BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Ravens had scored three points in 27 minutes and trailed the unbeaten Houston Texans. Iman Marshall Ravens Jersey . Ray Rice was unavailable, the offence was struggling and the usually boisterous crowd was eerily quiet. The defending Super Bowl champs were in dire need of a game-changing play, and Daryl Smith was there to provide it. Smith stepped in front of tight end Owen Daniels, intercepted Matt Schaubs pass and took it 37 yards for a touchdown to propel the Ravens to a 30-9 victory Sunday. Less than two minutes after Smiths pivotal TD, Tandon Doss scored on an 82-yard punt return. And just like that, the Ravens (2-1) were on their way to a lopsided victory against one of the AFCs top teams. "Two huge plays by the defence and the special teams," coach John Harbaugh said. The Ravens (2-1) won despite playing without Rice for the first time since 2008. Watching from the sideline with a strained left hip flexor, the three-time Pro Bowl running back was replaced by Bernard Pierce, who ran for 65 yards and a touchdown. Baltimore got only four first downs and 65 yards of offence in the first half, yet went to the locker room with a 17-9 lead. "A guy like Daryl makes a huge play and turns the game entirely around," Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith said. Houston (2-1) led 6-3 before the interception return with 2:39 left in the first half. After a three-and-out by the Texans, Doss eluded several tacklers during his first career punt return for a touchdown. "Over a four-play sequence, we give them 14 points," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. "Thats where the game turned, and we were playing catch-up all game long." Houston compiled only 107 yards of offence in getting shut out in the second half. After scoring seven touchdowns in their first two games, the Texans were limited to three field goals by Randy Bullock. Give much of the credit to the Ravens defence, which has not allowed a touchdown in eight quarters since a season-opening 49-27 defeat in Denver. With at least a half-dozen new faces, the unit remains a work in progress. But this was a significant step. "We do feel were as far along as we could possibly be with this group," Harbaugh said. "We havent given up the big plays." Schaub went 25 for 35 for 194 yards and an interception. He played much of the second half without wide receiver Andre Johnson, who bruised his shin. "I did not think he could run the way he needs to play, so we took him out," Kubiak said. Schaubs most lamentable throw was the one that Smith took the other way. "Poor decision on my part," Schaub said. "You got to be better in that situation, especially late in the half." Joe Flacco was 16 of 24 for 171 yards to help the Ravens avenge last years 43-13 blowout loss in Houston. The Texans fell to 0-4 in Baltimore, including a defeat in the 2011 post-season. Houston came in as a slight favourite, but the Ravens again proved formidable at home, where theyre 35-7 since the start of the 2008 season. The game featured the return of Ed Reed and Ray Lewis, who starred for years with Baltimore. Lewis was inducted into the Ravens Ring of Honor at halftime, and Reed made his debut with Houston at free safety after signing with the Texans as a free agent in March. Reed long has been part of great defensive performances by the Ravens. This time, he was on the opposite end. "Baltimore has a great defence," Reed said. "I told the guys coming into this game, defensively theyre going to know every move that youre making, everything that youre doing." Smith, Lewis replacement at middle linebacker, knew all about Schaubs tendency to look for his tight end in those situations. "It was something we saw on film during the week," he said. "We got pressure on the play and I jumped the route." It was his first interception return for a score. "Its like a dream; its hazy," he said. "I remember catching it and running as fast as I can." Notes: Ravens DT Terrence Cody sprained his knee in the first quarter and did not return. ... Ravens backup RB Shaun Draughn sprained his ankle. ... Houston was denied in its bid to go 3-0 for a second straight season. ... Smith became the 19th player in Ravens history to score on an INT return. Justice Hill Ravens Jersey . Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Fiorentina levelled on aggregate in the 14th minute when Joaquin Sanchez Rodriguez headed back a long ball from David Pizarro and Pasqual smashed home an angled volley. Ben Powers Youth Jersey .1 million contract. The club said that Boll will earn $950,000 in 2012-13 and $1.15 million in 2013-14. The 26-year-old Boll had two goals and one assist with 126 penalty minutes in 54 games with the Blue Jackets in 2011-12. http://www.ravensrookiestore.com/Ravens-Miles-Boykin-Jersey/ . The native of Mont-Tremblant, Que., captured a World Cup downhill event Saturday, his second this year and fifth career victory on the circuit.AUSTIN, Texas -- Charlie Strong left a Louisville program that needed to punch its way into the national spotlight for the Texas Longhorns, who live smack in the middle with their enormous wealth, swagger, political intrigue and championship expectations. And thats just the off-the-field stuff. On the field, he inherits a team mired in mediocrity with a 30-21 record over the last four years, but still talented enough to come within 30 minutes of winning a share of the 2013 Big 12 title. Strong will be introduced as the Texas football coach Monday. In a statement released by the school Sunday, Strong said he was excited to be taking over one of the "premier programs" in the country. "Texas is one of those places that is always on your radar and a program anyone would dream of being a part of because you have a chance to compete on a national level every year," Strong said. "Its special because it has such great history, pride, tradition and passion for football." In the 53-year-old Strong -- the first black head coach of a mens program at Texas -- new athletic director Steve Patterson landed a coach whose teams went 23-3 the last two years, including a BCS bowl win over Florida and a blowout of Miami to end the 2013 season in the Russell Athletic Bowl. Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher, who has the No. 1 Seminoles in Monday nights national title game, praised the hire. Fisher was previously considered a possible target for Texas and would have faced Strong in the ACC when Louisville moves to that league next season. "I think hes done a tremendous job at Louisville, turning those guys around," Fisher said Sunday. "I think Charlies an excellent coach." Strong succeeded at a school that had to fight its way onto the national radar even in the good years. At Texas, the bad years draw just as much attention as the good ones, and college football will be watching to see how well he can unite a powerhouse program with a discontented fan base aching to return to the national elite. And how quickly he can win a lot of games. Strongs predecessor did that. Over 16 years, Mack Brown had 158 victories, and in 2005 he won Texas first undisputed national title in 36 years. From 2000-09, Texas averaged more than 10 wins a season and played in four BCS bowls, winning three. That success helped spur unprecedented financial growth. Texas ranks as the wealthiest athletic program in the country. A partnership with ESPN created the Longhorn Network, a 20-year deal worth att least $300 million to the university. Iman Marshall Womens Jersey. But for all its wealth, Texas has struggled to deliver a championship legacy that lives up its sense of grandeur. Brown won just two Big 12 titles, while his archrival across his northern border, Bob Stoops at Oklahoma, won eight. Texas lone national championship in 44 years pales in comparison to Alabamas three from 2009-12. And the recent drop-off that started with a 5-7 record in 2010 got ugly by the end. When Texas started last season 1-2, some Texas fans even booed a public service announcement from Brown encouraging donations to charities. The turmoil also exposed on a national level the political fighting that embroiled the university and attempts by some school officials and prominent supporters to push Brown out a year ago. For more than two years, university regents have been fighting over whether to fire school President Bill Powers, who had been a key ally of Brown. Some of the same regents also were involved in talks with Alabama coach Nick Sabans agent in January 2013 in efforts to coax Saban into coming to Austin. That Strong will be the first African-American head coach of a mens program at Texas is significant at a school that resisted integration in the 1950s and 60s and had college footballs last all-white national champion in 1969. "This is a historic day for The University of Texas and a historic hire for our football team," Powers said. Until 2010, Texas had a residence hall named after former law school professor William Stewart Simkins, a Confederate colonel who also was an early organizer of the Ku Klux Klan in Florida after the Civil War. Texas is still fighting legal battles over race. Only now the school wants to keep an affirmative action admissions policy that allows the school to consider race for some applicants. But former Texas womens track coach Bev Kearney, who was pressured to resign in 2013 after revelations of a relationship with one of her athletes, has filed a discrimination lawsuit against Texas, arguing race was a factor in her case. Kearney is black. In 2009, just before he was hired at Louisville, Strong complained that hed been passed over for another job in part because his wife is white. Strong said it was difficult to leave Louisville, the school that was willing to give him his first head coaching job. "They have been great to me and my family, and it was very hard to say goodbye," Strong said. "But they know this was an opportunity I couldnt pass up." ' ' '