Owls muster consecutive comebacks, take down SMU
If this season is any indicator, the football team should only schedule opponents on their homecoming weekends. After yet another fourth-quarter comeback, Rice defeated Southern Methodist University by a score of 43-42 last Saturday in Dallas, Texas. The win, which came on a last-second field goal by sophomore kicker Clark Fangmeier, spoiled the Mustangs’ homecoming and was the Owls’ second in as many weeks.
Rice (3-7, 3-3 Conference USA) prepares to close out its season with two straight games at Rice Stadium. Tomorrow, the Owls host Tulane University (3-7, 2-4 C-USA) at 2 p.m. and the following Saturday, the University of Tulsa and its coach, former Rice coach Todd Graham, will come to town. That game will also begin at 2 p.m.
The Green Wave features an offense based around senior tailback Matt Forte, the nation’s leading rusher with 1,813 yards on the ground. Forte brings unusual strength to his position, so the Owls must swarm to the ball and make sound tackles if they hope to stop him.
Tulane also features the third-best defense in C-USA, allowing only 30.9 points per conference game. This defense, however, is coupled with the third-worst offense in the conference.
Tulsa (7-3, 5-2 C-USA) sports the most potent offense in C-USA, putting up an average of 39.1 points per game. The Golden Hurricane is led by quarterback Paul Smith, who has put up conference-leading 349.6 yards of total offense per game.
Fortunately for the Owls, Tulsa is also tied for second-worst in C-USA with a minus-eight turnover margin. Turnovers played a large part in Rice’s win last week against SMU (1-9, 0-6 C-USA). The Owls came out strong with four touchdowns in the first half, two of them coming from the defense. Junior defensive back Brandon King and sophomore defensive back Andrew Sendejo each returned an interception for a touchdown. The other two scores came in much less surprising fashion — touchdown passes from junior quarterback Chase Clement to junior receiver Jarett Dillard.
Rice and SMU traded touchdowns throughout most of the first half, and although Fangmeier missed the extra point attempt after the first score, the Owls entered the break leading 27-21. But the third quarter belonged to SMU. The Mustangs tallied three touchdowns and shut down Rice’s potent offense, ending the quarter with a 42-27 advantage.
Just like in last week’s comeback over the University of Texas-El Paso, Rice was to shake off SMU’s late lead behind the leadership of Clement. The San Antonio native ran for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and set up Fangmeier’s game-winning field goal.
After bringing the score to 42-40 on a six-yard Clement run with 10:01 left, the Owls failed to convert on a two-point conversion that would have tied the game. However, the defense stepped up once again, forcing the Mustangs to punt. Then, with just 2:29 remaining, Clement engineered a 10-play, 60-yard drive down to SMU’s 14-yard line to set up Fangmeier’s 31-yard game-winning field goal as time expired. Fangmeier earned C-USA Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
The game-winning kick was not without controversy, as it appeared to the SMU bench and crowd that time expired following freshman running back Justin Hill’s run to the 14-yard line. However, head coach David Bailiff called for a timeout before time expired. The referees placed one second back on the clock, allowing for Fangmeier’s 31-yard kick.
Clement continues to impress as a dual-threat quarterback, this week throwing for 364 yards while rushing for 124 yards. With this performance, he became the first quarterback in NCAA history to pass for at least 300 yards and run for at least 100 yards in consecutive games.
Defensively, the Owls surrendered no points in the fourth quarter, holding SMU to a pair of punts and a missed field goal attempt.
“At the end of the game, we’ve come together and done what we needed to do for the last two weeks,” senior cornerback Gary Anderson, Jr. said.
Bailiff said the team effort allowed Rice to pull away with the win.
“[For] the defense to step up there at the end to give the offense the ball back with two and a half minutes was what we needed to happen,” he said. “To get back-to-back wins in conference is really increasing our confidence in what we can accomplish.”
Although many teams may suffer under pressure, the Owls are growing accustomed to these types of close wins.
“[It was] another nail-biting finish,” Clement said. “That’s just kind of the Rice Owl fashion.”
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