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September 3, 2004 > Sports > Football: Defense

Football: Defense

Youthful defense returns seven starters

By Adam Tabakin | Thresher staff

With seven full-time starters and two others that started at least three games last year returning, the Rice defense looks to improve on last year’s performance, when opponents averaged over 400 yards of total offense per game.

“The thing about our defense is that last year, we had to play a lot of freshmen early in the season, and it took until about mid-season before they became a little bit more confident,” head football coach Ken Hatfield said. “You can read a lot of books, you can watch film on how other people have done things, but you’ve got to learn by doing. You’ve got to learn by making your own mistakes and correcting them and then making fewer mistakes — that’s the value of experience, especially with the speed of the game.”

Although the Owls’ starting defense now has experience, it is still a young unit, featuring just three seniors alongside three juniors and five sophomores. Among those young in class but old in experience is junior defensive end John Syptak, who led all defensive linemen last season with 12 tackles for loss, four sacks and four fumble recoveries. Syptak said the Owls hope to build off the momentum they amassed last season, when they won four of their last five games.

“Last year, we just needed to get a little confidence, and once we got that, we were rolling,” Syptak said. “Our goal is to come out strong and continue that throughout the year this year instead of waiting around for it to happen.”

Joining Syptak on the defensive line will be sophomore tackle DeJuan Cooper, senior guard Jeremy Calahan and junior end Rob Daniel. Jimmy Shaw, who started all 12 of the Owls’ games in 2003 as a redshirt freshman, transferred to Penn State last spring.

The team’s youth extends to the secondary, where three of the five starting defensive backs in Rice’s nickel package are sophomores.

“As far as the younger guys in the secondary, I normally would feel kind of iffy, but [cornerback] Lance Byrd, [free safety] Andray Downs and [bandit] Chad Price will be redshirt sophomores this year, and they all were starters by the end of last year,” senior cornerback Raymorris Barnes said. “Because of their athleticism and because of their ability and knack to catch on to things quickly, I know that those three guys can get the job done.”

Senior Terry Holley, Rice’s leader in tackles, tackles for a loss, sacks and interceptions last year, will complete the starting defensive backfield at the bandit position.

While the Owls return most of their defensive line and secondary, both the Owls’ starting linebackers from last year graduated. The projected replacements — junior Adam Herrin and sophomore Omeke Alikor — both saw significant playing time in 2003, but neither backup at linebacker has ever appeared in a varsity game.

With last season’s strong finish, Barnes said this season is an important one for Rice football, its last in the WAC before moving to Conference USA.

“I think the seniors have done a good job of conveying that message to the younger guys and then the younger guys have done a good job of accepting that message and accepting the responsibility at task,” Barnes said.

Despite the Owls’ 43-year bowl game drought, Hatfield said this year’s team has the components necessary to win the WAC and secure the accompanying bowl bid.

“It’s been so long since we’ve gone to a bowl because today you have to earn your way into it, and that’s the way we’d like to do it,” Hatfield said. “A lot of times, teams will just have a winning record and get a chance to go because they sell so many tickets, but in our place, we have to earn our way into it — the only way we can guarantee ourselves a bowl is to win the Western Athletic Conference.”

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