Tillman gets start vs. Baylor
This time, true freshman Raphael Tillman will replace Chad Nelson, who separated his left shoulder in the Owls' 17-10 loss to Texas A&M University .
In each of the past two seasons, Nelson has had to step in for Josh LaRocca when LaRocca has been sidelined with injuries.
Tillman will start his first game tomorrow when Rice travels to Waco to play Baylor University at 1 p.m.
He entered last Thursday's game in the fourth quarter, in front of a national-television audience, and attempted to rally the Owls (2-6-1 overall, 1-4 in the Southwest Conference).
"I was nervous when I first got out there, but I calmed down when I was in the huddle," Tillman said.
"My teammates tried to calm me down. They told me to just think of it as high school -- to go out there and just do my best."
Now, Tillman will face one of the top defenses in the nation. Baylor (6-3, 4-1) is yielding 256.2 yards per game (second in the nation), 96.9 rushing (sixth in the nation) and 159.3 passing (second in the nation).
"Their defense is pretty big," Tillman said.
"I look at playing against them as a challenge. I want to see where I am as a freshman and how much I need to improve."
Both Tillman and Rice Head Coach Ken Hatfield are confident in Tillman's abilities.
"We ran the option in high school but not as much as we do here," Tillman said. "I am comfortable with it. It's just a matter of time and practice."
Hatfield said, "Raphael has the whole offense now. He did well in the ballgame. He read the option. He pulled the ball and pitched it off to the right people and completed the pass when we had to have it ... which almost gave us a chance."
Hatfield has no plans to try punter Tucker Phillips at quarterback. He sparked the Owl effort against A&M with two completions on fake punts.
"He proved he could throw when they didn't cover him," Hatfield said.
"Both times he threw the ball, they didn't cover him. If we can figure out what defense Baylor is going to run, so they will not be covering anybody, then we'll run it again.
"Tucker has some good ability, but there is no way I'll take a chance on him getting hurt. He is too valuable as our punter and too valuable as our holder," he said.
Last week Rice came close to pulling off its second upset in an ESPN-televised game in two years, but fell short to A&M.
Leeland McElroy rushed for 168 yards on 28 carries to lead the Aggies. McElroy broke several tackles on a 45-yard touchdown run that tied the game 7-7 in the second quarter.
"He's a great back," Rice defensive lineman Brynton Goynes said.
"I've played against some great running backs in my four years, and he's a great one. He has a shiftiness about him."
The Owls kept the game close with special-teams trickery and inspired defense.
Forced into a punting situation at the Aggie 37 in the first quarter, Phillips faked the punt and hit Jeff Venghaus with a touchdown pass for a 7-0 lead.
Late in the second quarter, the Owls resorted to another fake punt. This time, Phillips hit Kevin Brabham with a 27-yard pass to keep the drive alive.
Mike Ruff's 50-yard field goal on the final play of the half, however, fell short.
"We had practiced the fake punts last week. We knew we needed to put some points on the board," Phillips said.
"I'm pretty surprised it worked. We had been successful with the fakes during practice, but still I wasn't sure what would happen. On the first pass, I just threw it up. Jeff did a great job to go get the ball."
Limiting the Aggies to 307 total yards and turning them away from the goal line on several trips into Rice territory, the Owl defense played a strong game.
They set up the offense in scoring position midway through the third quarter, when Goynes recovered a fumble on the A&M 31.
After Rice picked up a first down at the A&M four-yard line, the Aggie defense forced a 22-yard Ruff field goal for a 10-7 Owl lead.
"Our defense played better than they have played all year," Hatfield said. "I couldn't be prouder of them than I am right now."
The defense was unable to hold the lead. The Aggies marched 75 yards on their next drive and took a 14-10 lead with 1:06 to go in the third quarter on Cory Pullig's 26-yard touchdown pass to Albert Connell.
Owl cornerback LaDouphyous Shaw appeared to be in position to knock down the ball or intercept, but Connell made a great play to out-jump him for the under thrown ball.
That score gave the Aggies the lead to stay, despite Nelson and Tillman's efforts to rally the Owls.
Tillman drove Rice to the A&M 40 in the final seconds, but could not move them any farther.
Hatfield was proud of his team.
"I ain't worried about any score," Hatfield said. "I have never been more proud to be associated with a football team than this one here.
"Some people look at the record, and say we aren't very good, but I guarantee you: no football team played with more heart than this Rice football team did tonight."
This item appeared in the Sports section of the November 17, 1995 issue.
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