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(11/13/09 12:00am)
For the first time this season, the football team has one play they can point to as the reason for their loss. This play came at the close of the first half of last Saturday's game against Southern Methodist University, as Rice (0-9, 0-5 Conference USA) had the lead in its hands and was looking for more. Senior Clark Fangmeier lined up for a 37-yard field goal, but instead of splitting the crossbars, the kick found the hands of SMU's (5-4, 4-1 C-USA) defensive line. Mustangs cornerback Bryan McCann scooped up the ball and sprinted 74 yards for the score, giving SMU a 21- 20 lead they would not relinquish in the second half.
(10/30/09 12:00am)
Rice fans were granted a respite from this fall's poor performances in both football and soccer when the baseball team took the field at Reckling Park last Sunday. This year, the team's fall schedule was cut to one game, so the exhibition against Texas State University was fans' only chance to catch a glimpse of the Owls until the Feb. 19 season opener at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. Although the look was limited, it was certainly promising, as Rice came out on top 14-6 in the 14-inning exhibition against the Bobcats. Sophomore southpaw Taylor Wall, who enjoyed a weekend starting job as a freshman last year and will presumably receive the same role next spring, took the hill and allowed two hits and one run over the first two innings.
(10/30/09 12:00am)
After eight straight weeks of losses by the football team, everyone affiliated with the squad, from the players to the fans to the media, is ready for a week off. Most notably, Head Coach David Bailiff has big plans for the bye week after last weekend's conference loss to the University of Central Florida.
(10/23/09 12:00am)
After a 63-14 thrashing at the hands of the United States Naval Academy and a 49-13 loss to East Carolina University, Rice has officially hit rock bottom. And with their 0-7 record, the Owls (0-3 Conference USA) have no more excuses left to use. Injuries and inexperience have plagued this team, but the tides are slowly turning in those areas. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Nick Fanuzzi now has two games under his belt after his shoulder injury, while the patchwork offensive line has played three consecutive games together.
(10/09/09 12:00am)
Playing though the driving rain in front of a sparse crowd, the football team's Saturday game against the University of Tulsa was about as cheerful as the cloudy skies. When the final seconds ticked off the clock, Rice (0-5, 0-2 Conference USA) had not fallen as easily as it could have, but it still suffered its fifth-straight loss, this time by a score of 27-10 against the Golden Hurricane (4-1, 2-0 C-USA). Yes, Rice's efforts may have prevented the bottom from falling out of the season. But that doesn't mean it's not getting close. Opportunities for wins are dwindling, and as the season reaches its midway point, the contest with Tulsa served as a microcosm for all the problems plaguing the team - plus potential causes for hope.
(10/09/09 12:00am)
If at all possible, the Owls seem to have hit a down point in their season. Rice entered the game without a win in its first five games but sunk to a new low after losing to Navy, 63-14.Rice (0-6, 0-2 Conference USA) had possession first, and the Owls' seven-play opening drive ended with a blocked field goal off the foot of Clark Fangmeier. Navy (4-2) took control and within two plays was in the end zone. Quarterback Ricky Dobbs took the first snap and fired off a 51-yard pass, surprising everyone with a counterpart to Navy's run-heavy offense. Dobbs then took the ball in himself from the two-yard line, giving Navy a 7-0 lead it would never relinquish.
(10/02/09 12:00am)
(See the slideshow at the bottom of the page!)Another second half collapse and another loss.
(10/02/09 12:00am)
Last night's game against the University of Tulsa bore too many resemblances to last week's with Vanderbilt University and the end result was the same with a 27-10 loss. Although the Owls had the spark of playing against former coach Todd Graham, they fought the driving rain and came up short against the Golden Hurricane.Tulsa quarterback G.J. Kinne led his team down the field decisively on their first possession, and handed the ball off to running back Jamad Williams for a six-yard touchdown run. Then at the beginning of the second quarter, Rice (0-5, 0-2 Conference USA) was able to take advantage of good field position. The drive started at Tulsa's 48-yard line, and after a personal foul penalty on Tulsa (4-1, 2-0 C-USA), redshirt freshman Ryan Lewis tossed a 29-yard touchdown to senior tight end Taylor Wardlow.
(09/25/09 12:00am)
If you wanted to, you could say that the football team's game last weekend looked no different from the previous two. The Owls (0-3, 0-1 Conference USA) fell to 16th-ranked Oklahoma State University 41-24, their third-straight double-digit loss to run their season into an early hole. But the score was misleading, because the feeling of the game was vastly different than the previous exasperating losses against the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Texas Tech University.
(09/18/09 12:00am)
At halftime in last weekend's contest against Texas Tech University, the football team's chances of a comeback looked, if not quite promising, then at least decent. The Owls (0-2) were down 14-3 to a team that finished the 2008 season with the fourth-best offense in the nation, battling amidst the red-swathed sea at Jones AT&T Stadium. The Owls felt good about their odds.
(09/11/09 12:00am)
Last time we saw the football team, it was delivering an indisputable beat-down on Western Michigan University in the 2008 Texas Bowl, the big shining Texas star atop a seven-game winning streak to end the season. But with graduation and the NFL draft taking their victims - namely James Casey to the Houston Texans, Jarett Dillard to the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Chase Clement to consulting - suddenly there are different Owls responsible for running, catching and throwing the football. These new faces had their debut last Saturday, along with many others, falling 44-24 in a conference battle against the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
(09/04/09 12:00am)
Last season, Rice's football team reached its highest high since the days of Eisenhower and leather helmets. Everyone knows the list of accomplishments: the second bowl game in three years; the first bowl victory in over 50 years, coming only three miles from campus; a pair of talents drafted into the NFL, one to Jacksonville and one to Houston. It was a magical season. No one is debating that. But that was then. As the 2009 season beckons, the questions swirling around the team are too numerous to count. Graduation wreaked havoc on the team, and the Owls are more untested as it has been in the last four years, especially on offense. The defenses' eight returning starters are comforting, but Rice has had more than its fair share of struggles on that side of the ball. Nonetheless, Conference USA, without a clearcut favorite, looks to be open to whoever wants the title the most. Here, in a position-by-position breakdown, are the reasons Rice might just make it back to the postseason.
(05/15/09 12:00am)
The baseball team is used to blitzing through the heart of the season, but with two recent losses, this year has been a bit different. Fortunately, the second-ranked Rice baseball team has finally righted its ship injury-wise and is sailing toward the postseason. The Owls (34- 13, 15-6 Conference USA) got junior starter Mike Ojala (3-0) back from injury before their week-long break for finals, and junior starter Ryan Berry (5-0), second on the team in wins, returned in the first game back.
(05/15/09 12:00am)
After a one-hour turnaround, No. 1 Rice (42-16) was back on the field Sunday evening, taking on No. 2 Kansas State (43-17-1). The Wildcats were fresh from last night's victory, but it wasn't enough to overcome the determined Rice team which pulled out an 8-0 victory.Unlike the first game, scoring didn't start until the fourth, though the excitement began to build early on with a miraculous catch junior center fielder Steven Sultzbaugh in the second inning. Rice struck first with sophomore right fielder Chad Mozingo's single to score junior catcher Diego Seastrunk. Then in the fifth, sophomore shortstop Rick Hague added an RBI double. In the same inning, Kansas State chose to intentionally walk Seastrunk in order to face freshman third baseman Anthony Rendon, the first in history to be named Conference USA Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year in the same season.
(05/15/09 12:00am)
The Owls looked out of place in the third base away dugout at Reckling Park, but they were in fact the visiting team in this afternoon's 2009 NCAA Houston Regional contest between No. 1 seed Rice (41-16) and No. 3 seed Xavier University (39-21). The unfamiliar location didn't slow them down, however, as Rice romped to a 12-5 win and sent Xavier's squad packing. Five Owls had multi-hit games in the 15-hit attack.Assistant Coach David Pierce credited starting pitcher Jared Rogers' performance as a big help in the win.
(05/15/09 12:00am)
Though the Owls were able to stave off elimination three times in the Regional, they were not able to complete that task once in the Super Regional. Junior starter Ryan Berry (7-2) got the start for Rice (43-18) in this afternoon's win-or-go-home game against LSU (51-16), but in Game 2 of the 2009 NCAA Super Regional the Owls fell 5-3 to the Tigers.As the visiting team in this second game, the Tigers began early with second baseman DJ LeMahieu's double to the right field corner and two walks. Berry emerged from the first inning for the most part unscathed, but LSU picked up one after a fielders' choice off the bat of center fielder Mikie Mahtook.
(05/15/09 12:00am)
It took five games in four days, but Rice clawed their way out of the losers' bracket to take the 2009 NCAA Houston Regional with a 13-4 win and advance to one of eight Super Regionals, against LSU in Baton Rouge, La. The path the team had to take increased the gratification at the end."It's even better when you come out of the losers' bracket," Head Coach Wayne Graham said. "It speaks to the character of the team . I think this team likes each other so well they wanted to keep playing."
(05/15/09 12:00am)
Rice's (43-17) success this season seems inversely related to the numbers of pitchers the team employs. Considering five arms got work in tonight, the team's chances did not look good. Junior Mike Ojala (5-0) got the ball for the Owls Saturday night as they took on LSU (50-16) in Game 1 of the 2009 NCAA Super Regionals. Ojala, coming off a win last Friday in the opening game of the Regionals, is pitching with a torn ulnar collateral ligament that will require postseason surgery.
(04/17/09 12:00am)
One down, one to go. That's the motto for the Owls this week in regard to their junior starters, as they celebrate the return of Mike Ojala and eagerly anticipate Ryan Berry's arrival back from injury. Ojala, a junior, made his first start since March 20 last Sunday against East Carolina University, throwing the rubber game in a three-game away series and pulling home the win for Rice. Berry, also a junior, is expected back sometime after finals. The Owls (25-9, 9-3 Conference USA), currently ranked first by Rivals.com and second by Baseball America, played a three-game road series against ECU last weekend, who at the time was leading the C-USA standings and is now ranked 23rd nationally.
(04/17/09 12:00am)
The Owls got to play a game at the regularly scheduled time in the sunshine today, something they hadn't yet experienced in this series. However, the sun didn't shine too brightly on the Rice baseball team today as they lost the finale of their conference series against Marshall 11-7.Games one and two of this series were both postponed due to rain, but both games got finished and the 27-10 Owls took both of them, 7-5 and 10-3, to win the series overall. Rice still leads Conference USA due to East Carolina's loss today to Tulane.
