Rice Stadium was enveloped in an unfamiliar hue Saturday night. It wasn’t necessarily the purple from the traveling East Carolina fans, who flocked into the city of Houston for the first-ever AAC meeting between the Owls and Pirates. But the Owls recognized their home debut in a new conference with a nod to the past. They donned “Luv Ya Blue” uniforms that paid homage to the Houston Oilers which played their home games at Rice Stadium from 1965-67, and the associated merchandise sold throughout the stadium was a hit among the Owl faithful.
With palpable hype surrounding the uniforms, the new conference affiliation, and the early success of the season, the Owls rose to the occasion.