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For the fourth time this season, a couple of plays that could have either helped or hurt Rice decided a football game. Following the recurring theme, the Owls were once more on the wrong side of both the breaks and the result.

San Jose State University placekicker David Silberstein kicked a 24-yard field goal with 51 seconds left in the fourth quarter, clinching a 20-17 Spartan victory Saturday.

The Owls' fourth straight loss dropped them to 1-4 overall and 1-1 in the Western Athletic Conference. The Spartans improved to 3-3 and remained unbeaten at 2-0 in the WAC.

Much like Rice's win against Southern Methodist University and losses to Purdue University and Northwestern University, the outcome was decided by a mere handful of plays.

In the season opener, the Mustangs missed a last-second field goal attempt in regulation and another in overtime, and Rice went on to win 23-17. At Purdue, Rice had a touchdown taken away because of a penalty and then missed a two-point conversion with under four minutes to go, losing 21-19. Finally, the Wildcats rode a fake punt, an onside kick and a fake field goal to a 23-14 victory.

This week, a missed field goal, a blocked field goal, two fumbles and two dropped interceptions doomed the Owls.

"We're very frustrated and disappointed," Head Coach Ken Hatfield said. "We played so hard, and yet we don't make the plays to win the game. We've been that way in four of our five games."

Nearly all the statistics favored Rice. Their 408 total yards and 375 rushing yards were both season highs, and they gave up season lows of 308 total yards and 81 rushing yards. But stats weren't enough to counter the mistakes.

"It's all the little things," junior quarterback Chad Richardson said. "We keep shooting ourselves in the foot. It's getting frustrating because every week we've been saying the same thing. We could very well be 4-1. The ball isn't bouncing our way but we're still making stupid mistakes," he said.

Foremost among the mistakes were two fumbles in Spartan territory, one by redshirt freshman fullback Jamie Tyler at the San Jose State 36-yard line, and the other by Richardson inside the Spartan 20-yard line.

On the defensive side, senior defensive back LaDouphyous McCalla, an All-WAC performer last year, dropped two interceptions.

"It was small, minor areas that turned the whole game around, things like fumbles, or not taking advantage of opportunities or not getting the turnover like the two interceptions that were right in my hands," McCalla said.

The special teams also kicked in with their share of blunders. In the second quarter, with Rice on the verge of taking a 10-3 lead, junior placekicker Scott Grimes' 27-yard field goal attempt was so low that it hit the back of another Owl. The Spartans received credit for the block, and they then scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive to take a 10-7 lead.

While Rice trailed 17-10 in the third quarter, an apparent scoring drive stalled, and Grimes missed a 32-yarder wide left.

"It was a hard loss for us," sophomore running back Anthony Griffin said of the game. "We practiced all week and said we were going to eliminate mistakes, but again we fell short."

Overlooked in the loss was Griffin's breakthrough performance in place of the usual starter, senior running back Michael Perry. Griffin rushed for 183 yards and a touchdown on only 25 carries for an extraordinary average of 7.3 yards per carry.

Richardson also pitched in with a career-high 123 yards on 16 carries for an even better 7.7 yards per carry average.

Despite the strong offensive performances, though, the Owls found the loss a letdown.

"It was very disappointing," McCalla said. "We felt we could go out and win the game. Basically I feel we played a great game, but we just had a lot of mistakes."

This item appeared in the Sports section of the October 16, 1998 issue.