Owls finish strong, pull out victory against Tulane
They then proceeded to employ a soggy offense for the first three quarters and allow the Green Wave offense success during the same timespan.
It sounds like a recipe for disaster -- the same recipe that brought about Tulane's upset victories in Rice Stadium in the last two seasons.
Rice had gone 0-6-1 in their previous seven games against Tulane, all of which were decided by a touchdown or less because of an inability to produce the game-turning plays that most often make the difference in such contests. But the Owls were able to overcome their past this time.
With a few forced turnovers, a pair of big defensive stands and a character-laden fourth-quarter drive, the Owls were able to defeat the Green Wave 21-14.
The game represented a marked improvement for the Owls after the previous week's 70-7 disaster at Ohio State University, and a decent foundation for the team when it plays its home opener tomorrow at 7 p.m. against 16th-ranked Kansas State University.
"I was most pleased with the attitude of the team and their showing a tremendous amount of character," Head Coach Ken Hatfield said. "You talk about character, but it is another thing to show it. Everybody played hard and played their best and tried to be better than they were the week before. It showed up."
In the last few seasons, one of the things that has held the Owls back has been their inability to force turnovers.
This has deprived them of the opportunities provided to a team that does take the ball away from their opponents. This would give their offense the chance to score with a short drive or allowing their defense to surrender yardage but leave the field unscathed.
Against Tulane, three turnovers enabled Rice to move out to a 14-6 lead in the third quarter.
After the Owls were stopped on their first possession, Wes Kubesch recovered a muffed punt at the Tulane 33, setting up an 11-yard touchdown by Spencer George with 11:28 left in the first quarter.
The Green Wave cut the gap to 7-3, and then appeared ready to move even closer by driving to the Rice 39, but Owl safety Aaron Stanley made a nice over-the-shoulder interception of a Shaun King pass to end the threat.
In the third quarter, with the Owls nursing a 7-6 advantage, nose tackle Larry Thompson stripped the ball from Tulane's Jamaican Dartez and Andy Hughes recovered to put Rice in business at the Green Wave 14. Six plays later, Chad Nelson connected with Derras Wilmington from 15 yards out for a 14-6 lead.
"Three big turnovers, that's all that we're looking for," Hatfield said.
The Owl lead up to that point could also be credited to their bend-but-don't-break defense, which allowed the Green Wave some offensive success -- Tulane moved into Rice territory on seven of its drives -- but most often managed to stall their advance.
Most impressive were the two stands that held the Green Wave to field goals after having penetrated the Rice 10, including one that the Owl defense had to finish without Ndukwe Kalu, who was briefly sidelined with a jaw injury.
"The No. 1 job of most defenses is don't give up long runs or long passes," Hatfield said. "We took away the long run and the long pass -- they hit the first one, when LaDophyous McCalla played the ball perfectly, but they put it in the right spot, but then Warrick batted one down, and Aaron intercepted his."
Still, Tulane came back with a 39-yard pass from King to Jerald Sowell with 14 seconds to go in the third quarter, and a subsequent two-point conversion pass to tie the score at 14-14.
Facing a fired-up Green Wave squad, an excited crowd, three quarters of offensive stagnation (Rice had managed fewer than 200 total yards) and a history of failure in close games, the Owls took over on the 37 after the kickoff.
At that point, the Rice offense pulled out an unprecedented combination of character and skill as they drove 63 yards for the winning touchdown.
Nelson finished the drive by faking out a Tulane defender and proceeding for a 17-yard scoring run.
"When a team can come back and drive down the field and score, it shows maturity, especially when the crowd was so noisy -- you really have to concentrate on what the quarterback was saying," said Owl running back Spencer George, who led what turned out to be a solid 241-yard Owl rushing effort with 87 yards on 24 carries. Michael Perry added 76 yards on 14 carries, and Nelson contributed 74 yards on 20 carries.
The Owls were elated to emerge on the right side of the margin in a close game; losses by one, two, five and seven points and a come-from-ahead tie sank last-season's squad to a 2-8-1 mark.
"I was real happy with our team, because in the past we have played well until the fourth quarter, and then we just give up. In this game we got stronger in the fourth quarter and the other team started weakening," George said.
Rice returns home to face one of college football's new powerhouses. The Wildcats were a miserable 1-36-1 to close out the 1980s, but under Bill Snyder theyhave made the remarkable leap to become a constant top-20 presence.
Outside of Nebraska and Colorado, they have enjoyed remarkable success against their Big Eight/Big 12 opponents. Since 1993, they are 15-1 against all other conference opponents, including a season-opening 21-14 victory over Texas Tech University.
Returning six starters from the top defense in the nation, Kansas State has destroyed Indiana State University and the University of Cincinnati by a combined 94-3 on the last two Saturdays.
"Defense is their hallmark," Hatfield said. "They've got a lot of confidence in the things they're doing. They're one of a few undefeated teams left, and they're a good solid football team. We have our work cut out for us, but we're looking forward to the challenge and looking forward to playing at our place."
This item appeared in the Sports section of the September 20, 1996 issue.
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