Football continues to win, faces UTEP away this weekend

By Meghan Hall     10/30/08 7:00pm

The football team continued its pursuit of a bowl game with a 42-17 conference win over Tulane last Saturday at the Louisiana Superdome. The Owls won their second game in a row to improve their record to 5-3, 4-1 in conference. Rice needs to win at least one of its next four games to be eligible for a bowl bid, which would be the team's second in three years. Jumping out to a 35-0 lead by halftime, the Owls started firing early against the Green Wave with three touchdowns in the first quarter and two more in the second. Senior quarterback Chase Clement threw two touchdowns to sophomore wide receiver James Casey, one for seven yards and the other for 17, and accumulated two more himself with nine-and six-yard runs.

Just before halftime, Tulane lined up for a field goal, but sophomore defensive end Scott Solomon blocked the kick, allowing fellow sophomore defensive back Chris Jones to pick it up and return it 55 yards for a touchdown. Then, in the third quarter, junior running back C.J. Ugokwe ran eight yards for the final Rice touchdown, the first of his career.

"We were wondering if we would really be able to move the football, and we were wondering if we could stop the run defensively," head coach David Bailiff said.

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The Owls certainly proved that their defense was up to the task, as they were able to hold Tulane's rushers to 34 yards on 27 attempts. All of the Green Wave's scoring - a field goal and two passing touchdowns - occurred in the second half.

"We're winning games differently than we were in the past," Clement said. "We have so much talent across the board that we can do that."

Rice's offense displayed this talent with the debut of a new balanced attack. Clement passed for a season-low 168 yards just one week after racking up 444 against the University of Southern Mississippi. The Owls rushed for 230 yards, their highest total of the season, and it was the first time they have accrued more yards rushing than passing since the 2007 season-opener.

"I thought it was an absolutely great football game for us," Bailiff said.

"Our offense was very efficient at taking advantage of the looks that we were given. Our defense did the same thing."

"We didn't do it the conventional way," Clement said. "Teams try to focus so much on stopping J.D. [senior wide receiver Jarett Dillard] and Casey, they aren't prepared for it. Teams can't just sit back and defend the pass. It's good to see we can win doing that, it's a good confidence-booster."

Ugokwe ran for 111 yards, his first career 100-yard game.

"It felt good to get some carries," Ugokwe said. "Our O-line has opened up holes, which has helped me be more successful. It was a pleasant surprise to get so many carries and yards."

As for his touchdown, Ugokwe said, "I've been waiting to reach the end zone for a while, it was a pressure release."

He certainly appreciated the change in the Owls' approach and said he had confidence in the team's ability to pull off the switch.

"It's a bit different than what we've been doing, but I knew we could do it," Ugokwe said. "We know what we're capable of, and we just executed it on Saturday."

Bailiff said the team's success in carrying out a new game plan indicated a growth in maturity.

"It's a sign that we are growing up," he said. "It's a sign that we are closer as a football team. I think we're doing a great job of not taking anything for granted. We've shown a good will to not only prepare but play hard . We're finding ways to win-sometimes against the odds with some of the different lineups that we run in there. The players are responding and believing in each other. It's fun when you have chemistry. I think that's what we have right now."

Dillard finished the day with four receptions for 41 yards and no touchdowns. It was the first time he has been kept out of the end zone in 12 games. However, he is still tied for the NCAA lead with 14 touchdown receptions this season. His 856 receiving yards rank him fourth.

Casey, who caught two touchdown passes for the second game in a row, had six receptions for 51 yards to go along with 45 rushing yards on two carries. He is second in the NCAA with 8.4 receptions per game.

Junior placekicker Clark Fangmeier was also successful on all six PATs, giving him a Rice career record 124 points.

In terms of midyear awards, Dillard, who is no stranger to national recognition, was the only Conference USA player to be named to the CBSSports.com midseason All-American team. Along with Dillard, Casey and junior defensive back Andrew Sendejo were named to the first team of the midseason All C-USA team, while Clement and senior offensive lineman David Berken are on the second team and senior defensive lineman Chris Ptaszek is on the third team. Clement is still in contention for the Unitas Golden Arm Award as well as the Lowes Senior CLASS Award. Rice graduate Cole St. Clair (Sid '08) won the baseball version of that award last spring.

The Owls take on C-USA foe UTEP tomorrow for their final road game of the year. After playing the Miners, who are 3-4 overall and 3-1 in conference, Rice comes home for their final three games, the first against Army for Homecoming and the last two conference games versus Marshall University and the University of Houston.

And as for the Owls' bowl eligibility, the coaching staff and the players are not ignoring it, but they are not letting that possibility distract them from the job at hand.

"All we talk about is what we've been wanting to do all year," Bailiff said. "We talk about focusing on the effort. We want to focus on being 1-0 [each week]. We'll worry about all that when the time comes.

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