Football, volleyball teams singing Buckeye blues
Outclassed from the opening whistle, the Rice Owls dropped a 70-7 decision to Ohio State University last Saturday; Rice's biggest season-opening defeat ever.
When the Buckeyes entered the contest, they were wondering whether they would be able to replace four NFL draftees -- Heisman Trophy-winning running back Eddie George, quarterback Bobby Hoying, tight end Rickey Dudley and wide receiver Terry Glenn -- from a 1995 squad that contended for the national championship.
Within an hour of the opening kickoff, the nature of their debate had changed, questions now arose as to whether the Owls would be able to hold the newly-infused Ohio State offense under 100 points.
The Buckeyes' newest tailback, Pepe Pearson, filled George's place with 119 yards on 17 carries and three touchdowns.
New Ohio State quarterbacks Stanley Jackson and Joe Germaine contributed five touchdown passes.
True freshman wide receivers Michael Wiley and David Boston hauled in three long touchdowns.
The Ohio State defense, a known quantity with 10 returning starters, held Rice to a mere 218 total yards.
The Owls will try to regroup tomorrow, when they travel to New Orleans to take on Tulane University at 7 p.m.
"We've been through this before and bounced back," Owl cornerback Warrick Franklin said. "Personally, I don't want to go through it again, so next week I'm going to practice very hard."
"The speed and size just completely overwhelmed us," Head Coach Ken Hatfield said. "We'll have to pick up the pieces and see what we can do. I'm not sure the score, the loss, is indicative of our football team or what we can do the rest of the season.
"I told our team I was sorry for not getting them ready. But I'm not sure we have anybody on the scout team who can simulate Ohio State's first team. We didn't have anybody around with that kind of speed."
Chances are good that Rice will improve as the season progresses.
Playing a team as talented as the Buckeyes, who entered the game ranked 10th in the nation despite their significant lineup changes, does not provide the greatest barometer of the quality of the team -- much the same way that last season's opener, in which the Owls crushed a pathetic University of Nevada at Las Vegas squad, was not the augur of Rice's trip to the college football promised land that it appeared to be at the time.
The Owls should have at least enough talent to compete against the majority of their future opponents.
Besides Kansas State and Brigham Young, none of them approach Ohio State's level of excellence.
"It's hard when you lose your first game, but we are not that bad," said Rice quarterback Chad Nelson, who provided the lone bright spot against the Buckeyes when he hit Rodd Newhouse with a 62-yard pass to set up a five-yard Michael Perry touchdown run in the second quarter.
"We're a much better team than we showed. It tells us we need to practice harder," Nelson said.
From his experience at Clemson University, Hatfield can attest that a team can recover from a rout to have a successful season.
"We lost to Florida State one year 59-0 when they were No.1 in the nation, and we turned around and went 9-3 and won a bowl," Hatfield said.
At Tulane, the Owls will face an opponent who has upset them at Rice Stadium in each of the past two seasons -- and won only one other game in both those years.
In 1994, the Owls held the Green Wave without a touchdown, but lost 15-13 on a last-play Bart Baldwin field goal. Last year, Rice slumbered throughout most of the contest, but rallied late only to fall 17-15.
"We've had two great games with them the last few years," Hatfield said. "The disappointing thing is that we've missed six field goals in the two games -- all we needed to do was to make one in each of the last two games and we would have won."
Tulane opened its season in strong fashion by beating the University of Cincinnati 34-14 on Aug. 30.
They are led by halfback Jamaican Dartez, who sunk the Owls last season with 154 yards on 24 carries and two touchdowns.
"They already have one game under their belt, and they played extremely well against Cincinnati, who was picked to win their conference," Hatfield said. "We have to stop a great running back and they threw the ball well against Cincinnati."
This item appeared in the Sports section of the September 13, 1996 issue.
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