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The Rice Thresher
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by Jason Gershman thresher editorial staff
Last Saturday, for the second straight week, the Owls foiled a late comeback attempt by their opponents as they claimed a 15-13 win over Duke University. Rice led 15-7 until a Duke touchdown with one minute, 36 seconds remaining gave the Blue Devils a chance to tie the game. A bad snap killed Duke's two-point attempt, but the Blue Devils got the ball back and advanced it to their own 48-yard line. On the next play, however, junior safety Greg Gatlin intercepted a pass with 16 seconds remaining to seal the Owl victory. Gatlin, who had eight tackles and one caused fumble for the game, was named the Western Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week. "Greg Gatlin did a great job of coming up with that last interception," head coach Ken Hatfield said. "It looked like he was going to cramp up, but then he fell back in the zone and made the play. He made a great play - if he doesn't make that play then Duke is in field goal range." The Owls have now won both their contests this season by one touchdown or less. Sealing the victory in close games was a problem for the 3-8 Owls last year, perhaps epitomized by a 27-24 loss against Fresno State in which Rice also held an 8-point lead heading into the final two minutes. "I'd be lying if I said that [the Fresno State game] didn't pop into my mind," senior linebacker Rashard Pittman said. "But the thoughts of the Houston game last week popped into my head and I knew we could do it. Duke was tough - that was a dogfight. We'll keep you in your seats until the last play. I wouldn't mind a blowout win, but these close games come in handy down the road heading into conference games." The Owls did not dominate the Blue Devils in the overall statistics as they did in their opening-week 21-14 victory over UH, but they did enough right to win the game. Seven different Owls caught passes from sophomore quarterback Kyle Herm, who completed 11 out of 18 passes for 116 yards. The 11 completed passes were more than the Owls completed in any one game last season. Sophomore wide receiver Gavin Boothe, who led the Owls with 18 receptions last season, already has four catches this year, including one for a touchdown against UH. "I'm just glad Coach Hatfield brought [the passing game] into our offense," Boothe said. "Duke likes to run the same defense we do. They brought nine guys up front, which gave the receivers one-on-one coverage. When we ran four wideouts, they would double-team me and that would leave the halfbacks wide open." While the Owls were effective in their shotgun and multiple-receiver formations, they lost the element of surprise they had against UH. "I can't say enough about Duke," Hatfield said. "Offensively, we didn't have the success we did the first week, because a lot of the things we did were a surprise to Houston. They did a good job of adjusting and playing aggressively to our strengths. "They made us go to some things we had not practiced as much. [Junior tight end] Travis Thompson caught a big third down pass and we hadn't practiced that all week. The way they were playing defense, we had to adjust. I was proud of the way our guys adjusted." Gatlin's interception was one of three turnovers caused by the Owls. Senior linebacker Dan Dawson recovered two fumbles. Dawson is one of almost 30 seniors on the team ecstatic about starting the season 2-0 for the first time in their years at Rice. "Being 2-0 is really big for us," Dawson said. "After a 3-8 season, you really appreciate wins. Personally, I've struggled a bit, but I hope I'm turning it around. ... I'd rather be causing fumbles because it takes more of a man to cause one than to jump on one." For the second straight week, Hatfield sees special teams as the area most glaringly in need of improvement. After missing all three field goals he attempted against UH, sophomore placekicker Brandon Skeen made his only attempt against Duke, a 22-yarder, but his first extra point attempt was blocked. Senior placekicker Derek Crabtree, nursing a strained hip flexor, is still listed as day-to-day. Punter Travis Hale punted a ball the Owls downed at the 1-yard line in the third quarter and had the longest punt of his career, a 72-yarder, in the first quarter. Duke's Ronnie Hamilton returned the booming punt 50 yards, however - one of his two returns of 30 or more yards on the night. "We've got to improve on our kicking game," Hatfield said. "There were three bad things in the kicking game, the two long punt returns and the blocked extra point. If we had shored those three things up, we would have had a great kicking game."
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