'Our defense did a good, solid job last year. You look at what our coaches did, and all, I thought we were a sound defensive team. I didn't think we created as much as we needed to, but I thought we played like a team that was well coached.' 'This spring we completed, I think it was close to 68 per cent of our passes. And that's for 15 days of spring practice – and it didn't matter who the quarterback or who the receiver was. I think that was good. You could tell it because of the confidence in our spring practice, of two experienced quarterbacks who've played now, for two year.' 'The thing I like about them  is that, as much as any we've had here, is that football means something to this team, both on and off the field. And I think you can sense it, you can tell it in the workouts. You can tell it in some of the things that we're doing.'

Experience level could be
higher but talent is there,
Coach Hatfield opines

HOUSTON (Aug. 20) -- In this third and final installment of a preseason interview with Rice head football coach Ken Hatfield, we get the veteran coach's view of some defensive holes that need filling -- and quickly.  He also talks about the experience of the offensive side of this year's Rice team.  Throughout, he suggests an optimism based upon his observation that numerous newcomers, both redshirts and true freshmen, have exhibited a gratifying level of talent, such that several might show up as break-through players very early in their careers.

Q: Pass defense was a tough area last year for you. Is it going to be even tougher this year, because you don't have guys with that kind of experience that you need, even though they may have the talent?

They don't have the game experience yet, but I feel we are a lot more talented on our own team in the receiving area, and I think they'll gain a lot of confidence in going against each other in our preseason. And then, after a while, you just have to trust your instincts, and trust the ability that you have, and go play the game. And I think they'll do well.

We've got two or three young corners out there that have not played as much, but I think who are guys that are going to do a great job. Andray Downs is a freshman who really was recruited hard by Stanford and Notre Dame. He's a guy who has that top ability, to play anywhere in the country. He has outstanding speed; he had an excellent spring. He's really a fighter and a competitor. I think he will help us. Dustin Haynes looks to be in the best shape he's ever been in. He's lost a lot of weight, too – he's in great physical condition, and I think he'll do well. Patrick Dendy has already played; he'll be a senior this year, and I think that his experience factor will help.

Other than that, we have some other corners -- Matt Chinn, who missed all of spring with a hurt leg, is well, and we're looking forward to see what he can do. Even so, you're exactly right: it's a corner's nightmare today to try and go out there and play one-on-one with all the great skill people that every team has. A lot of times they'll have four or five wideouts in the game -- not just one or two, like you used to have to get ready for.

But our defense did a good, solid job last year. You look at what our coaches did, and all, I thought we were a sound defensive team. I didn't think we created as much as we needed to, but I thought we played like a team that was well coached. We were in the right places. And I think we wound up about second in about three defensive categories and in the WAC, which is pretty good. I think that gave us a chance in every game. Again, when you look back, the two best games we had were against two of the top teams in our league last year, with Fresno and Hawaii. And you know, we're just a play away, with both of them, to win the game.

So our defense did some things last year. But we just need to create more plays -- more big plays -- this year

Q:  So will the defense be more aggressive this year?

I think we have a chance to be. We have a little bit more depth, for instance, when you look at the defensive line, now. We've got some guys that we redshirted; and we brought in some good freshmen who may get in the thick of things. You remember about four or five years ago when we played Larry Brown and B. J. Forguson as true freshman that year, and they played extremely well. And we may have to play one or two of our true freshmen defensive linemen. While they may not know everything, some of them have the ability, the physical strength, the quickness, and they haven't been beat on, so they're pretty healthy. So I expect they'll be able to get in there and play three or four plays and maybe help us that way. That will give us a lot more depth in your pressure positions, and that's what you need in the defensive line, to help out your secondary.

Q: You had to play with some inexperienced receivers last year, because of injuries. Those same receivers are back this year with some experience under their belts. Will that make Kyle and Greg better quarterbacks?

I don't think there's any doubt. This spring we completed, I think it was close to 68 per cent of our passes. And that's for 15 days of spring practice – and it didn't matter who the quarterback or who the receiver was. I think that was good. You could tell it because of the confidence in our spring practice, of two experienced quarterbacks who've played now, for two years – not just one year; they've played for two years. And also it started out with Marcus Battle starting out this spring having the confidence; whereas this time last year he was a quarterback. We were trying to make him into a receiver in spring practice. And so you started with him, you started with Ben Wiggins, who's back again, Ryan Simonak, who's also back again; in the spring we had John Brock, who we were going to start in the Houston game last year, until he got a staph infection two days before the game – and he never got well enough, so that we had to end up redshirting him.

We ended up starting this spring with a lot – about four or five – very gifted receivers. Jeremy  Hurd is playing so much better now after a year. We started out with about five receivers that all have played, now, and with the experienced quarterbacks and the arm accuracy that they have, I thought that part of our game really was a plus for us all spring. And I think that'll help our defense going against that kind of game plan, week in and week out, too.

Q:  Still, you mentioned that you believe you continue to run the option more than any team in the country. Is that what fans can look forward to again this season?

You betcha. Both those guys, Kyle and Greg  – that's really why they came here. They wanted a chance to be a leader; they wanted a chance to run and throw. And the run is something we do rely on more than a lot of other schools. Navy and some of those other guys that also run the option will run their quarterback an awful lot, too. Our guys have carried the ball a lot. They're gonna carry the ball a lot this year.

Q:   Do you feel the team has the potential to go back to the way you were in 2001, when more of the buttons you pushed came out right?

It all starts with the blockin', more than anything else. But I feel, with the experience at all the offensive skill positions, we have a chance to be a lot more effective this year than we have in several years. We'll see how it works out.

Q:  How is Mike Holman doing with his injury? Are there any other injury concerns you have?

At this time Mike Holman will not play; at this time Thadis Pegues will not play. This year, Thadis is not eligible at this time. Julius Mitchell is medically not able to play -- we didn't think he would be, but we kept a spot open, just in case he might be able to. He is a senior; he is not going to be able to; we are going to operate on him and then he'll help us out somewhere on the team. Now, Mike Holman – we’ll do the same thing with him once he gets back. He is already been operated on; he will not play this year. And then Thadis, as we're talking, at this time, is not eligible. So we're not counting on him either.

I think that's it. I think we're down to about 96 players, total, on the roster -- I believe that's where we are may be right now.

Q: What happened to Mike Holman exactly?

His knee. At the end of spring our doctors examined him and looked at his knee, and they thought possibly then he might be able to own. We’d hoped so. There was a chance he could be ready; he tried to do it over the summer; he tried to get well staying off of it and then preparing; and, as he came back, we just saw here in the last couple of weeks that he just wasn't physically able to do the things that we needed him to do – so there wasn't any sense in even trying the rest of it. To go on and operate this time would be the right thing, just so he could get well and start healing up quicker.

Q: Who's going to start at right guard now for you, then?

Probably Cotey-Joe Cswaykus. We've got several guys there, but Cotey-Joe has really worked hard, and three of those guys have all played center, that we have to try and find a place for, too – you know, with Ben Stephens, Ross Huebel, and Cotey Joe. All the men played some, in there. That's probably what were going to do.

Q: Every team tends of have its own, unique character. Talk to us about the character of this team....

Right. We've done different things in the off season, we've done different things as a team. The thing I liked about them is their work ethic; how much the game of football means to the player on this team. It's much easier, somehow, when you're at a great academic school where everybody appreciates the value of your degree; the players know that if they graduate, they're going to have an opportunity at great jobs and the things that go with it, the rest of your life. With 85 guys on scholarship, everybody's not playing a lot, at one time – as they all did in high school. And so a lot of the key that you find, is how well you can really maintain the intensity and the fire in your stomach, to continue to be a great football player, at a point in time where you're maybe third team or fourth team, and you know you're all going to get the same degree, but you're saying now I'm not having as much success in football. And the thing I like about them  is that, as much as any we've had here, is that football means something to this team, both on and off the field. And I think you can sense it, you can tell it in the workouts. You can tell it in some of the things that we're doing. And that's a good feeling when the way they're preparing, to come out to practice, each and every day, and trying to improve, to enjoy winning, where it doesn't matter what drill you're doing – that's something I like about this team now.

UH opener looms big
Coach Hatfield looks
at this year's schedule

HOUSTON (Aug. 15) -- In our second installment of Q&A with Rice head Coach Ken Hatfield, the veteran coach takes a look at his 2003 schedule, and ruminates on prospects in the Owls' opening game at the University of Houston.

Q:  Coach, it's a big game right off the bat when you open the season with the U of H at Robertson Stadium, Aug. 30. A new regime, a new attitude out on Cullen Boulevard – how do you prepare for it?

It doesn't do us much good to look at their films from last year, because Art is going to be a little different in everything he does. That's unlike us -- the film they got from us, they know what we will look like, with a lot of guys returning. But with him, there's no way to tell what they will do, when you're playing someone new. There'll sure be some adjustments as the game goes along, in that one.  But it's a good opener for us.

Q:  You guys use the no-huddle quite a bit. When you tee off with U of H, it's likely going to be as hot as it is today. It will be a lot of work for you guys to prepare for that. Do you try to go through the no- huddle offense when you're a practicing for an early season game like U of H?

Well, you do what you have to do. We know that UH uses no-huddle, as well -- and they do a lot of other things, too, that you have to be prepared for. And really what you're talking about, most of the time, is that you have to do whatever it takes to get your defense ready for the first game of the year. The offense can slow the game down anytime you want to. I mean, if we want to run one play, great. We can run one play the whole game – if that's what you want to do. And you can change your offensive philosophy even the week of the game. Unfortunately, defensively you can't do that. Because, defensively, we don't know what they're doing.

At the same time, with a new staff at UH, we know a lot about what all it believes in, but also you go back and you're not sure -- you've got to prepare things that your team is going to see the whole season. You have to be prepared for the no-huddle, you have to be prepared for tricks, you have to be prepared for a little bit of everything. And so we do what we have to do. Offensively, we have to be sure we do enough things that it will help our defense be prepared in that opening ball game. Then after that, you just play as the game goes. But the newness will make a big difference, and its always a tough situation to deal with..

After a team has played a time or two, and you've got some film on them, then you can focus in on what a team is really doing, what the personality of that team really is. But going into the first game with a new coach -- really, a new quarterback,   when you get down to it, for them, too -- you know you're just not sure what they're going to do, so you've got to prepare for an awful lot of things in the opening game -- which makes it  tough on your defense.

Q:  Are you spending a lot of time watching Stephenville tape, or Texas Tech, or a combination of each of them?

Combination. I think we'll do a combination of everything that Art believes in -- and that his staff believes in. And the thing that is difficult is that he had success at both places -- Stephenville and Texas Tech. You know, last year Texas Tech, beating Texas like they did, was a big game, too, even out there. They just had a great year anyway, and he had a great quarterback. So I think that Art picked up some things there that he will add to all the things that he did in Stephenville. When you put all of that together, it makes it tough to figure out.

If you all would go to the UH staff today after you get through here, and let them know, just in all fairness -- since I've been here we've always kind of exchanged what the other one's going to do. We'll give them our film of what we are going to do, of what we did last year, and Art ought to be able to draw up on a sheet and show us what he's going to do. I mean, that's only for the benefit of all the fans that go to the game! It's just one of the rules of the Bayou Bucket. Coach Briles probably doesn't know about that yet -- but I'll be expecting it in the mail tomorrow!

Q:  How much will it be a key against UH to be able to control the clock?

I don't know, any more. When you look back a recent statistics, with most people, unless you're controlling the clock for 40 minutes to your opponent's 20 minutes – that's about where you've got to get to before you really gain an advantage. You know, to be three or four minutes ahead on the clock, one way or the other is not really that big a deal anymore. It used to be. But nowadays, you've got to pretty much commit yourself – if you want to really gain an advantage in time possession, you've got to have the ball about 40 minutes, about two-thirds of the game. Then you really negate great offensive players by making them sit on the bench. It's awfully hard to do today, just for a lot of reasons, mainly because people aren't playing one defense, they're playing a lot of multiple defenses. It's almost like they've gotten the philosophy that, ‘we're going to give you so many defenses so you can't control the ball consistently down the field.' And their feeling is, maybe we'll create a big play – but if you manage to score on one play we don't care; we get the ball back. So that's the way a lot of them feel, philosophy- wise, and so with that change it's harder to have the consistency with ball control as much as you used to be able to do. Now, you've got to score a lot more points.

Q:  After UH, you’ve got two more non conference challenges in September, with Duke and the University of Texas...

Duke will be a great challenge, a tough road game. They only had one senior on their team last year; they really expect to have the best year than they've had in about the past five or six years. Then coming back and playing against Texas -- Texas is rated in the top three or four teams in the nation in every poll that I've seen so far.

Then we go to Hawaii for our opening conference game against the team that really has been picked to win the conference by a lot of people. So we've got to be good early. We do have three non-conference games before the WAC schedule begins. So we're going to try to take advantage of that time and try to develop into a good, solid team.

Q:  Coach, could you handicap the conference this year? Hawaii, Fresno, Boise, are the teams the media have picked....

I think most of the experienced teams are all on the West Coast this year. Boise, of course, with Dinwiddie back, has got to be a big factor. I wasn’t just last year for them – if you look over the period of the last ten years, I think they've won over 80 per cent of their games. So they've shown they can be good and solid. Fresno, naturally, has great players – they've got their quarterback back, who was just a freshman last year and played so well. I think they won their last five games with him last year. Hawaii with Chang back, most people are picking, People have ranked Hawaii, mainly because June has bragged on Chang and said he thought he's the best quarterback he's ever had--you know, as a young guy, who's been playing for them now for about three or four years. So I think they are really strong.

Nevada, I thought was an excellent team, defeating Brigham Young last year -- and I think they have nineteen starters back. So I mean they've got to be a good team, to. And the other one from that area, down in San Jose, they played really well last year, too. I thought Fitz Hill did as good a coaching job as any coach in America. Last year, to play 13 games -- I think nine of them on the road -- to beat Illinois, up there I think the quarterback passed for over 400 yards in that ball game. They are all the solid teams, I think, from out that way to begin with.

All the rest of us are probably sitting there, wanting to make our mark. And we'll have to go through the west, I think, to win the conference. UTEP will be better, there's no doubt about it. I think that SMU will be better, in Phil's second year around. Louisiana Tech certainly plays as demanding a schedule as anybody in the country, especially in those early games they always have. And with McCown backfor them as a senior -- you know he won the conference for them as a sophomore -- they are still a threat, always.

Tulsa, with a new coach, provides some renewed enthusiasm and that always helps. So I think it's unlike the last couple of years. The last two years, it was easy to pick Boise, because they had all those 25 guys coming back -- the whole offensive line returning, great running backs, great quarterback -- and they were great. When you look there, it doesn't take much to remember their game with Fresno -- I thought Boise could've scored 100 on Fresno that night -- and you know, they almost did!

The year before, Fresno was that kind of team too, looking at them on paper. They had David Carr, they had Rodney Wright, they had Bernard Berrian, they had everybody that year. They were a great team. And even though they were a great team on paper, they didn't even win the conference. Then La Tech came up and took it away from them. And even our game with La Tech could've gone the other way and we could've won the conference.

So it's a kind of a league that, while you may have some favorites early on, right now, for different reasons, experience wise, quarterback wise, I think that the WAC is always a wild and wide-open affair, and will provide some of the greatest moments of college football this year.

Next installment: Coach Hatfield talks about his players....

Hatfield takes high road,
likes what he sees in this
year's version of Owls

HOUSTON (Aug. 12) -- Rice head Coach Ken Hatfield is getting to be one of the longest-tenured head coaches in major college football, but his  enthusiasm remains unflagged as he heads into his Silver Anniversary season.  

We caught up with the constantly-active, former University of Arkansas All-American punt returner on the first day of fall drills.  If the players are as ready to roll as Coach Hatfield  is, Rice fans just might be pleasantly surprised by the Owls this fall. Here's the first installment of a three-part interview.

Q:  Coach, another August, another season is upon us. This is your 25th year as a college head coach. Are you looking at this one any differently from all the others?

August is always a fun time for us to start. I'm especially looking forward to it, because of our seniors. When you start your senior year, there's such a uniqueness about it each and every day, and a lot of the time the seniors realize that this is their last go-‘round in the game of college football. It's an exciting time, it's a beginning of something that is very special for them and meaningful for all of us.

And the rest of us, as coaches and his players, try to help them have the best year that they can have, something that they'll be able to remember for an awfully long time. So I'm eager to get started. I think we've got some players who played last year and gained some valuable experience, who’ll provide some leadership for us. We've got 22 young guys that we redshirted last year, who are now eligible to play for the next four years -- that I'm eager to turn them loose and see how they can fit in and contribute. And we’re also looking to see how some of those younger players we had last year are a lot more experienced and can play with a lot more confidence. A guy like Marcus Battle, guys who played new positions like Adam Herrin, Brandon Boyd -- those guys now have a lot more experience at their new positions, and I think that bodes well for us going into the season.

Q: Are you and your staff and players having any difficulty adjusting to the new, NCAA-mandated practice schedule?

Two-a-days are a little bit different this year, as you know, because of those new rules. We have tried to maintain, as much as we could, some individual time with our freshmen. We did bring in the freshmen a day early. We did practice them twice by themselves. In deference to the rules, however, we have to bring the group together now at the same time. But we thought it was so important for the new folks, each year, to get adjusted to Rice; to learn the system, to learn the terminology before we actually throw them in with the varsity -- and get  them a chance to understand what we are talking about when we finally get to our meetings. And I think it's going to be the right thing to do for us.  You know, everybody has got to do what's right for your program -- and your own weather!

We pretty much got into a practice format, several years ago -- about three years ago, I guess it was -- when we had the extreme heat. I can remember the first day going into practice, and it was so hot it was like sticking your head in an oven. So we had to change all our practice times for that whole series of two-a-days. Then the last two years we just did it on the front end and rescheduled everything. And I think it's been productive for us; I think we've been rested; we've been prepared in the first ball game -- we haven't always won it! But I thought we've always been healthy, we've been in condition, and we've played well in the fourth quarter in those early games. I think that's the real key of what we're trying to do.

Q: Is  there anything you can emphasize in August that can make a difference in the close games in November?

Starting off, we kind of looked back at last year, and decided that we had four or five games there that we ended up losing, where one play made the difference in the game. Probably symbolic of all of it was the Hawaii game. To end up that way, the way we did come back against a great Hawaii team -- with the ball on the five yard line we had a chance to win the game in the end. There were several games like that -- the Fresno game was that way, all but probably the Boise game is the only one that really we were out of the whole game. Even Michigan state -- when we played them last year I thought we were in the ball game until we gave them a couple of easy scores.

So I feel like that now we're trying to condition our players to understand that we need to make those plays in the fourth quarter -- not just be close enough to make a play. And I think that is what experience gives you. It's a great feeling to start the year with two experienced quarterbacks who both played for us, who won for us, have done a great job -- either one of them could go in there and play. I think that our team has a lot of confidence in both of them. I think that's going to be a great place to start.

Q: The offense has got to be ahead of the defense, at least in terms of experience, going into preseason drills....

I think we have more wideouts and receivers than we've ever had since we've been here -- that have caught the ball, that have played well for us -- and we plan to utilize them better this year. All of our fullbacks are back; our running backs are experienced. I think our offensive line is going to be solid. We did take a hit this past week when our senior starter, Mike Holman, did have to have his knee operated on and will miss this whole season. This is his senior year -- so that will hurt us -- and it will hurt Mike. But somebody else will have to pick up his slack and do a great job out there for us.

Defensively, while we lost a lot of starters, the one who I think was a difference maker last year was Brandon Green, and he's playing well up in his camp, by the way -- just signed his pro contract this year with Jacksonville, and was a big play man for us. And he will be hard to replace. He just made so many things happen. You just don't take someone who's your all-time sack record holder, and say you've got somebody just as good right behind him. That’s not realistic.. We will have some other guys, though, who will set goals to beat that record in three or four years, and work toward that. And I think that we'll be in good shape

As for the other guys that we lost on defense, we did have guys who alternated with them and I think those guys gained some experience, and while they may not have started or be listed as a starter, we think they are good enough to be good starters for us now for us and provide leadership -- starting right away in that first game with Houston.

Q: How do view the status of your kicking game?

Well, we lost the best the snapper in the nation last year; he was drafted the highest of any deep snapper in NFL history. That's pretty good, and Ryan Pontbriand was just an outstanding performer. We have a young man, Drew Clardy, from Mississippi, who we’re counting on to take his place, and we’ll be working with him hard. And with our holder back, and our field goal kicker back, and Brandon Skeen, our kickoff man, we feel like we've gotten some dead solid kickers on the squad.  Jared Scruggs is our punter now; we redshirted him last year. He has a tremendously strong and a live leg, and we think he's going to be a dandy.

We've got to improve in our kicking return game  -- punt returns and our kickoff returns. Here it's probably one area that we not done as well in as we'd like to -- as  when we had Michael Perry and LaDouphyous McCalla earlier, who were great, great return men. We've been missing that part of our game as a consistent feature. So that's an area were going to work awfully hard on.  Because if we have a good solid kicking game, I think we'll be well rounded and will have a great team.

We are looking to the challenge of the twelve- game season. We do play four games early that are all against good, solid people. Nobody can ask for anything more, to play Houston in the opening game. I think we're the only city in America that has two Division I A rivals playing the opening ball game of the season. I think that's good for college football; it's good for us; and it certainly will be a challenge this year.

Next installment:  Coach Hatfield handicaps the WAC....