Bo’s Bits: Rice, Texas State Not Strangers to Postseason Activity

By Bo Carter, National Football Foundation

Though this is just the fifth all-time meeting (series is tied 2-2 and last played in 1987) of Rice and Texas State and their first ever in postseason play, the two schools are far from novices when it comes to competing in specialty contests.

The Owls are making their 14th bowl appearance since the 1938 Cotton Bowl Classic and 28-14 win over Colorado and 1937 Heisman Trophy winner Byron “Whizzer” White. RU also is a frequent participant in Dallas-Fort Worth area postseason meets as this is their sixth bowl in the Metroplex. The most recent visit to this area resulted in a 33-14 victory over Air Force in the 2012 Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl at Amon Carter Stadium in Fort Worth.

The Bobcats also are familiar with action following their regularly-scheduled contests from their days in NCAA Division II and FCS.

Beginning in 1981 under venerable head coach Jim Wacker, whose memorial service was held on the TSU campus in 2003, the Bobcats roared to consecutive DII titles and a 7-1 postseason worksheet. Then known as Southwest Texas State, the squad topped perennial power North Dakota State (where Wacker also served as head coach from 1976-78 before moving to San Marcos) 42-13 for the school’s first NCAA championship that December. A year later, Wacker and the Bobcats thumped UC Davis 34-9 for a second NCAA crown.

Head coach John O’Hara replaced the Bobcats precedent-setting mentor before the 1983 campaign when Wacker left to become head coach at TCU, and Texas State fell to Central State (Ohio) in the opening round of the DII playoffs 24-16 to post a 6-1 mark in its first seven outings in post-campaigns.

By the time that multi-university head coach Dennis Franchione took over the program in 1990 and ’91, the Bobcats just missed bids to the NCAA Division I-AA (now FCS) tournament and set the stage for the move by TSU to NCAA FBS in the Western Athletic Conference in 2021 and the current landing point Sun Belt Conference in 2023.

The avalanche of a record 12 members of the SBC in post-2023 bowls includes the Bobcats who will appear in their first FBS clash on Dec. 26.

Now the experienced Rice program will be hoping that planning and preparations for holiday bowls can pay dividends in 2023 against a Texas State 11 that is ready, willing and able to take on a program from the Power Six American Athletic Conference later this month.

The Owls have played in seven of their 14 bowl skirmishes since the 2008 season (beginning with the Texas Bowl and a 38-14 victory over Western Michigan in Houston under head coach Bailiff.

Interestingly, Bailiff (who took the Owls program to the second-most bowl treks in school history behind NFF College Football Hall of Fame head coach Jess Neely with six) came to the Owls program after guiding Texas State to the 2005 NCAA I-AA semifinals and an 11-3 mark in 2005 during the midst of his 2004-06 tenure in San Marcos.

This game could be nicknamed the “Bailiff Bowl” (he was at Rice from 2007-17) and is now back at Texas State as a special assistant to the head coach. Bailiff graduated from Texas State and is a member of the school’s Hall of Honor. The veteran coach with deep Texas ties held the Texas A&M-Commerce football reins from 2019-22.

With these multiple connections and a composite 14-8 record in all postseason divisions by the two schools, the 2023 SERVPRO First Responder Bowl appears to have the makings of another history-maker in this 14-year progress of games with 80-plus points, one overtime tussle, a weathered-out no contest, multiple future NFL standouts, and coaches with solid pedigrees at dozens of football powers.

For additional information, pregame pageantry and ticket purchases, please access Firstresponderbowl.com.

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