Football ready for homecoming

By Dan Elledge     11/12/13 6:00pm

After an unusual 17 days without a game, the Owls will be back at Rice Stadium this Saturday, Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. to play Louisiana Tech University. The Bulldogs started the season off slowly with a 1-4 record but have since won three of their last four games, bringing their record to 4-5. If Louisiana Tech can win two of its last three games, it can still go to a bowl game.

Assistant Head Coach Darrell Patterson said coming off of a long bye week can make a team rusty, but he said he is not too worried about that in the middle of the season. Patterson said the bye week could prove to be beneficial in November.

"A long break is [for] nothing but to get healed up, maintain your focus and get healthy," Patterson said. "With the long break, the bumps and bruises, it gives you an opportunity to get better."

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The Owls have been on the road in recent weeks, playing only one home game since Sept. 28. Patterson said the team is finally excited to get a chance to play in front of its home fans again, especially since this is the homecoming game.

"It's fun to be back for homecoming after being away for a long time," Patterson said. "The stadium barely recognizes us at this point."

After the Owls' disappointing Oct. 31 loss to the University of North Texas, Offensive Coordinator John Reagan talked about the importance of limiting turnovers. Reagan said the team will be energized and ready to go.

"[We can't] turn the ball over," Reagan said. "That's the No. 1 thing. I think the second thing our kids talked about was the atmosphere. North Texas was hyped about the game, and it lit a fire under us [moving forward]."

Defensive Coordinator Chris Thurmond said he is concerned about the Bulldogs' use of two quarterbacks: redshirt freshman Ryan Higgins and redshirt junior Scotty Young. Thurmond said the two quarterbacks have subtle differences, so the Owls must be ready when the substitution is made.

 "[They use] two quarterbacks, but they both present different types of problems," Thurmond said. "[There are] subtle differences between play selection when the different quarterbacks are in."

Even though Louisiana Tech has struggled this year in comparison to their 9-3 record last season, Thurmond knows they have a winning history, and he said they will be ready to play Saturday.

"They've proven they know how to win over the past couple of years, so it will be a challenge for us, and we are ready," Thurmond said.

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