Seniors look ahead to final home game
Following a 41-14 loss to nationally-ranked Marshall University, the Rice University football team (6-4, 4-2 C-USA) will host the University of Texas, El Paso on Friday night at 7 p.m. in the final home game for seniors on the roster.
Of the 29 fourth- or fifth-year players on the team, 17 are playing in their final year of eligibility. The seniors have accumulated a record of 27-22 over the last four seasons, a winning percentage of 54 percent — significantly higher than the program’s all-time mark of 428–548–32, roughly 42 percent. Of those 27 wins, 23 were in the last three seasons, a school record for wins over a three-year span.
Wide receiver Jordan Taylor is finishing up as one of the better receivers in Rice football history and currently has the third most receiving yards in school history with 2,351. Taylor is also tied for third with 17 receiving touchdowns, and, on Saturday, he surpassed David Houser and James Casey for fourth on the program’s career receptions list with 158 catches.
Last season against UTEP, Taylor recorded four receptions for a career-best 185 yards and three receiving touchdowns. According to Taylor, however, he is not counting on having another career day against a UTEP team that has improved its defense since last season.
“Obviously it’d be great to have another [game] like that,” Taylor said. “They’re a completely different defense [from last year]. I’m not expecting anything like that; I’m just trying to help the team win, but if it happens, it happens.”
Head Coach David Bailiff said the seniors have been role models to the younger players on the team and deserve to go out with a victory in their final home game.
“This has really been an amazing senior class,” Bailiff said. “It’s an emotional time where the senior class knows its the last time they’re going to wear that blue home jersey in Rice Stadium. That’s a very special place for us, and the rest of the team needs to make sure we’re all-in this week, and in their final home game, we need to make sure we send them out right.”
In 2010, the year most current seniors were high school seniors, Rice football finished with a 4-8 record, including a 3-5 record in Conference USA play. According to Bailiff, the class’s willingness to sacrifice a few rebuilding years to establish a winning tradition sets them apart.
“I walked in their home five years ago and said, ‘You know what, for the next two years we’re going to struggle, but we’re getting better,’” Bailiff said. “I said, ‘In three years I think we can go to a bowl; I think we can win the conference every year after that.’ They believed the message, and we’ve all grown together. I’m a better man from being around them. All they’ve done since they got here was do everything I asked.”
Bailiff also said while the seniors have worked hard to improve the football program, they also know how to enjoy their time in college.
“This senior class has a lot of personality,” Bailiff said. “They’ve had a lot of fun during their time at Rice, on this football field, on the other side of campus. I really look forward to 10 years from now, where hopefully we’ll have a reunion to honor this bunch.”
Linebacker James Radcliffe said walking out of the tunnel for the last time at home will be a unique but unforgettable experience.
“It’s going to be emotional,” Radcliffe, a redshirt senior, said. “Five years here is a long time, longer here than in high school. I’ve grown a lot with these guys, and it’s going to be my last home game with them, but I’m looking forward to it.”
Radcliffe also said the senior class believes it is the best class to ever come through Rice due to the chemistry the team has in addition to its successes.
“There’s a joke going around the locker room when we talk about who had the best class; we always like to think we had the best class to come through Rice,” Radcliffe said. “It’s just awesome. I love these guys. I think of these guys as my brothers. I love playing with them, and I’ll do anything to make sure we win.”
According to Radcliffe, the team’s goal remains making it to a bowl game. Radcliffe said the team will take going to any bowl game as a sign of a successful season.
“For one, I don’t care where we go really, as long as we’re going to a bowl game,” Radcliffe said. “I’d love to go to the conference championship as well and then to a bowl game. If we just make a bowl game, though, that’s really the goal here.”
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