Let's go, Rice!

Owl 'sleepers' ready to heed call
and emerge from hiding places

Rice head coach David Bailiff, on DB Willie Garley:  “When he hits someone, you hear it all over the stadium”

By Mark Anderson

HOUSTON (Aug. 20) --  “Sleepers” is a term that this post-9/11 society has had to become familiar with.   So when Rice head coach David Bailiff was asked this week which of his players he’d so designate, based on the work thus far this fall, he smiled and said, “Sleepers?  Aren’t those dangerous?”

Sure thing,  a sleeper can be particularly dangerous because a sleeper comes out of nowhere to create havoc.  But on a football field, there are sleepers as well—talented players who have an opportunity to sneak up on opponents and create a particular disaster of their own kind.

And Rice has such players.  Some are freshmen that have not played a down of college ball.   Others are well into their college careers, but have not had the impact envisioned when they joined the program.

The 2007 Rice Owls have some sleepers on their roster.  Some names may surprise you—some won’t.  Each name was chosen because the player has demonstrated he has the ability to take his game to a higher level, making him dangerous if overlooked.

Here are eight players who we -- and a guy named Bailiff -- believe will be “sleepers” in 2007. 
       Rice fall '07 practice schedule....     Fall '07 Rice roster....

Touchdown! (not quite)

Freshman TE Wil Norris caused a stir in Saturday morning's scrimmage with this 40-yard reception; here he's seen storming down the sideline only to be tripped up at the 20 -- oh, and there was a flag on the play, too (Mark Anderson photo)

Coaches see yellow in first scrimmage
Abundance of flags mars proceedings

Running back Bio Benibo sees daylight and attempts to slip from the grasp of his defender in Saturday's scrimmage action on the Rice Stadium turf (Mark Anderson photo)

HOUSTON (Aug. 18) -- If you didn't like the yellow in last year's uniforms, you would not have liked this Saturday's scrimmage all that much, either.

Rice head coach David Bailiff couldn't betray his less- than- enthusiastic take on the proceedings.

"We had five illegal procedure penalties," Coach Bailiff said afterwards of the yellow handkerchiefs that kept hitting the Rice Stadium turf.  And that didn't include the offsides on the defense, or the illegal block that nullified a nice catch-and-run by freshman tight end Wil Norris.

"We had way too many mental mistakes today," Coach Bailiff said afterwards. "A lot of them were by freshmen, but we will be able to take the film from today and sit down with them and show them how badly those kinds of mistakes can hurt the team. I would have liked it to have been crisper, but with the number of people we had out, it's to be expected."

Citing nagging minor injuries and aches and pains, Rice coaches held out a number of players on both sides of the ball, including All-American wide receiver Jarett Dillard.
       

(Editor's note:  After a two-year hiatus, our intrepid Newspaper Sleuth, Gaylord Ravenal, returns to take another look at Houston Chronicle coverage of local teams. Here's his report number 1...)
Owls out-ink Ags, Coogs, Horns
in first weeks of media coverage
Web has changed how football is covered

Chron's affection for lovable loser Texans can't escape Newspaper Sleuth's detection

By Gaylord Ravenal

HOUSTON (Aug. 14) -- Since August 1 we have been tracking how the Houston Chronicle is reporting on all things football at the College and Professional level. We are tracking coverage activity for two professional teams and five collegiate programs that have some interest among the fans in the greater Houston marketplace.

It is difficult to determine trends at this point in the study but there are an interesting number of observations to note as we continue to push through pre-season activities. Well, what have we learned so far?

     The Chronicle’s love affair with the NFL and the Texans remains undiminished.

The NFL has garnered incredible market share and attention in a city like Houston. They have the ability to charge full price to a series of meaningless scrimmages. Radio stations fight to be inside the training bubble and interview players and coaches at every turn available. For their part, the Chronicle has at minimum a full page of Texan related articles in the paper each day. They usually have on front page story and then a full page inside devoted to the latest nuances spouting from Coach Kubiak and his players and coaches. A portion of the material provides insight, but there is some major scraping the bottom of the barrel for news.
             Our '04 Chronicle content analysis....

Two-tone blue....

The Owls work out under the lights Wednesday evening as there seem to have been made some modifications to the Rice Stadium end zone decor (Mark Anderson photo)

Enthusiasm, new uniforms,
40 faces new to coaches
greet day, media Monday

Deep Owl receiving crew lines up to participate in pass-catching drills on Day One of fall practice --  that's Corbin Smiter reaching out to make the grab (Mark Anderson photo)

By Paul T. Hlavinka

HOUSTON (Aug. 6) -- Rice head coach David Bailiff welcomed some 35 members of the working press along with his team members, new and old, this steamy Monday, as Rice football's annual Media Day went off without a hitch, conveying as it unfolded an unmistakable impression of undaunted enthusiasm among the toilers in the vineyard.

"What a great day it is," Coach Bailiff growled to an R-Room semi-full with players, Rice staffers, fellow coaches and of course the media types. "We've got 40 new faces that are going to go through practice this afternoon," he added. "We've got 28 freshmen, plus those guys who didn't go through spring training with us due to injuries."

"I can't wait to see what kind of personality we're going to have, offensively and defensively. And that's what happens right now. Right now is a time to develop the attitude and the chemistry, and see what kind of personality the team has -- will we hold up on third and one? Is the offense going to be able to get that tough yard?"

"All those questions are going to be answered by September 1," Coach Bailiff said pointedly.
     Coach Bailiff's media day press conference (full audio).....         

They’re going to pump you up
McKnight, Beauchamp work to transform Owls

Giving encouragement to teammates is a big part of  Owls' Strength & Conditioning routine (Mark Anderson photo)

By Mark Anderson

HOUSTON (July 30) -- Will Moss is undergoing a transformation.

Yes, he is switching positions from tight end to defensive tackle, but that’s a minor transformation compared to the one that he has already undergone. Moss has been transformed physically, mentally, and emotionally by the Hans und Franz of the Rice coach staff – the strength and conditioning coaches Yancy McKnight and Adam Beauchamp.

Will Moss' transformation from a schoolboy to that of a Division I college football player started when Yancy and Adam were added to the Rice staff. "When Yancy first came in, we were a little too blubbery, I guess he thought," Will told us. "What he tried to do was strip is down to get us physically and mentally tough and hard. Once he had accomplished that, he began working on technique and making us powerful."

Moss pointed out once Yancy had accomplished that, the attention turned from getting in shape to increasing size. "This year, he got to bulk us up a little bit more," he added.
         JD named C-USA pre-season offensive POY....

New day dawns at Rice
for second straight year

Chase Clement returns to lead the Owl offense in '07 (PTH photo)

HOUSTON (July 22) -- Another year, another era.

After residing firmly within the realm of mediocre stability -- or is it stable mediocrity -- for well over a decade, the Rice football program has been the subject of more turmoil in the past 18 months than the Croatian Parliament.

After sweating through two coaching changes in a year's time -- both with more than their share of histrionics -- Rice football die-hards look forward, with 2007 fall drills just around the corner, to a time when improvement, spelled in terms of wins and bowl games, doesn't have to come at the price of stomach-turning twists and treachery.

New head football coach David Bailiff has done his share of moving around over the past few years -- his tenure at Texas State lasted for three seasons -- but he gives all the signals of a guy who can become as firm a fixture on the Rice campus as Willie's statue, or to put it in terms of an even greater icon, legendary Owl baseball coach Wayne Graham.
                       Updated fall 2007 roster....

    Rice AD Chris Del Conte's introduction of Coach Bailiff....      Coach Bailiff's opening remarks at press conference....     Media Q&A session with Coach Bailiff, press conference....