Owls unable to recover from 7-point halftime deficit

By Meghan Hall     10/9/08 7:00pm

Unfortunately for the Rice football team, it was the University of Tulsa's turn to beat an opponent by a truckload's worth of points. Just one week removed from trouncing the University of North Texas 77-20, the Owls fell hard to the Golden Hurricane's merciless offense and effective defense, losing by a 63-28 score. The two games shared a few characteristics - in both games the score was close at the beginning, and Jarett Dillard set a major wide receiver record. Despite Rice's defensive efforts, the score only stayed close for a half. The Owls and the Golden Hurricane exchanged scores for the first 28 minutes of the game to work a 14-14 tie, but Tulsa sneaked in one more touchdown with less than two minutes to play and headed into the break with a 21-14 lead.

"At halftime, we thought we were going to go back out there and win," head coach David Bailiff said. "We had had a missed field goal and a turnover in the red zone, and we really thought we could be up."

Though Rice stayed steady with its offensive production and scored 14 more points in the second half, Tulsa's offense - ranked first in the country - took off for 42 points in the last 30 minutes of the game.

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"We didn't tackle well, and we didn't execute what we had called," Baliff said.

During Rice's game against North Texas, quarterback Chase Clement threw his 40th touchdown pass to Dillard, and the duo moved to the top of the list to become the most prolific quarterback-wide receiver combination ever. Near the end of the second quarter against Tulsa, Dillard caught his 51st touchdown pass to break the NCAA record of 50 touchdown catches he had shared with Troy Edwards of Louisiana Tech.

"It's just amazing to have a guy like Jarett Dillard," Bailiff said. "To have a guy who has that record is an amazing tribute to him and to his team. The offensive line blocks its tail off. The record has Dillard's name, but they really feel like they're part of it. That's how he handles it, too, like it's a team award."

Dillard also now ranks third on the Conference USA all-time catches list and the C-USA all-time receiving yard list. His 11 touchdown catches this season ranks first in the nation. Dillard is also fourth in the country with his 674 receiving yards, while James Casey is seventh on the same list with 639 yards.

Clement also continued his assault on the Rice record books by breaking the only passing record he did not already possess - passing attempts. He now has 1,124 to move past Randy Hertel (Will Rice '81). Clement had another solid game, completing 22 passes in 42 attempts for 321 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. His 1,748 passing yards rank third on the national list.

Dillard may have set the record, but Casey was the true utility man for the Owls against Tulsa, taking part in three of Rice's four touchdowns. In the first quarter, Casey, listed as the tight end but starting at running back, ran the ball for two yards and a touchdown. Then in the third quarter, Casey threw a two-yard touchdown pass to Taylor Wardlow. It was Casey's first such pass of his career as well as Wardlow's first touchdown catch of the season. And in the fourth quarter, returning to his regular role, Casey caught a six-yard pass from Clement for Rice's final touchdown. Casey also had his first career punt return.

"He's a guy who played defense for us last year," Bailiff said of Casey. "We haven't asked him to play defense this year yet, but we might. He's a guy who is very driven and very talented. He's the first one to practice every day, last one to leave. He sits in the QB meetings every day to learn. It's a tribute to him to how hard he works that he knows how to do everything. He's a very gifted young man. And he's even a better student than he is an athlete."

With this loss to Tulsa, Rice's record dropped to 3-3, and their streak of undefeated C-USA play was snapped. Tulsa still has an undefeated record that includes two wins in C-USA.

"The three teams we've lost to are ranked fifth [Texas] and 13th [Vanderbilt]. And Tulsa is 5-0," Coach Bailiff said. "We're a good football team."

After a much-needed bye week - several players and staff members are battling injuries and illnesses - the Owls will play the University of Southern Mississippi Oct. 18 at 2 p.m. in Rice Stadium. The Golden Eagles are 2-3, and the Owls wil pay careful attention as they take on Boise State (4-0) tomorrow. The Eagles are winless in C-USA, with losses to Marshall University and University Texas-El Paso, two schools Rice has not yet faced.

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