Freshman back leads Rice to win over Air Force

FORT WORTH, Texas – Freshman quarterback Driphus Jackson threw for 264 yards in relief of Rice’s hurt starter, including two touchdown passes to Jordan Taylor, and the Owls beat Air Force 33-14 in the Armed Forces Bowl on Saturday.

Jackson’s first series after taking over for Taylor McHargue ended with a bad pitch for a fumble near the goal line only 2 seconds before halftime, when the Owls (7-6) trailed 14-7.

But Jackson made up for it after halftime, when Rice scored 26 unanswered points.

Taylor caught nine passes for 153 yards, with a 16-yard touchdown from McHargue in the first quarter.

McHargue never returned because of an apparent head injury after a helmet-to-helmet collision with about 5 minutes left in the first half.

Air Force (6-7) was held to a season-low 214 total yards.