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October 22, 2004 > Sports > Options galore: Owls play at Navy tomorrow

Options galore: Owls play at Navy tomorrow

By Adam Tabakin | Thresher staff

After facing two of the nation’s most prolific passing attacks in the opening weeks of the season, the football team and its top-ranked rushing offense will play the United States Naval Academy, whose own ground game ranks sixth nationally, tomorrow. Rice (3-3, 2-2 Western Athletic Conference) enters this weekend’s game in Annapolis, Md. with a three-game losing streak on the road after falling 35-10 at Nevada Oct. 16. The Owls have not won outside of Houston since a decisive 49-14 victory at La. Tech in the 2003 season finale. ‘We’re just going to regroup and battle back and try to make the most of our season,’ junior defensive end John Syptak said. ‘We’re really disappointed, but we can’t put our heads down.’ The Owls had high expectations in the preseason, but their two conference losses have put a conference championship all but out of reach and have subdued talk about Rice possibly receiving its first bowl bid since 1961. ‘We need to quit worrying about what predictions were at the beginning of the season,’ senior cornerback Raymorris Barnes said. ‘The problem was, after we lost to Texas, we went to saying, ‘Well, we can be 10-1 on the season.’ Then we lose at San Jose and we’re like, ‘Oh, we can be 9-2.’ We were trying to count all the other games up together, and that’s something we’ve made a mistake on. There’s a lot of talk about, ‘Well what are you going to be now? Are you going to be 8-3? 6-5? 5-6?’ No, we want to be 4-3 at the end of this week.’ Navy (5-1) defeated Rice 38-6 last season at Rice Stadium and has had a better season this year, with its only loss coming last Saturday against Notre Dame. The Midshipmen run a triple option rushing offense similar to the Owl attack, utilizing quarterback Aaron Polanco and star fullback Kyle Eckel to wear down opposing defenses. ‘They’re the one of the so-called academic schools that’s really having a banner year at this time,’ head coach Ken Hatfield said. ‘They’re a good football team. The fullback is excellent, their defense has been playing good — they just played a vastly superior team the other day in Notre Dame.’ Eckel and Polanco average 162 rushing yards per game combined and have totaled 13 rushing touchdowns. Syptak said the Rice defense should be prepared for the challenge, since the Owl offense is so similar. ‘We’re excited,’ Syptak said. ‘They’re an option team and we got to practice against the option all through spring, so it works out.’ Fittingly for a service academy, Navy has been penalized the second-fewest times in Division I-A, so the Owls cannot rely on their opponents’ carelessness this weekend. ‘For us to win the game, we’ve got to go earn it,’ Hatfield said. ‘They’re not going to beat themselves and they’re not going to give you a lot of easy stuff. That’s the kind of tough game we need right now — to go out and stay focused and make those one or two plays early in the game..’ The Rice and Navy option offenses rarely feature prolific passers, and this year’s teams are the two lowest-ranking schools in almost every major passing category, including attempts, completions, yards, touchdowns and first downs through the air. Senior center Ross Huebel said the matchup gives both schools a chance to prove whose one-dimensional attack is more effective. ‘They play disciplined football,’ Huebel said. ‘That’s one of the reasons we look forward to playing them. They run the option, we run the option, we’ll see who can go out there and run it better. It’ll be a good game.’ The Owls lead the nation in rushing yards per game by a wide margin with 345.7 yards per game, more than 50 yards more than second-place UT. Navy ranks sixth with 258.8 yards per game. Rice also ranks first in carries per game, touchdowns and first downs on the ground, while the Midshipmen rank third, eighth and third, respectively, in those categories. Rice’s ability to effectively run the ball has allowed the Owls to control the clock, winning the time of possession battle in nine straight games dating back to last season. This season, Rice has had possession for an average of 34 minutes, 31 seconds, the most in the country. Hatfield said the Owls will have to make the most of their possessions because of Navy’s efficiency. ‘You go in doing what the defense gives you on both option offenses, and Navy is the kind that is a very patient offense,’ Hatfield said. ‘When you’ve got the ball, you’ve got to make something happen because you’re not going to get the ball too many times. It puts a bigger premium on doing something with the ball when you’ve got the ball.’

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