Battle for the Bayou Bucket - November 29, 2008

Walk to the stadium from Rice Village Restaurants	Pass by the Cougar tailgate parties
Rice Stadium, the home of Superbowl VIII	General admission sold out so no line at the box office
Many fans hope for an extra $14 general admission tix	Crap, I guess we gotta buy $35 Reserved Seats
Finally get inside after finding the open box office	Behold, Rice Stadium, and filled with 35,534 fans
Allan poses with the game in progress background	Bill hasn't seen his Cougs play in person in quite awhile
Big donor suites above the nicely covered endzone	Decent crowd over on the Rice side as well
Casey punches it in from 1 yd out, Rice up 7-0	UH answers with a 43yd pass to Castile from Keenum
Mannisto ties the game (7-7) with a good extra point	Clement completes a 23yd pass to Casey to the 19
Clement rushes 8 yds for the TD, Rice up 14-7	UH responds by driving down the field for a 1st & goal
UH's Beall is stopped on the 2 as the 1st quarter ends	UH cheerleaders prepare to celebrate the quarter's end
Beall punches it in on the first play of the 2nd quarter	Houston ties up the game 14-14
3 plays later, Clement to Wardlow 53yd TD, Rice 21-14	Keenum pass tipped on 2nd down at the UH 26 for INT
Raines INT with one hand in cast, return to the 11	First Clement, then Casey rushes move the ball to the 2
Clement to Casey 2yd TD pass puts Rice up 28-14	UH drives to the Rice 24 and then misses a 41 yd FG
Rice drive finishes with a Clement to Casey 23 yd TD	Rice cheerleaders somersault and wave the RICE flags
Two failed UH drives give Rice a 21 point lead	You can hear the flapping of the owl wings in the stands
UH drives as Keenum hits Carrier with a pass to the 36	3yd Keenum to Johnson TD pass, now Rice 35 - UH 21
Rice fails to score in 1:06 before halftime starts	Rice hits the locker room with a 14 point lead
Marching Owl Band (MOB) members get into position . .	. . . for the halftime show with babies along for the ride
The visiting Cougar Band performs first	Long concession lines prevent viewing the MOB's show
The Cougar Band is back in place along with their fans	Rice prepares to kickoff to UH who will go 3 & out
Rice drive ends with Clement to Casey 9yd TD pass	Next UH drive, Kohn picks up 4yds to the Rice 22
Keenum to Castile for a 22yd TD pass, Rice 42- UH 28	Rice dancers perform before the following kickoff
Casey picks up a 1st down on a 5yd run to the UH 45	Clement to Dixon 15yd TD pass makes it Rice 49 - UH 28
UH drives to the Rice 4, but fails to score on 4th down	Rice Cheerleaders do the 21 point lead hand stand
Casey to Wardlow 3yd TD pass has owl wings flapping	Keenum to Carrier 1 play 34yd TD after 19yd punt return
Mannisto extra point gets UH within 21, Rice up 56-35	Rice tries to run out the clock w/a short pass to Smiter
Rice punts and Houston gets the ball on their own 38	Helmet-to-helmet hit causes Carrier to fumble on Rice 10
Ugokwe rushes 8yds on 1st down after the turnover	Castile 17yd TD from Keenum makes it Rice 56 - UH 42
Final UH drive fails to score as time runs out	Rice defeats Houston for the first time since 2004
Tulsa, not UH, will face East Carolina for C-USA Champ	The Bayou Bucket makes its way to the Rice players
The Bucket is presented to Coach Bailiff & his players	Rice wins the bucket for the 10th time in 35 tries vs UH
First 9 win season since the '54 Cotton Bowl Bama win	2 bowl games in 3 years for Rice after a 45 year drought