'09 UCF game page

UCF 49, Rice 7
Owls uncompetitive
in one-sided loss

Vance McDonald skies high to haul in pass (MA photo)

HOUSTON (Oct. 24) -- In scanning the Rice bench during the waning moments of the Owls' 49-7 home loss to Central Florida Saturday, one noticed generally no great degree of angst, or dismay, or shame among the players.

In fact, when a winless team gives up a 76-yard touchdown pass-and-run on the first play of the game, there's only one reasonable response, and that is to say, "oh, futz, here we go again."

These Rice players are intelligent, rational creatures, and they knew, with that first SNAFU play of the day, that they very likely were poised for another beat-down.

So what the hell -- time to "Save the Equipment." Look, guys, we've got the week off next week. Anybody going to the beach Sunday?

You know what? A day off at the beach doesn't sound like a bad idea at all for this beleaguered crew. Obviously, each loss compounds the emotions brought about by the one before. If there were some way the collective recollection of this team for the last nine weeks could be completely erased, and it could go back to, oh, say, December 30, 2008, that would be just swell.

And maybe, just maybe, then, some of the talent of this bunch could actually emerge from the dark place where it's been hiding all season.  But, realistically, for that to happen, it's going to take more than a day at the beach. Lots more, what with the self-defeating pattern this Rice team appears to have fallen into.

Just taking that first play of the game as a microcosm: the pass was a short hitch pattern from UCF quarterback Brett Hughes to A. J. Guyton. Rice corner Chris Jammer had the Knight receiver in one on one, with a crowd of offenders and defenders stacked on the opposite side. And Jam just flat missed the tackle.

"It was a play that should have gone for five yards, tops," Rice head coach David Bailiff commented afterwards.

Instead, it went for 76. Thus, a talented Rice defensive player, who, just a year ago was the hero with a stunning last-second pick-six in the Owls' win over Memphis, was relegated to a footnote in yet another one-sided loss.

Rice DB Travis Bradshaw, playing without his injured sidekick Andrew Sendejo, implied that this big opening play was not without its effects on the Owl defense. "Iif we start getting the attitude 'oh here it goes again,' then it's over from there," he said afterwards. "We just have to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Rice moved the ball initially, but bogged down -- and punted

This time, UCF QB's going nowhere (MA photo)

When it was Rice's turn with the ball, the Owls marched right back up the field. Quarterback Nick Fanuzzi mixed the pass and the run, utilizing four different receivers on the drive – Jeramy Goodson, Taylor Wardlow, Toren Dixon, and Pierre Beasley.

Pierre Beasley – now there's an underutilized talent if there ever was one. Pierre is a splendid athlete, recruited as a quarterback, but never really finding his niche, instead appearing as a square peg trying to fit in a succession of round holes. Whether it was a case of his lacking the appropriate skill set, or a matter of coaching miscalculation, is pretty much a moot point at this juncture, with four games remaining in his career.

Anyway, when Nick pushed the ball downfield in a failed attempt to hook up with Toren Dixon from the UCF 42, that made it fourth down and two, and the Rice offensive coaches sent in the punting unit.

Let's take a brief look at this strategy. Fact: the Rice defense has allowed a touchdown drive on the first enemy possession of the last seven games. Fact: before this game, Rice had been outscored 93-10 in the first quarter thus far this season.  (Now, make that 114-10.) Fact: the Rice defense has allowed its opponents an average of 45 points a game so far.

So do you play it conservative, and opt for the field position gambit, or do you go for broke? If you're 8-0, or if you have been playing solid defense, clearly you play the percentages and try and pin your opponent back deep.

But if you're winless, and if heretofore you've had just no success in getting something going early in the game, and it hasn't seemed to make much difference whether you give up the ball at an opponent's 42 or 10...

In any case, it's pointless to belabor the challenge of a single coaching call during the course of a game that was so gawd-awful, opening kickoff to final gun, as this one.

With two minutes to go in the first quarter, Rice already trailed this one, 21-0, the result of two UCF one-play drives (of 76 and 27 yards) sandwiched around an 87-yard, 14-play, nigh on seven-minute drive.

"Those were two one-play drives where we missed tackles," Coach Bailiff lamented. "You're not going to win too many football games giving up one-play drives."

Desperate to get back in the game, the Owls sputtered, nonetheless, on their next possession, fumbling twice, the first being recovered by Kody Emmert, but the second falling into enemy hands at the Rice 46. Those were two of the seven Rice fumbles on the day, only three of which went over to the bad guys.

So guess that means the result of this case could've been even worse.

Owl defense rose up momentarily

Officially not a horsecollar tackle on Patrick Randolph (MA photo)

At that point, the Rice defense made its firmest statement of the day in stopping the Knights cold. On the reverse, Chris Jones nailed UCF's Brynn Harvey for a loss of nine. Then Michael Smith nailed Harvey at the line for no gain.

When Kevin Gaddis fair-caught the ensuing punt at the Rice seven yard line (quick: what's the rule?), the Owls were pinned back, and after a fumble-for-loss and a false start penalty obviated a couple of good short pass pickups, Kyle Martens' punt was returned by A. J. Guyton for 38 yards to the Owl 28.

Guyton certainly had a big day against the Owls, but Orlando-area scribes afterwards were pumping him up as if he were an All-American. The Owls did make him look like an All-American.

The Rice defense did lay in a couple of second quarter stops, such that Owl fans maintained hopes of something like, perhaps, a managable 21-7 halftime deficit, assuming the Rice offense could get at least one drive kick-started.

But that notion was laid waste by an 89-yard, six play UCF drive as the first-half clock ticked down. The last 36 of those came on a trick play, wideout A. J. Guyton passing to teammate Kamar Aiken for the score.

Heck, maybe the guy is an All-American.

By the time the Owls got on the board, they were down 42-0, not as the result of any long drives, but rather compliments of a 24-yard pick-six tossed by Nick Fanuzzi to UCF's Josh Robinson, paired with a 52-yard pass-and-run from Josh Calabrese to Guyton – check that, this time it was to a second-stringer, Jamar Newsome.

Rice's one scoring drive of the day started off ignominiously. At the end of the the third period, after picking up an initial first down, John Thomas Shepherd was tossed for a ten-yard loss to the Rice 28. But Tyler Smith immediately got all of it back, plus nine more. Moments later, J T tossed to Toren Dixon for 18 yards. Then Jeramy Goodson got 25 yards in two consecutive rushes, and finally Charles Ross took it over on second and goal from the one.

There, that wasn't so difficult now guys, was it?

--P.T.H.

Despite litany of woes,
hope for future persists

HOUSTON (Oct. 22) – Well, let’s see...athletic director’s gone, football team is 0-7, injured players are dropping like flies; and speaking of flies, we're in danger of reaching the point where we can’t even draw many of those to our home games.

What else? Giving up 44 points a game, claimed "worst football team in Division 1A," the butt of nitwit sportswriters’ jokes and illiterate cretin message board posters’ derision, from sea to shining sea.

Owlook

Less than ten months’ removed from Rice’s completion of its first ten-win football season since 1949, it appears that athletic fortunes on South Main have sunk to the point of, well, let’s put it this way: for the Blue and Grey, it’s December 8, 1941... October 30, 1929... September 12, 2001.

December 22, 2012, anybody?

Or is it? According to Rice head coach David Bailiff, this fall’s extended hiccup fit is simply a case of the chickens coming home to roost after the disorganization and discontinuity created by the several-years-long wind-down of the Hatfield era combined with the one-year soul-sale by Todd Graham.

According to this theory, last year’s success was anomalous, but nevertheless portentive. It has it that the once-in-a-lifetime synergy created by the combined skills of Chase Clement, Jarett Dillard and James Casey papered over really severe recruiting deficiencies and masked the dearth of talent, and even sheer numbers, in the player pipeline.

The Rice head coach is not reluctant to remind supporters that he had all of 50 football hopefuls suited out for his first spring practice sessions in 2007 – and that was including walking wounded. "Now we’re up to 89," he pointed out earlier this week. "East Carolina had 120."

Drooling over  talented transfers

Optimists, and even a few pessimists, will point to the ever-improving slate of Rice recruits brought in by the Bailiff coaching crew -- each year's bunch bearing beaucoup more stars behind their names than the group the year before.

Those with the spare time to attend a few weekly workouts will point to the impressive scout team performances of transfers Taylor Cook, the former Miami quarterback, and Sam McGuffie, the only freshman ever to start a game at running back for the University of Michigan, before returning home to local climes.  Both will be ready and raring to go in 2010, they remind us.

Still, factor in all the freshman redshirt-wearers, all the injured Owls, and the Rice coaching staff still likely  isn’t able to collect enough warm bodies to full a fully limited travel roster of 70 men.

The injury total is just shy of 20, and among them are many, if not the bulk, of the Owls’ significant impact players.

"Chance Talbert has a spiral fracture; he really has no business being out there but just wants so much to be on the field," Coach said of his pre-season all-conference candidate defensive end, who’s seen only sporadic playing time and no highlight-reel clips.

Senior safety Andrew Sendejo had a good chance to take over as Rice’s all-time leading career tackler before a high ankle sprain suffered at ECU sidelined him for, it’s said, at least two to three weeks – which, counting the bye week, means that Andrew may get back on the field for the last couple of games of the season.   And then call it a career.

Redshirt tight end Vance McDonald is expected back for UCF Saturday, but OL Jake Hicks, and LB Matt Nordstrom, a walk-on turned ‘ship player, are still out. Matt may not be able to return this season.

Running back Tyler Smith made a cautious return to the field last Saturday, and is hoped to be near 100 per cent against the Golden Knights this week.

Coach Alborn used to call it "Save the Equipment" time

But all in all, the insidious injury count combined with the precarious position of the Rice skill level given losses to graduation, means the time has now come for what, back in the late '70s,  former Owl head coach Ray Alborn, tongue partially enconsced in cheek, used to call "Save the Equipment."

But of course  nowadays we now have Fundraising and Commitment -- at least we did til a couple of days ago; need to double-check. Surely  the present situation’s not so absurdly dire as in the Bad Old Days, but nonetheless, "Save the Equipment" does mean Play your Youngsters. It connotes Look ahead to Next Year in your Personnel Decisions. Speaking of savings, it suggests Save those Redshirts.

Above all, it suggests that this college football thing is a game, after all, and Rice’s participants in it should simply plan on going out on the field to Just Have Fun.

Going back to Bailiff’s Entropy Theory, this nightmare season, it follows, is simply a one-year dip in the market caused by a profusion of uncertain outcomes, with the coin flips aggravatingly coming up tails almost every time.

Thor turns pro. Quarterback situation is just not well handled. Staff goes too soft in spring and fall drills. Team is unprepared for winnable first game. The next several are frankly unwinnable in any event, a result of simply horrible scheduling.

Then come the injuries.

On the defense side, absent the injuries, this year’s unit is basically two players – Chris Ptaszek and Brian Raines -- away from the group that played like Paul Dietzel's Chinese Bandits in November and December of last year.

But something intangible is missing from that late '08 run that absolutely must be restored for the Rice defense to achieve even minimal competency. We asked veteran DL and team leader Scott Solomon what that might be.

"I’ve been thinkng about that a lot, actually," he replied. "It’s really hard to say. I just think it’s our confidence, our swagger. It’s not what it was last year. A lot of that has to do with our situation, being 0-7. But if we can just get that back, things are going to get a lot better."

Ed. note:  With this installment, we have used up our annual allotment of Capitalized Terms, and the reader will not be pestered by any more of them for the remainder of the season.

--P.T.H.

DB: 'I really hoped that he would change his mind'

By Mark Anderson

HOUSTON (Oct. 22) – Sometimes, a person’s past comes knocking. In Coach David Bailiff’s recent days, however, it came ringing, with a phone call from a familiar voice from David's coaching days in Fort Worth -- the TCU chancellor.

"I hope this is not what I think it’s about," Bailiff said to him.

Coach Bailiff revealed that former Rice AD Chris Del Conte had mentioned the TCU opening two weeks ago to him, but then said nothing more. In fact, Coach Bailiff said, he was asked by another candidate to recommend him—but it was not Del Conte.

That’s why the phone call came as a shock to him.

Bailiff held out hope that Del Conte would turn down the TCU job and stay at Rice. Another phone call on Wednesday morning eliminated that possibility.

"I really hoped that he would change his mind," Bailiff said. "He called this morning and told me that he had taken the job, and I’m thinking, ‘OK, he’s going to get up there and not be able to do it.’"

That phone call between Bailiff and Del Conte was a tough one, CoachBailiff told us. "When he called me, it was emotional. You could tell that it had been a hard decision."

"He truly falls in love with people," Bailiff said. "I think it was one of those times that where you wish him well, but you sure will miss him. We just can’t let it slow down what we want to accomplish here."

While Chris Del Conte was at Rice, he did a face lift of monumental proportions. After years of watching Reckling flood like the rest of Houston at times, Del Conte got the resources together to re-do that facility (interestingly, perhaps the tipping point came in the NCAA Super-Regionals against TCU). Tudor Field House (formerly Autry) received a much-needed face-lift to the tune of $27 million. All said and done in three years, Del Conte raised a reported seventy-two million dollars.

Those familiar with the football program also are aware that after this season is over, the North end-zone is expecting to be undergoing a transformation of its own. The vision for that was a shared vision between Del Conte and Bailiff.

Will that vision still go forward?

"The President (Leebron, not Obama) and I had a good talk today," Bailiff said. "He reaffirmed his commitment to Rice football and the athletic department. He wants everyone at Rice to succeed."

The model for the new facilities is one David Bailiff has been familiar with, and one that Chris Del Conte will be getting familiar with in short order—the football facilities at TCU.

Coach Bailiff is very familiar with TCU, having served on the coaching staff there. So Bailiff is very familiar with what is at TCU, namely the football facilities. "That’s the model I want for our facilities," Bailiff confided. As the architect worked on the plans under the supervision of Del Conte, Coach Bailiff had a model in mind. When the drawings did not come back to their liking, Bailiff said, ""We’ve got to go to TCU. You have got to see what I am talking about."

Bailiff did -- and now Del Conte will, every day.

One thing that has been undeniable since Coach Bailiff became a part of the Feathered Flock is the personal relationship that both of these men had with each other. Del Conte was the man who hired Bailiff. Bailiff recalled that vividly. ""I did my due diligence on him," Bailiff said with a smile today. They did not know each other, but as Bailiff said, "You want to work for the right kind of person. And it was one of those, the more you called, the more you liked him, the more you felt good about him."

Athletic directors and head coaches often tend to keep themselves at a "professional distance" from one another. The relationship that Del Conte had with all of his coaches, especially Bailiff and Wayne Graham, was very evident. It should also be noted here that Del Conte had a good relationship with Todd Graham while he was here as well.

"From day one, it was not a boss-coach relationship," Bailiff said. "We really learned to trust one another. We had learned to seek one another’s counsel, not just when we needed to on athletic events, but we had a shared vision for where we were going to take this place."

Meanwhile, there is one last donation for Chris Del Conte needed. Before he heads up to Provo for TCU’s football contest with BYU this Saturday, it’s time for him to look the part. He needs a nice pair of cowboy boots. Sorry, Mr. Del Conte, but you are in Fort Worth now. Take my word for it—you will need them. A blue-jean jacket, western shirt and tie, and blue jeans will make you fit right in up in Forth Worth. Lose the Italian slip-ons. And don’t forget the boots.

Surely he can come up with a pair of purple-died, lizard-skin numbers.