Rice University
1-3
Baylor
3-1
Baylor Wins FIfth Straight Over Rice
9/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 26, 2010
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery 
HOUSTON - Rice Stadium celebrated its 60th birthday on Saturday night, but second quarter thunderstorm and the passing of Baylor's Robert Griffin put a damper on the evening's festivities, throwing for 268 yards and three touchdowns as the Bears ground out a 30-13 win over Rice.
Nick Fanuzzi hit on 27 of 38 passes for 204 yards, but a pair of interceptions proved costly to the Owls attack. Sam McGuffie rushed for a season-high 64 yards and added seven catches for 33 yards to lead the Owls. His 11-yard scamper in the fourth quarter was his first rushing touchdown for Rice and extended the Owls streak of games with a touchdown to 68 consecutive games.
"I thought the football team played extremely hard," Rice head coach David Bailiff said. "We got a lot of people playing extremely hard in all phases of the game. We're just not getting the win."
For the third time in four games, the Owls put points on the board on their first possession, driving 55 yards in 14 plays and using up the first 6:34 of the game before stalling at the Baylor 25. Chris Boswell drilled home a 42-yarder. Griffin struck right back for Baylor, completing an 11-play, 83 yard march with a six-yard TD pass to Jerod Monk.
"At the start that game, we got a rhythm offensively," Bailiff said. "We get a fourteen play drive, but we get in the red zone and come away with a field goal again. We have got to get touchdowns when we are getting those field goals. We don't have that margin of error when we get down there to continue to kick field goals. We need to come out of there with touchdowns," he stated.
Early in the second quarter with the score still 7-3, the teams were sent to the locker rooms as a thunderstorm rolled in from the west, and soon the crowd of 23,395 was scurrying for cover as a downpour pelted the stadium. "We went over everything (during the delay) to try and start fast and pick up where we left off," Bailiff stated. "The defense got a three and out, and we're thinking ok here we go. It's going to be alright, and we immediately throw an interception on a screen. We can't have those kinds of mistakes," he added.
After a delay of just over one hour, Griffin set to work, leading the Bears to three scores to extend the lead to 20-3 at halftime.
"We didn't come out with the same intensity that we had the first time," defensive end Cheta Ozougwu said. "There's a lot of `what ifs' we could say about ourselves on a lot of plays. We have to dominate each play the entire game and we have to focus on each play."
Three consecutive possessions to open the third quarter ended in turnovers, with Chris Jammer responsible for both miscues by the Bears. He forced a fumble by Kendall Wright on Baylor's opening possession of the half. Fanuzzi was intercepted on the first play of the Rice series, but Jammer returned the favor, picking off a Griffin toss on a quick snap to set the Owls up at the Baylor 44. McGuffie moved the chains 18-yards on two plays to move into field goal range and Boswell connected from 43 yards to close the gap to 20-6.
Griffin answered that score with a 46-yard touchdown pass to Josh Gordon to extend the Baylor lead to 27-6.
After Baylor missed on a chip shot field goal, Fanuzzi led the Owls on a 10-play, 80-yard march to McGuffie's touchdown. Fanuzzi hit on all six of his passes, including a 13-yard completion to Patrick Randolph on fourth down. His 20-yard strike to Randolph placed the ball at the Baylor 11, and McGuffie then scampered the remaining distance for the touchdown.
"Sam has got to figure in our offense more and more each week," Bailiff noted. "As he learns more, we are going to continue to use Sam more and try to get him in space. I thought tonight that was one of the things we did well tonight."
The Owls open their Conference USA schedule next week when they host the SMU Mustangs. Despite their 1-3 start to the season, Bailiff sees his Owls and tantalizingly close to turning the corner. But to do so, they will first have to eliminate the kinds of mistakes that have bedeviled the team while playing a pair of Big XII teams and one from the Big Ten.
"It's Rice can't beat Rice," he stated. "You can't have that. It starts with me and it has to filter down. It's unacceptable. Guys are getting penalties and they shouldn't be getting them. We have to eliminate those mistakes that are costing us points and costing us yardage."
Team Stats
BU 0, RICE 3
RICE - BOSWELL, Chris 42 yd field goal 14 plays, 55 yards, TOP 6:34
BU 7, RICE 3
BU - Monk, Jerod 6 yd pass from Griffin III, R. (Jones, Aaron kick) 11 plays, 83 yards, TOP 5:22
BU 14, RICE 3
BU - Wright, Kendall 40 yd pass from Griffin III, R. (Jones, Aaron kick) 4 plays, 47 yards, TOP 1:47
BU 17, RICE 3
BU - Jones, Aaron 33 yd field goal 4 plays, 0 yards, TOP 1:55
BU 20, RICE 3
BU - Jones, Aaron 20 yd field goal 10 plays, 78 yards, TOP 2:32
BU 20, RICE 6
RICE - BOSWELL, Chris 43 yd field goal 6 plays, 18 yards, TOP 2:13
BU 27, RICE 6
BU - Gordon, Josh 46 yd pass from Griffin III, R. (Jones, Aaron kick) 8 plays, 74 yards, TOP 3:36
BU 27, RICE 13
RICE - McGUFFIE, Sam 11 yd run (BOSWELL, Chris kick), 10 plays, 80 yards, TOP 4:14
BU 30, RICE 13
BU - Jones, Aaron 37 yd field goal 9 plays, 24 yards, TOP 2:58
