Fred Goldsmith took over as head coach in 1989, and led the Owls to a 6-5 overall record and a tie for second place in 1992, their best finish in 28 years.

Goldsmith left for Duke in 1993 and was succeeded by former Clemson coach Ken Hatfield, who tallied only three winning seasons in 12 years.

While the Owls were bowl-eligible in those three years, they didn't receive bowl bids due to their small alumni and fan base.

The game featured one of the most famous plays in college football history[2] when Rice's Dickey Moegle (later Maegle) burst free on a sweep play, and on his way down the sideline, was tackled by Tommy Lewis, who had come off the Alabama sideline without his helmet to tackle Moegle.

The yardage added to Moegle's 265 yards rushing, a Cotton Bowl Classic record that would stand until Tony Temple's effort in 2008.

[3] Rice Stadium also hosted a "We choose to go to the Moon" speech by John F. Kennedy on September 12, 1962.

The rivalry is because Rice and SMU were two of four private schools in the Southwest Conference (Baylor and TCU were the others).

Despite being in separate conferences, the two teams still play as non-conference foes as future schedules allow.

[7] Rice and Texas have maintained a largely one-sided rivalry beginning in the early days of the Southwest Conference.

Texas' 28 consecutive victories from 1966 to 1993 represents the sixth longest single-opponent winning streak in college football history.