Football has chance for memorable year

By Dan Elledge and Alex Weinheimer     9/5/13 7:00pm

As two seniors who have followed Rice University athletics over the past few years, we have gone through some surprises and disappointments. We have witnessed volleyball's huge upset to clinch the conference title at home in 2009 and women's tennis's impressive winning streak that handed it the conference title last season. We saw both women's soccer and swimming become premier teams in the conference, securing their first conference championships in their short histories. On the other hand, there have been times when seasons have ended abruptly. Baseball last year was on the cusp of going back to the College

World Series for the first time since 2008 before it stumbled against North Carolina State in the Super Regionals, two wins shy of making it to the World Series at Omaha. We had a promising basketball team with young stars like Tamir Jackson and Arsalan Kazemi that gave us a glimmer of hope at ending the 43-year-old NCAA tournament drought before a string of transfers and allegations against the athletic department left the team in shambles.

Looking forward to our last year as Rice undergraduates, and considering this year's football team and schedule, we are anticipating wins and a run at a conference championship.

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The last time Rice football won a conference championship was 1957, but the opportunity has come again.

This year's team brings back 18 starters and the momentum from last year's convincing win in the Armed Forces Bowl against the U.S. Air Force Academy. The result of the Texas A&M University game should come as no surprise due to the talent the Aggies have on both sides of the ball and does not dampen our outlook on the season. In fact, there should be many positives taken away from that game, including the productivity on offense, which included more than 300 yards rushing against one of the top 10 teams in the nation. The fact that the Owls got off to an early 14-7 lead after the first quarter shows they can play at a high level.

This year's schedule plays out beautifully for the Owls due to the shuffling of teams in and out of the conference over the past two years. The majority of the teams the Owls are going to play are in the bottom quarter of the NCAA rankings, which presents an opportunity for Rice to capitalize on and add wins.

Even though the schedule is weaker than most years, there are still games that will make or break the Owls' season. The first such game takes place Sept. 21 against cross-town rival University of Houston, which beat Rice last season 35-14. Even though this is now a nonconference game, implications are always strong, and a win in this encounter would give Rice momentum heading into the conference season.

The game that will decide the Owls' conference chances will be on the road Oct. 5 against the University of Tulsa. Last year, Rice battled against the heavily favored Golden Hurricane but ultimately fell short 28-24. If the Owls can steal this one in Tulsa, the road to a conference championship will not seem so distant.

We encourage you to be part of what we think will be a fun, successful season with many wins. With free student tickets and a competitive football team, there is no excuse to be anywhere else on Saturday afternoons.

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