Football Notes: Week Ten - Fresno State
10/31/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
Saturday's Game
Rice (5-4, 4-1) vs. Fresno State (6-3, 3-1), 4 pm (CST, 2 pm PST), Bulldog Stadium (41,031/grass), Fresno, Calif. Western Athletic Conference game.
Radio
Rice Radio Network (flagship KSEV/KJOJ, 700/880 AM, Houston) with Matt Musil, Tom Franklin, Craig Ackerman and Matt Thomas, 3:30 pm (CST). Also on the World Wide Web at broadcast.com.
Television
None
Series
First meeting
Coaching Fresno State
Head Coach: Pat Hill (California-Riverside, 1973). Career, at FS: 17-15, third season.
Football SID: Steve Weakland.
On The Web
Rice: www.RiceOwls.com
Fresno State: www.gobulldogs.com
WAC: www.wac.org
RICE OWLS (5-4, 4-1 WAC)S4 at Houston, 3-28S11 at Michigan, 3-37S18 at Texas, 13-18S25 Navy, 20-17O2 at Tulsa (WAC), 20-10O9 at Hawaii (WAC), 38-19O16 San Jose State (WAC), 49-7O23 TCU (WAC), 42-21O30 at SMU (WAC), 2-27N6 at Fresno State (WAC), 4 pmN13 UTEP (WAC), 2 pmFresno State (6-3, 3-1)S4 Portland State, 34-6S11 at Oregon State, 23-46S18 at UCLA, 21-35S25 at Nevada, 49-24O2 TCU (WAC, OT), 26-19O9 Colorado State, 44-13O14 at SMU (WAC), 14-24O23 UTEP (WAC, OT), 24-23O30 at Tulsa (WAC), 28-14N6 RICE OWLS (WAC), 4 pmN13 at Hawaii (WAC), 10:05 pmN20 San Jose State (WAC), 5:30 pm
For The Marbles
Rice will meet Fresno State in what may be the most important Western Athletic Conference game of the year. Game time at Fresno's Bulldog Stadium will be 4 pm (CST, 2 pm PST) Rice is 5-4 on the season and 4-1 in WAC play. The Owls had their five-game winning streak stopped with a 27-2 loss to Southern Methodist last week in Dallas. Rice's latest victory was a 42-21 romp past Texas Christian on Oct. 23 in Rice Stadium Fresno State is 5-3, 3-1 in WAC play, after a 28-14 win last week at Tulsa. The Bulldogs have won two straight after their latest loss, a 24-14 setback to SMU, also at the Cotton Bowl Neither Rice nor Fresno State is ranked in the national polls this week Rice was 5-6 in 1998 (5-3 in Western Athletic Conference Mountain Division play), while Fresno State was 5-6 overall and 5-3 in the WAC Pacific Saturday's game will be the first meeting ever between the Owls and Bulldogs Saturday's game will be Rice's seventh road game of the year. The Owls will end the regular season on Nov. 13 against UT-El Paso in Rice Stadium (2 pm CST). Fresno State has two games left, at Hawaii on Nov. 13 and vs. San Jose State on Nov. 20.
Rice Coach Ken Hatfield
Hatfield (Arkansas, 1965), the ninth-winningest active coach in the country, is in his sixth year at Rice and his 21st as a college head coach. Hatfield is 144-94-4 overall for a 60.3 winning percentage. He is also 31-32-1 at Rice (13-22-1 on the road)... The Air Force coach during the 1979-83 seasons, Hatfield was the Falcons' head coach when the Academy joined the WAC in 1980. He is one of only three men to be a head coach at two different WAC schools. Tommy Hudspeth (BYU and UTEP) and Dennis Franchione (New Mexico and Texas Christian) are the others. Hatfield was the first man to win WAC coach-of-the-year honors at two schools: he first won the honor in 1982 while at Air Force, then repeated as the Houston Chronicle selection in 1996 as the Rice head man... Hatfield was one of only five men to coach at least two SWC teams, joining D.X. Bible (A&M and Texas), Matty Bell (TCU, A&M and SMU), Francis Schmidt (Arkansas and TCU) and David McWilliams (Tech and Texas)... Hatfield celebrated a triumphant return to the Southwest Conference in 1994 by leading the Owls to a share of the conference championship. He was one of only three SWC coaches to win titles at two schools. Hatfield had previously led Arkansas to the 1988-89 championships... Saturday's game will be Hatfield's first ever against Fresno State Hatfield is now 32-25 all-time in WAC games, 20-9 as the Rice coach. His winning percentage of .581 (25-18) in all conference games is the best in Rice history.
More About Rice/Fresno State
You might as well start a rivalry with a game that really means something. The Owls can clinch at least a tie for the WAC championship with a win Saturday in Fresno. The Bulldogs can put themselves in a virtual tie with the Owls with a win Fresno State is 4-0 at Bulldog Stadium this year There were no Texans on Fresno State's preseason roster, and no Californians on the current Rice roster Rice is 1-1 against Bulldogs with a win over the Georgia variety in 1936 and a loss to the Mississippi State version in 1975 Next year's Rice-Fresno State game at Rice Stadium is scheduled for Oct. 7, 2000.
On The Road
Prior to the loss at SMU, Rice had won back-to-back road games for the first time since a five-game road winning streak during the 1996-97 seasons Rice broke a four-game road losing streak with its win at Tulsa. The Owls are 2-4 away from Rice Stadium this season after going 1-5 on the road in '98 Rice has seven road games this season, equaling the 1991 season for the most in Rice history The Owls played their first three games of the season on the road for the first time since 1981 Rice's 14-12 win at TCU on Nov. 7, 1998, broke a six-game road losing streak for the Owls. The previous win had been the 35-23 win over '97 Mountain Division champion New Mexico Five of Rice's seven road games this season will be played on grass. Hawaii's Aloha Stadium and Tulsa's Skelly Stadium both have artificial surfaces, but Bulldog Stadium in Fresno, the site of the final road game, has a natural surface... Rice is 13-22-1 in road games under Ken Hatfield, 7-7 in WAC play.
At the Stadium
Rice's win over Texas Christian on Oct. 23 was the Owls' ninth straight WAC win at Rice Stadium... Rice is now 13-1 all-time in WAC games in the Stadium... Rice has won six straight home games. Rice's final game of the '99 season in the Stadium will be against UT-El Paso on Nov. 13 The Owls are 18-10 in the Stadium under Ken Hatfield... Rice was 4-1 in the Stadium in both 1997 and 98 The 44,216 that saw the Owls' win over Navy on Sept. 25 was the largest in the Stadium since 53,811 saw the Rice/Texas game in 1997.
Players of the Week
Jason Hebert has been the Western Athletic Conference defensive player of the week three times this season. The first was following his outstanding effort at Michigan in which he was credited with 19 tackles (seven primary), along with two punts returns for 18 yards. Hebert also won WAC honors after two interception games against Tulsa and Hawaii Travis Ortega was honored by the Houston Chronicle for his 13-tackle, one-blocked field goal performance at Texas... Derek Crabtree was the WAC special teams honoree after his two field goals and two conversions in the win over Navy, and he repeated after his seven PAT day against San Jose State Dan Dawson earned the Chronicle's defensive honor for his play in the win over Tulsa, while Hebert on defense and punter Travis Hale on special teams won the WAC league honors for the same game... Chad Richardson was last week's WAC offensive player of the week, as selected by both the league office and the Chronicle. Richardson rushed for 163 yards and one touchdown, and threw for two more in the win over TCU.
Record Watch
Individual: Chad Richardson is in sixth place in career rushing with 1,848 yards on 456 carries for his career Scott Grimes' 52-yard field goal at Houston equaled the sixth-longest in Rice history and was the longest since James Hamrick had a 57-yarder at Texas Tech in 1985 Derek Crabtree tied the Rice single-game record with his seven PATs against San Jose State. Johnny Bagwell set the mark against Iowa State in 1993. His 23 PATs this season rank seventh all-time at Rice.
Team: Houston's 43 total plays were only one off the Rice defensive record (42 by Southwestern in 1946) The San Jose State game was the first in Rice history in which the Owls did not attempt at least one punt.
Rice Notes
Only three members of Rice's 1999 recruiting class have seen action this season: defensive end Brandon Green, noseguard Lance Redmon, and punter Travis Hale. In addition, walk-on linebacker Ryan Devlin, another true freshman, has played on Rice special teams. Twenty members of the '98 recruiting class were redshirted last season In the final year of the decade, the Owls are 52-55-1 over the past nine-plus years. That's the second-best decade total ever for the Owls. Rice's most successful decade ever was the 1940s (63-37-4) Rice played before three consecutive sellouts on the road early this season, topped by the 110,501 that saw the Michigan game. The 82,084 that watched the Texas game was the eighth-largest crowd ever at DKR/Texas Memorial Stadium With the end of the quadrant scheduling system after the 1998 season, Rice ended with an 8-1 record against the other three members of Quadrant One (SMU, Tulsa and TCU). The only game the Owls ever lost to a member of their own quad was at SMU in 1997... Conversely, the Owls never won a crossover game in the three years of that system in the old new WAC. Air Force was the crossover opponent in 1996-97, and San Jose State filled that role in '98... Rice plays for three trophies each season. The Southwestern Bell Bayou Bucket, contested between the Owls and the University of Houston, was retained by UH on Sept. 4, while the Owls retained the Williams Trophy with its win at Tulsa. SMU took home the Mayors' Cup last week in the Cotton Bowl Rice has no changes on its coaching staff for 1999 Defensive coordinator Roger Hinshaw and running backs coach Larry Brinson are each coaching for their 17th consecutive seasons under Ken Hatfield Four members of the Rice staff are former players under Hatfield. Offensive line coach Scott Wachenheim played under Hatfield at Air Force, defensive line coach Theo Young played at Arkansas, and receivers coach Jeff Sowells is a former Owl. In addition, Brinson was a Florida star during Hatfield's tenure as an assistant in Gainesville... Rice's uniforms are generally unchanged in 1999, but the combinations are ever-changing. The Owls wear blue jerseys with blue pants at home. On the road, the Owls usually wear white jerseys with blue pants, although they were in all white at SMU last weekend Upcoming Rice Birthday: defensive end Donell Victorian (23) on Nov. 8.
About The Rice Offense
1999 Averages/RankingsThe Spread Option
Avg. WAC NCAARushing Offense 270.4 1 3Passing Offense 45.3 8 114Total Offense 315.8 6 88Scoring Offense 21.1 6 89
Rice's offense is termed the spread option, with elements of the wishbone, veer, single-back and even a little bit of the West Coast. The basic formation is a broken bone, but the Owls will run the option from just about any set... There has been one minor change in the offense in 1999: Rice now has a left halfback and a right halfback in the wishbone formation. In the past, the Owls employed a featured back who flipped to either side of the field Rice started six seniors, two juniors, and three sophomores on offense at SMU... The Owls' starting interior line averages 6-3 and 278 pounds per man... Offensive guard Neal Gray is the most experienced starter on the Rice offensive line with 39 career starts, while tackle Rod Beavan has started 33 games during his career Rice has been plagued with poor field position in all four of its losses. At Houston, the Owls' average field position was their own 19-yard line, and it improved only marginally to the Rice 23 in the Michigan game. When Rashard Pittman recovered a Texas fumble at the UT 31 in the fourth quarter, it marked the first time this year that the Owls had started a drive on their opponent's end of the field. At SMU, the best starting field position was the Rice 39, and the Owls started two drives at their own three... Against Navy, the average field position was the Rice 35 with three drives starting in the Mids' end of the field Rice has won the time of possession statistic in eight of its first nine games, controlling the ball 34:29 vs. TCU, 35:47 vs. San Jose State, 38:41 at Hawaii and 37:00 against Navy. The season average is 34:12 Until Chad Richardson's third-quarter touchdown at Texas, the Owls had gone 13 quarters without a six-pointer, a drought which dated to Jamie Tyler's first-quarter touchdown at Air Force in the 1998 season finale Rice's 18-play drive for its first TD against San Jose State took 9:45, the most ET of any possession during Ken Hatfield's Rice tenure. The 18 plays was also a season high Rice's 49 points against the Spartans were the most Rice has scored since its 51-10 win over Utah in 1996 at the Stadium. The Owls' 42 points against TCU were the most Rice has ever scored against the Frogs The Rice offense was kept off the scoreboard for the first time this year at SMU. The last time the Owls had not scored offensively was in the 49-0 shutout loss at BYU in 1996.
At Quarterback
Senior Chad Richardson, the starter in the Owls' last nine games in 1998 and all nine games this year, is the leader of the spread option. He leads the Owls in rushing this year with 655 yards on 166 carries. During the five-game winning streak, Richardson averaged 103.8 yards per game on the ground. Richardson also led the Owls in rushing a year ago with 746 yards on 181 carries With senior Jeremy Bates and sophomore Corey Evans behind him to start the season, Richardson headed one of the more experienced quarterback corps ever at Rice. That's not the case now. Both Bates and Evans are out for the year with injuries: Bates with a stress fracture in his right foot, and Evans with a knee sprain suffered in the Navy game. Richardson has played every offensive snap in the Owls' games vs. Navy, Hawaii and SMU. Backup Ben Wulf saw a large amount of second-half action against SJSU and some fourth-quarter duty against TCU. Wulf, a former running back, and true freshman Jeremy Hurd are listed as the backups to Richardson Richardson has been responsible for 15 of the Owls' 23 offensive touchdowns this season, rushing for eight and throwing for seven, three to fellow senior Raphael Tillman. With 163 yards on 28 carries, Richardson had the sixth 100-yard rushing game of his career vs. TCU... Richardson's 60-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second half at Hawaii equaled his career long, against Colorado State in '98 Bates started the first two games of the '98 season before a knee injury at Purdue ended his year. Not only did he battle back through a major rehabilitation, Bates was ready to contribute as the Owls' number-two deep snapper and on punt returns before his injury Evans had his best game as an Owl at Michigan, leading the Owls' only scoring drive in the final moments. He gained a career-best 72 yards on 10 carries against the Wolverines. He rushed for 125 yards on 26 carries before his injury.
Here Comes The Infantry
Rice enjoyed one of its best rushing games ever in the win over San Jose State. The Owls gained 413 rushing yards on 81 attempts against the Spartans. The attempts are a Rice record. It was the ninth time the Owls had gained at least 400 yards in a game under Ken Hatfield Rice gained 350 yards on 62 attempts in the win over TCU, the 24th time the Owls gone over the 300-yard mark under Hatfield and the 27th time they've tried at least 60 rushing plays Mike Gingrich and Derek Gary have added their names to the long list of Rice's 100-yard rushers under Hatfield. Gingrich gained 112 yards on 11 carries against Tulsa, including a career-long 27-yard run in the first half. Gary had his big day against San Jose State: 101 yards on 16 carries and one touchdown. Gingrich was the 12th Owl and Gary the 13th with 100-yard games under Hatfield Richardson's 163-yard day against TCU marked the 43rd time that a back has rushed for at least 100 yards in a game during the past six seasons Pick your poison: six different Owls have led the team in rushing during the first nine games of the year. Quarterback Chad Richardson has done it four times, topped by his 168-yard night at Hawaii Leroy Bradley had the top rushing day of his career against Houston with 92 yards on 11 carries. His 39-yard run in the second quarter was the longest of his career Rice has been among the national leaders in rushing offense in each of the last three seasons, ranking fifth last year. The Owls averaged 336.2 yards on the ground during their winning streak. The current rushing average, 270.4 yards per game, ranks third nationally this week Rice's 3,660-infantry yards in 1997 broke the school record of 3,359 in 1996, followed by 2,829 yards in 1998 Six current Owls have rushed for at least 100-yards in a game. Richardson has done it six times (three this season), and Raphael Tillman (109 vs. Baylor in 1995), Anthony Griffin (183 at San Jose State in 1998), Jamie Tyler (166 at TCU in '98), Gingrich at Tulsa and Gary vs. San Jose State, have done it once Griffin had his top game of the season vs. San Jose. He gained 77 yards on just eight carries, including touchdown runs of 43- and 13-yards. He also combined with Richardson on a 31-yard touchdown pass.
Air Corps
Rice has already surpassed its 1998 season total for touchdown passes with the seven Chad Richardson has thrown this year, three to Raphael Tillman. Richardson has completed only 22 passes this season, but seven have been for TDs to five different receivers. In addition to Tillman, Richardson has connected for scores with Jamie Tyler, Anthony Griffin, Leroy Bradley and Mike Gingrich Those three TD catches by Tillman are the most by an Owl since Ed Howard had six in 1994, and it was the first time an Owl had caught TD passes in three straight games since Byron Coston in 1993 The numbers weren't great, but Rice had a successful complementary passing game during its winning streak. Richardson completed 15 of his 32 attempts for 242 yards and six touchdowns during those five games. The 74 air yards against TCU stand as the season high Tillman had at least one reception in the first five Rice games this year, but he was shut out against Hawaii Rice has completed only 24 passes this season, but they have gone to eight different receivers Sophomore transfer Evan Meeks had the first two receptions of his Rice career against Navy, but he is out for the season after suffering a broken leg at Tulsa With three catches for 45 yards, Gilbert Okoronkwo had the first multiple reception game of his career at SMU.
About The Rice Defense
1999 Averages/Rankings
Avg. WAC NCAARushing Defense 109.9 1 23Pass Eff. Rating 114.1 2 42Total Defense 308.6 2 23Scoring Defense 20.4 1 26Turnover Margin -0.11 5 T68
The Team Game
Rice's basic defensive alignment is the 4-3... The Owls started two seniors (defensive tackle Judd Smith and linebacker Wesley Kubesch), five juniors, and four sophomores on defense at SMU. In fact, the Owls have started the same 11 players on defense in their last eight games Rice's starting interior line averages 6-2 and 253 pounds per man... Rice currently ranks second to TCU in the Western Athletic Conference in total defense, allowing 308.6 yards per game. The Owls are first in the WAC in rushing defense and scoring defense Navy's 26 passing yards is the fewest allowed by the Owls since TCU gained only 22 yards through the air against the Owls in 1987... San Jose State had only 23 net rushing yards against the Owls, the fewest this season and the fewest since Tulane had only 13 in 1993. Rice had allowed a total of 81 rushing yards (34 by Tulsa, 24 by Hawaii and 23 by SJSU) in a three-game streak earlier this season SJSU's 164 total yards were the fewest allowed by the Owls since Lamar gained only 121 in Rice's 28-14 win in 1986... Texas' 18 points were the fewest the Longhorns had scored against the Owls since Rice's 19-17 win in 1994 Texas' only touchdown was through the air, marking the first time since the Owls' win at New Mexico in 1997 that an opponent had not scored a rushing touchdown against the Owls Until Hawaii scored with 2:44 left in the game, Rice had not allowed a second-half touchdown since the Michigan game Sophomore free safety Jason Hebert was everywhere at Michigan. His 19 tackles (seven primary) were the most by an Owl defender since Larry Izzo was credited with 20 at Army in 1995 Sophomore bandit Dan Dawson picked up where he left off in '98 as the leader of the Rice defense. Dawson led the Owls with 15 tackles at Houston and he added 10 more stops at Michigan. Dawson currently owns the Rice team lead with 67 tackles through nine games, but he is out for the rest of the season after breaking his right leg late in the SMU game Hebert with 64 and Joe Bob Thompson with 61 are next on the Owls' tackle chart. Twelve Owls currently have at least 22 tackles this season With his 30-yard interception for a touchdown against TCU, Dawson now has career TD returns with an interception and a fumble. He tied the NCAA record with a 100-yard fumble return last year against UNLV Kubesch had his career-best with 12 tackles at Michigan, while Thompson topped his Rice years with 11 at Texas Junior Josh McMillan had a career-best four pass deflections at Texas and leads the Owls with nine Kubesch, sophomore noseguard B.J. Forguson and senior bandit Larry Ruffin share the Owls' sack lead this year with two each. The Owls had three as a team against Tulsa for a season-high.
Giveaway, Takeaway
Rice had turned around its turnover margin problem in the six games prior to SMU. The Owls gave up only six fumbles in the Texas, Navy, Tulsa, Hawaii, SJSU and TCU games, while the Owl defense has came up with six fumble recoveries and nine interceptions Joe Bob Thompson got Rice's first pick of the season, stopping Navy's final drive with his first career interception Jason Hebert had his first two career interceptions in the fourth quarter at Tulsa, the first Owl with two picks in a game since LaDouphyous McCalla did it against New Mexico in 1997. Hebert followed that with another two interceptions against San Jose State for 66 return yards. His 46-yard return was the Owls' longest since Jason Winship had a 60-yard TD return against Utah in 1996 Greg Gatlin and Antwan Shell both had their first career interceptions at Hawaii The Owls' six turnovers at Houston was uncharacteristic of their offense the past two seasons. The five lost fumbles and one interception were the most Rice has suffered in a game since they had six (five interceptions, one fumble) against Air Force in the 1997 season opener. Rice cut the TOs in half at Michigan (one lost fumble, two interceptions). Rice lost only 14 total turnovers in 1998 (two interceptions and 12 fumbles), equaling the 1996 total as the fewest ever at Rice. Those two interceptions last year stand alone as the Rice record.
About The Rice Special Teams
1999 Averages/Rankings
Avg. WAC NCAANet Punting 32.5 7 99Punt Returns 6.2 7 102Kickoff Returns 21.0 3 47
Kick Away
It is the age of specialization for Rice in 1999. Senior Scott Grimes started the 1998 season handling all the kicking duties, but he is this year's kickoff/long field goal specialist. Sophomore Derek Crabtree handles PATs and the shorter field goals, freshman Travis Hale is the punter, and senior Victor Young is the holder Grimes' 52-yard field goal against the Cougars is the first 50-plus FG by an Owl since Mike Ruff had a 52-yarder at Texas Tech in 1995. He has missed a pair of long field goal attempts (49 and 45 yards) in the Owls last two games Crabtree has been the primary placement specialist over the last 15 games and he has been perfect. He is 41/41 on his PAT attempts and 11/11 in field goals. His 41-yard kick in the third quarter against Navy equaled the longest of his career, a 41-yarder at Air Force. Rice's only points at Michigan came on his 33-yard field goal. Crabtree equaled the Rice record for PATs in a game with his seven against SJSU Grimes also was perfect on his 10 conversions last year and has made 45 for his career, sixth-most ever at Rice Hale's 47.4-yard average on his four punts at Tulsa represented the best average by an Owl since Tucker Phillips averaged 47.4 on three punts at TCU in 1996. Through nine games, Hale is averaging 41.3 on 43 punts, ranking fourth in the WAC and 47th nationally. His longest has been a 64-yard boomer against the wind at Tulsa, a clutch kick which helped preserve the Rice win. The Owls didn't need him against San Jose: that was the first game in school history that the Owls didn't attempt a punt... Another new face on Rice's special teams this year is deep snapper Ryan Pontbriand, a redshirt freshman.
Many Happy Returns
Rice has new faces returning kickoffs and punts for the first time in a long while in 1999. LaDouphyous McCalla and Michael Perry ended their careers among Rice's career leaders in punt and kickoff returns Sean White had been the Owls' primary KOR specialist, averaging 19.7 on 11 runbacks, but he missed the SJSU and TCU games with a sprained shoulder. He should return for Fresno State... Adrian Sadler has handled the duties in the last three games and had a 39-yard KOR at SMU, the longest by an Owl since Michael Perry had a 45-yard return last year at Texas. Sadler is averaging 23.4 yards on nine returns White also handled punt returns at Hawaii, bringing two back for 14 yards. His 18-yard return against the Bows is Rice's longest this year Jason Hebert has returned 16 punts for a 6.0 average this year, his long return for 12 yards at Michigan.
