A walk back through the years: some Rice
traditions, foibles and
personalities.
09 Rice preseason page Battling for position
Biig fella Vance McDonald hauls in downfield pass from
Nick Fanuzzi, but DB Xavier Webb is bound and determined to catch up and strip that ball
in Saturday morning's scrimmage action (Mark Anderson photo)
x Rice coaches mix and match
as attention now turns to UAB
Quarterback Ryan Lewis avoids a would-be tackler and
scram- bles for additional yardage in Saturday's scrimmage (Mark Anderson photo)
HOUSTON (Aug. 22) – Well, first off, if there
were any UAB spies in the stands here Saturday, it’s highly doubtful Rice coaches
gave them much of anything in the way of a game plan.
But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t just a whole lot of business
transacted on the Rice Stadium turf during Saturday morning’s scrimmage, rescheduled
from the night before when lightning and thunderstorms forced postponement.
"We have to figure out who’s getting on the bus and who isn’t,"
Rice head coach David Bailiff said afterwards. "The guys who weren’t necessarily
there got a lot more reps today than the guys who we know are already on."
The Owls have got to start working on UAB next week, so today was about
positioning, the Rice Head Man pointed out. ""There were different combinations
of young men out there, playing against the ones, playing with the twos. Now we can sit
down tomorrow as a staff and determine who’s traveling, who’s on the scout team,
and so on." Story continues.... Vote Courtney Hall for Chargers' All-Time Team....
Building blocks laid
in initial scrimmage Oops! Come back here! Just before he gets
to the goal line, "Thor" back Justin Hill coughs up the pill amid squeeze by
Terrance Garmon, Willie Garley in Saturday scrimmage action (PTH photo)
DE Scott Solomon appears to have the angle on Marcus
Knox, but the senior running back was able to sidestep his adversary -- this time (PTH
photo)
HOUSTON (Aug. 15) – Certainly it would have been unrealistic to
expect a parting of the Red Sea and filing through of the Rice Owl depth chart, in perfect
order, cart by cart, on Rice’s first scrimmage of fall two-a-days this miserably hot
and humid Saturday morning.
But on this day there did turn out to be a blending of expected and less-expected
standout performances, and perhaps a little distancing among Rice’s three candidates
for Moses, a quarterback who will follow the course of the Prophet Chase on the
Institute’s continued trek toward football Promised Land.
On the Rice Stadium turf, this team wasn’t quite the stalwart outfit that won its
last seven games and put away UH and bowl opponent Western Michigan in impressive fashion
lo these eight-odd months ago.
Still, the defensive side showed it has the potential to be palpably better than
last winter's version, and the offense displayed bits and pieces of talent that quite yet
may be cobbled together to produce a credible, if not incredible, scoring machine.
So, for starters, then, do we have us a Starting Quarterback?
Thor II?
Three reasons why redshirt freshman tight end Vance
McDonald (6-5, 250, East Chambers) is a good bet to become the next James Casey: (1)
check out the biceps -- could this guy best the Man Mountain in an arm wrestling match?
(2) the guy looks like Patrick Swayze -- you know, that Dirty Dancing fellow that teenaged
girls go ga-ga over; (3) he even has his own private journalist to follow him around and
record his every move -- this, before he's played a single down (Mark Anderson photo)
Veteran hands emerging
Veteran receiver Patrick Randolph continues to impress
with his smoothness and efficiency this fall, appearing to have reached a comfort zone in
his role as deep threat for the Owls (Mark Anderson photo)
Not a
happy ending....
Denzel Wells skies high to snare pass in the shadow of the goal posts in
weekend workout action; unfortunately, days later, after
shining brightly in early drills, he threw out a shoulder and is said to be lost for the
season(Mark Anderson photo)
Points to ponder.... Rice linebacker Terrance Garmon appears pensive as he
listens to Rice head coach David Bailiff at the podium Saturday. The topic?
"No bad days -- every time we step onto that practice field it's got to be a great
day." Fourteen other Owl players assembled in the R-Room along with TG to talk
to press in anticipaton of the team's first formal workout Saturday evening. We'll
have initial videos and reports on the way over the weekend (Mark Anderson photo).
Back in the saddle again
MK, CDC take page
from NFL playbook
MK: "We'll find a way to get it done...."
HOUSTON (July 15) -- While the surprising hire of
MK Bower by Rice sports adminis- trators may have turned a new leaf among the college
ranks, the move was simply a matter of taking a page from the playbooks of numerous
professional franchises, MK told us in an interview
Wednesday.
"You've seen it happen in professional leagues all the time
these days, and I think it's time colleges begin to move in the same direction," MK
remarked. "The pros pretty much all have someone they've hired on the inside to
do the job of representing their franchises.
"I don't see why colleges can't do the same thing."
It's germaine to note that Rice Associate AD and Sports
Information Director Chuck Pool came to South Main from the Houston Astros, having held a
similar position there wherein he was well-versed in the professional-franchise
mold.
The hire, under incubation from the moment Bower got his pink
slip from the Houston Chronicle in March, finally came to fruition last week, much
to the delight of the rank and file of Owl fans. But certain aspects of the job still
remain to be fleshed out, MK confided.
For sure, MK will continue with a regularly updated blog in
his inimitable style, with the addition of quick notes on Twitter. "You'll note
that I was twittering today during Coach Bailiff's press conference," he added.
Both straight news stories and 'think pieces' will be
generated by Rice sports' journalistic Main Man -- some of them will be published
internally, on RiceOwls.com; some of them will be disseminated to mainstream media.
Communication with diehard Owl fans will always be a byword of
the undertaking, MK assured us. Exactly what form that might take, however, is not
yet completely determined.
Sports Radio 610 'Back to Campus
Day' at Rice.... One last shot at the goal line The Owls closed out their 2009 Spring
Drills with an abbreviated scrimmage Wednesday afternoon; attention now turns to the
classroom (and the weight room) until the arrival of frosh in early June (PTH photo)
He's off to the races...
Toren Dixon hauls in perfectly placed pass from Nick
Fanuzzi and he's on his way to the end zone for the Rice offense's first TD of the day in
Saturday's spring game (PTH photo)
Defense prevails, but
offense shows firepower in annual spring game
JD junior?
Owl sophomore Roddy Maginot hauls in one of two touchdown
receptions tossed to him by Nick Fanuzzi in Saturday's spring game (PTH photo)
HOUSTON (Mar. 28) – The day went to the defense, but the most
significant developments derived from Rice’s annual football Spring Game here
Saturday arose on the offensive side of the ball.
The Owl defense outscored the offense, 48-44, under a scoring system that awards
the defense points for big plays, before a crowd that pushed the 1,000 mark, counting the
300 high school football players who were present for the coaching staff’s second
annual Junior Day.
Rice head coach David Bailiff was ebullient with the overall results of the day, as his
charges put on quite a show for the potential recruits and diehard Owl fans assembled.
"Today was the defense's day, but we saw a lot of big plays out there by
the offense, too," he told us afterwards. "It's clear that Nick Fanuzzi had a
good day out there today, but John Thomas also played well, and we saw some good moments
from Ryan Lewis." Story continues....Rice spring game statistics....
Prepping for
spring game, Owls
engage in 'spirited' Tuesday drill
Making the tough ones look easy
Unfortunately, Pierre Beasley sometimes has a knack for
making the easy ones look hard; here, he soars high in front of John Welch to nab Nick
Fanuzzi pass in Tuesday's workout action (PTH photo)
HOUSTON (Mar. 24) -- As Rice head coach David
Bailiff walked off the practice field after Tuesday's workout, one of his assistants
halfway turned toward him and remarked, "Spirited, wasn't it?"
Spirited, it was, as a relatively cool temperature and
overcast skies were conducive to some old-fashioned leather popping on both sides of the
ball.It didn't hurt matters that the annual
spring game is looming only four days hence.Both
offensive and defensive players thus were striving to impress, jockeying for position and
playing time on Saturday.
But beyond that, a relatively settled and ready-to-go defensive
first unit, combined with wide-open competition among quarterbacks on the offensive side,
made for some big plays and big hits.
Filling the air with
footballs
Ryan Lewis is back to pass in Tuesday scrimmage action,
getting good pressure from Scott Solomon (13) (PTH photo)
New offensive coaches greet QB hopefuls in
first workout
HOUSTON (Mar. 10) – The 2009 edition of the Rice Owls opened spring
drills with a spirited workout in shorts and helmets on the Rice Stadium floor here Monday
afternoon, and by all accounts from the Head Man, things have gotten off to a rip-roaring
start.
"I'm so proud of the new coaches and this football team," Rice head
coach David Bailiff said afterwards. "They did a lot of work learning the Rice
offense, learning the language. Both this staff and these seniors – they want to
learn, they want to achieve, and I thought today was a great start to the next
season."
Virtually an entire new slate of offensive coaches greeted the team Monday afternoon
– and that was after having undertaken a crash course in Rice offensive theory. Thus,
Coach Bailiff noted, there’ll be familiarity, but no favoritism, among the Rice
offensive brain trust as they prepare to evaluate three potential starting quarterback
hopefuls.
"MK and I talked about that earlier," Coach told us, "how
it’s really unique that they all come in there’s no preconceived ideas on who
can play and who can’t; so it’s truly a wide open race, and the best of
play."
Four young men wore the quarterback’s yellow jersey Monday, as Brent
Hotard, originally recruited as a quarterback, moved back to that position to take snaps
this spring along with Alabama transfer Nick Fanuzzi, senior John Thomas Shepherd, and
redshirt freshman Ryan Lewis. Story continues....
Who'll replace this guy?
Finding a successor to Chase Clement at quarterback is
just one of the chess pieces that David Bailiff and his staff will be looking to move in
the coming weeks (PTH photo)
HOUSTON (Mar. 6) -- David Bailiff and his Texas Bowl Champion Rice
Owls return to the football field for the first time in 2009 when the squad begins Spring
Football practices on Monday with a 3:30 workout at Rice Stadium.
For the first two weeks, the Owls will practice on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and
Friday. During the third week, they will practice on Monay, Tuesday and Thursday before
holding their Spring Game on Saturday, March 28. The will wrap up their schedule of
practices with three final workouts on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the week following
the spring game.
The first two workouts will be in shorts, with the Owls pulling on the pads for the
first time on Thursday, March 12. In addition to the spring game, the Owls will also
scrimmage on March 17 and April 1.
Bailiff, who was named the C-USA Coach of the Year by his peers after leading
the Owls to a 10-3 record in his second season, will begin the process of identifying the
top candidates to replace the key triggermen in the Owls offense that demolished the
school record book in 2008, including C-USA MVP Chase Clement and record-setting receivers
Jarett Dillard and James Casey.
"The challenge that jumps out at you is that we have to find a quarterback
and get him ready to go," Bailiff said. "I think we have some good candidates at
the position. John Thomas Shepherd has experience as a starter. Nick Fanuzzi and Ryan
Lewis showed great ability last fall, but that was working off cards with the scout team.
They will all get their time with the first team and get their opportunity. Hopefully, by
the end of spring we will know who is No.1 and then he will get the majority of the
reps," he added.
Even though a few returning players will be held out of spring drills as they
continue to recover from off-season surgeries, Bailiff predicts the Owls will be able to
conduct productive drills this spring.
"Football is a game of reps and one thing we will be able to do this spring
because we are healthier is get a lot of repetition in all areas. We won't be forced to go
to half-line, or half-special teams drills so we can get a true look at people," he
said. "The Texas Bowl practices also helped us. We were able to get our younger guys
a lot of extra practice time that wasn't just scout team work. That should accelerate us
to be better prepared for March 9.
"Because the NCAA regulates so much of what we can do in terms of days with
contact, reps become very important," Bailiff noted. "We've got to simulate as
many game situations as we can but at the same time work technique with some of the
younger players who were on scout team last year and who we are going to be counting on
this year," he added. Signing Day Rice bags 24 recruits, and DB's enthused about every signee; says some will be ready
to play from Day One
Rice head coach David Bailiff speaks to the video cams at
Wednesday's press conference about his 2009 class of recruits (Mark Anderson photo)
HOUSTON (Feb. 4) – Rice University head
football coach David Bailiff announced a 2009 signing class of 24 recruits here Wednesday
afternoon before gathered media.The beaming
Rice head man predicted a number of those new signees will be able to contribute
immediately, and in Coachspeak we all can interpret that as meaning he’s got several
schoolboys in the bag he thinks will play as freshmen.
“These are 24 young men that we think can come into this
football program,” Coach Bailiff announced.“Some
of them are going to offer immediate depth, and some can actually come in and play.They’re big enough and fast enough.They are strong enough.”
'This class can win Conference USA'
X
HOUSTON (Feb. 4) -- David Bailiff clearly expects to win, not just in 2008, but in
future years as well.When talking about
expecting to win, he said, “That comes with going to a bowl game, and we can’t
change that.”
For Coach Bailiff to say, “I
think this class can win Conference USA” means that in his eyes, there is something
he sees that is very special about this class. Bailiff elaborated on what that something
was when he said, “It’s a class that possesses amazing size, amazing speed, and
amazing strength.You look at their track
times on there [the press release] and some of the weight room times, and I’ve had
the privilege of watching the highlight videos again and again,” Bailiff told us.“I get more excited each time I watch it,
because you notice something different on it. Continues....
“I think that of these 24, a lot of them offer us
immediate help.Every year you try to recruit
better than you did the year before -- and I think we recruited well last year, but I
think we did better this year.I think this is
a class with which we can compete for conference championships.”
Out of that class of 24 lads the Rice coaching staff hauled in
18 Texans, six of them from the Houston area.Rice
signed two more Canadians, added one signeefrom Minnesota, one from Arizona, and bagged two from Oklahoma – one of which was expected
earlier to sign with Tulsa.For the local
orientation, Coach Bailiff gave a tip of the hat to area highschool coaches.
“As for the 18 Texans and the six area kids,” he
said, “you can’t thank those high school coaches enough for all they do to help
us recruit these young men.That’s one of
the reasons we believe so much that some of these young guys can come in and play
immediately -- because of the great job that Texas high school coaches do with them.” Story continues....List of
signees....Coach Bailiff's Wednesday press
conference....
WHAT A DIFFERENCE 61
YEARS MAKE
Offensive show now what captivates fans
THERE WAS A TIME... By Froggy Williams
HOUSTON (Jan. 21) -- I must say first that
the rise of Rice football fortunes in the last three years one has to consider an up and
down event.In fact, it has been a great and
tumultuous ride.
Let's
start with 2006. After something of a rebellion by Rice partisans, we got ourselves a new
football coach, a fellow by the name of Todd Graham. Todd has sort of gotten a bad rap at
Rice because of the circumstances by which he left the University.
But Todd now
is in a place much better for him, both figuratively and literally. He is the center of
the athletic universe in Tulsa. It is impossible that he could ever have been the center
of the athletic universe in Houston, comparatively speaking. Too bad he missed those years
when it might have beenpossible. Tulsa
University IS virtually the only game in Tulsa town.
Enough
said about Todd, he did his job here. There were a great many ofthose who knew Rice could attract quality athletes.
As it turned out, we already had some quality athletes, we just needed someone to get them
motivated. Continues....
Extraordinary It's 'R' Time, indeed x
By Joyce Pounds Hardy, Class of 45, BA '67
Chase to Thor: good old-fashioned hard work (PTH
photo)
HOUSTON (Jan. 4) -- Well, it would
have been a miracle, but it wasn’t. It was good old-fashioned hard work, an
extraordinary game plan, extraordinary execution, and extraordinary players whose hearts
showed what they were made of Tuesday night.
There in '54, there in '08 From the Distaff End of the Bench
I don’t know when I have been more
proud of a bunch of never-say-die Seniors, who led the way down that long road back to
respectability. They never gave up on themselves or let the rest of the guys quit giving a
hundred per cent.
We all know their story—three
coaches in five years, highs and lows that rivaled a roller coaster, injuries that
decimated the starting lineups, youngsters filling big shoes with on-the-field training,
finally having a coach whom they could trust and who believed in them. That very special
group proved that it really was “R” Time. Continues....
David Bailiff...
'I'm so proud of the new coaches and this football team...they want to learn, they want to
achieve, and I thought today was a great start to the next season...'
Signing Day
Bailiff press conference
David Bailiff...
'I'm serious; I'm fired up about these recruits; this is a great day, and
it's just going to continue to build momentum around here, and that's what it's all about
-- building momentum...' (video)
Next game:
