SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 7, 2011

Jeremy Ebert had a career-high 208 receiving yards and two touchdowns as Northwestern defeated host Rice 28-6 on Saturday.

Ebert finished with seven catches, including a 90-yard touchdown, and Dan Persa finished 25-of-32 with a career-high 372 yards and four touchdowns.

Demetrius Fields had a 15-yard touchdown catch as Northwestern (5-5) scored more than 20 points for the ninth time in ten games en route to its third straight victory.

Northwestern, which had lost five straight prior to its winning streak, scored twice in the final five minutes of the second quarter on two of Persa’s three first-half touchdown passes, including his strike to Fields with 37 seconds left to make it 21-0.

After a scoreless third quarter, the Wildcats extended their lead to 28-0 on Persa’s final touchdown pass, a 3-yarder to Kain Colter with 14 minutes left.

Rice (3-7) continued its road struggles against BCS schools with its 23rd straight loss.

The Owls were held to their lowest point total of the season and Tyler Smith’s 9-yard run with 4:50 left prevented their first shutout since a 37-0 loss to TCU in 2000. Rice has been outscored 366-237 this season.

Smith finished with 84 yards on 21 carries.