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Rice University Athletics
Rice Hits The Road One More Time
11/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
RICE (4-5; 3-2) @ TULSA 7-2, 4-1):
GAME TIME: 2:00 pm (Central)
SKELLY STADIUM, Tulsa, OK
RADIO: SuperTalk 97.5 FM (Matt Musil, Bobby Dixon and Jorge Vargas)
TELEVISION: None
GAME TEN: Todd Graham and the Owls will take a three-game winning streak to Tulsa to take on the defending C-USA champs. Rice will be looking to win four straight games for the first time since the Owls won the last two of 2003 and the first two of 2004. The last time they won four straight in the same season was 1999. The Owls will also be looking to close out the road schedule with a winning record on the road for the first time since they went 4-2 away from Rice Stadium in 1997.
GAME NINE RECAP:Quinton Smith piled up 243 all purpose yards and scored three times to help the Owls spoil UTEP's Homecoming with a 37-31 win. Smith rushed for 171 on a career-high 31 carries and caught four passes for 72 more, an effort that allowed him to become the third Owl this season to earn C-USA Offensive Player of the Week. . The Owls held the ball for a season-high 36:51 while piling up a season-best 471 yards. The Owls defense held UTEP to a seson-low 88 yards on the ground.
LOOKING AT TULSA: The defending C-USA Champs are 7-2 this season and 4-1 in the conference after losing at Houston last Saturday. The game marks the return of Todd Graham and three of his assistants (Danny Phillps, Jess Loepp and Jason Jones) to Tulsa, where last season they were a part of Tulsa run for the title. Tulsa is lead by a defense that is tops in the conference, allowing just 286.3 yards per game. The game will match two of the top scoring units in the league, with the Golden Hurricane third (27.4) and the Owls fourth (27.0).
TURN IT AROUND: The Owls have already improved their 2005 record by three wins, which matches the second-best improvement this year in the NCAA. Ohio, San Jose State and Texas A&M have also improved by three wins so far this year. Arkansas (8-1) has already improved its 2005 win total by four.
 Jarett Dillard  | |
DILLARD ON THE SHORT LIST: Jarett Dillard has been named as one of 14 semifinalists for the 2006 Biletnikoff Award, which goes to the top receiver in the country. The award is presented by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club and the winner will be announced on December 7 during the Home Depot College Football Awards Show on ESPN.
DILLARD KEEPS ROLLING: Biletnikoff semifinalist Jarett Dillard continues to make a strong case as one of the top receivers in the country. In his most recent effort, he caught three passes for 52 yards and a touchdown at UTEP. Each of his three catches resulted in a first down, and his last catch of six yards at the UTEP 19 extended the Owls last drive that ate up the final 7:20 of the game clock. His 63 catches on the season are the most by an Owl since Eric Henley set the Rice single-season record with 81 in 1989. He has caught at least two passes in all 20 games of his college career and has caught TD passes in the last 11 games. The scoring streak is the longest current streak in the nation for both touchdown passes and for overall touchdowns. He has caught three TDs in a game twice this year to tie the Owls' single-game record (it had been done just twice in school history prior to 2006) and his 13 TD catches for the year are a school single-season mark. Dillard has tied the Owls' career record of 18 TD catches in just 20 career games.
CONFERENCE MARK: Dillard's 13 TD catches this season put him within one of breaking the C-USA season record of 14 which is held by three receivers (Adrian Burnette of Tulane, 2000; Brandon Middleton of Houston, 2003; Roddy White of UAB, 2004).
LOOKING AT THE STREAK: Only once during his 11-game TD catch streak has Jarett Dillard gone deep into the fourth quarter before he extended the streak. He scored the Owls only points against Texas and added to the streak when Joel Armstrong found him in the end zone with just 3:15 left on the clock. He has extended the streak four times with a score in the first, two times in the second, three times in the third and twice in the fourth quarter. His 18 career scores break down this way: four in the first quarter, two in the second, five in the third and seven in the fourth.
RANK HIM: Dillard leads the nation with his 13 TD catches and ranks fifth in the country and second in C-USA with 7.0 catches per game. He is 11th in the country and third in the conference with 91.2 yards per game. He is tied for the conference lead with 8.7 points per game.
IN TANDEM In their two seasons together, Chase Clement and Jarett Dillard have already become the most productive passing tandmen in school history. Clement has thrown 14 of Dillard's 18 career TDs. Tommy Kramer and Kenneth Roy connected for 13 TD passes from 1973-76. No game summaries are available from the 1940's but Froggie Williams caught 13 TD passes from 1946-49 and Tobin Rote threw for 18 in the same period.
 Quinton Smith has rushed for over 350 yards the last two weeks. | |
Q ON THE OFFENSIVE: Senior Quinton Smith, a second-team, all-conference selection last year, rebounded from a tough outing against Texas by rushing for 664 yards in the last six games, 354 of them in the last two. With his 171 yards against UTEP, he vaulted to 4th on the Owls career rushing list. and he is just 169 yards away from moving past Robbie Beck into 3rd. He ranks fifth in the conference with 93.1 yards per game and is fourth in the league with 128.3 all-purpose yards. He has scored on pass plays of 80 and 64 yards this year. His 80-yard catch and run against Houston is the longest scoring play of the year in the conference and matched the fourth longest scoring pass in Rice history. Smith is looking to become the first Owl to lead the team in rushing in back-to-back seasons since Chad Richardson in 1998-99.
BACK IN THE ZONE: After being shut out for four games, Quinton Smith has scored six times in the last two games, including five on the ground. He has rushed for eight scores this year, one more than his career total heading into this season.
ALL PURPOSE Q Quinton Smith's 243 all purpose yards against UTEP ranks as the 9th best single-game total in Rice history. He now has 1,155 all purpose yards this year, the most by an Owl since Michael Perry totaled 1,306 in 1998. Perry's total also ranks as the 10th best season mark in school history. Smith has 2,602 all purpose yards in his career, and needs just 146 more to pass Dickie Maegle (2,747) for 10th on the Rice career list.
CHASE IN CHARGE:Chase Clement is averaging 219.3 yards passing and 283.7 yards of total offense. He would rank seventh in the nation (just ahead of Brady Quinn of Notre Dame) and second in the conference in total offense, but has not played in 75% of the Owls games this year and does not qualify for the rankings. In five games since he returned from an injury, he has averaged 304.6 yards of total offense and 232.8 yards passing while accounting for 18 touchdowns (15 passing, three running):He opened the year by throwing for 152 yards and two scores against Houston, and then returned in Week 5 to earn Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week honors by throwing a school-record five TD passes and amassing 299 yards passing and 363 yards of total offense. He came back against Tulane to throw for 271 yards and two scores. He is the first Owl QB to throw for better than 270 yards in consecutive games since Donald Hollas went for 366 against Texas and 286 against TCU in 1989. Clement has thrown for 1316 yards this season the most since Bert Emanuel threw for 1521 in 1993
 Courtney Gordon | |
RAINES GAINES NOTICE: Linebacker Brian Raines was tabbed by College Football News.com as the C-USA Defensive Player of the First Half and he continues to rack up impressive tackle numbers. He has 81 total tackles. He is ninth in the nation with 6.56 solo tackles per game. His 81 tackles on the year are already more than any Rice defender has totaled since Terry Holley led the team with 92 in 2003. He is on a pace to finish with 108 tackles. He was credited with 10 tackles against UCF, his fourth game this year with double figures in tackles. Raines is tied for fourth in the league with nine tackles for loss and four sacks. He is tied for second in the league with three forced fumbles. After back-to-back games in double figures (17 vs. Houston, 12 at UCLA), he has been credited with at least five tackles in every game.
GOOD LOSSES:Courtney Gordon has recorded a tackle for loss in each of the last eight games. He has 11 TFL this season, including five sacks, to lead the team in each category. Five of Gordon's 11 TFL's have come on third down plays to end opponent drives. Gordon now has 11 career sacks and needs two to tie Tim Fitzpatrick for fifth on the Owls career list.
DOWNS ON THE WAY UP: Senior Andray Downs is second on the team with 66 tackles this year and has moved to within 13 stops of cracking into the top 10 on the Owls career tackle chart. Downs, who has made 36 consecutive starts, has 249 career tackles. Joe Heikkinen is currently 10th on the list witih 269 tackles from 1983-86.
NEXT UP: The Owls come home to Rice Stadium for two games to wrap up the 2006 regular season schedule when they host East Carolina for Homecoming. Tickets are on sale now at the Rice Ticket Office as well as on-line
