Unlike the majority of college football teams, Rice University decided to play it as safe as possible with regards to the coronavirus, postponing its first games out of an abundance of caution. That meant that its season opener occurred on Saturday against a Middle Tennessee State team that had already played six games this season. Instead of rewarding Rice for its patience, the football gods cursed the team with one of the unluckiest field goal attempts you will ever see.
After Rice ran the ball twice for no yards and then kneeled to center the ball for the ensuing field goal attempt, fate took over. Forget the double doink, it's time for the quadruple doink:
That's Rice kicker Collin Riccitelli hitting all three posts of the upright for a total of four bonks on an overtime attempt that would have given Rice a 37–34 victory. Riccitelli had a chance to redeem himself with another field goal in double overtime, but the MTSU line blocked his kick. On the subsequent MTSU possession, Blue Raiders quarterback Asher O'Hara ran the ball in for the game-winner:
I'm not sure what Riccitelli did during the coronavirus layoff to piss off the football deities, but whatever it was, they sure got him back for it on Saturday. With any luck, he'll have used up all of his bad karma in one excruciating game, because otherwise, who knows what will come next to top the quadruple-doink.
