Houston’s Wild Win Shuts Door On Swc

The once-glorious Southwest Conference went out in style.

Chuck Clements threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes, capping the second with a 2-point conversion toss with 1:19 to play, and Rice missed a 38-yard field goal with 12 seconds left to give Houston an 18-17 victory Saturday in the final game of the 81-year-old league.

“This is the most exciting game you could ask for,” Cougars coach Kim Helton said. “All the history and all the tradition came down to the last play and the last two drives.”

Rice officials did all they could to make sure this was the last game, refusing to allow No. 9 Texas’ 16-6 victory over No. 16 Texas A&M to take center stage. Kickoff was intentionally 90 minutes after that game began.

As a result, the SWC went out the way it came in - with the Owls losing. Rice fell 26-0 to Baylor on Oct. 8, 1915, in the league’s first game.

In between, the SWC produced four national champions, five Heisman Trophy winners and a long list of great players. Most of them were Texas kids who grew up and stayed close to home as part of the last one-state league.

“I’m saddened because of the unique situation,” said Rice coach Ken Hatfield, who enjoyed some of the SWC’s finest days while playing for and coaching former league member Arkansas. “I think the people who lose are the fans of the state of Texas who lose the chance to follow great high school players in college.”

Not many people thought enough of the historic finale to show up Saturday as only 28,400 people filtered into the 70,000-seat Rice Stadium.

Those who came, however, were treated to plenty of hoopla.

There was the “Last SWC Coin Toss,” featuring at least one notable representative from all current league teams except A&M and one more from Arkansas.

And there was a halftime celebration to honor Rice’s all-time football team, followed by a typically entertaining show from the Marching Owls Band.

After the game ended, the scoreboard went blank. Then Dick Hudson of Katy, a fan drawn at random from about 1,800 entries, flipped a switch and the entire stadium went dark at 7:10 p.m.

The darkness didn’t last long as flashbulbs began popping to capture the moment. A brief fireworks show set to music soon followed.

It turned out to be a decent show on the field, too, after three lackluster quarters.

Rice (2-8-1, 1-6 SWC) led 17-3 going into the fourth quarter behind two short touchdown runs by Jamey Whitlock.

Clements began rallying Houston (2-9, 2-5) by hitting Damion Johnson on a 20-yard touchdown pass with 11:36 to play. Then, with 1:19 left, Clements lobbed a pass down the right sideline that Larkay James ran under for a 43-yard touchdown.

Down 17-16, the Cougars went for two. Clements scrambled right, saw Johnson breaking away from single coverage in the middle of the end zone and threw the ball to Johnson’s right. His catch gave Houston its first lead of the game - and he had scored the final points in SWC history.

Rice, however, wasn’t done.

Quarterback Raphael Tillman, mostly a runner, completed three passes for 43 yards. The Cougars added to the Owl drive by committing a personal foul, giving Rice 15 more yards and putting the ball at the Houston 18. Rice took a loss of 3 yards to kill some clock and prepare for a field goal by Mike Ruff, who had made a 35-yarder in the first quarter. But Ruff’s kick went wide right and Houston began the celebration a few seconds early.