2013 Conference USA Football Championship Game

College football game

2013 Conference USA Football Championship Game

Conference Championship
| Marshall Thundering Herd | Rice Owls

|

(9–3) | (9–3)
24 | 41
Head coach:
John "Doc" Holliday | Head coach:
David Bailiff
|  | 1| 2| 3| 4 | Total

|
|
|
|
|

Marshall | 0| 10| 0| 14 | 24
Rice | 14| 7| 13| 7 | 41
Date| December 7, 2013
Season| 2013
Stadium| Rice Stadium
Location| Houston, Texas
MVP| Luke Turner (RB, Rice)
Favorite| Marshall by 6.5
Referee| Brad Rogers
Attendance| 20,247
United States TV coverage
Network| ESPN2
Announcers| Joe Tessitore, Matt Millen, and Maria Taylor
|  Conference USA Football Championship Game

< 2012 |  2014 >
2013 Conference USA football standings

* v
* t
* e

| Conf |  |  | Overall

|
|
|
|

Team |  | W |  | L |  |  |  |  | W |  | L |
East Division
Marshall x  |  | 7  | - | 1  |  |  |  |  | 10  | - | 4  |
East Carolina |  | 6  | - | 2  |  |  |  |  | 10  | - | 3  |
Middle Tennessee |  | 6  | - | 2  |  |  |  |  | 8  | - | 5  |
Florida Atlantic |  | 4  | - | 4  |  |  |  |  | 6  | - | 6  |
UAB |  | 1  | - | 7  |  |  |  |  | 2  | - | 10  |
Southern Miss |  | 1  | - | 7  |  |  |  |  | 1  | - | 11  |
FIU |  | 1  | - | 7  |  |  |  |  | 1  | - | 11  |
West Division
Rice x$  |  | 7  | - | 1  |  |  |  |  | 10  | - | 4  |
UTSA |  | 6  | - | 2  |  |  |  |  | 7  | - | 5  |
North Texas |  | 6  | - | 2  |  |  |  |  | 9  | - | 4  |
Tulane |  | 5  | - | 3  |  |  |  |  | 7  | - | 6  |
Louisiana Tech |  | 3  | - | 5  |  |  |  |  | 4  | - | 8  |
Tulsa |  | 2  | - | 6  |  |  |  |  | 3  | - | 9  |
UTEP |  | 1  | - | 7  |  |  |  |  | 2  | - | 10  |
Championship: Rice 41, Marshall 24

* $ - Conference champion
* x - Division champion/co-champions

Rankings from AP Poll

The 2013 Conference USA Football Championship Game, which determined the 2013 football champion of Conference USA (C-USA), was played at noon Eastern Standard Time (11 am local time and 1700 UTC) on December 7 at Rice Stadium in Houston. The game featured the winners of the conference's East division, the Marshall Thundering Herd,[1] and the winners of the West division, the Rice Owls.[2]

Under C-USA rules, the championship game would be played at the home stadium of the team with the best record in conference play. Since Marshall and Rice both finished with 7–1 records in conference play, and did not play one another in the regular season, the site was chosen based on the BCS rankings on December 1. Although only 25 teams are explicitly ranked, the ranking formula can be used to determine the relative rankings of any two teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Accordingly, Rice received home-field advantage.[3]

Rice represented C-USA in the 2013 Liberty Bowl on December 31 in Memphis, Tennessee after defeating Marshall by 17 points.

## History

[edit]

In the 2012 Championship Game Tulsa defeated former conference member UCF (University of Central Florida) in overtime, 33–27 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.[4]

After the 2013 Conference USA realignment, C-USA added six new members[5] for the 2013 season after losing four members, including UCF, to the American Athletic Conference.[6][7]

After the 2013 season, the ninth C-USA championship game was played in Houston, Texas for the third time since 2011, when the Houston Cougars hosted the Southern Miss Golden Eagles at Robertson Stadium. It was the first time that Rice Stadium hosted the Championship game series after Rice became the winner of the West Division.[3]

## Teams

[edit]

### West Division Champions

[edit]

Main article: 2013 Rice Owls football team

Rice came into the championship with a non–conference record of 2–2 after losing to Texas A&M and former C-USA member Houston and beating Kansas and New Mexico State. Rice was second in the West Division behind Tulane until Rice lost to North Texas, falling into third place. Tulane lost their two conference games in November, which moved Rice back up to second behind North Texas, until North Texas lost to UTSA. Rice then became ranked first in the division. At the end of the regular 2013 season, Rice had to defeat Tulane in order to be crowned the winners of the West Division, or Tulane or UTSA would have been crowned winners of the division. Rice defeated Tulane 17–13 to win the division.

This was Rice's first appearance in Conference USA Championship series.

### East Division Champions

[edit]

Main article: 2013 Marshall Thundering Herd football team

Marshall came into the championship with a non–conference record of 2–2 after losing to Ohio and Virginia Tech and beating Miami(OH) and Gardner–Webb. Marshall was behind East Carolina in second in the East Division standings until East Carolina lost to Tulane, moving Marshall up to first in the standings. Marshall then lost a close game to Middle Tennessee 49–51, which dropped Marshall behind East Carolina for the rest of the season until the East Carolina–Marshall game in late November. In order for Marshall to be crowned the winners of the East Division, Marshall. Marshall beat East Carolina 59–28 to win the East Division.

This was Marshall's first appearance in the Conference USA Championship series.

## Scoring summary

[edit]

Quarter | Time | Drive | Team | Scoring Information[8] | Score

|
|
|
|
|

Length | Time | Marshall | Rice
1  | 10:15 | 10 plays, 82 yards | 4:45  | Rice | Donte Moore 35-yard reception from Luke Turner, Chris Boswell kick good  | 0 | 7
1  | 8:05 | 2 plays, 73 yards | 0:46  | Rice | Jordan Taylor 75-yard reception from Taylor McHargue, Chris Boswell kick good  | 0 | 14
2  | 12:21 | 12 plays, 64 yards | 3:39  | Marshall | Justin Haig 27-yard kick good  | 3 | 14
2  | 11:29 | 4 plays, 62 yards | 0:52  | Rice | Charles Ross 4-yard rush, Chris Boswell kick good  | 3 | 21
2  | 9:18 | 8 plays, 65 yards | 2:11  | Marshall | Devon Johnson 1-yard rush, Justin Haig kick good  | 10 | 21
3  | 5:34 | 7 plays, 61 yards | 3:57  | Rice | Darik Dillard 17-yard rush, Chris Boswell kick failed  | 10 | 27
3  | 0:24 | 7 plays, 70 yards | 3:33  | Rice | Connor Cella 8-yard reception from Luke Turner, Chris Boswell kick good  | 10 | 34
4  | 11:02 | 12 plays, 78 yards | 4:22  | Marshall | Essray Taliaferro 7-yard reception from Rakeem Cato, Justin Haig kick good  | 17 | 34
4  | 8:09 | 2 plays, 38 yards | 0:50  | Rice | Charles Ross 16-yard rush, Chris Boswell kick good  | 17 | 41
4  | 5:35 | 8 plays, 75 yards | 2:34  | Marshall | Devon Smith 3-yard reception from Rakeem Cato, Justin Haig kick good  | 24 | 41
Final Score | 24 | 41

### Statistics

[edit]

Statistics | Marshall | Rice

|
|

First Downs | 23 | 23
Total offense, plays – yards | 78–371 | 66–487
Rushes-yards (net) | 37–106 | 48–248
Passing yards (net) | 265 | 239
Passes, Comp-Att-Int | 10–18–1 | 24–41–0
Time of Possession | 27:40 | 32:20

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Marshall glides past East Carolina 59–28". ESPN.com. Associated Press. November 29, 2013. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
2. ^ "Rice trips Tulane 17–13 to reach C-USA title game". ESPN.com. Associated Press. November 30, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
3. ^ a b "Rice to Host Marshall in 2013 Football Championship Game" (Press release). Conference USA. December 1, 2013. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
4. ^ "UCF Knights vs. Tulsa Golden Hurricane – Drivechart". ESPN. December 1, 2012. Archived from the original on July 2, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
5. ^ "Conference USA adds 5 schools". ESPN. Associated Press. May 4, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
6. ^ "It's Official! UCF Joins BIG EAST Conference". University of Central Florida. December 7, 2011. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
7. ^ Brett McMurphy (April 4, 2013). "Old Big East now American Athletic". ESPN. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
8. ^ "Marshall Thundering Herd vs. Rice Owls". ESPN. December 7, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2013.

* v
* t
* e

2013 NCAA football conference championship games

Division I FBS|

* ACC
* Big Ten
* Conference USA
* MAC
* Mountain West
* Pac-12
* SEC

Division I FCS|

* SWAC

* v
* t
* e

Conference USA Football Championship Game

Years|

* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

Venues|

* Citrus Bowl (2005)
* Robertson Stadium (2006, 2011)
* Bright House Networks Stadium (2007, 2010)
* Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium (2008, 2012)
* Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium (2009)
* Rice Stadium (2013)
* Joan C. Edwards Stadium (2014, 2020)
* Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium (2015, 2016)
* FAU Stadium (2017, 2019)
* Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium (2018)
* Alamodome (2021, 2022)
* Williams Stadium (2023)
* Burgess–Snow Field at JSU Stadium (2024)

Broadcasters

* v
* t
* e

Marshall Thundering Herd football

Venues|

* Central Field (1895–1927)
* Fairfield Stadium (1928–1990)
* Joan C. Edwards Stadium (1991–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Bowl games
* Appalachian State
* East Carolina
* Ohio: Battle for the Bell
* West Virginia: Friends of Coal Bowl

Culture & lore|

* Marco the Bison
* "Sons of Marshall"
* Marching Thunder
* Plane crash
* Marshall University: Ashes to Glory
* We Are Marshall

People|

* Head coaches
* NFL draftees
* Statistical leaders

Seasons|

* 1895
* 1896
* 1897
* 1898
* 1899
* 1900
* 1901
* 1902
* 1903
* 1904
* 1905
* 1906
* 1907
* 1908
* 1909
* 1910
* 1911
* 1912
* 1913
* 1914
* 1915
* 1916
* 1917
* 1918
* 1919
* 1920
* 1921
* 1922
* 1923
* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927
* 1928
* 1929
* 1930
* 1931
* 1932
* 1933
* 1934
* 1935
* 1936
* 1937
* 1938
* 1939
* 1940
* 1941
* 1942
* 1943–1945
* 1946
* 1947
* 1948
* 1949
* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

National championship seasons in bold

* v
* t
* e

Rice Owls football

Venues|

* West End Park (1912, 1914–1915)
* Rice Field (1913–1949)
* Rice Stadium (1950–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Bowl games
* Houston
* SMU
* Texas

Culture & lore|

* Sammy the Owl
* "Rice Fight"
* Marching Owl Band

People|

* Head coaches
* NFL draftees
* Statistical leaders

Seasons|

* 1912
* 1913
* 1914
* 1915
* 1916
* 1917
* 1918
* 1919
* 1920
* 1921
* 1922
* 1923
* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927
* 1928
* 1929
* 1930
* 1931
* 1932
* 1933
* 1934
* 1935
* 1936
* 1937
* 1938
* 1939
* 1940
* 1941
* 1942
* 1943
* 1944
* 1945
* 1946
* 1947
* 1948
* 1949
* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Conf]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses