HOUSTON The focus shifts from offseason to offseason, with roster evaluations influencing the intended targets on the recruiting trail. But in some years perspectives take on macro views, with an overriding program philosophy taking precedent over specific needs at tailback or tackle. The results of years of defensive futility suggested to Rice coach David Bailiff that the Owls...

HOUSTON The focus shifts from offseason to offseason, with roster evaluations influencing the intended targets on the recruiting trail. But in some years perspectives take on macro views, with an overriding program philosophy taking precedent over specific needs at tailback or tackle. The results of years of defensive futility suggested to Rice coach David Bailiff that the Owls...

Jayson Carter is a first-year walk-on with the Rice football team and he has to be one of the smallest players playing college football at any level, coming in at a diminutive 4'9" and weighing only 130 pounds.

And then there was one. With the announced dismissals of Chuck Driesbach and Rick LaFavers on Monday, Rice coach David Bailiff has just one remaining member from his original staff from 2007: linebackers coach Darrell Patterson. Driesbach, 59, and LaFavers, 38, joined Bailiff in the weeks following his Jan. 19 2007 hiring. Driesbach had served as assistant head coach, defensive...

It seemed just for the 2011 season to end like this, with Rice senior quarterback Nick Fanuzzi playing the role of Sisyphus, laboring to move an offense that had sputtered far more frequently than it had succeeded. The Owls' defense, good but not great, provided an opportunity by stopping SMU one final time midway through the fourth quarter. The Owls' special teams, solid...

The Rice Marching Owls -- Don't cross them or they'll compare you to a heathen in one of their performances.

It seemed just for the 2011 season to end like this, with Rice senior quarterback Nick Fanuzzi playing the role of Sisyphus, laboring to move an offense that had sputtered far more frequently than it had succeeded. The Owls' defense, good but not great, provided an opportunity by stopping SMU one final time midway through the fourth quarter. The Owls' special teams, solid yet unspectacular...

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...

Ask Rice senior defensive end Scott Solomon to assess the legacy of the Class of 2007, the first for David Bailiff, and a nebulous answer follows. How does one easily reconcile four losing seasons against a magical 10-win campaign that concluded with a historic triumph in the 2008 Texas Bowl? Even now occasional moments of frustration yield to glorious memories of three years ago...

It certainly wasn't lost on Rice coach David Bailiff how poetic this moment seemed, how perfectly befitting a Hollywood script it was that he stood poised to share the postgame spotlight with two respected fifth-year seniors who had overcome their fair share of tribulations. It was Senior Day after all, and the perfect complement to Saturday's pregame festivities honoring...

For a career spent pursuing redemption and escaping the shadow of his older brother, this final individual pursuit seems perfect for Tyler Smith. Once one of five running backs in the Owls' crowded backfield, Smith stands poised to become the fifth Rice tailback to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards in a single season. It will require a career day for the fifth-year senior from Cedar Park...

It certainly wasn't lost on Rice coach David Bailiff how poetic this moment seemed, how perfectly befitting a Hollywood script it was that he stood poised to share the postgame spotlight with two respected fifth-year seniors who had overcome their fair share of tribulations. It was Senior Day after all, and the perfect complement to Saturday's pregame festivities honoring 25 seniors...

For a career spent pursuing redemption and escaping the shadow of his older brother, this final individual pursuit seems perfect for Tyler Smith. Once one of five running backs in the Owls' crowded backfield, Smith stands poised to become the fifth Rice tailback to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards in a single season. It will require a career day for the fifth-year senior from Cedar Park...

As far back as Monday, when Rice senior quarterback Nick Fanuzzi first observed UTEP on film, he figured a prolific performance was possible. The Miners could hardly be considered stout defensively, and their personnel appeared susceptible to the same matchups the Owls had struggled to exploit for lengthy stretches this season. As the week unfolded the Owls' confidence swelled,...

Hmmm?think the NFL network is proud to be broadcasting this game tonight? They might be, we don't know, but what we do know is we have a matchup between Western Michigan and Rice, two teams not well known in the college football ranks, but who did what they had to to get to a bowl. All joking aside, InGameNow has the insite on this game, so follow the link to read more. ...

This may be the bowl game that the fewest people care about. Troy and Rice are the two teams lucky enough to be able to make the trip down to New Orleans to compete in the R&L Carriers New Orleans bowl. I don't know what R&L Carriers does, but it's probably more exciting than this game will be.

This post is supported by Sonic. Log on to flavortouchdown.com to enter for a chance to win the Sonic Flavor Touchdown Sweepstakes. The 2010 season hasn’t exactly gone as everyone hoped. Okay, that’s probably a huge understatement. Texas fans knew this would be a rebuilding year while breaking in a new quarterback and finding a replacement for the most productive wide...

The ball was placed perfectly on a figurative tee for Rice senior quarterback Nick Fanuzzi to bash with a swing of deserved boasting. His greatest collegiate moment had recently concluded, and Fanuzzi stood before the assembled media in a team meeting room awash in congratulations and lionized for the Owls' 41-37 victory over UTEP last Saturday. He had set a career standard for...

There was only so much Nick Fanuzzi could do. By the time he entered the game in relief on Saturday night at historic Rice Stadium, no amount of his valiance could help the Owls escape the hole that had been excavated. Rice's defensive resilience was squandered, too, sacrificed to a three-score deficit built just beyond the midpoint of the first quarter. The second half of the...

With catastrophic injuries a frequent and unfortunate occurrence at Rice, panic was justified on Friday morning when the following question came to mind as the Owls scrimmaged at Rice Stadium: Where is No. 13? As it turned out, Owls senior defensive end Scott Solomon was present, accounted for and, of greatest significance, optimally healthy. As the Owls conducted their second scrimmage...

Of all the Rice tailbacks Jayson Carter could cozy up to in practice, junior Sam McGuffie just might be the wisest choice. McGuffie, after all, offers the requisite blend of speed and athleticism coaches seek in tailbacks. If Carter longs to make an impression beyond the fact that, at 4-foot-9, he technically qualifies for dwarfism, running post-practice sprints with McGuffie is...

Blog Bowl : Texas Bowl : Rice vs. Western Michigan

The more Rice coach David Bailiff spoke on the problems plaguing Owls sophomore quarterback Taylor McHargue, the more Bailiff started to sound like someone with an extensive background in psychology. McHargue provides an interesting case study of a gifted athlete split from his confidence. A season of inconsistency and regression bottomed out last Saturday night when McHargue committed...

The current seniors might not match the star power of Jarett Dillard and Chase Clement and James Casey and Brian Raines, but the fact that the possibility exists is reason enough to believe improvement is feasible. What wasn't as obvious three years ago has become increasing evident as the seasons pass: The Class of 2008 represented a rare collection of senior leaders determined...

For the returning starters the spring is for retuning and building chemistry with the new faces around on the team. For the new faces and younger guys the spring is about gaining confidence from the coaches and your teammates. The spring game isn’t always about the starters. Players coming off a red-shirt [...]