Year-by-Year: 1947
November 24, 1947 10:00 AM
Blocked Punts Bring Down Tennessee
Rice 8
Tennessee 0
Eight first-quarter points, including a safety off of a blocked punt, paved the way for an 8-0 upset of Tennessee by Rice.
Rice blocked and tackled better than Tennessee, and it out-defended and out-kicked the team whose coach wrote the book on winning by kicking. There was a record 28 punts, including the Owls' Jess Keeney's 13. Rice Coach Hugh Neely began to play Robert Neyland's game, matching quick-kick for quick-kick.
The Owls' lone touchdown came on their second series on an 83-yard drive. At midfield on second down, fullback Carl Russ popped through a hole and headed downfield where he was encircled at the Tennessee 15. He pitched a lateral to Keeney trailing the play, and Keeney sprinted untouched to the end zone to make it 6-0.
Soon after, the Vols punted on third down and freshman James Williams blocked the punt from the outside. The ball rolled to the Tennessee 1-yard line where the Volunteers recovered. They still had a down to work with. Rice's Ralph Murphy, another freshman, got through to the kicker again and knocked it out of the end zone for the safety.
Rice Tennessee
First Downs 9 5
Rushing Plays 55 36
Rushing Yards 227 104
Passes Attempted 6 19
Passes Completed 0 4
Had Intercepted 2 4
Passing Yards (-17) 32
Total Offense 210 136
Punting/Avg. 13/44 15/38.8
Fumbles/Lost 4/3 3/0
Penalties/Yards 4/41 6/62
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Rice 8 0 0 0 8
Tennessee 0 0 0 0 0
SCORING SUMMARY
RU: Rowan safety, recovered blocked kick; RU: Kenney 50 run, 25 by Russ, lateral to Kenney (kick failed)
Rice Head Coach Jess Neely
Tennessee Head Coach Robert Neyland