10-13-04/13:25
Frosh quarterback reached
his comfort zone in a hurry
Joel Armstrong on his 61-yard run: "That was
all the line" |
HOUSTON (Oct. 11) – For Joel Armstrong, the outcome was worth the
wait. In fact, it really wasn’t all that much of a wait, when you get down to it.
The redshirt freshman quarterback from Longview earned the first start of his
collegiate career Saturday against SMU, when internal bruising caused Rice team sawbones
to hold starting senior QB Greg Henderson out of the game.
Joel had already shown what he could do a couple of weeks earlier, the very
first time he strode onto the field as a collegian. It was then, late in the Texas game
before 80,000-plus at Memorial Stadium, that he impressed friend and foe alike with a
sudden, 44-yard touchdown run. That’s as long a run the Texas defense has had pulled
against it all season.
Then last week in the Twilight Zone game against San Jose State, Joel came in
late to spell Greg again. That time, he was two for three, leading the Flock on two
touchdown drives, but coughing up the football one time.
Story....
Webletter local media survey... 
Rice 44, SMU 10
Miss Texas 2004, Jamie Story, is a Rice grad -- and a
mathematician, too (P.T.H. photo)
X
Team effort, revamped back- field lead Owls to easy win
Ed Bailey barrels goalward for one of his four TDs on the
night |
HOUSTON (Oct. 10) – San Jose? We don’t know no San Jose.
The Rice Owls shrugged off last week’s weird loss to San Jose State en
route to a methodical, 44-10 win over the SMU Mustangs here Saturday night, in a game that
featured consistent perfor- mances by the Feathered Flock in all phases of the game while
revealing an encouraging degree of Rice backfield depth.
The Owls, after spotting SMU a 3-0 lead at the outset, rode the backs of reserve
freshman quarterback Joel Armstrong and fifth-year senior fullback Ed Bailey to 44
straight points, putting the Mustangs effectively out of the game in the second quarter by
converting turnovers and alert special- teams play into three straight touchdown drives,
none of which had to cover more than 28 yards.
It was as if the California Nightmare had never happened.
"It was a difficult week for a lot of reasons, one, because of everything
that happened last week," Rice coach Ken Hatfield said afterwards. "This game
tonight was a total team effort. I thought we won all three parts of the game —
offense, defense and kicking."
Story.... Box score, game
summary.... Snapshots from San Jose...
| Coverage
of Owls lags behind UH Editor's
note: As a special feature provided this fall to the Webletter by a neutral source
-- guaranteed -- we'll be presenting an occasional update on coverage of the
local football teams, both college and pro, by the Houston Chronicle.
Table and MS Excel file download...
HOUSTON (Oct. 11) -- It looks like October will be remembered as the
month of the cliché'. Will the Cubs make it to the
post season or yet again be subject to charges of el foldo? Will the Red Sox end the curse
of the Bambino? Will the Astros ever win a playoff round? Will Mack Brown and the
Longhorns finally beat the Sooners?
These are the questions that will dominate the media during the next weeks. It
seems to be easier to retread old stories instead of working on real news and analysis.
"Look at this running back recruit that got away from Texas!" "Mack tells
his team his job is safe!" "Mack is serious about defense this year, he hired
NFL Coaches!" In fact, I really wish that these teams would win so we could dispense
with the curse stories and cliché's and get down to
some real journalism.
Story....
Table....
|
Rice
experiences rare good fortune
(Houston Chronicle -- Oct. 13)
Pack 'D' faces offensive extremes in 7 days
(Reno Gazette-Journal -- Oct. 13)
Owls featured in PBS documentary
(RiceOwls.com -- Oct. 13)
Fresno playing catch-up
(Fresno Bee -- Oct. 13)
Pack to face Rice for Homecoming
(CollegeSports.com -- Oct. 12)
Owls have seen this movie before
(Houston Chronicle -- Oct. 12)
Ault makes decision: Rowe is the quarterback
(Reno Gazette-Journal -- Oct. 12)
Rowe
keeps starting role at QB for Nevada
(KESQ-TV -- Oct. 12)
Bailey wins second WAC Player of Week award
(RiceOwls.com -- Oct. 11)
Ed Bailey named Chron WAC player of week
(Houston Chronicle -- Oct. 11)
Hawaii didn't need much time to roll over Pack 'D'
(Reno Gazette-Journal -- Oct. 11)
Pack coach will end two-QB rotation
(Reno Gazette-Journal -- Oct. 11)
Rice coasts to snap two-game skid
(Houston Chronicle -- Oct. 10)
Rice options unlimited in 44-10 defeat of SMU
(Dallas Morning News -- Oct. 10)
SMU quarterback shuffle yields scant dividends
(Dallas Morning News -- Oct. 10)
SMU can't solve Rice's option
(San Jose Mercury-News -- Oct. 10)
SMU
no match for Rice
(Fort Worth Star-Telegram -- Oct. 10)
Bailey
scores four TDs as Rice defeats SMU
(SMUMustangs.com -- Oct. 10)
Nevada loses, 48-26, in Hawaii
(Reno Gazette-Journal -- Oct. 10)
After
blowout loss to Rice, Pony fans contemplate abyss
(Ponyfans.com discussion thread)
 
A whole sports
section full of Rice football links
Rice's 2004 season,
week-by-week....
Rice's 2003 season,
week-by-week...
Next game:
University of Nevada
Mackay Stadium
Reno, Nevada
Saturday, Oct.16, 2004
8:05 p.m. (C.D.T.)
Nevada Owlinks...
|
