By Joseph Duarte
Add another milestone to the Rice football season.
The Owls held Tulane to 123 yards in a dominating defensive effort for a 17-13 victory Saturday, sending the Owls to the Conference USA championship game.
Taylor McHargue passed for 180 yards and a touchdown as the Owls clinched their first West division championship.
The Owls didn't secure the victory until the defense stopped Tulane on two straight possessions late in the fourth quarter, including an incomplete pass from Nick Montana out of his own end zone on fourth down-and-3 with 1:46 remaining.
Rice (9-3, 7-1) will play for Marshall (9-3, 7-1) in the C-USA championship game next weekend. The location will be determined based on BCS rankings released Sunday night.
The Owls will be seeking their first outright conference championship since winning the Southwest Conference in 1957.
A dominating defense held the Green Wave to 10 yards and no first downs as Rice led 17-3 at halftime.
But a pair of Rice fumbles deep in its territory set up two Green Wave scores, including a 13-yard touchdown pass from Nick Montana to Devon Breaux late in the third quarter, to keep the game close in the second half.
Cairo Santos made a 32-yard field goal with 10:14 to pull Tulane within 17-13 with 10:14 remaining.
The Owls scored all their points in the first half – on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Taylor McHargue to Turner Petersen, a 16-yard run by Jowan Davis and 36-yard field goal by Chris Boswell.
Rice has won 16 games the past two seasons, the program's best two-year stretch since 1953-54. The Owls are guaranteed back-to-back bowls for the first time since 1960-61.
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