Offense edges defense 44-43 to round out spring season

By Nathan Bledsoe     4/10/08 7:00pm

Whether it is new positions or innovative techniques, spring football is a time for learning.Because of its didactic nature, it was no surprise that the offense's 44-43 win over the defense in the spring game was sloppy. The contest was the capstone to an entire semester of practice, which saw much improvement and change for many of Rice's players.

The scrimmage utilized a scoring system that awarded points to the offense for explosive plays, sustained drives and conventional methods of scoring. The defense notched points by forcing turnovers, making tackles for loss, forcing fumbles and holding the offense to three plays before a settling for punt.

With this sort of scoring system, a high score is fairly indicative of inconsistencies on both sides of the ball. A few of the offense's points came off of "conventional" scores at the end of long successful drives, but most resulted from singular big plays, instead.

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However, according to head coach David Bailiff, the game displayed a consistency lacking at this time last year.

"The overall thing to take from the spring is that we're definitely better than at any time last season," he said. "We have an understanding of what we want to do."

Offensively, few new formations and plays were revealed, but the short passing game did look slightly more timing-based and intricate. Many quick bubble screens and inside hitches were paired with complimentary routes that created space for the Owls' quick receivers to make defenders miss. Freshman receiver James Casey, enjoying a spring in which he finds himself able to focus on just one position, had six catches in the scrimmage.

"It was real fun to move positions and play a lot of things last year," Casey said. "[But] I was doing so many different things last year I couldn't ever get really good at one thing - it was one of those jack-of-all-trades, master of none situations. Now that I know what I'm doing, know what position I'm at, I know ... I can do what I've got to do to get the team better."

Another bright spot on the offensive side of the ball was the play of freshman walk-on receiver Jaimin Shah. At the end of the first half, Shah caught a couple of passes in a late drive by the second-team offense, helping set up a field-goal opportunity.

Junior quarterback Chase Clement and junior receiver Jarret Dillard both had strong performances in preparation for their final season. While neither dazzled with spectacular plays, both had solid performances and made few mistakes.

The defense featured a few new faces, including both freshman lineman Davon Primus - who had previously been on the offensive line - and sophomore defensive tackle Chance Talbert- who played tight end on last year's squad and was forced to abbreviate his spring training as he ventured to help the depleted men's basketball team make it through this past season.

However, Talbert shone in the spring game, drawing several double teams and putting pressure on the quarterback while he was on the field. Senior Bencil Smith, who sat out almost all of last season with a knee injury, made a return to safety, helping the play of the defensive backfield improve markedly over last year.

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