The Rice Thresher, Vol. 99, No. 13, Ed. 1 Friday, November 18, 2011 Page: 13 of 16
sixteen pages : ill. ; page 19 x 15 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Friday, November 18,2011
SPORTS 13
I§
• •
Football loses to Northwestern, not going to bowl
For fourth time in Bailiff's five years Owls will not go to bowl; face Tulane tomorrow
by Teddy Grodek
Thresher Staff
After beating Purdue University earlier in the
season, it was thought that the stigma when playing
against major conference teams had disappeared
for the football team. The team was hoping to go
2-o against Big 10 teams this season - what would
surely have been a bright spot in an otherwise dis-
appointing campaign. Northwestern University, a
mediocre Big 10 team, had other plans when the
Owls traveled to Evanston, 111. this past weekend.
Northwestern dominated from start to finish,
with Rice unable to move the ball until the closing
minutes of the game. The Owls' offense, who had
strung together a streak of high scoring games, ap-
parently didn't get on the plane at Hobby Airport
last Friday.
"We couldn't get anything explosive," Head
Coach David Bailiff said. "We ran the ball and get
to the safeties but just couldn't make people miss.
They are a very solid defensive football team. We
just had a hard time establishing a running game or
establishing a throwing game."
Rice started off with a three-and-out on a drive
that only netted eight total yards. Northwestern
scored their first touchdown a few minutes later, de-
spite senior punter Kyle Martens placing the Wild-
cats on their own four-yard line.
It only took a few seconds for the Wildcats to
score on their drive, when Northwestern quarter-
back Dan Persa found wide receiver Jeremy Ebert
on a 90-yard play that put the Owls down 7-0. Persa,
who had been injured the week before, showed no
signs of it this week against the Owls.
Rice continued to struggle on offense through-
out the half, despite an interception by junior safety
Corey Frazier that left the team at their own 44 - a
prime scoring position.
After a Rice punt and the waste of great field
position, Northwestern again had no problem mov-
ing the football. Persa would find Ebert again on a
17-yard route with a few minutes remaining in the
second quarter to make the game 14-0.
An interception thrown by senior quarter-
back Nick Fanuzzi would give Northwestern one
last opportunity to put the ball in the end zone
in the first half's closing minutes. With one
minute left, Persa took the ball and once again
drove his team down the field, hitting one of
his receivers on a 15-yard crossing route for his
third touchdown pass of the game. The score
was 21-0 heading into the locker room.
Rice's defense played well in the third quar-
ter, shutting Northwestern out completely.
Freshman cornerback Bryce Callahan had his
sixth interception of the season, tops among
freshmen in the country.
Persa would start the fourth quarter by throwing
one more touchdown, a little three-yard dump on
the goal line. In addition to four touchdown passes,
Persa ended with 372 passing yards, one of the best
days of his career.
Rice avoided the shut out in the closing minutes
of the game, with a nine-yard touchdown run by se-
nior halfback Tyler Smith. It would have been the
first time in 132 games that Rice had been shut-out.
Smith led the Owls in rushing with 88 yards
for the day, averaging four yards a carry. Fanuzzi,
who had recently taken over the starting quar-
terback reins from sophomore Taylor McHargue,
had an unremarkable day under center, throw-
ing for only 92 yards with the one interception.
This next week, the Owls conclude their home
season with their last game in Houston. Tulane
University travels to Rice Stadium, and is looking
to snap an eight-game losing streak Tulane only
has one win inside Conference USA, a road game
against the University of Alabama-Birmingham,
and are hoping that the struggling Owls defense is
ALEXANDRA MOHARAM/THRESHER
Sophomore Jeremy Eddington dives in the endzone for a score against the University of Texas
El-Paso on Nov. 5. The Owls play Tulane this weekend in their last home game of the season.
just what they need.
Rice senior safety Xavier Webb commented
on his feelings about playing his last home foot-
ball game.
"It will be emotional," Webb said. "Last [home]
game, second to last game, for most of us to play
football in our career. It will be emotional, but it will
be a football game, and you always want to beat the
person across from you. So during the game, I think
it will just be another football game."
Women's basketball has rough start to season
Netters lose first two games by a combined 39 points, get first win on Wednesday
by Teddy Grodek
Thresher Staff
Despite such high expectations, the wom-
en's basketball team got off to a disappointing
start, losing their first two games before beating
Houston Baptist Univerity Wednesday night in
Tudor Fieldhouse.
The season opener, at Prairie View A&M Uni-
versity, was never supposed to be a close game.
The Owls, who led for a lot of the game, let Prai-
rie View go on an 11-5 run in the closing minutes
to squeak by 61-58. Sophomore forward Jessica
Kuster, back after one of the best freshman sea-
sons ever inside C-USA, led the way with 22 points
and 18 rebounds. Senior point guard D'Frantz
Smart contributed 11 points and four assists to
the losing effort.
After the first game against a relatively un-
known opponent, the Owls traveled to the Big 12
conference to take on Oklahoma State University.
OSU, who is predicted to finish fairly in the mid-
dle of the pack in the Big 12, dominated the game.
They zeroed in on Kuster, giving her no room
to work with the basketball. The score was a stag-
gering 58-27 at the half, and it looked like Okla-
homa State was on pace to score a hundred. The
Cowgirls would fall just short, winning by a final
score of 96-60. Forward Kendra Suttles led OSU
with 27 points.
On Wednesday night, opponent Houston
Baptist did not have the same luck that the
Cowgirls had with Jessica Kuster, allowing her
to score 31 points.
Kuster, who would also record 19 rebounds,
led the Owls to a 75-42 win to open the season in-
side Tudor Fieldhouse. Rice dominated the first
half, at one point having a 31-8 lead. In addition
to Kuster's second double-double of the year, se-
nior forward Brianna Hypolite added 16 points.
Kuster was pleased with the team's performance.
"It was our first first home game and we want-
ed to show to our fans that we're fun to watch,"
she said.
The win was much needed for the Owls, who
can get back to .500 with tonight's matchup at
Chicago State University. The game will mark the
return of Smart to her hometown.
The team stays inside the Midwest with a Sun-
day afternoon game against Valparaiso Univer-
sity. Then they open a home stand with a game
against Alcorn State University next Wednesday.
Glascock School// Continuing Studies
Paralegal: Your career in five months
Rice University's Paralegal Certificate Program
CLASSROOM PROGRAM:
Join us for an information session on December 7
at 6:00 p.m. Classes begin January 30, 2012
WEB-DELIVERED PROGRAM:
To be offered fall 2012
$250 discount for infotmation session attendees
"I would not have been able to make it thus far tn my career in such
a short time without the Rice fnvgram. " - Emily Shaw, past participant
MORE INFORMATION AT paralegal.rice.edu
OR CALL 713-348-4803
RICE
Senior Brianna Hypolite goes for a layup against Houston Baptist University on Wednesday as
they won 75-42. The Owls dropped their first two games on the road and head out for a Midwest
road trip this weekend. The next home game for the Owls is against Alcom State on Nov. 23.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Rutenberg, Josh. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 99, No. 13, Ed. 1 Friday, November 18, 2011, newspaper, November 18, 2011; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth398492/m1/13/: accessed June 9, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.