'09 Tulane game page
Rice 28, Tulane 20

Owls dig big hole, then climb right out

Toren Dixon hauls in TD pass for Owls' first score of the day (PTH photo)

HOUSTON (Nov. 14) --  Venerable Rice grads can put on their old, grey bonnet with the blue ribbon it and hitch Old Sammy to the shay -- for the Owls are winless no more!

The Boys from the Institute teased a Homecoming Day audience by spotting the visiting Tulane Green Wave a 14-0 first-quarter lead, but then roared back to dominate the rest of the way in a satisfying, gratifying, heave-a-sigh-of-relief, 28-20 win.

"Better than any other win I've ever had," was the way the outcome was described by Rice head coach David Bailiff, whose sense of self-haunting had approached Bob Cratchitt levels with each passing week this fall as his team amassed one loss after another.

But that losing streak is now history, and the Coach, his staff, Owl fans, and above all, this formerly beleaguered Rice club (we now bury the term), can concentrate on the task ahead to close out the season on a strong, if not further victorious note, in preparation for what promises to be more prosperous times, commencing with the 2010 season.

"What I am absolutely the most proud of about this win is that for this entire season this football team has done nothing but come over here with a great attitude and its lunch pail to go to work," Coach Bailiff added. "They've never fragmented, they've tried to do what we've asked them to do, and they've done it with effort and they've done it with enthusiasm. They hung together and we got our first victory tonight."

"It takes special people to do that in a season like this one is going. That's a tribute to the character and the type of young men they are."

Circumstances made all the more poignant, it turns out, by the dilemma that the young Owls found themselves in one quarter deep into the game. At that point, Rice trailed 14-0, without having garnered a single first down.

As has been the case in each and every football game this seson, which must some kind of dubious record, Rice allowed  a touchdown on its opponents’ first series of the game. Led by quarterback Ryan Griffin, Tulane took the opening kickoff and methodically drove 80 yards in 13 plays, consuming almost 7 minutes of clock, going up 7-0 when Griffin hit Jeremy Williams from six yards out.

The Owls three-and-outed it on their next series, and although the Rice defense stiffened and returned the favor, Tulane was able to play the field position game and, next possession, complete a 68 yard drive in seven plays to go up 14-0 with just over a minute left in the first quarter.

The greater measure of damage on that series was done by another Griffin to Jeremy Williams pass, this one coming on third and 10 from the Tulane 32, and carrying 39 yards to the Rice 15.

Once Fanuzzi got going, so did Owl offense

Rice made 13 first downs count; four TD passes by Nick Fanuzzi, the briefest going for 17 yards, told the tale (PTH photo)

But the Owl offense finally started ticking when Nick Fanuzzi started clicking. First, a couple of short completions to Patrick Randolph set up the Flock with a first down at their own 41 yard line. A broken-field run by freshman Charles Ross netted 15 more, and then Fanuzzi hit Luke Willson for nine. After a couple of incompletions, Charles Ross barely managed to pick up the first down on fourth and one, but then on second and nine, Toren Dixon worked himself free down the home sideline and was wide open for a 32 yard scoring strike, which put the Owls on the scoreboard three minutes deep into the second quarter.

It was the first of four touchdown passes on the day for Nick Fanuzzi – the second straight week he’s achieved such a mark "Nick has done nothing but improve every week," Coach Bailiff said afterwards. . "The tragedy is, as good as he is now, where could he have been if he hadn’t missed out those weeks like he did."

Uh, Coach, we’re just not going there. It’s a touchy subject.

The two teams sparred for the for most of what remained in the half, until the Owls once again got cranked up from their own 22 with seven minutes to go. This time, the Rice offense did the bulk of the damage on the ground,. The irony of it was that a 70 yard drive wound up producing zero points, as Clark Fangmeier hurried a chip shot 25 yard field goal attempt and narrowly missed it wide right with seconds to go on the clock..

But with Tyler Smith and Charles Ross alternating at the running back position, the owls had successfully pounded the Tulane middle – successfully enough, in any event, that Tulane defensive coaches apparently decided to make halftime adjustments which involved stacking the box in the third quarter. And that worked out just swell for the Rice offense.

"We came in this week with a plan to run the ball," the true freshman, Ross, said afterwards. "We thought just being physical with them and running the ball would set up some things in the passing game, and it sure did."

With the Owls getting the ball to start the second half, it took them all of two play to make the big hit. On second and nine from the 30, Nick hit a wide-open Toren Dixon for 70 yards on the play action, taking a big hit in the backfield but delivering the ball straight and true. Toren was at least 10 yards in the clear, and zipped into the end zone untouched, tying the game at 14 barely before the old grads had had time to settle back in their seats from the halftime break.

Tulane picked up a couple of first downs and move the ball well on its next possession, but the Rice defense stiffened at midfield, with big hits coming on consecutive rushes, first by Cheta Ozougwu, throwing Anderson for loss of three, and next by Justin Hill, stopping Griffin for short yardage on third and 13.

Perhaps buoyed by his stop, Justin roared in to block the ensuing Ryan Thevenow punt in spectacular fashion, the ball caroming off his solar plexus and bounding back 10 or 15 yards downfield, out of bounds at the Tulane 25.

"It started with Trey Briggs," Justin said afterwards, trying to deflect the credit. "He did a great job going straight to the wedge, and drawing them all to him. When they went to block him, I came off his butt and came clean to the block point."

"It came off my hand pretty hard. I was looking for it but couldn’t find it."

From there, Ross got eight on first down, and then once again the Rice offense suckered in the Tulane defense anticipating the run. This time, Nick found Pierre Beasley wide-open in the end zone to put the Owls up , 21-14.

Owls led by a touchdown, but 23 minutes of football remained

That Rice blitzkrieg had consumed only six minutes of third-quarter clock, and there was still just a whole lot of football to be played. Nobody, but nobody on he home side was celebrating yet.

It looked as if Rice might have a leg up on yet another score when, next possession, Michael Smith made a heads-up interception of a Griffin quick pass down the middle at the Rice 44.

With great field position, the Owls failed to take advantage, however. Two Tyler Smith rushes produced only 6 yards, and on third and four, under a heavy rush, Fanuzzi had to toss the ball at the legs of his defenders.

Tulane, in response, once again was able to move the ball, working its way to midfield. But there, big defensive plays like Kramer Lucio and Chris Jammer forced a punt on fourth and one which carried into the end zone for a touchback.

Charles Ross immediately ripped off an impressive 24 yard run to the Rice 44, and it looked once again as if the Owls were heading in the direction of points. But an ill-timed false start penalty on third and one bogged down the Owl drive at the Rice 48, and on third and six, Tulane blitzed and managed to drop Fanuzzi in the pocket.

Thus, the Rice offense had been set up in good position for two scoring thrusts, but managed to get zero points out of either one. . While the Owl defenders had successfully made the necessary big plays to keep Tulane off of the scoreboard, the Wave nevertheless had managed to move the ball consistently, and it was pretty clear that, despite the big-play tendency of the Rice defenders, the Greenies surely must’ve had at least another score or two in them.

And when the Green Wave got going, they did so in impressive fashion. Bottled up at their own two yard line by a 53-yard Mark Brundage punt, Tulane appeared to be stopped on third and five from the sevenyard line, but at that point, Griffin managed to get off a quick pass over the middle to Charles Sparks for the first down.

It was second and three at the Tulane 23 when the Owll defensive ends blitzed hard, pinching in. Unfortunately, the Tulane call was for a trap play up the middle, and Wave running back Anthony Anderson grabbed his seam and sprinted 46 yards to the Rice 31 yard line.

Next play, before the Rice defense really had time to set, Griffin dropped back and lobbed a floater to his dependable receiver Casey Robottom, who nabbed the ball just as he fell across the goal line for the touchdown.

The Tulane drive that covered 98 yards in six plays, and it looked as if the Owls had were going to get out of it with a tie at best. However, a low snap resulted in a bobbled hold, and Tulane’s PAT attempts thus failed, leaving the Owls up 21-20 with 13 minutes to go in the game.

Alas, as one might have expected, the Owls were unable to move the football on their next possession even though Charles Ross got them into decent field position with a 16-yard kickoff return to the 36. But Mark Brundage once again got off a nice punt which carried to the Tulane 14

The Green Wave proceeded to grind out three first downs, cosuming precious clock time, but once again stalled at midfield when Aaron Williams broke up a Griffin pass intended for Cody Sparks on third and eight.

At that point, five minutes remained in the ball game, and the thought was a couple of good first down thrusts might go ahead and put the game out of reach for the Green Wave and preserve a narrow one point win for the Owls.

Fanuzzi did hit Charles Ross coming out of the backfield for ten yards and a first down at the Rice 25. At that point, the clock read 3:44. Another quick out set up the Owls with second and five at 30, as the clock continued to tick. However, a quick pitch to Ross was sniffed out by the Tulane defense, and one play later, the owls faced fourth and five at the 30.

Backup punter Mark Brundage once again got the job done, however, booming the ball 41 yards in the air to the Tulane 29. At that point, the Greenies had but 2:15 left in which to operate, but all they needed was a field goal. Thus the stage was set for what surely would have been a heart- pounding, demoralizing loss for the Owls, had the defense failed to hold.

But the Rice defense was having none of that. A three-man rush put sufficient pressure on the Tulane quarterback, and while eight Rice defenders dropped back to roam the range, QB Griffin tosed four straight, hurried incompletions.

That gave the Owls the ball over on downs at the Tulane 25 with 1:56 remaining in the game. Prospects for a win were looking good, but you can bet that some old grads were still figuring out ways Rice might still manage to lose the game, for a they had been there before.

Charles Ross got four yards on the first down play, but the next two rushes appeared to be of the run-down-the-clock variety. So with a minute left, the Owls themselves decided to call time out, facing fourth and 10 at the Tulane 29.

Owls shocked Greenies, themselves with TD strike on fourth and 10

At that point, Nick Fanuzzi completed what might have been the play of the season, faking the handoff, straightening up in the pocket and lofting a pass to the inside shoulder of Toren Dixon just as he shook off his defender, crossing the goal line for to complete a 29 yard touchdown strike, which put the Owls up for good, 28-20.

During that time out, apparently an urgent strategy discussion ensued, and immediately ruled out was a field goal attempt which, if successful, would have put the Owls up, 24-20.

"We talked about a lot of different ways, but it was something we needed to do," Coach Bailiff said, obviously recalling those three blocked place-kicks at SMU last week, not to mention Clark Fangmeier’s 25-yard whiff just before the half. "I just decided it was time to take a risk and hopefully get some rewards out of it, and that's what happened."

Toren seemed as surprised as anyone that the call went to him, but hey, he’ll take it, he said afterwards. "I was actually kind of shocked," he said, "because I saw that they were in a ‘man’ look. (The DB) was playing off coverage, and I just released and gave him a slight head fake inside and he bit on it because we run a lot of intermediate routes. Nick made a great throw and the line blocked well, and it was six."

All that was left was another four-and-out for the Green Wave, which meant that the Tulane offense ended up the game with eight straight incomplete passes.

"I have to give credit to Rice, " Tulane head coach Bob Toledo said, in a gentlemanly gesture. . "I'm happy for David Bailiff. To be zero and nine and come back like this, he did a nice job getting his team ready to play."

"My coffee's going to taste good in the morning," Coach Bailiff said postgame. "I’m just proud of those young men for hanging together and staying a team that never fragmented."

"We had a huge monkey on our backs," linebacker Justin Hill remarked on his way to the parking lot.  "It feels good finally to just get the win.  We’ve worked hard, and it was time for things to turn our way."

--P.T.H

Owls hope to convert SMU gains into win against Tulane

HOUSTON (Nov. 12) -- Now that the pain and frustration has had a chance to subside, what with giving up three blocked kicks to lose a game that otherwise would have been won, perhaps it's time to talk about some positives that emerged from Rice's narrow 31-28 loss to SMU Saturday – looking toward this week’s Homecoming bout with Tulane, that is.

Owlook

It's difficult to center on any one factor in analyzing the Rice offense’s increased output against the Ponies. Really, it was a combination of improved quarterbacking by Nick Fanuzzi, improved blocking by a reconstituted offensive line, improved running, often with tandem backs with newly installed play sets, and just plain old renewed intestinal fortitude on the part of the receiving corps.

All of that put together simply comprises a team effort -- and that's what took place on the floor of Gerald Ford Stadium last Saturday afternoon.

"Offensively, we played as well as we have this year," Rice head coach David Bailiff told press.

Be that as it may, any loss is a loss, and the clock is ticking down on the Owls in their effort to to post a win or two or three before shutting things down for the season and beginning to look forward to next year.

The psychological value of even one win would be a significant, as it affects off season attitudes and temperaments. Not to mention the fact that none of the Owl  coaches particularly would care to hit the offseason recruiting trail on the heels of an 0-12 season..

According to their own exhortations and proclamations, the players on this Rice team haven't got their daubers down in the least bit. And they were able to state that position, both at the press briefing and the booster dinner Monday, with some degree of conviction, based in no small part upon the effort that they put up against SMU last Saturday.

"The dressing room at halftime at SMU was incredible," Coach Bailiff said, "because the kids had known that they’d really outplayed them."

"It’s a game we can build on; I think both our offense and defensive eplayers will have a lot of confidence going into the Tulane game."

If one had viewed the same group and their performance at home against Central Florida the week before, one would have had no choice but to conclude that church was out, and the season, for all practical purposes, was over with.

But after the narrow loss to SMU, the effort demonstrated has Owl players and fans both asking the question, "why haven't we been doing this all along?" (Except, of course, for the blocked-kick part.)

And as predicted by Rice head coach David Bailiff, the return of even one injured veteran in the offensive line appeared to pay big dividends. Granted, SMU's defensive front was not the Dallas Cowboys, but the play of Rice's offensive line against SMU was encouraging.

"Jake Hicks rejoining the offensive line is putting everybody back where they need to be," Coach Bailiff said. "That let to Nick (Fanuzzi’s) really taking over the football game. He had time to make great throws. He led the football team right before halftime, with, like, 1:44 on the clock, got us back down there into field goal range."

"He led us on the late scoring drive. So I was really pleased with Nick’s progress and his decision-making. I was excited about all three of our running backs – all three of them were healthy; I think they added something to the game."

If the same level might be sustained, and a little bit of QB scrambling action might be mixed in, one would be realistic in expecting even a further extension of the improved motility of Rice's offense, compared to its plodding pace exhibited throughout the livelong season.

Too, after previous game after game featuring  lackadaisical results from the receiving corps,
with little separation gained, lots of dropped passes, and not much in the way of highlight-film plays, the Rice ball catchers took their game up a notch and a half against the Ponies.

Foremost among the group was Patrick Randolph, who made one spectacular catch beneath the goal posts for Rice's first touchdown, and then moments later promptly hauled in another after having
worked his way wide open down the visiting sideline.

Then, too, there was Taylor Wardlow, who pretty much managed to haul in anything that was thrown in even vaguely in his direction, regardless whether had he had to go high for it or wide.

We always said that if someone would just light a fire under the even-tempered, mild-mannered, cerebral senior, and get him good and mad, he would morph into an all-conference candidate overnight. And in fact he pretty much has.

Tulane this season started slowly, but has exhibited a gradual tendency of three steps forward, two steps backward. Their 45-38 overtime home victory against UTEP last Saturday it was impressive.

Green Wave head coach Bob Toledo has even got his 3-6 bunch thinking that they have a chance for bowl eligibility if they treat every remaining game as if it were a do-or-die playoff match.

"Last week," he said Monday, "I talked about how the regular season was over and we're into the
playoff season - well, we won our first playoff game. So we're still heading in the right direction. And the thing I always talk about to our players is never give up, never quit...you know, it's the old Winston Churchill deal. Never, never, never give up."

But the Greenies have have certainly had their uncompetitive moments as well, which leads to a suggestion of the old saw,  "depends upon which team shows up Saturday."

Tulane’s balanced offense stands to present something of a dilemma for the Owls on Saturday. "It's going to be one of those where, with the two backs you’ve got to bracket everything they do," Coach Bailiff pointed out, "because they’re trying to create gaps on you, and when you create brackets you’ve got to tackle. You just don’t see as much two-back as you used to. When you have opportunities to make plays you’ve got to make the plays."

DB also reminded us that Tulane features the top receiver in the conference in yardage in WR and return man Jeremy Williams. "They’ve got a max pro to throw the ball down the field to him," he noted. "I’m sure that win against UTEP in overtime gave them some confidence."

"We’ve got to play an entire football game against them."

--P.T.H.