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September 30, 2005 > Sports > Football opens C-USA play at UAB

Football opens C-USA play at UAB

By Adam Tabakin | Thresher Editorial Staff

After two tough losses, the football team hopes to pick up the pieces and rebuild. With last week’s game against the United States Naval Academy postponed due to Hurricane Rita, the football team opens its first season of play in Conference USA tomorrow night on the road at the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

The hurricane gave Rice (0-2) a much-needed week off to recuperate, after being outscored a combined 114-31 in games against the University of California-Los Angeles and the University of Texas. UAB (2-1) also did not play last week and will also be opening its conference season.

“Those first two games were brutal,” senior defensive end John Syptak said. “[We need to] just put those behind us and move on. … You don’t see that type of competition week in and week out.”

With Monday’s practice cancelled and Friday reserved for travel to Birmingham, Ala., the Owls only had three days to prepare for the Blazers this week. Head Coach Ken Hatfield said the team was ready to practice even after most players evacuated Houston last weekend.

“I was impressed and pleased with practice,” Hatfield said. “They worked hard and concentrated. There’s nothing like getting your mind on something … you’ve got control over [like practice].”

Rice’s pre-hurricane schedule had three non-conference games before eight consecutive conference games until the Navy game was rescheduled for Oct. 22, when both teams had an open date.

Rice will now play on nine consecutive Saturdays — the remainder of the season. Syptak said the week off was refreshing.

“We had some nicks and bruises from UCLA and Texas,” Syptak said. “[The week off] gave us some time to relax and catch up on other things — spend time with our families. It will help us in the long run.”

Hatfield said games against top-25 teams prepare Rice for the conference games that matter more.

“We said before the season that we had three weeks of pre-game and then that we ought to be hitting at our best,” Hatfield said. “We would like to have had another game under our belts, naturally. That didn’t happen, but we didn’t get anybody hurt Saturday. While there’s a plus and a minus to everything, it’s time for us to play good conference [teams] and [UAB] is certainly as good as there is in our league right now.”

UAB does not have the speed or size that UT and UCLA do, but the Blazers were picked to finish in second in the Eastern Division of Conference USA. The Blazers have been maddeningly inconsistent this season, though, coming one errant pass from taking then-third-ranked Tennessee to overtime but struggling to beat Division I-AA opponent Jacksonville State 35-28.

Junior running back Quinton Smith said UAB’s inconsistency is irrelevant.

“We just have to go out there and play them,” Smith said. “Tennessee is a good team, and even though [UAB] lost, it was still a close game. We’re just looking at them, seeing what they do and seeing how to defeat them.”

Preseason C-USA defensive player of the year Syptak, who has faced constant double-teaming in the first two games of the season while being limited to seven tackles and half a sack, said he is looking forward to the conference season.

“Every team schemes against certain players, and I just need to fight,” Syptak said. “I look to my other teammates to make plays as well. It’s a team game.”

Junior nose guard William Wood has been one of those linemen making plays, leading the Owls with nine tackles in his first two starts since his freshman year. The continued progression of the defensive line is crucial to opening up paths of attack for Syptak as the season progresses.

“We’re all pretty solid up front,” Syptak said. “We take coaching very well. We’re getting better every day — that’s all you can ask for.”

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