1994 Texas - Rice

Rice controls game with ground attack   

Mark Livingston
Daily Texan Staff

   HOUSTON -- The Rice Owls beat Texas Sunday night because they were  
easily able to do what the Longhorns could not: run the ball.
   The Horns were unable to win the important war in the trenches on either  
side of the ball. Play after play, Rice's undersized players beat the  
Longhorns' blue chippers off the ball, resulting in the end of 28 years of  
history and the wreckage of a once glorious season.
   With 34,700 mostly Texas fans watching in stunned disbelief, Morenz  
scrambled from the pass rush of Owls defensive lineman Deric Rutherford,  
Larry Thompson and especially Ndukwe Kalu. On the other side of the ball,  
an array of Owl running backs pounded the ball straight up Texas' gut.
   "They played the way they set out to play," said Texas coach John  
Mackovic. "They controlled the line of scrimmage, ran the ball well and  
held our running game in check. We couldn't control the line of scrimmage."
   The Longhorns never had a running game. The backfield ran for only 16  
yards on 22 attempts -- an average of .7 of a yard per carry. Rice's  
defensive line, which averages just 246 pounds to Texas 285-pound offensive  
line, also had two sacks.
   "They beat us to the punch and came off the ball harder than we did,"  
said Texas center Dan Neil. "They wanted it more than we did. It's as  
simple as that."
   Rice took away the counter, which is Texas' favorite running play, at  
the beginning. The Owls brought up an extra man to their eight-man front,  
and the Horns never blocked him.  
   "Everything we tried to do, they stopped," Neil said. "It seemed like  
there was one guy missing a block every time."
   "Our defense just played darn good," said Rice head coach Ken Hatfield.  
"We shut down their running attack, and I believe that was the story of the  
game."
   The Horns, who dropped a spot in the polls to 13th before the game even  
started, looked far inferior to unranked Rice. The Owls beat Texas at every  
aspect of the game -- defense, offense and special teams.
   "They came out like we thought they would and played hard," Neil said.  
"They dominated us. We didn't block well enough."
On the other side, Rice's running attack was just fine.
   Rice ran the ball 61 times to just seven passes. They were able to rack  
up 207 yards rushing, the third week in a row that a Texas opponent has run  
for more than 200 yards.
   "You have to give Rice credit," said Texas nose guard Stonie Clark.  
"They beat us off the ball and played a tremendous game."
   Rice's running ability enabled the Owls to control the game,  
accumulating 39:11 on the clock.
   "They just kept pecking away," said Texas linebacker Kevin Watler. "They  
got three of four here and three or four there. It wasn't anyone's fault.  
They put us in odd situations and kept us off balance when they ran it."

Rice 19, Texas 17

TEXAS   3   7   0   7   --17
RICE    9   3   0   7   --19

Rice -- FG Huelsman 24.
Rice -- Coston 33 pass from LaRocca (kick failed).
Texas -- FG Dawson 44.
Texas -- E. Jackson 40 pass from Morenz (Dawson kick).
Rice -- FG Huelsman 33.
Rice -- George 7 pass from LaRocca (Huelsman kick).
Texas -- Davis 14 pass from Morenz (Dawson kick).
A -- 34,700.

                    Texas   Rice
First downs         14      16
Rushes-yards        22-16   61-207
Passing             163     45
Return Yards        12      19
Comp-Att-Int        18-39-0 3-7-0
Punts               7-36    6-39
Fumbles-Lost        1-1     3-2
Penalties-Yards     4-30    1-15
Time of Possession  20:49   39:11


INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

   Rushing -- Texas: Holmes 9-20, R. Walker 6-7, Kemp 1-(-2), Morenz  
6-(-9). Rice: George 21-91, LaRocca 16-54, Coston 10-32, Callahan 8-30, Lee  
4-3, Edmonds 2-(-3).
Passing -- Texas: Morenz 18-39-0. Rice: LaRocca 3-7-0.
   Receiving -- Texas: Davis 6-65, E. Jackosn 3-58, Lucas 2-18, C. Jackson  
2-26, Harrison 1-8, Wallace 1-6, Kemp 1-5, R. Walker 1-(-3), Holmes  
1-(-11). Rice: Coston 1-33, George 1-7, Callahan 1-5.