Football seeks relief against lowly SMU
Well, then, consider the case of the Southern Methodist Univeristy football team, which has been a study in unpredictability -- and a prognosticator's nightmare -- this season.
SMU opened the season by hosting the University of Arkansas, who has hovered around the top 25 for most of the season. The Mustangs proceeded to lose quarterback Ramon Flanigan for the year with a separated hip, but still managed to defeat the Razorbacks.
How did SMU follow up such a potentially-galvanizing victory? They promptly lost the next four games -- including one-sided margins against the U.S. Naval Academy, the University of Wisconsin and the University of Texas -- and appeared to be sinking back into the oblivion that has characterized the program since its return from the NCAA death penalty in 1989.
But the Mustangs were not out of surprises. They rebounded to give Texas A&M Univeristy a scare at Kyle Field before a last-minute touchdown pass lifted the Aggies to a 20-17 victory.
True to form, though, SMU followed their brush with glory by sinking again.
They dropped a 38-15 decision to the University of Houston -- who hadn't won a game since they beat SMU last season -- last Saturday.
Rice (1-5-1 overall, 0-3 in the Southwest Conference) will face this unpredictability tomorrow when they travel to Dallas to take on the Mustangs (1-6, 0-3) at 1 p.m.
Although this looks like a prime opportunity for Rice to break a six-game winless streak, Head Coach Ken Hatfield cautions not to take SMU lightly.
"The Houston game was closer than the score indicated," Hatfield said.
"It was 17-15 with a few minutes to go before Houston scored three touchdowns in the last three minutes. Before that, they outplayed A&M head-to-head for the second year in a row. They are one of those teams that is better physically than their record indicates."
The Owls have lost five of their last six games, a streak interrupted only by a tie with the United States Military Academy.
Rice seems to be playing just well enough to lose -- other than a 52-7 loss to Louisiana State Univeristy, they have had a chance to win every game.
"It's been that way for a long time," Hatfield said.
"We've played some pretty good opponents. We have been just one or two plays away in most of our games. The kids are still trying hard, we just need a victory."
Every game in the streak has been a different story, but one quarter or one area of poor play has usually been enough to doom the Owls.
Rice played the University of Texas close for three quarters until wearing down in the fourth.
Second-half offensive short-circuiting -- a failure to move the ball against Army, and three consecutive turnovers against Texas Christian -- cost the Owls two other games that they appeared to have won.
Playing at Texas Tech University last week, Rice experienced a similar story-line to their loss to Tulane University earlier in the season. After falling behind early, the Owls launched a furious rally, but ended up falling short by a 31-26 margin.
Texas Tech jumped to a 21-0 lead in the second quarter behind Byron Hanspard and Zebbie Lethridge -- each rushed for touchdowns after Lethridge hit Hanspard with a 68-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring. A third-quarter Tech field goal increased the margin to 24-0.
Chad Nelson entered the game in place of Josh LaRocca, who suffered a season-ending sprained foot, and sparked the Owl comeback.
Nelson, who had struggled in his previous appearances this season, led Rice to 18 unanswered points in the waning minutes of the third quarter -- nine- and 12-yard scoring runs, a two-point conversion pass to Thad Bridges and a 52-yard Mike Ruff field goal.
The comeback failed, however, because the Owls were unable to maintain strong play on both sides of the ball.
Right after they had cut the margin to 24-18, the defense allowed a 80-yard scoring drive, culminating in an 18-yard Hanspard touchdown run, which restored some comfort for Texas Tech.
Then, when the defense stopped the Red Raiders on their next drive, and the special teams smothered the Texas Tech punter after a dropped snap to set up the Owl offense in Red Raider territory, the offense could not produce.
A Nelson interception ended Rice's final realistic threat although the Owls added a safety and Jamey Whitlock's eight-yard run in the final three minutes to make the final score close.
Nelson, who gained 145 yards rushing on 19 carries -- the most rushing yardage ever by an Owl quarterback -- will have the starting position for the rest of the season in LaRocca's absence.
"Chad will do a fine job," Hatfield said. "He did a great job last season against Houston and Navy. He gained confidence last week against Tech. I am impressed with the effort Chad gave against Tech, and the spark he gave us coming in."
With Nelson at the helm, the Rice offense, which had been gaining more balance in recent weeks, will shift back towards favoring the run.
"Chad is not known for his passing, and I think the biggest thing we will do is to stick with what he does best -- that means run the football," Hatfield said.
Nelson is confident of his abilities to run the offense.
"I don't know about a drop-back offense, but I've been running the option since high school, and I know all the kinks about it," Nelson said.
This is the earliest that the Owls have been out of bowl contention since the 1989 season.
"It's real disappointing," nose tackle Larry Thompson said. "We had goals we wanted to accomplish, but we didn't even come close to them. This shows us that there is a fine line between winning and losing, and we've been on the wrong side of the line too often."
Hatfield, however, claims he will continue to emphasize making this team as good as possible, rather than focusing on rebuilding for next season.
"We're still going to play our best players," Hatfield said. "The team deserves it. We're playing for our seniors. We've had a lot of freshmen play, which bodes well for the future, but we are playing the year out for our seniors."
This item appeared in the Sports section of the October 27, 1995 issue.
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