. Oklahoma linebacker Rocky Calmus had 14 tackles, while Torrance Marshall had 11.

Rice (1-3) closed to 21-14 with 7:47 left in the third quarter on a 4-yard TD pass from Corey Evans to Vincent Hawkins, but Oklahoma answered with touchdowns on three of its next four possessions and the Owls never got never again allowed the past midfield again.

Griffin broke two tackles and nearly lost his balance on a 21-yard TD run that put Oklahoma ahead 28-14 with 3:13 left in the third quarter.

Heupel added a 4-yard touchdown pass to Josh Norman late in the third quarter and a 6-yard TD toss to Renaldo Works with 5:46 to play.

Oklahoma wasted no time in getting the offensive assault under way. After Rice lost yardage on its first series, Heupel was 4-for-4 passing in a 54-yard drive that included a 32-yard sideline pass to Antwone Savage to the 6-yard line. Two plays later, Griffin scored on a 2-yard TD dive.

Rice gambled throughout the first half, trying to convert three fourth-down situations.

On fourth-and-3 at the Oklahoma 29 in the first quarter, Ben Wulf threw a slant pass to Matt Webber, who ran past a diving defender to the end zone. Brandon Skeen missed a 40-yard extra point attempt after two straight penalties on the Owls, leaving the Sooners with a 7-6 lead.

With Oklahoma ahead 14-6 midway through the second quarter, Jamie Tyler was stopped for a loss on a fourth-and-1 at the Sooners' 12.

Late in the half, Oklahoma went for it on fourth-and-3 at the Rice 34, and Heupel threw a 29-yard pass to Norman, who was tackled short of the goal line. Three plays later, Heupel scored on a 1-yard dive with 1:08 left in the half for a 21-6 lead.

Heupel completed 15 of 18 passes in the first half, his only poor throw coming with less than a minute left in the first quarter _ he threw behind a sprinting Antwone Savage and the pass was intercepted by Josh McMillan.

Heupel's only bad stretch came early in the third quarter, when he failed to complete three of four passes and was intercepted by Greg Gatlin.

With two Rice quarterbacks sidelined with injuries, the Owls used between Wulf and Corey Evans. Wulf was 6 of 12 for 117 yards and a touchdown, while Evans led the Owls with 58 yards rushing.

Works had 47 yards and the TD for the Sooners.

Quarter	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
OU	14	7	14	7	42
Rice	6	0	8	0	14
Final

Team	Score Time	Summary	Running Score
Oklahoma	10:44 1stQ	Quenton Griffin 2 yd run(kick good)	OU 7-0
Rice	5:59 1stQ	Matt Webber 29 yd pass from Ben Wulf(kick failed)	OU 7-6
Oklahoma	3:35 1stQ	Quenton Griffin 3 yd run(kick good)	OU 14-6
Oklahoma	1:08 2ndQ	Josh Heupel 1 yd run(kick good)	OU 21-6
Rice	3rdQ	Corey Evans 5 yd run(Vincent Hawkins two-point rec from Wulf )	OU 21-14
Oklahoma	3:13 3rdQ	Quenton Griffin 21 yd run(kick good)	OU 28-14
Oklahoma	:15 3rdQ	Josh Norman 5 yd rec from Heupel(kick good)	OU 35-14
Oklahoma	5:46 4thQ	Renaldo Works 4 yd rec from Heupel(kick good)	OU 42-14

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING_Rice, Evans 12-55, Sadler 7-30, S.White 7-25, Tyler 8-19, Wulf 15-10, Beck 1-4, Griffin 1-2. Oklahoma, Griffin 14-117, Works 13-47, Heupel 5-14, Littrell 1-11.

PASSING_Rice, Wulf 6-12-1-117. Oklahoma, Heupel 27-35-2-324, Hybl 1-1-0-19.

RECEIVING_Rice, Webber 2-40, Okoronkwo 2-25, Sadler 1-41, S. White 1-11. Oklahoma, Savage 6-63, Smith 4-50, Woolfolk 3-57, Fagan 3-48, Griffin 3-11, Mackey 2-35, Norman 2-33, Littrell 2-16, Works 2-11, Donley 1-19.