1978 Rice Owls football team

The 1978 Rice Owls football team was an American football team that represented Rice University in the Southwest Conference during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their first year under head coach Ray Alborn, the team compiled a 2–9 record.^[1][2]

1978 Rice Owls football
Conference	Southwest Conference
Record	2–9 (2–6 SWC)
Head coach	Ray Alborn (1st season)
Home stadium	Rice Stadium
Seasons ← 1977 1979 →

1978 Southwest Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 10 Houston $	7	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 11 Arkansas	6	–	2	–	0			9	–	2	–	1
No. 9 Texas	6	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Texas Tech	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
No. 19 Texas A&M	4	–	4	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
SMU	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	6	–	1
Baylor	3	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Rice	2	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
TCU	0	–	8	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9	No. 20 Iowa State*	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	L 19–23	17,500	[3]
September 16	No. 7 Texas	Rice Stadium Houston, TX (rivalry)	L 0–34	62,000	[4]
September 23	at No. 3 Oklahoma*	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	L 7–66	71,774	[5]
September 30	No. 11 LSU*	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	L 7–37	50,000	[6]
October 14	at TCU	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX	W 21–14	34,433	[7]
October 21	Texas Tech	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	L 28–42	20,000	[8]
October 28	at Texas A&M	Kyle Field College Station, TX	L 28–42	51,461	[9]
November 4	at No. 17 Arkansas	Razorback Stadium Fayetteville, AR	L 7–37	45,709	[10]
November 11	SMU	Rice Stadium Houston, TX (rivalry)	L 0–58	14,000	[11]
November 18	Baylor	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	W 24–10	13,000	[12]
December 2	at No. 9 Houston	Houston Astrodome Houston, TX (rivalry)	L 25–49	33,186	[13]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game