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For the second week in a row, Rice gained over 400 net yards rushing on its way to an impressive road victory, a 40-34 upset of the Wildcats in Evanston, Il., last Saturday. The rushing offense was again unstoppable as it produced 461 net yards on a school-record 77 attempts.

Leading the way were senior quarterback Chad Nelson and his backup, sophomore Jeremy Bates. The two combined for 221 yards on the ground and 78 passing yards on just five attempts. Running backs junior Michael Perry and senior Benji Wood added 104 and 77 yards, respectively.

Just like last week's victory over Tulane University, the offense simply responded to the opponent's defense.

"That's the way the offense works with three options," Perry said. "We just take what [the defense] gives us. At times they were confused and didn't know what to do."

The victory, however, did not come easily. After going into the fourth quarter leading 34-24, the Owls gave up ten unanswered points on a 10-yard touchdown run by halfback Adrian Autry and a 47-yard field goal by Brian Gowins. With the score tied and 6:35 left to go in the game, Rice marched 67 yards down the field for the winning score, a seven-yard run by Michael Perry.

Rice Head Coach Ken Hatfield said that he never doubted his team would have the ability to drive for one more score. "We had time to run our complete offense," he said. "Ball control had as much to do with winning the ball game [as anything else]."

He added that the key play in the winning drive was something normally not expected from the Rice offense. "The big play [on that drive] was Chad's pass to Jason Blackwell," he said, referring to a 21-yard connection between Nelson and junior wideout Blackwell, one of only three completions in the game.

For the second time in as many games, it was the defense that came up big in the fourth quarter after giving up more than its share of points.

After Perry's touchdown run, place-kicker Scott Grimes' extra-point attempt was blocked, keeping victory within Northwestern's reach. Following Rice's kickoff, the Wildcats took three plays to reach the Rice 36-yard line. But then the Rice defense held on four big plays in what coach Hatfield called "a huge defensive stand."

On first down, freshman cornerback Adrian Sadler broke up a pass at the goal line. On the next play, junior linebacker Rashad Reynolds caught Autry behind the line after a screen pass for a four yard loss. Then, freshman safety Travis Ortega broke up a pass in the middle of the field, forcing the Wildcats to go for it on fourth down. Under pressure from senior end Andy Clifton, Northwestern quarterback Tim Hughes threw behind his intended receiver and the ball dropped harmlessly to the turf. The Owls then ran out the remaining 31 seconds for the victory.

A road victory against the two-time defending Big 10 champion would be a huge accomplishment for any program, but Hatfield was quick to point out that his team must move on.

"It was a big, big win, but we have to come back to earth," he said. "We've been playing with a lot of heart, and now we need to work on better execution."

This is especially a concern since next week's opponent is the University of Texas. Despite UCLA's 66-3 humiliation of the Longhorns two weeks ago, Hatfield still believes that UT "has great talent, great players, and is strong nationwide."

Perry agreed, adding that "they got humiliated, and now they want to do the same to us."

Longhorn center Ryan Fiebiger affirmed Perry's fear. "We haven't been angry since the Nebraska game," he said. "We need to pick up the anger factor."

UT Head Coach John Mackovic's outlook acknowledged Rice's strong running game. "We know they'll make their yards," he said. "We just need to contain them and force them into long-yardage situations. Ball control will be a key."

The last time the two teams met at Rice Stadium, on Oct. 16, 1994, they were still members of the Southwest Conference. Rice upset the then No. 12-ranked Longhorns 19-17 to break a 28-game series losing streak.

Perry said that nobody will be thinking back to that game, or to the one a year later in which the Owls were crushed 37-13. "We're focusing on this year," he said. "This [Rice squad] is a very different team."

As for predictions for this year's outcome, Reynolds pointed to UT quarterback James Brown's athletic ability and Rice's pass defense. Perry mentioned UT's relatively inexperienced secondary. They both agreed, however, that the game will go a long way toward determining "Texas bragging rights."

This item appeared in the Sports section of the September 26, 1997 issue.