March 29, 2008

Rice Football Spring Scrimmage Photo Gallery

HOUSTON - Utilizing a unique scoring system, Rice senior quarterback Chase Clement rifled an 18-yard pass over the middle to Tommy Henderson on the final play of Saturday's Blue-Gray scrimmage to break a tie and give the Owl offense a 44-43 victory over the defense.

In addition to conventional points, the offense put points on the board with a system that awarded consecutive first downs as well as explosive plays - 12+ yard rushing plays as well as 16+ yard passing plays.

Clement's 18-yard pass proved to be the difference after the Rice defense came back in the fourth quarter. The defensive unit was awarded for quarterback sacks and tackles for lost yards. The defense was also awarded for holding the offense to three plays and out as well as given points for forcing turnovers.

The Rice offense held a 43-32 lead on a late C.J. Ugokwe, five-yard touchdown run. But a three-and-out on the offense's next series, which included a play that went for lost yards and a fumble by Taylor Dupree all led to defensive points that closed the gap. Rice had two fourth-quarter fumbles. Earlier in the period, a fumbled catch of a punt led to defensive points.

"The fumbled punt return was just a lack of focus," said second-year coach David Bailiff. "The turnover at the end of the game - at that point our objective was to grind the clock out. We didn't want to go and work two minutes. We just wanted to grind the clock out and we get a turnover. Those are the kind of situations we need to learn from."

While Bailiff pointed out the turnovers as a negative of the scrimmage, he also said there were plenty of positives.

"At times, I thought the defense showed just how much it has improved. You saw some extremely hard, violent tackles," he said. "And you saw the offense at times look like the big play, quick strike offense that we want to become."

Rice still has three workouts remaining next week to end its spring practices.

"We have been able to do more this spring because we have had some numbers," Bailiff said. "Last spring there was not a lot of things we could do because we could only stay out for 16 periods. This year we are able to say `these are our objectives and these are the things we have to improve on.' Last spring it was just a matter of getting our offense and defense installed."

On Saturday, Clement completed 14-of-19 passes for 156 yards and one touchdown. The senior also ran 10 times for 69 yards. Shepherd completed 15-of-24 passes for 62 yards.

Ugokwe led the Owls' running backs with eight carries for 33 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught a 26-yard touchdown pass and finished the scrimmage with three receptions for 38 yards. Sophomore James Casey had six receptions for 63 yards with five of his catches coming after halftime.

Defensively, junior linebacker Terrance Garmon had 10 total tackles including a pair of quarterback sacks and a tackle for lost yards. Five of sophomore defensive end Scott Solomon's six total tackles were behind the line of scrimmage. He had three quarterback sacks and a pair of tackles for lost yards.

The Rice offense accounted for 409 yards - 191 rushing yards and 218 yards through the air.