El Paso, Texas: Pebble Hills Graduate Gael Ochoa Runs for 259 Yards and Four Touchdowns in First Rice Start

Gael Ochoa had taken two snaps in two seasons at UNLV, and he carried the ball 13 times for 19 yards in Rice's first seven games this fall. On October 24 in Boca Raton, Florida, the redshirt sophomore from El Paso made his first collegiate start and produced the best rushing game by any FBS player this season.

Ochoa ran 12 times for 259 yards and four touchdowns at Florida Atlantic. Every touchdown run covered more than 50 yards, scoring from 55, 52, 74 and 69 yards out. He completed 2 of 5 passes for 80 yards, including a 71 yard touchdown throw to Braylen Walker that cut the score to 51 to 49 late in the game. Rice still lost by two points and fell to 1 and 7, but Ochoa accounted for five touchdowns and 339 yards of offense on the day.

Second only to a Cotton Bowl legend

The 259 yards are the second most in a single game in Rice history. The only bigger day belongs to Dickie Maegle, who ran for 265 yards against Alabama in the 1954 Cotton Bowl, one of the most replayed games in the school's past. Ochoa finished six yards short of a record that has stood for 72 years.

The records did not stop there. Ochoa averaged 21.6 yards per carry, an American Conference record, and 19.9 yards per offensive play, another conference record. His rushing total is the third best by a quarterback in conference history and the 11th best by any FBS quarterback. Our Esquina named him its Latino Player of the Week for Week 8 of the season.

A long wait in two cities

Ochoa was a three year starter at Pebble Hills High School in El Paso. As a senior he passed for 2,107 yards and 15 touchdowns and ran for 886 yards and three touchdowns. He first committed to UTEP in his home city, then signed with UNLV, where he spent two seasons without recording a statistic. He transferred to Rice in Houston and backed up starter Jacurri Brown this season.

Brown hurt his ankle and was listed as questionable all week before the Florida Atlantic game. Ochoa learned on game day morning that he would start. His old high school coach, Mark Torres, now the head coach at Buda Hays near Austin, watched the breakout from Central Texas. "The first touchdown definitely broke it open," Ochoa told El Paso station KTSM. "It allowed me to play comfortably and free."

What comes next

Rice has a bye week, and head coach Scott Abell has time to weigh his options at quarterback while Brown recovers. The Owls play at North Texas on November 7. Ochoa told the El Paso Times he is preparing for that game as if he will play, the same approach he kept through three quiet seasons. After October 24, the wait is part of his story, but it is no longer the headline. The headline is the record book, and an El Paso name now sits near the top of it.