Frank Peasant tallied three of Memphis’ five rushing scores, the defense held Rice to 212 yards, and the No. 25 Tigers kept their College Football Playoff hopes alive Friday with a 38-14 Halloween night rout of the Owls in Houston.
Peasant, who entered with three total touchdowns on the year, found paydirt three times in the first half as two-TD favorite Memphis (8-1, 4-1 American) led by 24 at halftime and was never challenged by the Owls (4-5, 1-4).
The second-place Tigers still have matchups against Tulane next Friday, at East Carolina and versus conference-leading Navy on Nov. 27 in their chase for the CFP, which releases its first rankings on Tuesday night.
Quarterback Brendon Lewis went 18 of 22 for 225 yards. He carried the ball 12 times for a game-high 87 yards and a score but left with an injury in the fourth quarter. Cortez Braham Jr. had three receptions for 66 yards.
Defensive back Omarion Cooper grabbed an interception, his first in three seasons.
Memphis’ defense held Rice to seven drives of three plays or less, had 11 tackles for loss and limited the Owls to 3-of-15 on third-down conversions.
Rice quarterback Chase Jenkins was 11 of 16 for 100 yards, a TD and a pick. Aaron Turner caught the lone score as part of his 29-yard showing.
After producing a three-and-out on Rice’s first series, the visitors took over, and Lewis had a big third-down conversion with a 30-yard pass to Braham. Lewis broke three tackles on an 18-yard rambling TD.
Defensive back Kamari Wilson forced and recovered a fumble on a backwards pass that was originally called incomplete but overturned on review. Memphis soon made it 14-0 on Frank Peasant’s 2-yard run at 2:34 of the first quarter.
Peasant added a second short score at 12:25 of the second quarter before notching another with 7:54 left in the half to make it 28-0.
Turner put Rice on the board with a 12-yard catch from Jenkins, but Gianni Spetic’s 37-yard field goal left Memphis with a commanding 31-7 edge at the break.
Greg Desrosiers Jr. had Memphis’ fifth score in the third, and Rice’s Tyvonn Byars (43 receiving yards) notched his first career TD on a short run with 3:28 left.
