Vanderbilt 36, Rice 17
Owls stay winless, done in by anemic offense, tiring defense

SACKED! Entire Rice defensive interior, plus Travis Bradshaw, team up to roar in and overwhelm Vandy QB Smith for 10-yard loss   (Mark Anderson photo)

Ryan Lewis gets his pass away while OL blocks out (PTH photo)

HOUSTON (Sept. 27) – There are at least a couple of ways one could view Rice's 36-17 loss to Vanderbilt here Saturday night.

Viewpoint A: Given the absence of its starting quarterback, Rice's 17-point effort against a stout Vandy defense that surrendered only 23 points at LSU and 15 to Mississippi State wasn't all that shabby. The aggressiveness and verve shown by Owl defenders until finally worn down by too much time on the field bodes well for defensive efforts against upcoming smaller, slower Conference USA teams. All is not lost.

Viewpoint B: Rice's alarming inability to produce anything resembling a significant offensive threat against a perennial SEC bottom-dweller raises huge red flags. Surrendering 36 points to a team that couldn't even find the end zone at home its last outing indicates the Rice defense continues to be seriously outmanned and/or ill-prepared, and it will only get worse against the high-powered offenses seen in Conference USA. All is lost.

May we have a show of hands, please? (30-second pause)

Hoo boy, are we in trouble -- looks like Coach Zaunbrecher has just texted in his vote for "B."

Actually, the much-traveled Rice offensive coordinator was prowling the bench and howling entreaties like a man possessed during Rice's second-half debacle against the Commodores. The performance, complete with "if you don't wanna play this game, we'll find someone else who will" admonishments and burr-headed players with heads hanging in shame was a scene reminiscent of the 50's, one-platoon football, days.

Unfortunately, so is Coach Z's offensive playbook.

Not only QB injury, but also OL attrition, hurt offense

Rice's Chris Jones wraps up Vandy's Jarek Hawkins behind the line for loss (Mark Anderson photo)

But even the most prolific and imaginative playbook is of little use without capable – and healthy -- players to execute it.

Though Rice's offensive game plan clearly lacked imagination, its execution was in doubt from the opening kickoff because of missing pieces to the chess set. The most obvious of those was presumptive starting quarterback Nick Fanuzzi, who spent the evening in blue jeans on the sideline with a bruised shoulder. But perhaps just as key was the lack of experienced offensive linemen, of which there has been a steady procession to the infirmary in the past couple or three weeks.

Still, the Owl offense showed some flash in the first half, at least when they were being directed by third- string quarterback Ryan Lewis. On Rice's third possession, after consecutive three-and-outs with John Thomas Shepherd at the helm, the Rice offense suddenly exploded for points.

With the Commodores up 7-0, Andrew Sendejo returned a VU punt 17 yards to set up the Owls with good field position at their own 46.

With Lewis at QB, and true freshman Charles Ross at the running back spot, the Owls immediately got in gear. First play, Ross ran off tackle for six. Next play, he took an inside handoff and cut back toward the far sideline, breaking into the clear 15 yards past the line of scrimmage, and streaking untouched to the goal, 48 yards away, knotting the score at 7.

But strange as it seemed at the time, that's about all we saw of Mr. Ross for the duration of the game, except for here and there on isolated plays. What happened to Charles Ross, anyway – we didn't see him go down with an injury.

"Asthma," was Rice head coach David Bailiff's one-word response. The heat and humidity was stifling, and the air was so thick on the turf of Rice Stadium you could practially ladle it with a spoon.

"The doctors told us when he could and couldn't go in because of his asthma. He had an asthma attack. We would have used him more, certainly."

Anybody start to get the feeling tha this is just not our year?

Gaines had a breakout game, undeserved PF call

Michael Smith shakes off his blocker and puts the rush on Vandy QB (PTH photo)

Vanderbilt was able to move the ball on its next possession, in no small part aided by a highly questionable personal foul call against Phillip Gaines for love-tapping VU receiver Collin Ashley's headgear while making a spectacular stop.

That put Vandy in business at the Rice 15, but Phillip's rousing defensive play appeared to put starch in the backs of the Rice defensive unit, which rose up to move the Commodores backwards for three consecutive plays. However, VU's Ryan Fowler hit his field goal attempt from 37 yards out, and it was 10-7, Vandy.

One would think Ross's spectacular touchdown run might have put the Vanderbilt defense back on its heels a bit, and open up the field for the Owl passing game. However, that theory wasn't tested on Rice's next possession. Three consecutive two-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust plays got the Owls no better position than fourth and five, and they had to kick it away.

Ryan Lewis did manage one more impressive first-half drive, which ended in a 39 yard Clark Fangmeier field goal to tie the score, 10-10, going into the halftime dressing room. Ryan hit three key passes, two to tight end Taylor Wardlow and one to Toren Dixon, along the way. But the Rice drive bogged down at the Vandy 22, whereupon Clark Fangmeier was called in to do his thing, and he did.

Still, a touchdown would have been nice -- and, as usual, senior quarterback J T Shepherd hoisted more of the blame onto his own shoulders than he in fact deserved.

"I missed some passes early that I should have hit," he said glumly, postgame. "You can't do that when you get open receivers down the field. You have to hit them. I'm sure that other teams are going to try and get to us with that blitz. It's up to us to beat ready to go and play hard."

"I thought we had some good individual performances, but if you have ten guys do it right and one guy do it wrong there's a chance it could all go wrong, myself included."

Rice stayed even for a half -- and then some

Travis Bradshaw hits 'em high, unidentified Owl hits 'em low to bring down VU ball carrier (PTH photo)

The Rice defense continued its impressive display well in to the third quarter. Vanderbilt had deferred to receive the second half kickoff, and came out seemingly hell-bent for leather. Three straight first downs set up the Commodores at the Rice 40, but at that point Cheta Ozougwu, Travis Bradshaw and Chris Jammer made consecutive defensive stops for scant yardage, and Vanderbilt's Brett Upson had to punt the ball away from the Rice 38.

VU was able to down the ball at the Rice four yard line, though, and thus commenced a sequence featuring miserable offensive field position for the Owls. That, plus defensive breakdowns, led to three quick scores by Vandy, none of them particularly hard-earned..

More specifically, with the score to still tied at 10, the Owls faced third and six at their own 19. Ryan Lewis attempted to pass for first down yardage, but the ball was tipped and the carom was intercepted by VU's Eddie Foster, who returned the ball to the Rice 20. Again, the Owl defense stiffened its back but Fowler came in to nail a 33 yard field goal on fourth and five from the Owl 15, to put the ‘Dores up 13-10, this time to stay.

After another three and out by the Rice offense with Ryan Lewis at the helm, Vanderbilt commenced its next possession at its own 36. On the very first play, VU's Larry Smith caught his receiver Udom Umoh in the clear and dialed his number for a 54 yard reception to the Rice 10.

In an interesting sidelight, Umoh appeared first have stepped out of bounds at the Rice seven, but Vandy head coach Bobby Johnson challenged the call, believing that his receiver had successfully tip toed down the sideline into the end zone. But the review showed that the receiver actually had stepped out of bounds at the 10 yard line, so Vanderbilt lost an additional three yards via the replay, much to the delight of the Rice faithful.

Still, with Vandy knocking at the door, Jarek Hawkins was nabbed for loss of two by Travis Bradshaw. It was third and goal from the six, when VU quarterback Larry Smith ran the naked bootleg and managed to slash his way into the end zone, to put the Commodores up 20-10.

Rice appeared to have good coverage on the third down play, at least for every play in the playbook -- except, of course, the naked bootleg.

At that point, just under two minutes remained in the third quarter, and Rice desperately needed to mount an offensive drive and get back in the game, if not with seven, at least with three. But once again, three more unimaginative play calls resulted in another three and out for the Owls and the third quarter ended with Rice punting out to to the Vanderbilt 33, which field position was enhanced by a personal foul call on the play. The Rice defense held, and VU had to immediately punt back to Rice, but it's like a chorus: three more unimaginative offensive play calls resulted in another three-and-out for the Owls.

Third-quarter offensive stats:  0 Rice first downs

Matt Nordstrom closes in on Vanderbilt quarterback Smith (PTH photo)

So now, 17 minutes into the second half, the Feathered Flock had yet to garner a single first down in in the half.

"At some point we'll just have to bow up and make plays. I believe we didn't have first down for a quarter," Coach Bailiff observed. "We were trying to sustain drives." Indeed, getting that first first down of a possession appears to have become a mental block for the Owls.

This time, moreover, a tiring Owl defense was caught out of position, and VU's Warren Norman was able to catch a seam, breaking into the clear and dashing 58 yards for the score, to put the Commodores up, 27-10.

Now the situation was growing more desperate by the minute, Rice very much needed to strike and strike quickly. But, it's like a chorus: three unimaginative play calls resulted in a, oops, not three-and- out, but rather this time on third and 10 Ryan's pass was intercepted by VU's Myron Lewis and returned for 21 yards to the Rice 7 yard line.

The Rice defense buttoned up again, though, and kept VU out of the end zone, although Vandy added to its point total with a 23 yard Ryan Fowler field goal.

After Rice three-and- outed for what seemed like the 50th time of the game in the game, the Rice defense held again, and this time, Andrew Sendejo was able to return a Brent Upson punt 47 yards to the VU 27. John Thomas scrambled on three consecutive plays, and on second and 10 from the Vanderbilt 12, found Toren Dixon in the end zone for a rare Rice touchdown reception, and the score stood 30 to 17, with 5:54 left in the game.

The ensuing offside stick was pushed too far and too wide by Brandon Yelovich, and went out of bounds at the Vandy 49 yard line. By this time the Rice defense was flat out of gas, however, and Vandy blew down the field, scoring in three consecutive rushes of 10 yards-plus, Kinnard Reeves taking it the final 11 yards.

Strangely, Vanderbilt went for the two, which failed, and that clicked the scoreboard to its final tally, Vanderbilt 36, Rice 17.

So for two years in a row, the Owls had Vanderbilt tied at the half and headed into the halftime locker room buoyed by the knowledge that they'd held a bigger, stronger, faster SEC outfit to a standstill– only to fall off a precipitous cliff in the second half.

"I thought we played an absolutely tremendous first half of football," Rice head coach David Bailiff said, obviously choosing to view the glass as half full. "We have to get to where we finish the second half. Where we couldn't sustain drives offensively in the second half, we had the defense out there for a lot of plays. Eventually they wore down – and that led to the missed tackles."

Rice offensive lineman Scott Mitchell aftewards insisted that Owl failures on both sides of the ball certainly were not the result of a poor game plan or inadequate preparation by the coaching staff.

"We had a very good idea of what was going on, our coaches prepared us very well for the game," the big Canadian said. "We knew what we had to do, we just didn't get it done."

---PTH

Battle of the real students
Owls, Commodores match brains, brawn
with both teams desperately in need of win

Last year's Rice-VU game was hard-fought in the trenches; this year's contest projects to be even moreso, with defenses dominating (PTH photo)

HOUSTON (Sept. 24) -- So it seems US News & World Report has got Rice and Vanderbilt all knotted up at number 17 among the greatest top-of-the-line national universities in the country. Fair enough, though we beg to differ; our predominant view being that of Vandy as a Rice "safety school," a fine enough alternative for those who can't quite score high enough to make the matriculation cut at the Institute.

Owlook

(Of course VU denizens probably view us in the same way, but instead seeing Ricies as being among those who lack the social acumen to make it at such a tony place as Vanderbilt.)

To each his own, but as it is, being tied for number 17 in the nation academically by the most generally recognized authority, it seems we also have a little football game scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Saturday at our historic old ball ground.

What a perfect opportunity to duke it out and settle the matter of superiority once and for all -- having tied in the brains category, we can award the blue ribbon to the school that out-brawns the other.

Some might consider the contest a bit of a pillow fight, for the Owls have given national scribes very little to write about in coming out of the starting blocks 0-3 on the young '09 season.

Vandy, on the other hand, started strong, with a 45-0 blanking of Western Carolina comprising their first shutout in recent years. But then came last week, when the Commodores laid a major egg, or something else, in a hugely-disappointing 15-3 home loss to Mississippi State.

Both teams coming off a loss, but with different tastes left

So both teams are coming off a loss -- but Rice's 41-24 defeat at the hands of high-octane Oklahoma State last week actually was considered a step forward for the Feathered Flock, given the stiff resistance put up by the blue and grey defense, score notwithstanding, and the welcome emergence of a bona fide starting quarterback in the person of one Nick Fanuzzi.

But the best-laid plans -- young Mr. Fanuzzi is listed as "doubtful" for this week's game, having suffered what's been termed a minor bruised shoulder in the game against the Oklaggies. Whether he'll play at all this week remains a mystery, and even if we knew more, we'd certainly not reveal the facts to our worthy opponents, rather letting them keep guessing as to the identity of the quarterback they'll be facing, for better or worse, on Saturday.

One might react with some alarm over Rice's failure to defeat this Vanderbkilt squad on the road last year, Rice's first of only three losses suffered in a historic, ten-win season. Further concern might be expressed over the fact that the Owls scored only three touchdowns in last year's 38-21 loss, and in fact were shut out the second half. And that, with super producers Clement, Dillard and Casey in place and clicking on all cylinders.

But other factors mitigate contrariwise. Bear in mind that last year's Rice-Vandy game took place on Sept. 13, the night after Hurricane Ike blew through southeast Texas, carrying with it the concerns for family, friends and goods that must have weighted heavily on the minds of Owl players as they lined up to play in Nashville.

Too, Vanderbilt has suffered heavier personnel losses than did Rice, compared to the '08 campaign. The Commodores started nine new faces in their season opener against Western Kentucky.

Moreover, last year's game was a typical Rice offensive romp in the park during the first half until Chase Clement got his bell rung on a play that should have been called roughing-the-quarterback.

At the time, the Owls were up, 14-7, and steadily driving toward a 21-7 lead. Instead, the resulting fumble led to a short VU touchdown drive that tied the game and put the Owls on the defensive.

The second half against Vanderbilt was probably Rice's poorest half of play in the entire '08 season. But of course the Vandy defense had something to do with that.

Commodore defense has been impressive, but beleaguered

Once again this season, the Vanderbilt defense has been impressive, starting with the aforementioned shutout against Western Kentucky, followed by a tough 23-9 loss to LSU in Baton Rouge. The nicks and cuts began to mount up against the Bayou Bengals, though, and last week at home against Mississippi State, the ‘Dore defense was on the field for 39 minutes.

It didn’t help that the Commodores gained only 10 yards total offense in the first half of their loss to the Bulldogs, and in fact have scored a grand total of 12 points, included one offensive TD, in their last two games.

Still, that was against SEC competition, and one can be sure that the Commodore offense will at least have the expectation of doing much better against the Owls, certainly based on last year’s result, when VU put up 273 yards rushing against the Flock.

Oh, and not to mention the fact that the Owls stack up at the very bottom of Division 1A in scoring defense thus far this September, allowing an average of over 46 points a game against the likes of UAB, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State.

The key for Vandy is to move the football and hold onto it, keeping their beleaguered, but comparatively stout, defensive unit off the field as long as possible.

Rice, on the other hand, simply needs to pick up from where it left off against OSU, with a more aggressive, swarming defense, and an offense that opens up the field and makes some big plays.

One can sympathize with players, coaches and supporters of both squads. We know what it’s been like for the Owls over the years in their attempt to establish credibility and remain competitive. Imagine what it must be like for the Gold and Black, playing in the SEC.

Vanderbilt head coach Bobby Johnson, a local hero last fall during VU’s early-season win streak, is back under fire this season, and he remains sanguine.

"I've told everybody quite often, if we ever get it as good as we can get it here at Vanderbilt, we're going to have to fight every game that we play," Coach Johnson says. "It's going to be a battle, and if we don't execute, (bad things) can happen on Saturday night. The hump is never over. You never have the answer. You have to do it every week, especially in this league."

Yeah, it’s hell, Coach, having to play with real students. We Rice guys know all about that.

--P.T.H.

Up Close:  Matt Nordstrom
'Effort can make up for talent; it can make up for a lot of things'

'The one thing I told myself before the game was that I was confident in the way the coaches prepared me; I was confident in what I could do, and I just wanted to go out there and have fun and do what I could do to help the team win'   'There’s never been a feeling like I wasn't going to be able to perform; that I wasn't going to be able to get my chance. Coach Driesbach and Coach Bailiff just kept encouraging me to keep working hard'   'I mean the last time I played linebacker was my senior year in high school, when we played our cross-town rival'   'One thing my dad always talked to me about concerning football, is just playing a hundred per cent. And there's no substitute for playing absolutely as hard as you possibly can'

HOUSTON (Sept. 22) – A walk- on football player at Rice University so often epitomizes the ideal student-athlete. The number of young men who can qualify academically at the institution while at the same time devoting what turns out the equivalent of a full-time job working out with the football team are few and rare indeed.

Emerging from their ranks after graduation, doctors, lawyers, engineers are a dime a dozen. But every once in a while there also appears a walk-on Rice football player who literally comes out of nowhere to render some serious fanny-whooping on the football field, as well.

That brings us to Matthew Nordstrom.

The Michigan native played some pretty rugged high school ball up north, earning all-conference honors and team MVP at Rochester Hills High, while lettering in tennis and wrestling as well. But those were just extracurricular pursuits. Matt also found time to graduate valedictorian of his high school senior class, posting a 3.97 on a 4.0-scale GPA. An engineering career loomed and enrollment at an academically potent university beckoned.

But then his folks made the move to Houston at the end of his senior year. One plus one – a valedictorian with an engineering bent plus a guy who knew his way around the football field – meant that in short order he found himself enrolled at Rice, and walking on to the football team.

Two years of hard labor led to his first collegiate start last Saturday, and that was going against the formidable offense of Oklahoma State, on the road before 51,000 belligerents. Talk about a baptism of blood.

"I was thrilled to get my first start," Matt said Monday. "I couldn't think of a better atmosphere to do it in. And I was just really excited. The one thing I told myself before the game was that I was confident in the way the coaches prepared me; I was confident in what I could do, and I just wanted to go out there and have fun and do what I could do to help the team win."

And help the team he did, flying to the ball repeatedly and winding up with four solo tackles on the day, while being in on a bunch of others. His sense of abandon on the field is what caused his coaches to stand up and take notice in the first place. In fact, he earned a varsity letter as a walk-on redshirt freshman last year in no small part because of his aggressiveness on special teams. That kind of aggressiveness translates readily to the linebacker position. And it’s a tendency that the Rice coach staff is eagerly seeking.

"From now on, we’re not going to play just guys that play football – we’re going to be playing guys that are football players," Rice head coach David Bailiff said Monday.

"Matt walked on to this football team and he's now a starting linebacker at Rice because Matt knows exactly what to do and he does it with passion," Coach Bailiff said. "And Matt is a football player, and we're going to win with guys like that."

First game at linebacker position since fall of '06

Saturday’s game was the first time Matt had played at the linebacker position since high school.

"I've played on special teams (at Rice) before but never at the linebacker position," he said. "I mean the last time I played linebacker was my senior year in high school, when we played our cross-town rival. And there was absolutely no comparison."

But it was a long, hard road for the mechanical engineering major to travel from the end of the scout team bench to a major starting role in a big-time collegiate game. With a hundred other players on the practice field, and with game-day worries occupying the minds of one’s coaches, it’s frankly hard to get any attention down there at the end of the bench. But Matt never let that bother him.

"I try not to worry about things I can't control," he insisted. "When we go out and practice there are certain things I can control and certain things that I can't. There’s never been a feeling like I wasn't going to be able to perform; that I wasn't going to be able to get my chance. Coach Driesbach and Coach Bailiff just kept encouraging me to keep working hard, and I was grateful to them, grateful to the coaching staff for giving me an opportunity to play."

They say luck is when preparation meets opportunity, and in that regard, the ever-so-polite Matt wouldn’t deny he’s been angling for a bit of luck for ever so long.

"One thing my dad always talked to me about concerning football," he noted, "is just playing a hundred per cent. And there's no substitute for playing absolutely as hard as you possibly can. I think sometimes people take for granted the game of football. I try not to, and I try to always make sure that I'm going as hard as I possibly can, and I think that in some circumstances, effort can make up for talent; it can make up for a lot of things."

"You can't coach heart. And I think that I bring a lot of that."

Running onto field before packed house all in a day's work

So there he was, running out onto the field with the Rice defensive unit before fifty-thousand-plus screaming OSU fans Saturday. Did that cause a sudden feeling of reverie? Was it simply awesome to be standing out on the field, going against national superstars like Zac Robinson and Dez Bryant?

"You know honestly (things like that) didn't even cross my mind," Matt insisted. "Once I got in the game, I didn't think about who I was playing or what their name was or what school they went to. I was just focused on trying to stop those guys."

So what does a Thinking Man tell himself in a situation like that?

"Oh, beforehand I was really excited during warmups; I was amped up, and when I got out there, I was confident I could make the plays," the Michigander-turned-Texan responded. "More than anything else I told myself not to think too much and just to go out there -- and have fun and react. So that's what I tried to do."

"The first couple of drives I was getting my feet wet out there. No matter how much you practice the game speed, it's a whole other level. But our coaches put together a really good defensive game plan; and I knew what I could do within that game plan, and I just tried to make the plays that were expected of me and the plays that I knew I could make."

And Matt’s play was no small part of the effort that resulted in the Owls’ outgaining the Cowboys, while virtually shutting down a previously-potent rushing attack. Now, it appears, Matthew Nordstrom has got a lot more serious football-playing ahead of him.

"No question, it's been a difficult road," he admitted. "There were times when I certainly questioned whether I could play at this level, or whether I was ever going to get an opportunity."

"But I just kept my head down and kept working hard and kept grinding. You know, I just wanted to be ready when I did get the chance. I felt if I kept myself ready, kept an open mind, when I did get my chance that I hoped I could take advantage of it; that what I could do out there would be helpful to my team,and that I'd be able to contribute."

Don’t let Matt’s occasional reference to himself in the first person fool you. When he speaks of "I," it comes off un-capitalized. Just a team player. A cog in a wheel. And a young man who’s unfailingly polite to his elders.

Greet him, and he immediately stops what he’s doing and stands up, looks you in the eye, and responds appreciatively. Ask him a question, and he’s back up on his feet to answer.

When men like Matt Nordstrom play for your team, you know you’re ‘doing it right.’ And when they win for you, the taste of victory is exceptionally sweet.

--P.T.H.

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