The Conference USA Cross Country Championships will be held next Monday at the Indian Springs Country Club in Tulsa, OK.

Head Coaches Jim Bevan and Jon Warren take a look at their teams and they go through final preparations.

Ok, we're still working out the mechanics of the wonderful world of flip video, but here's a glimpse of Brighthouse Stadium as the Owls made a quick stop on Friday.  Their normal walkthrough was cancelled after their flight from Houston was delayed by more than an hour.  

The Rice Owls football team (2-5) will make its longest road trip of the regular season this weekend when they travel to Orlando to face UCF on Saturday and the Owls can only hope that their second visit to the home of the Magic Kingdom can be as inspiring as their first.

In 2006, the Owls were only weeks removed from the shock of losing a teammate (Dale Lloyd) that turned to inspiration the same week as Rice drubbed Army 48-14,  The following week, the inevitable letdown that followed caused the Owls to drop an uninspired effort at Tulane, 38-24.

They righted the ship somewhat the next week, scoring a late touchdown on an improbable series of events to defeat UAB 34-33, but the 2-5 Owls headed to UCF unaware that a paradigm shift for Rice football had only just begun.

The lengthy trip was nothing new for Rice, which had already played road games in California (UCLA), New York (Army) and Florida (Florida State) and still had another long trip ahead that did not require leaving the state of Texas (UTEP).

If the Owls were the least bit road weary on this latest road swing, the trip to the Citrus Bowl on game day surely should have shaken them out of their doldrums.

As the first bus pulled out from the team hotel under the perceived safety of their police escort, a small pickup sped past the officer standing in the road and slammed into the bus carrying the offensive team.  Sitting in the second bus, I heard the unmistakable sound of a collision and looked up to see the pickup bouncing back from the impact and rotating around, so that when it came to rest, it was facing a different direction.

"The impact was much greater than any damage you could see on the bus," Rice running back Quinton Smith recalled. "It was loud and there was no question what had happened," he added.

The truck fared far worse, with steam pouring from the crumpled grill and the driver stunned but not fully aware of how lucky he might have been to have struck the bus directly on the back wheels.   Despite the apparent lack of damage to the first bus, the team was transferred to the third bus, leaving team officials and guests to wait for a replacement bus to arrive, while the team pressed on towards the Citrus Bowl.

But, as if the bus ride needed any additional flourishes, several tourists in panic mode made some rather aggressive, multi-lane left turns to prevent their missing the entrance to some theme park, causing the bus drivers to slam on the brakes.

Needless to say, the aging accommodations of the Citrus Bowl never looked so good when we were able to disembark upon arrival.

The game began with a surprise, as the Owls successfully converted an onside kick to set up a field goal.  After a second field goal, they held a 6-0 lead before the Knights, featuring future NFL players Mike Simms-Walker and Kevin Smith on offense came back to tie it 6-6 on a pair of three-pointers.  The teams then traded touchdowns and went to the locker room tied at 13.

Rice head coach Todd Graham was in no mood to give the Owls the impression that a tie with the home team was close to satisfactory.  

In particular, he focused his attention on an evaluation of Smith's first half performance. He had opened strongly in the first quarter, rushing for 55 yards on six carries, but added only four yards on four carries in the second.

"He came in and did his thing at halftime, and there were a few individuals who he paid special attention to...and yes, I was one of the main ones," Smith laughed. "I remember how hot and humid it was when we got there, but he didn't want to hear anything about being tired.  He made it clear that he felt I was not running very hard. It lit a fire under all of us, and that showed in the second half," Smith recalled.

Well, not exactly right out of the gate.

On the Owls first possession, Smith was dropped for a one-yard loss on first down and the Owls had to punt.  UCF then re-took the lead with a field goal, but their lead would be short-lived.

On the Owls' third play of the following series, faced with a third and two, Smith took the ball and blasted through the UCF defense for a 69-yard touchdown to give Rice a lead it would never surrender.   He would add two more scores in the fourth quarter, pushing the Owls lead to 40-22, rushing for 125 yards on 11 carries in the second half to finish the day with a career-best 183 yards.

For the Owls, the march towards their first bowl bid in 45 years was now truly in motion. Far more tranquil trips to UTEP and Tulsa extended the win streak to four, and home wins over ECU and SMU turned the dream into a reality.

And it all began in earnest with a wild ride in the Magic Kingdom.

You can view or download the program for the Rice-Houston game.

Click here for a smaller file version (PDF file)

Click here for the full file version (PDF file)

With the latest edition of the Bayou Bucket set for this Saturday at Rice Stadium, the R Blog will spend this week looking back at some of the Owls' memorable moments in the series with the Cougars since it began in 1971. 

In our ninth installment, we take a look at the a memorable defensive effort by the John Syptak (above) and the Owls

September 5, 2004

Rice 10, Houston 7

Reliant Stadium

One year after Houston's high-octane offensive attack had riddled the Owls for 48 points, Rice's defense put together their finest performance in the history of the rivalry, holding Houston off the board until the game's final nine seconds to take the Bayou Bucket for the third time in five years.  

It was also Ken Hatfield's fourth and final victory in the cross-town rivalry game and Rice's third in the last five as the home team, since the Owls had agreed to move the game from Rice Stadium to Houston's sparkling new football venue, Reliant Stadium.

The Astrodome, where the Owls had staged some memorable moments in their 11 matchups with Houston under its fabled roof, sat in the shadows of Reliant Stadium.  But no Rice defense in the 30-year history of the game had dominated a game in the series as the '04 Owls defenders would do under Reliant's retractable roof.

Defensive end John Syptak had eight tackles and a pair of sacks to lead the shackling of Houston's offensive efforts, which saw the Cougars held to just 212 yards on the day, 99 of which came on a last minute drive, which was capped by a 33-yard TD pass from Kevin Kolb to Vincent Marshall.

Ed Bailey gave the Owls a lead they would never surrender with a two-yard run midway through the second quarter and Brennan Landry added the eventual deciding points with a 28-yard field goal late in the third quarter.

It was then up to the Owls defense to make that lead stand up, and thanks to the efforts of Syptak and company, it did.  

With the latest edition of the Bayou Bucket set for this Saturday at Rice Stadium, the R Blog will spend this week looking back at some of the Owls' memorable moments in the series with the Cougars since it began in 1971. 

In our eighth installment, we take a look at the Owls first victory at Robertson Stadium

September 1, 2001

Rice 21, Houston 14

Robertson Stadium

Kyle Herm ran for 119 yards in his first start for the Owls, while the Rice defense held Houston to just seven yards rushing to hang on the Bayou Bucket with a 21-14 win at Robertson Stadium. The Owls never trailed in the game, but the outcome was still in doubt before the Owls defense made one last stand to pick up their second consecutive Bucket win over the Cougars.

On a soggy night on Houston's campus, the teams battled to a scoreless tie for over 27 minutes before the Owls jumped on top on a 13 yard pass from Greg Henderson to Gavin Boothe.   They doubled that advantage to 14-0 late in the third when Clint Hatfield scored on a 25-yard run.

Houston's offense came to life on the following series to cut the margin to 14-7, but Robbie Beck pushed the margin back to two touchdowns with a two-yard run midway through the fourth quarter.

The Cougars cut it to a single touchdown with a score with less than four minutes remaining, but the veteran-heavy Owls, who sported 25 seniors on their roster, we equal to the challenge to close out the Cougars final threat of the night.

With the latest edition of the Bayou Bucket set for this Saturday at Rice Stadium, the R Blog will spend this week looking back at some of the Owls' memorable moments in the series with the Cougars since it began in 1971. 

In our seventh installment, we take a look at a game that proved to be a memorable way for the Owls to mark the 50^th anniversary of the opening of Rice Stadium.

September 2, 2000

Rice 30, Houston 27 (OT)

Rice Stadium

A crowd of better than 40,000 was on hand to celebrate Rice Stadium's 50^th birthday, and Rice and Houston combined to give them a game worthy of such a milestone event as Rice pulled out a 30-27 win in overtime.

The two teams were so evenly matched that they were tied at halftime, but Houston took the lead late in the third quarter on a pass from Jason McKinley to Brian Robinson.  The lead appeared destined to hold up until fate dealt the Owls a series of face cards on special teams.

First, the Cougars fumbled a punt at midfield with just over six minutes left, and the Owls drove down field to tie the score on a 1-yard run by Robbie Beck with 2:42 left in the game and 52 seconds later, they would take the lead.

After a Brandon Green sack pinned them deep, the Cougars were forced to punt and Jeff Vanover broke through to block the kick and then fall on the ball in the end zone to give the Owls an improbable 24-17 lead with just 1:50 left.  

However, the heroics were hardly over at this point.

The Cougars righted themselves and after a long kickoff return set them up at midfield, they needed only six plays to tie the game up with 39 seconds remaining to force overtime.

In the extra session, Rice forced Houston to kick a field goal and then moved to the Cougar eight.  On third down, Houston was flagged for pass interference in the end zone, setting up Rice with a first and goal at the one. 

But Houston refused to yield that final yard without a fight, taking the series all the way to a fourth down before Beck blasted over to give the Owls a walkoff win and allow them to re-take possession of the Bayou Bucket.

With the latest edition of the Bayou Bucket set for this Saturday at Rice Stadium, the R Blog will spend this week looking back at some of the Owls' memorable moments in the series with the Cougars since it began in 1971. 

In our sixth installment, we take a look at the game that clinched a share of the Southwest Conference crown for Rice.

November 26, 1994

Rice 31, Houston 13

The Astrodome

Ken Hatfield came to Rice with a reputation for success, but few Rice fans would have allowed themselves to believe the scenario that was unfolding as they filed into the Astrodome for their annual showdown with Houston for the Bayou Bucket.

Beating Texas on national television earlier in the year was an event for the ages, but now the Owls found themselves on the cusp of grabbing a share of the Southwest Conference title, something they had not savored since the 1950's.  All that was required was to do something they had never done, defeat the Cougars in consecutive years. And all they were doing was ask a true freshman quarterback making on his second career start to lead the charge.

Chad Nelson might have been new to Rice, but the playing field of the Astrodome was as familiar as his neighbor's backyard.  One year earlier, he had led Lewisville High to a state title on the same field, so he was more than ready to take the reigns of the Hatfield's option attack and lead them through uncharted waters.

With the score knotted at seven late in the second quarter, he race in from 10-yards out to give Rice a lead it would never relinquish.  Early in the third, he hit Jeff Venghaus on a 23-yard TD pass to extend the lead to 21-7.

Nelson finished with 109 yards rushing and the Owls defense held the Cougars to just one second half score.

With the latest edition of the Bayou Bucket set for this Saturday at Rice Stadium, the R Blog will spend this week looking back at some of the Owls' memorable moments in the series with the Cougars since it began in 1971. 

In our fifth installment, we take a look Fred Goldsmith's final game at Rice.

November 26, 1993

Rice 37, Houston 7

Rice Stadium

On a cold and occasionally freezing afternoon at Rice Stadium, Fred Goldsmith's Owls clinched their second consecutive winning season and gained a measure of revenge after surrendering 61 points to Houston the previous year by rolling to a 37-7 victory.

It also marked the first time since the creation of the trophy that the Owls were able to hoist the Bayou Bucket in victory at Rice Stadium, having won it the previous three times at the Astrodome.

While the day would end in glory, the first five minutes gave Owls fans reason to wonder if the game would be as gloomy as the day.

Houston drove 72 yards with the opening kickoff to take a 7-0 lead and on the ensuing kickoff, Spencer George fumbled after a 15-yard return. But teammate Adrayall Askew recovered the ball to avoid potential disaster.

Jimmy Lee the brought the crowd to its feet on the Owls' first play from scrimmage, dashing 50 yards on a reverse.  Bert Emanuel then found Byron Coston on a 19-yard scoring pass to tie things up and the Owls offense  was off to the races.

From that point on, the Owls shredded the Cougars defense for an additional 30 points, while the Rice defense eventually forced more turnovers (8) than the Cougars had points. Rice's offensive explosion came despite the fact that senior triggerman Emanuel left the game with an injury late in the second quarter. 

In two years on South Main after transferring home from UCLA, Emanuel gained over 4,500 yards and had the distinction of being leader of the first Owl teams in 30 years to post back-to-back winning seasons.

Goldsmith would move on to Duke after the season, and to replace him, the Owls turned to man under whom he had once coached, Ken Hatfield.

November 28, 1980

  Rice 35, Houston 7

 The Astrodome

Two days shy of a full year after absorbing a 63-0 blistering at the hands of the Cougars on their hallowed home field, Ray Alborn's Rice Owls engineered a 91-point turnaround, shocking Houston and a regional television audience tuned in to ABC with a 35-7 victory.  

The game was moved up to a kickoff time just before noon, but if the early start time had made the homestanding Cougars a bit sluggish, it had little impact on the Owls. 

Quarterback Randy Hertel, who completed 15 of 25 passes for 226 yards and threw three touchdown passes to set a Rice career record with 38 and David Darr, who personally accounted for four turnovers as the Owls completed the year 5-6.

Alborn dipped into his bag of motivational ploys early, announcing to his team early in the week that someone had broken into their equipment room and stolen their game jerseys. But as the team entered their Astrodome locker room, they discovered new jerseys, complete with "Rice Owls" on the front and each player's name on the back.

During pregame, the inspired Owls were handed even more inspiration when the Cougars ran through their stretching lines as they entered the field.  Whether it was the result of miss-aligned pregame routines or a deliberate attempt to intimidate a team they had blasted so easily one year earlier soon became moot as the Owls raced out to a 21-0 lead at the half and never looked back.

Any attempt by the Cougars to mount a comeback was thwarted by Darr, who picked off a pair of passes and also recovered a pair of fumbles.

With the win over the Cougars, the Owls completed a season that had seen them beat LSU at home, and TCU, Texas A&M, Arkansas and Houston on the road.

It might be more than a tad washed out, but we unearthed some highlights of the Owls' win over Houston in 1972, pulled from that year's highlight film. Enjoy....

Photo Courtesy of UFL / Jana Hendler

Here's a familiar site to Owls fans....Andrew Sendejo planting another opposing ball carrier.    This action was in Sendejo's pro debut in the UFL when Sacramento faced Florida.  Sendejo was credited with three tackles in the game, added two in Week Two, then exploded against Omaha in week three, chalking up a team-leading nine tackles.

Sendejo and his teammates will be on their bye week this weekend, but will be back in action next Friday night against Las Vegas. Sendejo's former Rice teammate, Chase Clement, is a backup at quarterback for Las Vegas.

HOUSTON -- Rice head baseball coach Wayne Graham welcomed back 23 returning lettermen from last season's team that earned the program's 16th-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, and dozen newcomers to the roster, as the Owls held their first fall practice of 2010 on Monday afternoon (Oct. 4) at Reckling Park.

The Owls return five offensive starters and 15 veteran pitchers who helped lead the team to a 40-23 record and to the 2010 Conference USA regular season championship. Eleven of the team's 12 newcomers are from the high school ranks while one is transfer from another university. Junior third baseman Anthony Rendon, the 2010 Howser Trophy winner as the national college player of the year, was present at Reckling Park but sitting out fall ball while continuing is rehab work for an ankle injury he suffered over the summer.

After a brief period of conditioning and drills, Graham divided the team for a Blue-Gray intraquad scrimmage. He was pleased with the team's physical condition for the first day of practice and stated that playing time in the spring (2011) could be a direct correlation to a player's performance in the fall. Three positions in the field, where Owls were drafted and signed by the major leagues, has his immediate attention. Even the head coach, who is at the helm for his 20^th Owl team this season, could not have scripted better conditions for fall practice.

"It's wonderful weather and (the players) needed a little competition," coach Graham said. "They need it, and we need it so we can start evaluating and coach a little harder. You coach better when you can see what's happening under game conditions. We like the newcomers to get a grasp of the way we play. We want to see some of the pitchers incorporate some of the things we've been teaching them (in recent individual drills). We want to see them throw strikes and getting the breaking ball over the plate.

"Shortstop, first base and right field are primary spots for us in the fall," Graham added. "We have a lot of guys who could break-through. We'll give the freshmen chances. They've looked very good so far. There's plenty of talent here, we have potential."

Rice's fall baseball practices continue through the end of the month. Last spring the Blue & Gray advanced to an NCAA Regional for a 16th-straight year. The Owls open the 2011 season with a three-game home series at Reckling Park against national power Stanford on Feb. 18-20.

In other Rice baseball news coach Graham announced that game times for the annual Houston College Classic at Minute Maid Park have beet set, and that there has been a change to the start time of a C-USA league game. Rice's games in the College Classic (Mar. 11-13) will be vs. Kentucky at 7 pm on Friday, followed by Texas A&M at 7 pm on Saturday and then Baylor at 2:30 pm on Sunday. Rice's C-USA game at East Carolina on April 8 (Friday) has been moved up one hour to 6 pm Eastern Time (5 pm Central).

View today's Rice-SMU game program by Clicking Here (PDF file)