The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 85, No. 6, Ed. 1 Friday, October 3, 1997 Page: 15 of 20
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After barely
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front
a
n. the
38-31
getting a
la that
of its own medicine Saturday.
crowd of 53,811, the largest thi
University of Texas defeated the
by racking up the running yards a:
couple of breaks — the same
Rice had used in its wins against Tulane Uni-
versity and Northwestern University.
J n n ior ru fining back Ricky Williams gained
249 yards on 28 carries and scored all five of
his team's touchdowns to lead the Longhorns
to the comeback victory. UT gained a total of
460 yards on the day and scored the final 17
points of the game.
Despite Williams' career day, the Owls
were able to keep it interesting until the end.
Rice's spread option was once again unstop-
pable, as they ran over 400 yards for the third
game in a row and ended with a total of 452
yards. Junior funning back Michael Perry ran
for a career high 211, while senior quarter-
back Chad Nelson added 128. Both scored
two touchdowns.
For the first three quarters, the Rice of-
fense seemed poised to once again lead the
Owls to a high-scoring victory. Apparently,
nobody on the Rice sideline was surprised.
"We knew we could run on them,'"Nelson
said. "Unfortunately the clock stopped us (from
scoring again)."
Perry agreed. "That's what we expect. lOurJ
offense is very strong."
The most intriguing part about the huge
output was that Rice was completely unpre-
pared for the defense that UT employed. In-
stead of using the seven-man front that the
Owls had prepared for all week, the Long-
horns used what Rice Head Coach Ken Hatfield
termed an 'eagle Shade,' or eight-man front^
According to senior offensive lineman Mark
Spinner,, however, it was not a big deal.
"They ran a different front, but our game
plan didn't change," he said. "It wasn't a huge
shock, and Chad is great at reading the
defense (for the triple option)
On the other side of the ball, Williams was
able to solve every defense that Rice threw at
him. His yardage total was the second highest
in school history, and his five touchdowns set
a school record. Williams, nicknamed "Little
Earl" by teammates because of similarities
with former UT and Houston Oiler great Earl
Campbell, also set the record in both catego-
ries for the young Big 12 Conference.
Running Back Michael Perry exploits a hole in the longhorn's defense during Rice's 38 - 31 loss to UT last Saturday at Rice Stadium
Rice junior safety Brent Huffman perhaps
described it best.
"He's the kind of baek that, with a crease,
will be able to go a long way," he said. *He had
a career day."
In a game that featured much offense and
little defense, it was ironic that the deciding
play came on special teams. After redshirt
freshman Adrian Sadler knocked down a pas«
attempt on third- and nine with less than 13
minutes to go, it seemed that Rice was on its
way to a huge victory. On the following play
however, senior defensive end Andy Clifton
was called for roughing the punter, and the
Longhorns were awarded 15 yards and a first
■■
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anpll
down. Inevitably, they finished the driverwith
a new outlook on' life, and Williams, yet again,
scored on a 15-yard TD run to give UT its first
and only Jead of the game.
In retrospect, it was probably not a good'
idea to rush the punter down the stretch with
the ball in the middle of the field. Hatfield
admitted that his team was in a "punt safety" at
the time. However, Hatfield felt Clifton's play
did not deserve a 15-yard penalty. Barely any
contact was made with the punter, and the
correct call would have been a five yard pen-
alty for 'running into the kicker,' one that
would have left the Horjis in a punting situa-
tion. Nevertheless, the play was probably the
turning point of a game that either team could
have realistically won.
While it was undoubtedly a very hard loss
for the Owls to accept. Hatfield emphasized
the positives that cartie out of the game.
"We have to hold our heads up high and be
proud," he said. "We showed everyone today
that you can come to Rice, get a quality educa-
tion and still line up with anybody on the
football field."
Perry agreed, adding that the non-confer-
ence schedule "is like the preseason. We have
to forget about it and move on."
Up next for the Owls is what coach Hatfield
calls "the meat of the schedule." They travel to
the University of Tulsa tomorrow to kick off
play against their rivals in the Western Ath-
letic Conference's Mountain Division.
The Golden Hurricane is sure to be pre-
pared for the Rice triple option because, like
UT, they will have had two weeks to prepare..
In addition, they will have extra motivation
because it will be their Homecoming game.
"Dave Rader is an excellent coach," Hatfield
said about his counterpart. "He'll have them
prepared."
The most important concern for Rice will
be its defense, mainly because most WAC
members are known for their high-powered
offenses. Both Huffman and Hatfield agree
that, while the defense has given up an aver-
age of 34,3 points per game thus far. it has
shown much improvement. One factor slow-
ing the defense is the team's use of a different
starting secondary in every game.
"We're not a dominating defense by a long
shot," Hatfield said, "but we will be. The
future (for the yougg players) looks good."
"We're working on continuity," Huffman
said. "This.(UT game) was a learning experi-
ence, and we're getting better every week."
As long as the Owls don't run into another
Ricky Williams, however, a decent defense
should be enough for the offense to carry
them to an impressive conference season.
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Inside linebacker Jarrett Erwin tackles UT running back Hodges Mitchell.
Ixist Wednesday night's five-game volley-
ball match against Sam Houston State Univer-
sity proved to be a big night for Rice Owls'
Zelinka sisters. At Autry Court, in front of 305
fans, freshman outside hitter Klara Zelinka
and sophomore outside hitter KarolinaZelinka
showed the Sam Houston UidyKats that the
Owls were a force to be reckoned with. With-
out their usual.offensive weapon, sophomore
Kelly Smith, the Owls counted on the Zelinka
sisters, along with junior middle blocker Tif-
fany Carrethers to lead them to the victory.
The Owls and Sam Houston played five
intense games, taking turns dominating the
match. Sam Houston took the early lead, win-
ning the first game, 15-12. Rice, though, re-
fused To give in easily and won the next gatfle
15-12. The momentum carried over to the
third game. They crushed Sam Houston 15-3. ' J
During the fourth game, Sam Houston recov-l||
ered and evened out the match by winning 15-
10. However, Rice recovered to win the fifth
game 15-11.
The Owls dominated many aspects of the
match, out blocking Sam Houston 11-3 and
out-assisting them 88-73. Klara Zelinka an-
chored the team, nailing 18 kills and 19 digs.
Karolina Zelinka contributed 17 kills and 21
digs, and Carrethers followed with 17 kills
and IB digs. Freshman setter Nil Kalagoglu
made her presence felt with 45 assists. Sam
Houston's Tiacie Bendele provided^ kills,
while teammate Kelly Hajovsky hit 21 Hie
Owls victory over Sam Houston jumped their
record to 3-9.
At the next two road matches over the
weekend, Owls could not follow up with
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Hardi, Joel & Siy, Angelique. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 85, No. 6, Ed. 1 Friday, October 3, 1997, newspaper, October 3, 1997; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246602/m1/15/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.