The Rice defense had three-and-outed UTEP on the game’s opening series, and the offense then took the ball and marched steadily down the field, consuming six minutes in a 12-play, 76-yard drive.

The big tight end ran a down-and-in, and as he crossed the shadow of the goalposts, Nick heaved and Vance leapt. The play was perfectly executed, and as such, virtually undefendable. And it put the Owls ahead 7-0 for the first time since the North Texas game, Rice’s only win of the year.

But UTEP came back and drove for six as well, connecting on a third and 14 and a third and 15 against soft Rice pass coverage. Then, the Owls’ first play after the ensuing kickoff, the wheels came off.

After the kickoff return only netted 15 yards, walking wounded center Eric Ball, who played with a taped-up sprained knee, set sail an errant snap. Nick picked up the loose ball  and managed to get off a pass, but was called for intentional grounding in the end zone.

You know what that means – two points for the other guys, a safety.

From there, it only got worser and worser.

"We looked like world beaters one drive and the first day of practice the next," Rice head coach David Bailiff  said post-game. "We’ve got to get some consistency."

Actually, it could have been more specifically reported as something like this:  "We looked like world beaters on that first drive and during fourth quarter garbage time.  The rest of the game we looked like it was the first day of practice."

Among the major miscues committed by Rice offenders and defenders during this misbegotten game, there was included:

• A high snap that resulted in a safety

• A roughing-the-passer penalty that led to a UTEP touchdown

• A pass interference penalty that led to a UTEP touchdown

• A flagrant foul, resulting in an ejection,  that led to a UTEP touchdown

• A pair of missed tackles that turned a 12 yard kickoff return into a 50-yard return with seconds left in the half, that led to another UTEP touchdown

• A badly missed tackle that resulted in a 26-yard, Kris Adams, pass and run TD, on a play where the UTEP receiver mocked the Owls by duckwalking it in from five yards out; he was that alone after shaking his Rice defender

• A blown assignment resulting in a 73-yard pass and run TD by the self-game Kris Adams; this time, although wide open, he actually ran it in all the way; must have been winded.

One could go on, but by now, dear reader, if you weren’t at the game, you can probably catch on to the notion that it’s probably a good thing you weren’t.

"When something bad happens to us, it’s almost like we’re getting that expectation, ‘Here we go again,’?"  Coach   Bailiff said glumly. "We can’t expect bad things to happen. We need to expect good things to happen."

Ah, but the thing started out so well. 

On UTEP’s first possession, the Owls had all the answers, with a knock-down of a Trevor Vittatoe-to-Adams pass by Philllip Gaines; a gang-tackle of the Miners’ Vernon Frazier by the Owls’  Corey Frazier and Trey Briggs;   and an errant Vittatoe passing attempt for  Donavon Kemp.

When Andy Erickson fair-caught the ensuing punt at the Rice 24, the Owl offense got it right in gear.  The first four plays were comprised of runs of 15 and 5 yards by Sam McGuffie, and two straight completions to Donte Moore.

Then on third and 15 from the UTEP 47, the Owls got that 15, Fanuzzi to Moore on the sideline route.  And looking good, Billy Ray.

Next, on second and four at the UTEP 26, Nick found Vance McDonald on the home sideline, where the big fella hauled in a pass and evaded his defender, with nothing but green in front of him.  However, his momentum carried him out of bounds at the UTEP 4 yard line.

We told you a minute ago how the Owls got their touchdown from that point. In all, it had to rank as Rice’s most satisfying, well-engineered touchdown drive of the season.

We also mentioned the ensuing safety fiasco, which necessitated, of course, a free kick back to the Miners – which was returned 34 yards to the UTEP 45, where Paul Porras and Matt Nordstrom wrestled Travaun Nixon down.

Still, the Rice defense held its ground this time.  It forced a fourth-and-four from the Rice 35, where Cheta Ozougwu forced a hurry-up pass by Vittatoe which Adams could not reel in.

When the ball went over on downs to the Owls, the score still stood 9-7, the Flock had the ball at its own 35, and one minute remained in the first quarter.  Not a bad scenario – two major stops, and one artful scoring drive, and it’s still a two-point game.

Even when the Owls failed to move the ball, Kyle Martens boomed a 52-yard punt which went out of bounds at the UTEP six yard line.  Time for some more defense, right?

Afraid not.  Los Mineros proceeded drive 94-yards in 13 plays, the last 26 being comprised of the aforementioned Adams duck-walk play.

And to boot, UTEP got two more touchdowns on its next two possessions, the first, on a 71-yard, seven-play drive that ended with an 18-yard Adams reception for the score, and the second –well, the second, in a year of numerous low points thus far, this one has to be among the lowest.

Brandon Yelovich got off a very nice, booming kickoff which carried to the goal line, and the Owls were downfield quick as a cat, to cover.

Donavan Kemp decided to run the ball out – mind you, at that point, only 36 ticks remained on the scoreboard clock until halftime – and was met with heavy traffic just past his ten yard line.  He appeared well hemmed in, but executed a spin and reverse move, and all of a sudden, he was headed up the sideline with room to roam.

It took a desperation Brandon Yelovich tackle to save the touchdown, but the return set up the Miners at midfield with 22 seconds left in the half.

First play, the Owls didn’t appear to rush the passer, but they didn’t exactly drop back effectively in prevent coverage, either, as Vittatoe hit a wide, wide open Hunter Pierce who hiked it all the way to the Owl two yard line before being hauled down by Paul Porras.

The Miners had time for one more play, and, eschewing the field goal, Vittatoe handed off to Leilyon Myers, who , as Rice defenders tripped over trying to pronounce his first name, plunged in for the score.

In between those last two second-quarter UTEP TDs, the Owls had a 12-play, 75-yard drive of their own that got as far as the UTEP 11.  On that series, Donte Moore picked up a key first down to get things going; then Nick Fanuzzi scrambled for 19 more.  Tyler Smith had five plus-yardage carries, and Klein Kubiak a couple of key catches.

But on second and five and the UTEP 12, the Miner blitz forced a fumble, and Nick Fanuzzi had to fall on the ball for a six-yard loss. That resulted in too big a hill to climb, and the Owls had to settle for a 28-yard Chris Boswell field goal.

Things went from worse to worser early in the third quarter when the Owls failed to mount an effective drive on their opening possession.  Once again, Kyle Martens got off an effective punt that appeared to have the Miners pinned back at their own eleven yard line.  But UTEP ran three straight running plays, with their all-league running back Donald Buckram now in the game. 

It was second and seven at the Owl 27, and Vittatoe caught the Rice secondary in a snooze, hitting Kris Adams for the 73-yarder which made it   37-10, UTEP, and effectively meant game over.

Rice had to punt away the next two possessions, but finally got untracked in  the fourth quarter.

A big part of the reason was that Rice coaches finally teamed up Jeremy Eddington and Sam McGuffie for more than an isolated play here or there, and as a result,  with Sam getting four carries and Jeremy five, the Owls moved 70 yards in 12 plays. 

Vance McDonald so much enjoyed his first career TD catch that he decided to get himself another one, skying high in the air tobring in a Fanuzzi toss – exactly the same play as produced the touchdown, first drive, but this time from seven yards out.

That made it 37-17, UTEP, but with only nine minutes left in the game, it was already onside-kick time for the Owls.  The kick failed, UTEP got the ball at the Owl 45, and it took them six plays to punch it in to go up by 27 again, 44-17.

The Owls did get one last hurrah, a game ending TD drive that was engineered by a lineup full of newcomers, as Turner Peterson, Klein Kubiak, Michael   Patterson, and Trevor Gillette all turned in nice pass receptions, Trevor getting the last 12 yards on an oh-so-careful haul in of a Fanuzzi fade route, carefully cradling the ball and making sure he got his foot down.

On the evening, the 5-1 Miners registered zero turnovers, and as a result put in their most impressive effort of the season, one that left their aficionados dreaming of bowl games and perhaps even a league championship.

In the visitor’s locker room, however, the Owls were kicking themselves.

Early this week, UTEP head coach Mike Price exhorted the local yokels to come out in force and literally "yell and scream" when the Owls have the ball.

"Bring all the kids from your neighborhood who are obnoxious so they can yell and scream," the party guy said.

"They make all their offensive calls from the sideline, they yell it out to the players on the field," the UTEP coach explained. "If you want to help UTEP football, come Saturday night and scream and yell when they have the ball. Fans can be a factor, they can help a lot."

"This place can really help against this team. The crowd being aggressive can help us win."

OK, then, first "yell" and then "scream" – or vice versa. We think you’ve gotten your point across, Coach.

Unfortunately for Miner efforts, UTEP Athletic Director Bob Stull affixed limits on tailgating activities in advance of Saturday’s Homecoming game. The problem, it seems – er, how to put this delicately – lay in an overabundance of underaged drinkers raising a ruckus on campus and in stadium environs starting early in the morning on game day.

So now, the rule says, tailgating can’t commence before 2 pm Saturday. And with a local start time of 7 pm, that gives the locals only five hours to, shall we say, get their game faces on before kickoff. Hey, no fair!

Seriously, there’s said to be a move afoot among UTEP students to boycott the game in protest against such procrustean strictures. It’s likely, however, that any such effort will fail miserably, given the fact that the high-flying Miners are solidly favored to put a thumping on the Owls and in so doing break a four-game losing streak to those arroz guys.

Senior UTEP quarterback Trevor Vittatoe has had quite the season so far, in contrast to his less than sterling junior year in which he gave up 13 interceptions and played poorly against Rice in a 30-29 Owl win.

Vittatoe is slated to pass up his immediate predecessor, Jordan Palmer as the Miners' all-time leading passer, needing only 152 more passing yards to eclipse Palmer's 11,084. This year, the Euless Trinity grad has tossed for 1,250 yards and 11 touchdowns in five games, while giving up only two interceptions all season.

The Miners have won four out of their first five primarily without the services of star running back Donald Buckram, who’s played in only one game thus far this season after rushing for 1,594 yards and 18 touchdowns last year. Be that as it may, UTEP has averaged 173.8 yards per game on the ground in 2010 against just over 150 on the season in 2009.

While Buckram rests his bruised knee, a troika of unheralded running backs in the likes of Joe Banyard, Vernon Frazier and Leilyon Myers, have toted the mail for the El Pasoans. Banyard leads all rushers with an average of 66 yards per game, 5.2 per carry, while Frazier follows him, averaging 35.6 ypg, but with an impressive 7.7 yards per tote.

It’s easy to isolate Vittatoe’s favorite receiver – he’s the same guy who’s bedeviled the Owls’ secondary for the past couple of seasons, in the likes of wide receiver Kris Adams.

Adams leads the Miners thus far this season with 419 receiving yards and five touchdowns. He had a 141-yard, two-touchdown game, his second of the year, in last week's 38-20 win over New Mexico in Albuquerque.

During Vittatoe’s run as the Miners’ starting quarterback, the UTEP defense has been an Achilles heel, ranking 118th of 119 Division 1A teams in 2007, 115th in 2008 and 110th last season.

Rice head coach David Bailiff says that the major reason for UTEP’s somewhat surprising 4-1 start this season lay in the Miners’ improvement on the defensive side of the ball.

"Where they're really much improved this year is defensively," Coach Bailiff said. "They're not making the mistakes they have in the past. But they're not blitzing extensively-- they're going to master something and be good at it. They're tackling a lot better in space. That's really were much of the improvement has come from this year."

But word has it that Buckram will be ready and raring to go on Saturday, and if so, that further complicates Rice’s defensive scheme. We won’t know until kickoff, though, as Coach Price has been holding has cards up close.

"I'm going to keep the injury update close to the vest," Price said at his media conference Monday. "We don't get anything out of Rice; Houston doesn't cover them too much. We don't want to give them any added information."

Two days later, Buckram was reported to have practiced in a red cross jersey, but apparently at full speed. And Coach Price was a bit more effusive about his playing chances. "I think Buckram will be ready to go," the UTEP coach said. "We'll just have to wait and see how the week goes."

Some might figure on putting an asterisk next to the Miners’ 4-1 record, being that their wins have come against the likes of Memphis, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, New Mexico, and New Mexico State – not exactly a Murderer’s Row.

Their sole loss was a 54-24 pasting on the road to the UH Cougars. At the Sun Bowl before 29,000 two weeks ago, UTEP managed to eke out a 16-13 win over 1-4 Memphis in the only other league game played by the Miners so far.

But the crowd Saturday is likely to be larger, more boisterous, and loaded for bear when the Owls take the field. Chances are that Rice quarterback Nick Fanuzzi and his cohorts will be incommunicado, at least other than by hand signals, for much of the game.

Come to think of it, the Owls' most impressive performances of the season thus far came  against hostile crowds in Reliant Stadium and Denton. Hence,  the way things have gone thus far this season for the sputtering Owl offense, that wouldn’t appear necessarily to be such a bad thing.