Send Comments to the Editors

U.S. Mail:
The Rice Thresher
6100 Main Street (MS-524)
Houston, TX 77005-1892

Career days for the opposing quarterback, running back and wide receiver, 102 fewer yards of total offense and a natural letdown from the heartbreaking loss to the University of Texas all added up to one thing for Rice on Saturday -- their second consecutive win against the University of Tulsa.

Tulsa junior quarterback John Fitzgerald completed 22 of 36 pass attempts for 319 yards, sophomore running back Charlie Higgins ran for 169 yards and two touchdowns and sophomore wide receiver Damon Savage made nine catches for 151 yards. It added up to 533 total yards of offense for Tulsa, but Rice was able to make the key plays on both ends of the ball to come up with the victory.

The Rice defense came up with a season-high five takeaways to supplement the offense's zero giveaways. Junior safeties Kevin Brabham and Brent Huffman and junior linebacker Thomas Benford all came up with interceptions, while senior defensive end Andy Clifton and sophomore linebacker Wesley Kubesch recovered fumbles for the Owls. Two of the turnovers stopped Tulsa drives deep in Rice territory, and a third gave the Owls the ball at the Tulsa 2-yard line. The defense's success resulte in the team's first conference win of the season.

Junior defensive end Terrence Melton said the statistics didn't matter. "We gave up quite a few yards," he said. "We came up with the big plays when we needed them."

Head Coach Ken Hatfield agreed. "We gave up a ton of yardage and maybe played too conservative (when we had the lead)," he said, "but we came up with the turnovers."

The statistics were equally misleading on the offensive side of the ball. Rice's 379 rushing yards were the second-lowest total of the year, and this game marked the first time since the season-opening loss to Air Force that the Owls failed to reach 400 yards.

Junior running back Michael Perry led the team with 95 yards on the ground, senior running back Benji Wood added 85 and three touchdowns, and quarterbacks Chad Nelson and Jeremy Bates combined for 131 and a touchdown. Nelson also threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Byron Godfrey. Again however, the numbers were not the crucial statistics.

"Our offensive stats may be a bit misleading, because we didn't rack up 400 yards, but that's a credit to our defense," Wood said. "They gave us a short field to work with (through the turnovers), and we were scoring quick."

Brabham echoed the idea. "Any time you are able to get interceptions, you get the offense closer to the end zone," he said. "I really think we were able to give the offense a spark."

Tulsa's first two drives of the game clearly illustrate this point. On their first possession, the Golden Hurricane efficiently drove to the Rice 16-yard line before Fitzgerald fumbled and Clifton recovered for the Owls. Rice was unable to do much offensively, but after punting on fourth down, it only took one play to regain possession of the ball when Brabham intercepted a pass at the Tulane 32-yard line and returned it all the way to the 2. From there, the offense needed only one play to put the ball in the end zone, a 2 yard run by Wood, and Rice had a lead that it would never relinquish.

Going into the game, most experts had predicted that the matchup between one of the nation's best rushing offenses in the nation in Rice and one of the worst rushing defenses in Tulsa would lead to approximately 500 yards of offense and a blowout win for Rice. Instead, they produced only 379 yards of offense, and the game was not a complete blowout.

According to Hatfield, a number of factors went into this. "We looked tired and heavy-legged," he said. "It was hot, it's been a long season in which we've had no easy games. With this game sandwiched between the UT game and next week's game against Brigham Young University, a slight letdown was natural."

Perry stressed that the lack of big yardage from individual players and from the team as whole "was not a big deal," and both he and Hatfield agreed that "we did enough to win."

While this game was very important in determining positioning in the Western Athletic Conference's Mountain Division, next week's matchup with Brigham Young University should be even bigger. Last year, Rice went to Provo on a four-game winning streak and were coming off of a huge 51-10 upset of nationally-ranked Utah. The Cougars, who finished the season at 14-1 and were in the top five in the nation, proceeded to throw Rice's credentials out the window with a 49-0 thrashing of the Owls, effectively ending their chances of a WAC championship.

Hatfield does not believe that last year's game will have any lingering effects. "We're looking forward to playing them again," he said. "Last year, they had probably their best team ever, and if we had beaten them, things would have gotten bigger for us. We tried too hard though, and we were unable to relax."

Last year, BYU featured one of the premier passing offenses in the nation. With standout quarterback Steve Sarkisian gone, however, their attack is now more balanced and perhaps more dangerous.

"They have a good balance of a running and a passing game," said Melton. "If we don't stop their running game though, it'll be a long day."

Hatfield agreed, "They have more confidence in their running game now. We need to keep their offense off the field and find ways to put points on the board."

The key for the Owls will once again be the defense -- it is currently ranked 13th in the WAC and 93rd nationally. While those numbers may not be very inspiring, the defense has recently shown the ability to cause the turnovers and make the big plays. This improvement is especially impressive because only two seniors are starting due to others' injuries. Inexperience is a cause of concern.

"Slowly but surely we're putting it together," Melton said. "Every game is huge, and just one loss can put you out of the race. We've got to come together fast. We should be ready."

Hatfield also remains optimistic. "We're excited and happy about the way this team is coming together and improving," he said. "We're not a dominant team, so we need to hustle and struggle. We all know that the championship still goes through BYU."

Rice's hopes for a WAC division championship are still very much alive. With big road tests at the University of New Mexico and the University of Utah still left on the schedule, this could easily be the most important game of the season to date. Another large crowd is expected at Rice Stadium tomorrow night, and a victory would be a huge stepping stone to a conference championship.

This item appeared in the Sports section of the October 10, 1997 issue.