Seniors feeling the brunt of a disappointing Rice season

Rice coach David Bailiff had no issue discussing on Monday the angst that filled the Owls' locker room following their loss at Northwestern last Saturday, a loss that extinguished their faint postseason bowl hopes. His team, particularly the seniors, was saturated by disappointment and despair over the cementing of a third consecutive losing season. As Bailiff reviewed that 28-6 defeat he spoke in a sobering tone as if the result was a far greater tragedy than the obvious lack of preparation. For Rice (3-7, 2-4 Conference USA), the narrative shifts to closing a lost regular season with a flourish. It does every November, or at least it will for the fourth time in five seasons with Bailiff at the helm. Tulane (2-9, 1-6 C-USA) might make for an easy opponent on Senior Day at Historic Rice Stadium this Saturday, but transitioning from discouragement over what unfolded in Evanston, Ill., to readying for Tulane will be difficult. "All the frustration that you have at this point, you might as well just let it go," Owls senior free safety Xavier Webb said. "There's no bowl game, there's no hope for a bowl game; you might as well just drop the frustrations and just win a football game." The Owls should win that game over the Green Wave, owners of an eight-game losing skid, one win over a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent (UAB), and a 178 Sagarin rating. Interim coach Mark Hutson replaced Bob Toledo after Toledo resigned in advance of a homecoming tilt against woeful Memphis. Tulane subsequently lost that game 33-17. Tulane is program in dire straits. But the macro view of the Owls' season takes precedent, particularly given the optimism surrounding the offense coming into this season and the number of seniors expected to contribute in some form or fashion. Rice will honor 25 seniors this Saturday, several of whom played supporting roles on the 2008 Texas Bowl champions, a game was supposed to ignite program momentum. Instead, the Owls have dropped 25 of 34 games since dismantling Western Michigan at Reliant Stadium on Dec. 30, 2008. For the nine fifth-year seniors who were part of Bailiff's first signing class at Rice, the goal was to establish a foundation for success. That hasn't happened. "I don't really want to make excuses," Owls senior left tackle Jake Hick said. "But at the same time there are maybe reasons why it may be a little bit tougher to be a consistent program here than a lot of other places. My first four years here I've had four offensive coordinators (Tom Herman, Ed Zaunbrecher, David Beaty, John Reagan) and that's not something that happens to a lot of consistent, top AP schools. "We've had two (offensive) line coaches (Blake Miller and Ronnie Vinklarek) a host of people coming in and out. At times we don't have a lot of great depth at a lot of positions. We get one injury on the offensive line, and one injury causes four people to play out of position." Those problems sound systemic. Bailiff has had difficulty maintaining staff continuity, particularly with his coveted assistants. And for all the credit bestowed upon him regarding his recruiting prowess, Bailiff in Year 5 still lacks sufficient depth across the board. This season, injuries in the secondary proved catastrophic, undermining perceived growth. When former Rice athletic director Chris Del Conte opted to participate in the Texas Bowl as opposed to traveling for a postseason game, he did so with the thought of developing a brand with local football fans. Three seasons later the Owls still play in a stadium that's two-thirds empty most Saturdays. Those scenes, combined with the problems Hicks outlined, make for tough sledding for a program seeking solid ground. "There are certain things that make it tougher, but at the same time it's not impossible," Hicks said. "And we've shown that over time. It's not impossible to win games (at Rice)." It always reverts to wins and loses, and the Owls haven't done enough of that this season or in the two preceding campaigns. For Hicks, offensive linemen Davon Allen, Keshawn Carrington and Tyler Parish, plus defensive end Scott Solomon and tailback Tyler Smith, their utmost aspirations went unfulfilled. They mourned what wasn't following their most recent setback before setting a new objective over the weekend. There are two games left in their careers. Time to put frustration aside. "We're investing in right now," Bailiff said. "We are going to try to win these two games to give us a nice conference win record. We have played really well at home this season. We need to get this one against Tulane and head down to Dallas. We are here trying to win football games. That is what it is all about." Follow me on Twitter at FSH_Owls