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| EDITORIAL: BEAT TEXAS |
|
Rice and the University of Texas are conference rivals no
longer, but tomorrow's contest is just as important as the Rice-Texas battles
of the past.
Rice played Texas every year from 1914 until 1945, an era that saw both determined struggle for Southwest Conference supremacy and, more recently, one-sided contests Texas thought it would win simply by showing up. That all ended in 1994, when Rice handed the complacent Longhorns their come-uppance in a 19-17 upset victory on national television that stunned the country. Now, the hour has finally come for the Longhorns' return to Rice Stadium, and their timing could not be better. Rice comes straight from beating defending Big-10 champions Northwestern University last weekend in a game that proved the Owls have what it takes to stand up to the best teams in college football. The Owl ground attack juggernaut continued to steamroll through opposing defensive lines, racking up over 400 yards in each of its last two games. A win over two-time defending Big-12 champion Texas on Saturday will not come easily -- the Longhorns return to Rice with two week's rest, after a humiliating 66-3 defeat at the hands of UCLA obliterated any hope they had of being a national contender. A win for Rice will show 1994 was not a fluke. After a 28-year string of defeats, a win will mean two straight victories over Texas at Rice Stadium. It will show the nation that Rice is a team to be reckoned with outside of the Western Athletic Conference. It will prove to Houston what no "sell-out" promotion could, that the Owls are a team worth rooting for. Most important of all, though, is that a win over Texas is a win over Texas, plain and simple. We know that the men of the football team will be fighting it out on the gridiron for us tomorrow, as doggedly determined as ever, just as they do every Saturday. But we, the students of this university, owe it to them to give them every shred of support we can until the game against Texas is won tomorrow afternoon. Even at Rice Stadium, the climate can be inhospitable when it comes to playing Texas. So tomorrow, we should all remember this: every yard counts, and every student counts.
This item appeared in the Opinion section of the September 26, 1997 issue. |
Copyright © 97 The Rice Thresher. All Rights
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The Rice Thresher, Rice University, 6100 Main, Houston, TX 77005-1892, USA.