The C-USA West is wide open and the Rice Owls proved they will be a factor in the competitive division race after the best performance of the Mike Bloomgren era.
After suffering a heartbreaking double overtime loss to Middle Tennessee in its season opener, an inspired Rice team entered Hattiesburg, MS, fixated on correcting the errors from a week ago. Bloomgren always emphasizes that the biggest jump in improvement is from game one to game two. That accelerated improvement was on full display in a 30-6 victory at Southern Miss — the program’s largest margin of victory over an FBS team since the 2014 Hawaii Bowl.