18 October 2003

Men's Varsity Football

USNA Midshipmen (38) vs. Rice Owls (6)

Houston, TX (Sports Network) - Quarterback Craig Candeto ran for two touchdowns and passed for another in leading the Midshipmen of Navy to an overwhelming 38-6 victory against the Rice Owls in non-conference action from Rice Stadium.

Candeto carried the ball 36 times, leading to 151 yards, as Navy (5-2), the nation's leading rushing team heading into the weekend, gained a total of 366 yards on 69 attempts. As a passer, Candeto completed 6-of-10 attempts for 76 yards and was sacked twice.

The Owls (1-5), who won their only game of the season two weeks ago against San Jose State, passed for just 17 yards on six completes, a new season low for the squad after posting just 27 yards against Texas last month. Rice signal-callers Kyle Herm and Greg Henderson combined to go 6-of-14 and each had a long pass of just four yards in the setback. The Owls actually started the day's scoring with a 34-yard field goal by Brennan Landry. He also accounted for the only other points of the game for the team with a 38-yard effort early in the second half. Other than those two field goals the contest belonged the Navy.

Candeto scored the first touchdown for the Mids on a seven-yard run with just over six minutes to play in the opening period. Eric Roberts followed with a 69-yard scamper to push the team's lead to 14-3 after one. Roberts finished the day with five carries for 93 yards and also caught three passes for 36 yards. Landry's second field goal of the game was followed by a Candeto one-yard scoring run and a 15-yard strike from Candeto to Roberts to push the Navy advantage to 28-6 at the break.

After a scoreless third quarter Eric Rolfs connected on a 45-yard field goal, while Aaron Polanco added an eight-yard touchdown run with just 19 seconds left in the game, providing the Mids with the 32-point victory. As the sixth-best rushing team in the country heading into the game with an average of 240 ypg, the Owls ran the ball 47 times for 206 yards overall in the contest.