A sixty-yard, 15-play scoring driving on the Owls’ opening possession, and then a magnificent goal-line stand to thwart the Orangebloods’ opening salvo, served notice to the pro-Texas throng of over 70,000 filling the extremely neutral-feeling Rice ‘home’ venue of Reliant Stadium, that these were not the same old anemic Owls of last season.

True enough, after a resounding first 15 minutes of play in which the Owls gave the Longhorns everything they could handle and more, a couple of big plays by the Horns made the final outcome relatively sure by the time the second quarter clock expired.

But if this was such an edifying walk in Reliant Park for the moo-moos and their myriad throng of orange-clad fans, why the long looks headed back to the parking lots? Why the press teeth- gnashing and excuse-making over the perceived shortcomings of this Texas team, ringing all the way from the Austin American-Isveztia to the Dallas Komsomolskaya Pravda?

"I thought we went toe to toe with a giant," Rice head coach David Bailiff announced afterwards, his voice hoarse but full of determination. "And we finished that game strong, and finished it hard."

Shane Turner was effective in his kickoff returns, despite hang time of UT kicker (PTH photo)

Actually, the Owls started the game stronger and harder than they finished it, and would there have been just one miscue or two on part of the Horns to help along the Owls’ early efforts, they might have had more on the scoreboard to show for it than a 3-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The crowd of 70,450 was, well, as one might guess, it was almost all orange, and with the rooftop of Reliant Stadium closed, the crowd noise was beyond deafening as the Flock received the opening kickoff and redshirt freshman Taylor McHargue came out on the field to take his first real-game snap ever as a collegian.

Thing is, 14 plays and seven minutes later, he was still taking snaps, the vaunted Horn defense was rocked back on its heels, the UT offense stayed camped on the sideline, and that crowd noise had dropped off precipitously.

Sam McGuffie also drew the start for the Owls, and his efforts on the first two plays of the game immediately produced a Rice first down. Down went the decibel level.

Young Mr. McHargue then went to the air, connecting first to Patrick Randolph for eight, and next to Pierre Beasley for nine more and another Owl first down. The big play of the drive came at second and six at the Rice 44.  Patrick Randolph sprinted down the visitors sideline, faking out his defender, Aaron Williams, and Taylor Mac lofted a perfect throw to him that went for 31 yards to the Texas 25. Up went the noise level, but this time it was the few thousand Owl fans scattered about the far reaches of the stadium.

The Owls had yet another first down in their satchel, this next one on the ground with McGuffie rushing for 4 yards to pick it up on third and three. Now in the red zone, the next play was a fade route deep in the end zone intended for Vance McDonald. T-Mac made the throw and Vance made the catch, but the big guy was pushed out of bounds as he hauled in the ball. It was a clear case of interference, but the striped shirts also managed to find a holding penalty against the Owls, so instead of a touchdown, or a penalty first down, the play was reset.

It was at that point that Sam McGuffie decided that, by golly, he was going to get it all right here and now. McHargue made a swing pass to  Sam coming out of the backfield,and  it appeared he had a blocker in front of him and perhaps 6 to 8 gainable yards straight ahead. But that old urge to roam suddenly seized him and he immediately executed a quick 180 and headed back the other direction, hell bent for leather towards the goal line flag at the far corner.

It was just dumb luck that UT’s Kheest Randall was standing around, far out of the play action, when Sam came right back in his direction. The big Texas defensive end blindsided him for loss of seven, and that got the Texas crowd back into the mix. Then on third and 16 from the 20, the young Owl quarterback made the deep drop, but was immediately drubbed by about half a dozen Texas defenders who’d blown in on the play.

Might be worth mentioning that the zebras missed at least two personal foul calls against the moo-moos that drive -- the first, a blatant late hit on Sam McGuffie out of bounds, and the second, a helmet spear on Pat Randolph after his 31-yard reception.  Even chief Hornfan Ron Franklin, on the ESPN play-by-play, questioned that one.

Nevertheless, Chris Boswell came in and kicked a straight and true field goal from 42 yards out, so after holding the ball for seven minutes and 14 plays, the owls shockingly led Texas for the first time in a month of Sundays.

Corbin Smiter looks for yardage after quick sideline route (PTH photo)

But when Texas came right back and steadily drove the ball down the field after a Rice pooch kick set them up with good field position at their own 38, it appeared as if the Owls’ success would be short-lived.

It took the Longhorns eight plays to make it to first and goal from the Rice four, and the Owl defense had not appeared to have done much in the way of putting up a fuss along the way.  But all of a sudden the Rice defenders showed a stiff backbone the likes of which hasn't  been seen before in this century …literally.

First, Trey Briggs stuffed UT’s big running back Cody Johnson for scant gain. Johnson plied the Rice line again on second and goal, and almost scored, but a determined John Gioffre kept him from crossing the plane.

Hey, no big deal, apparently thought the Texas offensive coaches – we’ll just keep giving the big fella the ball; he’ll have to score eventually.

Unfortunately for UT, the rules say you only get four tries, and on third and goal from the one-foot line, this time Briggs and Gioffre teamed to stop Johnson cold.

Aw, how cute, the orange-clad fraternals in the crowd must have been thinking – they’ve actually made us earn this one.

Only thing, Rice linebacker Justin Hill had different ideas. On the same off-tackle play the Texas used to score at will against the Owls in ’08, Justin blew past his defender and securely wrapped up the 250-pounds-plus Johnson four yards deep in the backfield, and the Owls had just turned in a humongous goal line stand.

Justin came up huge on the day, with seven tackles, but after the game he was his usual, sanguine self. "We read our basic keys and kept everything real simple," he said of his successful approach." We just trusted in our keys and took it to where the ball was going."

Hill had made that tackle solo, but there were plenty of blue jerseys in the vicinity, by the way.

"There were probably four guys around every tackle we made," all-league safety Travis Bradshaw told press. "I felt like we were just flying around. We were really getting physical -- and that’s something we’ve lacked the last few years."

Injured Owl defensive anchor Scott Solomon prowls the sidelines, wanting so badly to be on the field (PTH photo)

Unfortunately, the young Rice quarterback, his team backed up to their own goal line, obviously wanted to make a big play to capitalize on the just-completed defensive stop, and gain field position for the Owl offense.

He dropped back, drifted out of the pocket, and spotted his 6-5 tight end, Vance McDonald, seemingly open 20 yards down the field. But once again UT’s Kheest Randall was in the right place in the right time, and this occasion, instead of happenstance, it was the result of a phenomenally acrobatic defensive play that drew the interception and gave the Horns the ball right back again, this time starting at the Rice 30.

"I saw the receiver out there," Taylor McHargue said, "and I thought I could get the ball to him, but the guy just came in and made the play on it."

But even though a collective mind meld of, "oh, no, here we go again" at that point silently chorused through the Rice supporters  present, things nonetheless did not at all revert to business as usual.

Instead of blowing right down the field, the Texas offense went backwards.

Phillip Gaines began the proceedings for the Rice defenders by stgorming in to stop Marquise Goodwin for a loss of four. Next play, Chris Jones and Justin Hill combined to corrall Cody Johnson for a short gain of two after he’d taken a quick pass circling out of his backfield position.

A false start penalty set back the Horns five more yards, and then a third-and-long attempt to set up the screen failed when Chris Jammer nailed UT’s Greg Smith after a short gain.

But the football gods being as predisposed to the Evil Empire as they are, out came frosh kicker Justin Tucker, and he got the perfect placement, the perfect snap, and those gridiron gods blew his field goal attempt slap through the uprights from 51 yards out, on his first collegiate attempt ever.

The Longhorns’ "drive" had netted them minus-four yards, but thus yielded three points, and the score was tied at 3, early in the second quarter.

The next Rice possession started off well, as, after Shane Turner returned the kickoff 26 yards to the Rice, 34, Taylor McHargue deftly executed the keeper on the zone read on consecutive plays, first for 13 yards, and then for nine more.

The Owls had a first and ten from the UT 38 and it appeared they were driving just as confidently as they had the first time around, when the Horn defense stiffened , and a 47-yard Chris Boswell field goal attempt went wide right.

The kick had plenty of distance, but it appeared the placement was slightly off center, and from 47 yards out, the minor miscue was enough to result in the miss.

Minor miscues or errors in judgment on the part of frosh quarterback McHargue stood out more vividly, perhaps, than might have been against some defensive unit other than the University of Texas. "He did some great things and he did some freshman quarterback things," Coach Bailiff said of his young hoss. "He's got four more years to continue to grow, and we really think he's going to be something special."

Sam McGuffie tucks it under and looks for more room to roam (PTH photo)

Texas, meanwhile, rather than needing growth, seemingly just needed a wake-up call, and they apparently got that in connection with their next possession.

For it was at that point that the Texas offensive machine finally got cranked up, propelled by a first-and-15 , 22-yard completion to Marquise Goodwin to the Rice 42. Five plays later, UT’s Tre’ Newton scored from one yard out, and Texas finally had its lead, midway in the second quarter.

Actually, the Owl defense was poised to put up another goal line stand, but this time, instead of the powerful but ponderous Johnson, Mack Brown had the smaller but shiftier Newton in the lineup, and he carried the mail the final four plays of the drive.

Too, it bears mentioning that the UT drive was helped considerably by an excuse-me face-mask penalty against an Owl defender who’d just made an impressive open field tackle for no gain, only managing to come in contact with the forbidden implement on the way down.

Be that as it may, things quickly turned sour for the Owls when, early in their next possession, on third and long, Tayor McHargue made the deep drop, and immediately was seized upon by UT’s all-everything, Sam Acho. Taylor was clearly "in the grasp" and could’ve easily been called down, but we all know that the Evil Empire always gets the call in these kind of situations – come on, now, who would seriously deny the fact?

The wily Acho, no doubt putting to use his academic brilliance, held the Rice frosh QB aloft long enough for the ball to be exorcised from his possession like an arthroscopically-removed gall bladder, whereupon it was quickly picked off the turf by once-again on the spot Kheest Robinson, who waltzed across the goal line as the UT partisan crowd got in a collective big yuk out of this – now there are those bumbling Owlies that we’ve come to know and deride.

In all honesty, that single play could have no result other than taking at least some of the starch out of the Owls, and, after a quick three-and-out by the Rice offense, and with the Owl defensive daubers down just a bit, UT’s Aaron Williams reeled of a 25 –yard punt return to midfield, whereupon it took the Horns nine plays to score and extend the deficit to 24-3.

At that point, less than 90 seconds remained in the half, and those who remembered Rice’s anemic hurry-up-offense efforts in ’09 couldn’t have much confidence in the Owls’ ability to narrow the score with so little time remaining.

But then, fate intervened. After Sam McGuffie ripped off 11 yards to get into Texas territory at the 49, the frosh quarterback lofted a deep post pattern to Vance McDonald, and the pass was true. Vance appeared to be in position to haul it in around the Texas 15 yard line, but UT defender Ryan Robinson managed to get a poke at the ball, and he knocked it free and into the air, where, several more yards downfield, Randy Kitchens, the Rice trailing receiver, was in position to cradle it to his number well before the ball would have a chance to hit the turf.

With under ten seconds remaining on the scoreboard clock, Kitchens wisely sensed it was now-or-never for the score, but he was in for a tug of war with UT defender Christian Scott, who had Randy firmly by the jersey. And danged if ol’ Randy didn’t win the battle – but then only by extending himself as far as he could, stretching the ball just over the lip of the cup as his knees touched the turf.

"As soon as the ball went up that’s all I really focused on," Randy said later. "I secured it, and then I saw the end zone -- and I was trying to get there as hard as I could. Luckily I made it there."
 
"He was in the right place at the right time," said frosh QB McHargue of his rangy receiver. "You get lucky every now and then. But Randy made a great play. He’s a ball hawk."

That put the Owls to back within a respectable, two-touchdown difference as they took to the halftime locker room. Call it a fluke, but nobody ever said football was anything but a game of inches. Texas got its inches. The Owls, in turn, quite forcefully demanded theirs.

Whatever success Rice had had offensively in the first half appeared to go ‘poof’ in the third quarter, be it on account of less-than-innovative play selection, or be it simply because the Texas defenders were able to assert their size, speed and tools. Or perhaps it was a combination of the two factors.

Nonetheless, the Owls failed to pick up a single first down -- in fact they netted exactly zero yards total offense -- until the final play of the third quarter, when junior running back Tyler Smith finally found his sea legs and dashed for a 14-yard gain.

With that kind of minimal offensive output, it’s a tribute to the Rice defense that the Longhorns nonetheless were unable to pull away and make the game into a rout.

During that offensive drought, the Rice defense forced two missed field goals, and the lone Texas touchdown came on a one-yard run by Tre’ Newton – his third TD of the day – after the Horns had been given a short field late in the third quarter. Even then, it took Texas nine plays to travel the 46 yards to the end zone.

From that point on, the Rice coaching staff kept it close to the vest, and worked to maintain possession of the ball and perhaps chip away at the deficit. Both last year’s starting quarterback, Nick Fanuzzi, and a the third stout competitor for the starting job, soph transfer Taylor Cook, saw playing time in the second half – but only were allowed to use the first few pages of the play book. Meanwhile, the Rice defense more than did its part in the balance.

Texas was able to add but three more points, that on a 26-yard Justin Tucker field goal midway in the final period. Granted, Mack’s crew wasn’t exactly slinging the ball all over the sand lot, but neither were they so doing two years ago when they added to the deficit late in the game en route to a 52-10 beat-down.

The score stood 34-10 with just under a minute left in the game when the Owls were forced to punt from their own 36. Kyle Martens got off an end-over-ender which UT’s Aaron Williams attempted to field near the sideline at the Texas 25. Finally, for the first time in the game, the result was a Texas ball-handling miscue – why didn’t we get that in the first quarter? – and Travis Bradshaw was quick to grab the loose football, arching toward the goal. Had Williams not made a bang-bang effort to pull him down, Travis just might have been able to chalk himself up a defensive ‘six.’

Nick Fanuzzi came in to steer the ship, and two plays later, with 35 seconds left, he connected with Luke Willson for 13 yards to the Texas two yard line. Next play, Charles Ross took the snap and bulled across for the score, making it a 34-17 final.

Thus, even at the end of the game, it could fairly be said that the Owls were working feverishly with building blocks.

HOUSTON (Sept. 5) -- In 2008 and 2010, Rice played Texas. In 2008, Texas swamped the Owls, 52-10, in Austin, the fourth game of the season. The Owls, of course, went on to win ten games and finish with a Texas Bowl victory, their best season output since 1954. What might a statistical comparison of those two games indicate to Owl fans, eager to find straws to grasp. Let’s take a quick look.

TOTAL YARDS: This is one stat that jumps off the page. In 2008, the defense that went to the Texas Bowl gave up an astronomical 577 yards—259 by land, 318 by air. Throw in the 78 yards on kickoff returns, the total; yardage given up was a whopping 655 yards. Compare that with what happened in 2010, when Rice gave up only 369 yards offensively—172 by air, 197 by land. Add in 93 punt and kickoff return yards, the total yards given up to the Horns is 462—a 193 yard difference.

OFFENSE: Offensively that night, the Rice running game was, well—offensive. While the net gain was 89 yards, when you take away the entire lost yardage on the ground, it becomes a paltry 17. Compare that to Saturday’s 143 yards for the Owls before subtracting 55 yards in losses for a total of 88 yards. The biggest difference in all this is the average per attempt. In 2008, the average gain per run was 0.7 yards per attempt. Granted, 2.1 yards per attempt isn’t something to get all excited over until you compare it with the previous effort. Did the running game improve? Yes. And it did so against the fifth –rated team in the country – and a Texas defense that Mack Brown says just might be his best ever.

Passing-wise, it wasn’t like having Chase Clement out there in 2008, when he garnered 254 yards in the air, with a grand total of 301. But when you take away a Jarett Dillard and James Casey catching 17 passes for a total of 209 yards, you’re not going to pass the ball quite as well. But Saturday’s total passing yardage of 131 yards came in light of a very different Rice game plan, considering it was redshirt freshman quarterback Taylor McHargue’s first start.

But perhaps the biggest statistical difference between 2008 and 2010 is found in third down conversions. In 2008 against the Longhorns, Rice converted 2 of 14 third down chances. This year’s game had the same number of third down chances—14—but this time, 7 were converted.

So can Owl fans draw any optimism from this comparison? It has been said—with a great deal of accuracy, in all fairness—that you can make statistics say just about anything you want. However, this comparison begs to be considered favorably. Texas was ranked #7 then, and #5 now. Rice, in ’08, in Chase Clement and Jarrett Dillard, featured the most prolific quarterback-receiver combination in the history of college football.

The game video test supports the statistics. In 2008, a ten-win Rice team was outclassed, blown out by Texas. In 2010, every orange-bedecked individual in Reliant Stadium knew that UT had been give a very competitive game, one that might have turned out differently in the end had the breaks gone to Rice in the early goings.

While Texas coach Mack Brown admonishes his players – and fans – to have "patience, people, patience" after game one, Rice head man David Bailiff and his crew and ready to tee it up against North Texas now, right now – let’s get it on.