Houston tops Rice for sixth-straight Bayou Bucket win

Updated Sep. 11, 2021 11:05 p.m. ET

Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) — Clayton Tune completed 22 of 30 passes for 236 yards and a pair of touchdowns, Alton McCaskill rushed for two TDs and caught a third as Houston walloped crosstown rival Rice 44-7 on Saturday night.

The victory marked Houston's sixth straight in the Bayou Bucket game, the longest win streak by either team in the long-running series.

McCaskill opened the scoring by pulling in a 35-yard pass from Tune at 10:08 of the first quarter. After a 38-yard Dalton Witherspoon field goal, Tune found Jake Herslow from 11 yards out as the Cougars (1-1) staked themselves a 17-0 lead with 2:19 left in the opening frame.

Rice (1-1) answered with an 11-play, 81-yard drive capped by Luke McCaffrey's 5-yard pass to Jordan Myers. But Houston scored the next four touchdowns to win going away.

McCaskill had TD runs of 1 and 2 yards, Chandler Smith added a 14-yard touchdown run, and Alex Hogan returned an interception 91 yards into the end zone as time expired.

McCaffrey finished 9-for-19 passing for 86 yards with three interceptions that led to 13 Houston points. He was sacked three times for a loss of 26 yards. Khalan Griffin led the Owls with 86 of their 126 yards rushing.

The teams marked the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks with special uniforms that had a red, white and blue color scheme.

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