Memphis roared out to a 17-0 lead before the Blue Raiders came from behind in the fourth quarter, scoring three late Tds to eke out the win. The Tigers seemingly had a win in the palms of their hands, but let it slip away.

"This past weekend was tough to swallow, " Coach Porter told press Monday. "Especially when you play as hard and as well as we did, it's tough to have your hands around victory and not finish. It's tough."

"But it does show that they care and they fought," he added. "We had close to 30 guys come to our offices yesterday to watch film of the pass game and try to get film of (Rice). That just shows this team has a tremendous amount of resolve. I think they're all in it together until we get it right."

In the MTSU game, Memhis had 395 yards total offense, true freshman quarterback Taylor Reed picking up 230 of those passing, with one TD toss. Against the Blue Raiders, six Tiger receivers made pass receptions, led by Tannar Rehrer with 10 catches for 72 yards. He accounted for seven first downs in the game.

Memphis' running game will get a shot in the arm as Jerrell Rhodes is expected to be back in the lineup after missing all but the season opener with injury. Absent Rhodes, running backs Billy Foster and Artaves Gibson have gotten the most work in the past four game. Foster totals 272 yards and 3 TDs on 74 carries, while Gibson totals 204 yards on 62 carries. The Tigers average just over 100 yards a game on the ground.

The Memphis defense starts with its experienced line and linebacker corps. The DL is

anchored by senior Frank Trotter, junior Dontari Poe and sophomore Johnnie Farms. Trotter leads the line in tackles with 22, while Poe and Farms follow with 17 stops each. Backing up the line are senior Terrence Thomas and junior college transfer Kenyata Johnson, each of whom have started all of the first five games.

The UM secondary is a bit suspect, though, owing mainly to the degree of inexperience exhibited among its group. One true freshman (Bobby McCain) and three sophomores are currently shown in the starting position on the Tigers’ depth chart.

Rice head coach David Bailiff made it clear that, the way the Owls' engine has been running out of tune the past couple of games in lopsided road losses to Baylor and Southern Miss, the Flock will have to be at the top of its game Saturday in order to avoid the upset.

"They have struggled," he admitted of this week’s opponent. " It is one of the games where we need to keep a great attitude. Our old o-line coach (Blake Miller) is their o-line coach now. He knows a lot about what we do."

(Time out. Uh, coach, it looks like EVERYBODY knows a lot about what we do.)

"Even in this game, we are a talented bunch but we have to be the best team. They run a lot of motions. They have a young quarterback. They have not done a lot defensively. We just need to eliminate our mistakes. We need to work on being more disciplined and being more accountable. We have to be disciplined in staying in the structure of what we are coached to do."

"They are capable of beating us. We are capable of beating them."

To make matters worse, after having remained fairly healthy the first four game, the Owls have been bitten by the injury bug going into Saturday’s tilt.

Word has it from reliable sources that corner Phillip Gaines is expected to miss several weeks with a foot injury. He was in a cast on crutches during Tuesday’s workout, reported Joseph Duarte at the Chronicle. He also stated that running back/KR Charles Ross is out 2 to 4 weeks with a strained hamstring. And then there’strong safety Gabe Baker, who’s said to bes out 3 to 6 weeks with a high ankle sprain."

Add in injured Owls such as OL Davon Allen and WR Randy Kitchens, and quickly the job vacancies mount up. But to look on the bright side of things, that situation inevitably must result in getting some new talent onto the field — players like Bryce Callahan, who last week nabbed two interceptions against USM. And Denzel Wells.

"It was nice to see Bryce Callahan play the way he played with his two interceptions," Coach Bailiff said. "And I thought Mario Hull filled in really nice for Randy Kitchens and showed what he is capable of doing."

But perhaps something a bit more mystifying to Owl fans is the degree of talent either lingering on the bench, or not getting enough of the right kind of touches on the field.

As for the latter circumstance, take RB/slot Sam McGuffie. "We have to get Sam involved more in the game than we have," Coach Bailiff said, in obvious understatement. "We know we have some great backs. We have to get our play-makers on the field and the ball in their hands."

While they’re at it, somebody needs to file a missing-persons report on Taylor Cook.

 "We have to be able to sustain drives and keep the defense off the field. The defense has to be able to get ourselves off the field. It was a tough game," Coach Bailiff admitted. "I have to get us going better in practice. I have to put them in more stressful situations in practice so we can handle the games better."

--PTH