Great game. The defense was outstanding even though I now understand why Nick Montana did not follow his dad to Notre Dame.

I have a couple of observations about the offense. First, Tulane obviously adjusted to stop the3 option after the first half but we continued to run it over and over into losses. Second, on most of our long passes, McHargue was throwing into double coverage. Does he have the option to check off to other receivers when that happens? It seems like someone should be open underneath in those cases.

(11-30-2013 11:15 PM)talon owl Wrote:  This game to me was the Phil Gaines showcase. In a game featuring 4 strong corners, he stood out. Moved him around all game and completely shutdown Ryan Grant who was clearly the focus of Tulane's offensive gameplan. Loved the flexibility Thurmond has now built into the scheme.

+1

Whether McHargue is allowed to check off has been a question for 4 years.

(11-30-2013 11:15 PM)talon owl Wrote:  This game to me was the Phil Gaines showcase. In a game featuring 4 strong corners, he stood out. Moved him around all game and completely shutdown Ryan Grant who was clearly the focus of Tulane's offensive gameplan. Loved the flexibility Thurmond has now built into the scheme.

I've seen him cheat into unexpected plays in the past on TV, but I could see more clearly today that he seemed to have lined up at something like an LB/safety... Really a great game by both corners, but Gaines definitely stood out.

(11-30-2013 11:15 PM)talon owl Wrote:  This game to me was the Phil Gaines showcase. In a game featuring 4 strong corners, he stood out. Moved him around all game and completely shutdown Ryan Grant who was clearly the focus of Tulane's offensive gameplan. Loved the flexibility Thurmond has now built into the scheme.

(11-30-2013 11:19 PM)NolaOwl Wrote:  Great game. The defense was outstanding even though I now understand why Nick Montana did not follow his dad to Notre Dame.

I have a couple of observations about the offense. First, Tulane obviously adjusted to stop the3 option after the first half but we continued to run it over and over into losses. Second, on most of our long passes, McHargue was throwing into double coverage. Does he have the option to check off to other receivers when that happens? It seems like someone should be open underneath in those cases.

These two posts more or less sum up my feelings. The defense played an outstanding game, really great. The offense played a good first half, but I was really perplexed by some of the choices on offense in the second half, and I suspect everyone knows that second half of offense wasn't good enough for a CUSA championship game or a bowl game.

It's wonderful to be in the CUSA championship game! Let's get it done and beat Marshall and see where the winds may send us.

(11-30-2013 07:52 PM)owlatheart Wrote:  

(11-30-2013 07:44 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(11-30-2013 07:44 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  Defense was OUTSTANDING. Perhaps the most dominating performance by a Rice defense against a bowl-bound team in 50 years. Yes, I mean that.

The offense was spotty (as usual) and gave up the short field more than once, but they put the ball in the end zone enough to win.

Today we celebrate... tomorrow we can review and analyze and be critical and we have all next week to speculate again.

have a drink on me

YES! Me too.

(11-30-2013 06:48 PM)JOwl Wrote:  

(11-30-2013 06:46 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Either way, I think it's a silly way to decide a host. If there isn't a head to head game to decide things, I think it should be a quick coin toss. That's arbitrary but so are the polls.

If they're both arbitrary, why is one silly?

Because we would have known at 6 pm Saturday who was the host instead of 6 pm Sunday night.

Tomorrow we focus on win number 10! 9 is good. 10 is better. 11 is best. It's time for us to expect something more from this team. They expect it from us. Let's live up to their expectations. #FearTheOwl #LibertyOrBust

(12-01-2013 12:02 AM)Barney Wrote:  

(11-30-2013 07:52 PM)owlatheart Wrote:  

(11-30-2013 07:44 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(11-30-2013 07:44 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  Defense was OUTSTANDING. Perhaps the most dominating performance by a Rice defense against a bowl-bound team in 50 years. Yes, I mean that.

The offense was spotty (as usual) and gave up the short field more than once, but they put the ball in the end zone enough to win.

Today we celebrate... tomorrow we can review and analyze and be critical and we have all next week to speculate again.

have a drink on me

YES! Me too.

Agree.

(11-30-2013 09:04 PM)Rick Gerlach Wrote:  

(11-30-2013 06:31 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Congrats! When do we find out who hosts next weekend? And I don't agree that a 17-13 score should factor into the site. Rice's defense was dominating. Tulane has a good defense and played well in the 2nd half especially.

+1

I thought our defense was outstanding. If I've been at any other Rice game where the opponent didn't get a 1st down until 6 minutes or less in the 3rd quarter, I certainly can't recall it.

Isn't it Owl 69/70/75 who always says defense wins championships?

Offense sells tickets, defense wins games, the kicking game wins championships. The latter because there always seem to be a couple of close games so close that special teams decide them, and to win a championship you need to win them. I saw one of those yesterday--4 missed/blocked field goals, two kicks downed at the 1, and a missed field goal returned for the winning TD. I am very sorry to have missed a great Rice win, but I can't say I regret seeing the game I saw. Long drive home today though.

(12-01-2013 06:19 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  Offense sells tickets, defense wins games, the kicking game wins championships. The latter because there always seem to be a couple of close games so close that special teams decide them, and to win a championship you need to win them.

Not just the headline game. Mizzou got through the SEC East despite missing a 40 yard FG at end of 1st half. But road was much tougher than it needed to be. They could have beaten South Carolina with a 40 yarder a few weeks back. Ended up losing that game by missing a 22 yard FG on 1st possession of overtime.

In hindsight, had Mizzou had even an average FG capability, they would be in contention for the national championship. Obviously the same is true of Alabama.

Congratulations to the Owls.

The most distressing thing to me yesterday, besides the Peterson injury and the horrendous play-calling by our OC, was learning that Nwosu's career is over (at least that's what yesterday's Senior Day festivities seemed to indicate). Was this common knowledge to anyone before yesterday?

There was a nice crowd at the game. Too bad the students missed it like always.

The most distressing thing to me yesterday, besides the Peterson injury and the horrendous play-calling by our OC, was learning that Nwosu's career is over (at least that's what yesterday's Senior Day festivities seemed to indicate). Was this common knowledge to anyone before yesterday?
[/quote]

I saw Cam's mom and said I thought he would be back again next year. She said she thought so too, but was told we didn't have a scholarship for him.

(12-01-2013 12:21 PM)bobreinhold1 Wrote:  I saw Cam's mom and said I thought he would be back again next year. She said she thought so too, but was told we didn't have a scholarship for him.

Tell me there is more to it than that. If true, it is the worst thing I have heard about Rice football in a long time.

Is his injury career ending?

(12-01-2013 12:21 PM)bobreinhold1 Wrote:  I saw Cam's mom and said I thought he would be back again next year. She said she thought so too, but was told we didn't have a scholarship for him.

What?

Can has been one of the best linebackers I've seen at Rice. To force him to graduate due to scholarship limitations is absurd. You would hope that if they couldn't get an athletic scholarship for Cam, they would be ae to find an academic scholarship to pay the way.

Yeah, this is bizarre/there's gotta be more to this story. To not have a scholarship for a player that was supposed to be our top LB this year is absurd.

Is it possible he will graduate and do an immediate grad student transfer to a P5 team?

I wouldn't begrudge him wanting to suit up for the Aggies for a year in the SEC.

(11-30-2013 03:03 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  Cool moment when Gaines was introduced for senior day. His mom had family members in Phillip's jerseys from little league through high school.

Thank you Tiki! This was a priceless moment. When Phillip saw us, his eyes lit up and he said "Wow...you all got it going on thank you" I later asked what he thought and he said it was great and was so happy that we did this. I'm so proud of these boys. It has been 5 year in the making for Phillip and his team mates. I also want to share a funny moment with you guys. A person ( I will withhold the name....lol) came up to us and said "wow....did Phillip get drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars?" I smiled and said "yes when he was in little league in Live Oak TX."....lol