'11 UTEP week
Rice 41, UTEP 37

Randy Kitchens leaps high to contest for reception (MA photo)

HOUSTON (Nov. 5) – The Rice Owls won the paper war against the UTEP Miners quite convincingly here on this sun-dappled Homecoming Day.

The Owl offense had its third-highest output of all time, garnering 671 yards and outgaining their opponent by almost 300. Rice out first-downed UTEP, 30-14. The Owls converted 13 of 20 third down attempts. They suffered zero turnovers. Penalties were minimal. Time of possession was no contest.

And yet, the Feathered Flock needed every one of those yards, downs and minutes of possession to stave off a UTEP team that appeared so charmed as to be able, almost, but not quite, to steal a victory from the Owls.

As the third quarter clock wound down, Rice held an overwhelming statistical advantage, and yet, amazingly, trailed on the scoreboard, 31-27. That was mainly because of two, long touchdown bombs from UTEP’s Nick Lamaison to his wideout Mike Edwards, plus a chip shot TD drive set up by a 70-yard Vernon Frazier kickoff return.

But the Rice offense, led impressively by quarterback Nick Fanuzzi, marched 83 yards in eight plays to go up 34-31, and then put the game away by driving to a safe, 41-31 lead fostered by Bryce Callahan’s second deep-dish interception of the day.

The Fanooz was nothing short of remarkable. His 30-of-43 passing for 405 yards had been outpaced only three times before in Rice football history, twice by Chase Clement, and only once by Rice’s most lauded signal caller of all time, Tommy Kramer.

"We got into a rhythm where we could pretty much do whatever we wanted," Nick said after the game. Substitute the word "I" for "we" in the above sentence and you’ll get a rough idea of what kind of day Nick had.

"We were running the ball successfully, going outside, inside, throwing it downfield," Nick continued. "Getting a lot of man coverage allows you to do that. It was very evenly mixed up today."

Game started off in what appeared to be disastrous manner

Chris Jammer flies high to bat away pass in end zone (MA photo)

At the game’s onset, however, it looked as if the only thing that was mixed up was the Rice secondary. On the third play of the game, UTEP’s Nick Lamaison found his wide receiver Mike Edwards wide open on the visitors’ sideline for a 74 yard touchdown bomb, with nary a Rice defender within 10 yards as Edwards hauled in the ball over his shoulder and waltzed in for the score.

That inauspicious start brought an audible groan from the homecoming crowd, but the Owl offense immediately got the home folks back into a partying mood by roaring back to score in four plays, covering 75 yards in so doing.

First, Nick Fanuzzi hit Vance McDonald on the sideline, and he rambled for 20 yards to the Rice 45. One first down later, Turner Petersen set up in the Wild Owl, faked the handoff, found a seam, and sprinted 44 yards untouched to the end zone, tying the game at seven.

The first UTEP touchdown pass was so easy, though, that Lamaison came right back with the same play on the Miners next possession. This time, however, Bryce Callahan maneuvered for position against his defender, and came down with a leaping interception at the Rice 18 yard line.

The Owl offense immediately commenced to roll again, Turner Petersen and Fanuzzi alternating snaps. First, running out of the Wild Owl, TPete shocked everyone by dropping back on a play action pass and hitting Tyler Smith 29 yards downfield for a first down at the UTEP 40.

Next play, Petersen rushed for 20 yards more, carrying several Miners along with him in the process. Three plays later, Jeremy Eddington burst across the goal from seven yards out, and the Owls had themselves a 14-7 lead.

Next UTEP possession, an aroused Rice defense stopped the Miners in their tracks when Justin Allen blitzed in to sack Lamaison for loss of 10 yards on third and 10 from the UTEP 45.

With the wind at his back, however, UTEP’s Ian Campbell got off a 50 yard punt to the Rice 15 yard line, so the Owls once again had poor field position, a malady that plagued them the entire game, but one that they shook off quite admirably.

What did the Owls do but crank up another impressive looking drive. Tyler Smith and Turner Petersen took turns carrying the mail, while Nick Fanuzzi hit three different receivers for completions. But the drive bogged down at the UTEP 16 when, on third and four, UTEP’s Aubrey Alexius guessed right on the snap count and managed to nab Nick Fanuzzi in the backfield for a loss of three, prompting a 37 yard Chris Boswell field goal on the first play of the second quarter.

That made it 17-7, and at that point, taking away that initial UTEP 74-yard touchdown bomb, the Owls it completely outclassed the Miners on both sides of the ball, and both ends of the field.

"I think it's been a growing process, but it's also a team we matched up physically well with on the line and in coverage," Rice coach David Bailiff said after the contest. "Going into the game, with what they were trying to do defensively, thought with the game plan we could get some big plays."

But when Chris Boswell got off an uncharacteristically shanked kickoff which went out of bounds, UTEP started with a short field at their 40, and managed to reach the Owl 15 yard line before Chris Jammer batted down a Lamaison attempt to Donovan Kemp in the end zone. Dakota Warren converted a 33 yard field goal, however, and the Miners were back to within a touchdown.

The Owls responded with another long drive next time around, with the same cast of characters and generally the same plot. With Tyler Smith and Turner Petersen getting steady yardage on the ground, and Nick Fanuzzi through the air, the Owls found themselves facing the first and goal at the UTEP nine.

Miners began to employ tactics to slow down Wild Owl

Nick Fanuzzi drags three Miners along with him en route to first down yardage (PTH photo)

By then, however, the UTEP defense was beginning to get adjusted to the Wild Owl, and when Turner Petersen tested the middle on first down, he was stopped for no gain. The UTEP defenders appeared to leave relatively wide splits in the defensive front, but immediately choked in to cover up the box up as soon as the ball was snapped in the Wild Owl. That stratagem seemed to confuse the Owls a bit, in turn.

Even so, Rice was able to use the alternative formation with periodic success for the rest of the game – and moreover, as hot as Nick Fanuzzi’s passing game was, it really didn’t matter whether the UTEP defense had figured out the Wild Owl formation. The Wild Owl had already done its damage. It opened up the Rice rushing game, and allowed Nick to settle into a groove -- and he took it from there.

When a third-down pass underneath to Jordan Taylor managed to reach only the UTEP five, Chris Boswell chipped across another field goal, and that made it 20-10. Thus the Owls, for the first time in recent memory, had scored on each of their first four possessions of the game.

The rest of the second quarter resulted in bit of a swoon by the Rice squad, however, as a special teams failure allowed UTEP’s Vernon Frazer to return the ensuing kickoff 70 yards to the Rice 24. From there, on third and 11, Lamaison hit Eric Tomlinson for 24 yards to the Rice one, and next play, Leilyon Myers crossed the plane to make it 20-17.

Next Owl possession, the Flock sustained a rare three and out, and to make matters worse, Kyle Martens got off one of the least impressive punts of his career, a 13 yard shank job with the wind which went out of bounds at the UTEP 45.

Once again, with the short field in front of them, UTEP proceeded to make it even that much shorter when Lamaison found Mike Edwards for 50 yards on a post pattern to the Rice 5 yard line. A couple plays later, Leilyon Myers bolted across for another touchdown, and suddenly, with a minute to go in the half, the Owls found themselves trailing, 24-20.

The Owls were unable to make any sort of statement on their initial possession of the third quarter. After a Vance McDonald reverse went for 13 yards and yielded a first down, the Owls could go no further, and had to punt the ball away.

A holding penalty bogged down the Miners after they got one first down in reaching their 32, and from there, Cameron Nwosu and Jared Williams made key stops to force the punt. Once again, Campbell got off a boomer with the wind which Mario Hull managed to return only four yards to the Rice 17 – the UTEP punt and kickoff coverage was consistently sound throughout the game.

Nick Fanuzzi took over the airlanes

Taylor Cook hauls in reception and scoots 51 yards downfield (PTH photo)

So what did Nick Fanuzzi do but hitch the Rice offense up on his back and carry them on another 80 yard plus scoring drive. It looked as if the UTEP defense was bound and determined to stop the Wild Owl at all cost. Consequently, Nick Fanuzzi threw the football downfield, and he threw it well, first connecting with Vance McDonald for 32 yards to midfield, and two plays later, hitting Taylor Cook, who made a spectacular leaping catch at the UTEP 20 for another Owl first down.

Two Wild Owl-based Turner Petersen keepers resulted in a net loss of 5 yards, however, as the Miners were really stacking, or more accurately, stunting, the box. So back in came Nick, and on third and 15, he tossed a quick out to Vance McDonald in the flat.

The UTEP defender appeared to try to go for the interception, and he didn’t make it. Vance eyed the ball in his hands, swiveled around and looked toward the goal line, seeing to his apparent surprise that he was all alone. He fairly well waltzed into the end zone, and the Owls had themselves the lead back at 27-24.

It began to look as if the Owls would break the game open when, after a quick three and out, they took over at their own 33. Still, UTEP stunted the interior to stop the inside running game. After being halted for no gain on first down, Turner Petersen flipped Jeremy Eddington who rambled 14 yards to the Rice 47 and a first down. There, once again, TPete was stymied on the run, and a second down Nick Fanuzzi pass fell incomplete.

A delay-of-game call against the Owls made it third and 15, but Nick hit Vance McDonald once again on the sideline, and it appeared he was heading for first down yardage when he was tripped up, his knee touching and the ball sailing out of bounds. The Owls got an unfavorable spot from the gendarmes, and it was fourth and less than a yard from the UTEP 44.

Quite sensibly, the Owls decided to go for it, and quite sensibly, they lined up in the Wild Owl and gave the ball to Jeremy Eddington. However, UTEP, utilizing its stunt-the-box approach (you coaches out there: is there such a thing as a running-play blitz?), nailed Eddington for loss of one, and the ball went over on downs.

That seemed to shock the Owls, and before they could recover, UTEP took quick advantage, as Lamaison hit Donovan Kemp for 26 yards to the Rice 29, and then on second and seven, one play later, he found Mike Edwards wide-open and uncovered for an easy touchdown to put the Miners back up by four.

Fourth quarter began with Owls trailing

Vance McDonald tramples UTEP defender en route to first down yardage (PTH photo)

It was gut check time for the Owls as they traded possessions with the Miners while the fourth quarter clock began to tick down. Once again, a 51-yard Ian Campbell punt pinned the Owls back at their own 17.

But Nick Fanuzzi’s day wasn’t over just yet – not by a long shot. First play, he hooked up with Taylor Cook on the sideline, and the Eagle Lake product rambled for 51 yards to the UTEP 32, dragging tacklers as he went, and showing the athleticism that’s made more than a few Owl fans wonder why he hasn’t gotten more touches.

It was still tough slogging from there, though, as it took the Owls seven more plays to cover the remaining 32 yards. Fanuzzi hit Tyler Smith with two, key quick-outs to set up the Owls with a first and goal at the UTEP two.

First play, Turner. Peterson almost made it across the plane, but was ruled down before the goal Line. Lining up with second and goal from the one, the Owls were flagged for an illegal formation penalty, and that set them back to the 6 yard line. The Owls were down by four, it was getting late, and a field goal wasn’t going to help much in this situation.

No problem. Nick Fanuzzi quick-dropped, faded a heavy rush, and found Jordan Taylor wide open in the end zone, and the Owls were back ahead, 34-31.

Once again, the Miners decided they wanted it back right away, and Lamaison attempted to get it all on second and 10 from the UTEP 29. And once again Bryce Callahan was in position; once again he leaked and the air; and once again he made a spectacular interception that shut down the Miners and regained possession for the Owls.

At that point, just over six minutes remained in the game, and some in the studio audience feared that Rice offensive coaches might try and shut things down and just try and hold onto the lead. But never mind that; Nick Fanuzzi came out smoking again.

First he hit Tyler Smith for nine, and then the Fanooz connected with Vance McDonald for 33 more to the UTEP 37. Nnext play, Tyler Smith burst through a hole in the middle, and were it not for a shirttail grab by UTEP’s DeAndre Little, he would’ve scored. He got as far as the UTEP 22, and the Owls had themselves a first down and were rolling.

However, a holding penalty and a false start set back the Owls 15 yards, and all of a sudden they were facing a second and 25 at the UTEP 37. From the spread, Nick Fanuzzi saw his receivers were covered, tucked the ball under and manage to get 14 yards to the UTEP 23. So it was third and 11, and UTEP decided to use one of their remaining timeouts with 3:06 left in the game.

That didn’t faze Mr. Fanuzzi a bit, for it gave him time to cook up a crossing pattern whereby Nick, at the last instant, found Randy Kitchens open across the middle, and Kitch slashed goalwards, 23 yards for the score. The Owls thus had themselves a ten-point cushion with 2:58 left in the in game.

The Owl defense responded by forcing a third and long, and then blitzed Lamaison on the third-down play. It appeared as if he were within an Owl defensive lineman’s grasp, but Lamaison was able to shake free and find a lot of wide-open spaces ranging to his left. He managed to get 25 yards to the Rice 34, and the Owls were thus not yet out of danger.

From there, the Owl defense lined up allow the short completion, but nothing in the end zone. Lamaison chipped away with tosses of two, seven and eight yards as the clock ticked down. Then on second and 10 from the Rice 17, with 42 seconds left, he made a looping toss to Leslie Jordan on a fade route and the UTEP receiver managed to haul it in for the score.

All of a sudden, a seemingly safe Rice lead appeared not entirely in the bag. Owl spirits were lifted when Dakota Warren, UTEP’s placekicker, was late getting on to the field on the extra point attempt. He virtually ran from the sideline straight into the snap and hold, and just flat missed it, shanking the PAT attempt off to the left.

That meant with 40 seconds left in the game, a UTEP field goal wouldn’t get the job done, and not only did the Miners have to recover an onsides kick, they would have to go 60 yards and score TD be able to steal the win. Vance McDonald made sure that didn’t happen when he leaped onto on a Stephen Valadez end-over-ender, and from there the Owls easily were able to run out the clock, and preserve the victory.

"It's been a long time coming," said McDonald, who had the best day of his career, nabbing eight receptions for 157 yards and a TD. "We knew as soon as we stepped in the meetings the first time this week. We had the game plan ready to go. We loved our matchups. We demonstrated that today."

--P.T.H.

Owls, Miners both looking for consistent play as key to win

HOUSTON (Nov. 3) – Run the numbers, and the comparisons disfavor the Rice Owls. UTEP led the University of Houston most of the way in an early-season game in El Paso before falling, 49-42, in the end, with a chance to tie as the clock ran out.