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1989 Rice

2–⁠8–⁠1 (2–⁠6 Southwest Conference), coached by Fred Goldsmith.

Schedule and results

Rice in 1989, game by game: won at SMU 35–6; lost at Tulane 19–20; lost vs. Louisiana 3–18; tied at Wake Forest 17–17; lost at Texas 30–31; lost vs. TCU 16–30; lost at Texas Tech 25–41; lost vs. No. 21 Texas A&M 7–45; lost vs. No. 11 Arkansas 17–38; won at Baylor 6–3; lost vs. No. 13 Houston 0–64+29−64Won 35–6 at SMU+29SMULost 19–20 at Tulane-1TulaneLost 3–18 vs. Louisiana-15LouisianaTied 17–17 at Wake Forest0Wake ForestLost 30–31 at Texas-1TexasLost 16–30 vs. TCU-14TCULost 25–41 at Texas Tech-16Texas TechLost 7–45 vs. No. 21 Texas A&M-38No. 21 Texas A&MLost 17–38 vs. No. 11 Arkansas-21No. 11 ArkansasWon 6–3 at Baylor+3BaylorLost 0–64 vs. No. 13 Houston-64No. 13 Houston
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2atSMUW 35–⁠618%
Sep 9atTulaneL 19–⁠2036%
Sep 23vsLouisianaL 3–⁠1855%
Sep 30atWake ForestT 17–⁠1730%
Oct 7atTexasL 30–⁠3126%
Oct 14vsTCUL 16–⁠3047%
Oct 21atTexas TechL 25–⁠4118%
Oct 28vs21Texas A&ML 7–⁠4518%
Nov 4vs11ArkansasL 17–⁠3813%
Nov 18atBaylorW 6–⁠316%
Dec 2vs13HoustonL 0–⁠6414%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Houston 64–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 99th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 115 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1989.

Record
2–⁠8–⁠1
Conference
2–⁠6 tied for 7th in Southwest Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
175–⁠313
Coach
Fred Goldsmith
Elo
1319 −7 this season
SP+ rating
-9.8 No. 77 of 103; offense No. 86, defense No. 67
SRS
−5.4 No. 72 of 106 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Mike Heimerdinger
Defensive coordinator
Craig Bohl

All-Southwest Conference

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Eric HenleyWRAP-1
  • David GriffinSecondary

Second team

  • O.J. BriganceLBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1989 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1989 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Arkansas7–⁠110–⁠213
Houston6–⁠29–⁠214
Texas A&M6–⁠28–⁠420
Texas Tech5–⁠39–⁠319
Texas4–⁠45–⁠6
Baylor4–⁠45–⁠6
TCU2–⁠64–⁠7
Rice2–⁠62–⁠8–⁠1
SMU0–⁠82–⁠9

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.