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The Rice Thresher
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by Jose Luis Cubria thresher editorial staff
They're still waiting. The string of injuries and bad luck continued on Saturday when Rice lost two more quarterbacks to injuries. But despite seeing redshirt freshmen Jeremy Hurd and Kyle Herm both go down, the Owls gave the University of Texas at El Paso a run for its money. Rice, battling both UTEP and a Sun Bowl record crowd of 53,304, trailed just 28-21 in the fourth quarter. But the Miners (8-2, 7-0 WAC) pulled away in the final period, clinching at least a share of the Western Athletic Conference title with the 38-21 win. "I think we just ran out of gas," junior linebacker Rashard Pittman told the Houston Chronicle after the game. "But we didn't give up. We fought until the end," he said. If you've followed Rice (3-7, 2-5 WAC) at all this season, you know quarterback injuries are nothing new. Hurd, the opening day starter, missed four games earlier this year with a broken finger. Junior Corey Evans filled in admirably for Hurd, but he was lost for the season when he dislocated a kneecap in late October. Saturday was just Hurd's second start since the season opener, but he suffered a knee injury on the first play of the game and his status for the rest of the year is unclear. The Owls didn't miss a beat when Herm entered the lineup, and he drove the team to a touchdown on the game's opening drive. But despite leading Rice with 92 rushing yards, he was unable to avoid mishap. In the second quarter, Herm aggravated a collarbone injury he originally suffered in the season opener. Herm's injury opened the door for senior Ben Wulf, who has been thrust into the role of emergency signal-caller all year long. Wulf engineered two Rice scoring drives, including one midway through the third quarter that brought the Owls within a touchdown at 28-21. But by then, the UTEP attack was too much for Rice's depleted defense, and the Miners scored 10 unanswered points to put the game away. "We hung in there," head coach Ken Hatfield said. "[UTEP has] a great offense - one that is very difficult to stop. We came back in the second half and shut them down three series in a row. That gave us a chance to get back in the game ... but it didn't work out. But we stayed in the fight. "You'd like the first-teamers to play the whole game, but that just wasn't to be. But I was pleased that nobody gave up. That thing wasn't over until their last touchdown." By now, losing players to injury has become almost routine for the Owls. But they have yet to use the bad luck as an excuse. "This season has been unique with the injury factor," Wulf said. "It seems like every time we get going, a key player goes down and a young player has to step up and make plays. But that's part of the game. We're not going to whine and cry about it. We're going to keep going on and persevere through the last game." Even with the odds stacked against them, the Owls never doubted they would upset UTEP. Despite the loss, Hatfield said Rice learned a lot Saturday. "We went to El Paso to win and we expected to win," Hatfield said. "We knew it would be a very hostile environment, but it was the type of situation that our players enjoyed being in. That's the kind of game you have to win to win a championship. "Here they were, undefeated in the WAC, the best thing in 33 years, the big crowd and everything going for them, and we go out and lose our quarterback on the first play of the game. That's tough, but you start adjusting in a hurry. ... I'm really proud of the way our team has rallied in spite of all the injuries."
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