Rice University’s Student Newspaper — Since 1916
Monday, December 23, 2024 — Houston, TX

Landry Wood

SPORTS 2/13/24 10:53pm

​​Scott Powers: major league analyst acing Rice

By Landry Wood

Scott Powers’ office, on the second floor of Kraft Hall, is sparse. It bears a few books on a small bookcase, some panels from the webcomic XKCD in magnet and mug form and, propped against the window, two plaques bearing the signatures of the World Series-winning 2020 Los Angeles Dodgers and 2022 Houston Astros. Conspicuously absent are the two World Series rings Powers himself owns from those teams and seasons.

SPORTS 1/16/24 10:07pm

Checking in: Men’s basketball 13th in AAC at midseason

By Landry Wood

Halfway through the season, Rice men’s basketball has not won a game against an American Athletic Conference opponent. Following Jan. 12’s loss to the University of South Florida, the Owls are 6-10 on the season, 0-3 in conference play and stuck in a four-game skid, at time of publication.

SPORTS 12/29/23 1:38pm

Rice turns over First Responder Bowl to Texas State, 45-21

By Landry Wood and Sarah Knowlton

Until Dec. 26’s Servpro First Responder Bowl against Texas State University, Rice Football had not committed seven turnovers in a single game since 2007. Despite a strong first half with three Owl touchdowns, the team lost momentum in the second half and let 21 Texas State points go unanswered. The final score was 45-21 in the Bobcats’ favor, with Rice dropping to 6-7 to end the 2023 season.

SPORTS 11/28/23 11:44pm

Rice Rugby’s intellectual brutality results in dominance

By Landry Wood

Rugby is a particularly underrepresented sport in the United States. Only four Division 1 universities field varsity rugby teams, and the sport’s organization for American professional play, Major League Rugby, had its inaugural season just five years ago. It is not surprising, then, that many students at Rice are unaware that the university’s club rugby team is one of the best in the nation. 

SPORTS 11/1/23 1:10am

Column: Rice can stop the Pony Express

By Landry Wood

Saturday’s game against Southern Methodist University will be Rice Football’s final game against old Southwest Conference foes in 2023. The Owls will take the field with a 4-4 record, not having won at home since September, while the Mustangs seek to extend their four-game win streak and improve to 7-2 on the season. 

SPORTS 10/24/23 11:46pm

We’ve been at war with Tulane

By Landry Wood

At first glance, it might seem misleading to describe the relationship between the Rice Owls and the Tulane Green Wave as a significant rivalry. The Oct. 28 contest at Rice Stadium will be the two teams’ first meeting since 2013, and the pair have shared a conference for only nine of their over-100 seasons of football. One would not expect such a mid-season matchup to be especially worthy of anticipation. In reality, however, there is every reason for Owls fans to await this Saturday with intrigue.

SPORTS 10/18/23 12:12am

Andrew Sendejo talks NIL, brain health and doing his part

By Landry Wood

At the end of the last play of his 12-year NFL career, Rice alumnus ’10 Andrew Sendejo lay collapsed on his back at the 31-yard line. He had just sustained a head-to-head collision, knocking him momentarily unconscious, inflicting the second concussion of his age-34 season. 

SPORTS 10/4/23 12:23am

Volleyball continues to truck through the AAC

By Landry Wood

Going into last Friday’s match against the University of Texas at San Antonio, Rice Volleyball had won 15 of their last 19 sets. At the end of their victorious home stand against the Roadrunners, the Owls had improved that to 21 sets out of 25, extending their win streak to seven games and preserving their undefeated status in conference play.

SPORTS 9/5/23 11:43pm

A despondent fan’s guide to Rice football

By Landry Wood

On Sept. 2, the Owls played their first football game as members of the American Athletic Conference. They lost to their 109-year rivals the University of Texas at Austin, just like they have in every meeting but two since 1963. In that time, much has changed about how those teams relate to each other: Texas is in a “power five” conference, and Rice is not; Texas has won four national championships, and Rice has won none. The Owls have gone from playing the Longhorns in a mid-October rivalry match to being a season-opening tune-up game. 

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