Owlook

It seems two of the Owls' recent tormentors, the Texas Longhorns and the Baylor Bears, after having an easy time of it in running up big scores against Rice, were shot down ignominiously by unranked opponents this past weekend.

After seeing the Owls fall to the Bears, 42-17, and to Texas, 58-14, Rice fans could take comfort in the rationalization that the undermanned Feathered Flock, after all, had been taking on the big bullies of the neighborhood. But Kansas State and Texas A&M effectively put that reasoning to bed Saturday with one-sided wins over the two former Southwest Conference Rice rivals.

Now, the 0-4 Owls enter a new phase of their season's play with a highly-unusual Wednesday night game against the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles in Hattiesburg.

As they play the only nationally-televised college football game that day (7:00 p.m., ESPN2), many more eyes than usual will be on the Owls. That may or may not necessarily be a good thing.

Rice can make a huge statement and engage in a major mid-course correction with an upset win against the Southern Mississippians. Even a reasonably close game can engender hopes for success in upcoming conference tilts.

But another blowout loss would further demoralize the less than legion number of die-hard Rice fans.

Eagles flexing talons over prospect of taking on "Owl State"

And after football's version of the Oak Ridge Boys lost big in Boise last Thursday, 38-16, it appears they've got vengeance on their minds, and would like nothing better than to wash the taste of that stinging loss out of their mouths with a serious dough-popping of "Owl State," as one Southern Miss pinhead called it.

Golden Eagle OL Chris Clark said there's been a mood swing since the team returned from Boise Friday. The one-sided loss was "definitely a wake-up call," Clark said. "I felt like there were a lot of guys who were more 'I' instead of 'team' when it came to Southern Miss."

"We're looking forward to dominating things," Clark said.

The Southern Miss OL may or may not dominate, but it appears they'll do so either way without senior quarterback Jeremy Young, who went down in a heap late in the Boise State game, after which medics said he'd be shelved for two weeks to a month with a high ankle sprain.

But Young was working out with the Eagle second team during a weekend practice, and brashly predicted that he just might be on the field playing against the Owls, come Wednesday. The obvious implication: the Rice pass rush is so weak that a lack of mobility really isn't a problem -- you can just camp out back there in the pocket and take your time picking your targets.

Instead of Young, senior Stephen Reaves will draw the start against the Owls Wednesday. Not much in the way of tea leaves are out there for the reading on this youngster. After Young went out against Boise, Reaves was 3-of-8 passing for 12 yards. Last year, he played in eight games, completed 51.4 percent of his passes for 488 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

But Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower strongly implied that it doesn't really matter who bows under at the quarterback spot.  Rather,  he's going to try to run the Owls silly, come Wednesday -- employing a little bit of old-fashioned smash-mouth football.

"We needed to run the ball a little better" against Boise, the 17-year veteran coach explained. "The coaches think this is a good move to get the running game going a little more. I feel it's a good move, too, and big things will come of it."

USM features diminutive, but crafty, soph running back

That running game starts big-time with outstanding sophomore halfback Damion Fletcher. In 2006, the 5-10, 175-pound Biloxi native enjoyed the best-ever rushing season by a freshman at Southern Miss or in Conference USA -- and No. 13 all-time in NCAA history -- enough to garner him freshman All- American designation by several national news agencies.

In the 17 games he's taken the field for the Golden Eagles, he's averaged over 105 yards per game, and has rushed for at least 100 yards in ten career games.

Coach Bower also announced major change on USM special teams, which belly-flopped on the blue turf of Boise.

The Eagle kicking game left the Broncos with scant yardage to cover on its first three drives of the game Thursday, which commenced, respectively, on the Boise 48-, 46- and 46-yard lines.

That fact helped the Broncs break out to a 28-3, which was a deficit that the Mississippians never seriously challenged.

The USM coach didn't provide details on the special teams depth chart, however -- he only emphasized that he was going to shuffle it. "Too many, I can't even go over," he said.

Defensively, the Eagles are led by sophomore linebacker Gerald McRath, out of Powder Springs, Ga. -- hey, isn't that the home town of a certain All-American Owl basketball player who's given Owl fans much joy in recent years?

The 6-3, 212-pounder has picked up double digit tackles each time he's taken the field for the Eagles this young season, finishing the Boise game with a team-high 13 stops. It was his sixth consecutive game with 10 or more tackles, dating back to last season.

In the secondary, McRath is ably teamed up with senior DB Brandon Sumrall, who also picked up 10 tackles in the Boise State game. The two-time All-C-CUSA DB was named this fall to the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list for the top defensive player in the college football and is said to be quite the head hunter.

USM worked out Saturday and Sunday nights

The USM crew started their preparations for the Owls with back-to-back weekend night practices Saturday and Sunday, in an effort to make up time, give the short work week.

"It was a pretty good practice," Bower said of his team's Sunday night workout. "The energy level was where we needed to be."

"I hope it continues," Bower said. "The team should be anxious to be playing back at home."

Anxious, indeed, as this game will be only the second home start for the Eagles thus far this season. And no matter what, a 4,200-mile round trip to Boise can't be anything but debilitating. What that means, the USM coach intimated, as that one hasn't really seen the USM team at its best yet this season. And, the logic continues, this week, against the weak-sister "Owl State," it'd be a good time for the "A" game to show up.

"This football team hasn't proven anything to me yet," the USM coach told press Monday. "We've played four games, and haven't played a consistent game yet. I know I said that last week, but we haven't."

"We need to win a game," Bower said. "We need to play well."

"I've got a lot of respect for Rice, but I'm more concerned about this team than anything else, and how we play. I want us to play well. Period."

 --PTH