Rice Falls to Navy

Saturday, October 10

Rice Stadium

2:30 PM

Rice University

0-6 , 0-2

Navy

4-2

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Navy	14	21	14	14	63
Rice	0	7	0	7	14

Patrick Randolph caught a pair of touchdown passes for the Owls

10/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

Oct. 10, 2009

Final Stats | Notes l Quotes

By MOISEKAPENDA BOWER

In the aftermath of a bitter defeat late Saturday afternoon, Rice coach David Bailiff looked both worn and relieved that his day was complete.

The Owls prepared dutifully and diligently for Navy and its unique option attack, but they mustered scant resistance in a 63-14 loss at Historic Rice Stadium that stretched their winless streak to six games.

The Midshipmen (4-2) posted 471 rushing yards, the 10th-best single-game total in the program's 129-year history while squaring the series with Rice (0-6, 0-2 Conference USA) at six games apiece. Navy scored touchdowns to cap its first five drives, was content to let the clock erode at the end of the first half, then added two more touchdowns before punting for the first time deep into the third quarter. Navy produced a clinic worthy of admiration had it not come at the Owls' expense.

"It's not lack of effort," Bailiff said. "At times when something goes bad then we start pressing really hard to make things work, and the harder you press the worse it gets. We've got to get to where we're not pressing and we're confident in what we do."

Things turned sour for the Owls almost immediately. Shane Turner returned the opening kickoff 52 yards to give Rice possession at the Navy 44, but the Owls managed just 15 yards before Clark Fangmeier had his 46-yard field goal attempt blocked by Navy rover Wyatt Middleton. On their first play from scrimmage, the Middies gashed the Owls for 51 yards on a Ricky Dobbs-to-Marcus Curry pass play to the Rice 2. Dobbs followed with a scoring run on the next snap and Navy ignited an offensive onslaught that the Owls struggled to fend off.

With Dobbs adroitly in control, Navy added scoring drives of 50, 65, 24 and 65 yards in securing a 35-0 lead with 2:44 left in the opening half. The Middies converted a fourth down at the Rice 43 to keep the chains moving on their second drive, and faced just one third down on their third possession. Trailing 21-0 early in the second quarter, Bailiff rolled the dice and attempted to convert a fourth-and-one from the Rice 35. However, a high snap resulted in an 11-yard loss and returned possession to Navy at the Rice 24. Four plays later Navy fullback Vince Murray recorded his first career touchdown as the deficit swelled to 28.

Dobbs finished with 104 rushing yards and four touchdowns, his third career four-touchdown game. Dobbs is the first player in Navy history to accomplish that feat, and he leads the nation with 14 total touchdowns.

Navy opened the game eighth nationally in rushing offense at 230.2 yards per game, and when it became clear early on that the Owls were having difficulty slowing their attack, the Middies kept grinding away. Slot back Marcus Curry added 85 rushing yards while Dobbs' backup, Kriss Proctor, recorded 82 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries.

"They might have put a few wrinkles in that we weren't ready for," said Owls senior free safety Andrew Sendejo, who notched a workmanlike 17 tackles. "The option is a whole different beast and we tried our best to get ready for it. It just didn't turn out the way that we wanted it to."

The Owls welcomed back starting quarterback Nick Fanuzzi, but his presence couldn't revive their injury-riddled offense. After failing to score on their opening drive, the Owls did not record a first down until their fifth possession, and that penetration into Navy territory ended when Kevin Edwards picked off a Fanuzzi pass intended for Toren Dixon. Fanuzzi did engineer a seven-play, 74-yard scoring drive late in the first half, one that ended with his 12-yard touchdown pass to Patrick Randolph, but that tally was too little and too late as Rice trailed 35-7.

Fanuzzi added another scoring strike to Randolph in the fourth quarter, this one a seven-yard pass with 9:50 left, but he also tossed a second interception. He finished 20-of-33 for 242 yards, but the Owls' scuffling rushing attack (16 attempts for 21 yards) and option-weary defense didn't allow Fanuzzi to celebrate the end of his two-week playing hiatus.

"I was confident with what I could do with my arm. I'm not putting how I played based on my shoulder hurting," Fanuzzi said. "That's not the case. We just had missed opportunities, and we've got to fix them.

"Preparing I felt like we were ready to go out and play Navy this week, but I give them all the credit. They played a great game offensively and defensively."