Rice was no match for No. 14 Stanford in a 62-7 loss in the Sydney College Cup at Allianz Stadium in Sydney, Australia. Here are five thoughts about what transpired:
1. It was ugly from the opening snap.
Stanford’s junior running back Bryce Love ran for 62 yards on the game’s first play, and two plays later, quarterback Keller Chryst found 6-foot-7 freshman tight end Colby Parkinson in the end zone for a touchdown. It looked even worse when Rice got its first try with the ball.
The Owls committed three penalties (two false starts and a delay of game) in a three-and-out that netted negative-seven yards. Stanford added two more scores to extend its lead to 21-0 before Rice finally picked up a first down.
2. Rice had no answer for Stanford’s power running game.
Love carried the ball 13 times for 180 yards and a score while sidekick Cameron Scarlett added 59 yards and three touchdowns on eight attempts. It was particularly astonishing how easily the Cardinal offensive line created gaping holes for the runners to gallop through.
Of Stanford’s 20 first-half running plays, eight went for at least 10 yards, seven more went for at least four, and of the other five, two were short-yardage touchdowns.
3. The Owls will push the tempo this year.
When the Owls were successful offensively, they were quick to rush to the line and get the next play off. Rice’s attack also featured lots of jet sweeps, plenty of pre-snap motions/shifts, and a more-than-usual amount of shovel passes. On this day, the Owl offense was too outmatched for any of this to matter, but against Conference USA competition, I could see this system working.
4. There were a few things for Owl fans to hoot about.
This was as good a secondary as freshman quarterback Sam Gleasman will face all year, and for that, I thought his play was admirable. He was only 7-of-18 for 69 yards and an interception in his college football debut, but he showed excellent touch on a few of his sideline throws, and hung in there despite the lopsided score.
Senior defensive end Brian Womac had back-to-back sacks coming off the edge in the second quarter and junior Zach Abercrumbia went right up the middle for one in the third. Sophomore cornerback Justin Bickham broke up a 4th down pass by punching the ball out of Stanford tight end Kaden Smith’s hands late in the first half.
Rice finally got on the board by scoring a touchdown with 5:22 left in the game on an Austin Walter 23-yard touchdown run. The stocky Samuel Stewart set it all up by carrying the ball four times for 34 yards on the drive and finished the night with 71 yards and 15 carries.
5. Coach David Bailiff has his work cut out for him.
This was a tough matchup, but it would have been nice for Rice to keep it close for at least a little while. I mean, the spread was 30.5, not 55.5. I hate throwing the term “hot seat” around, especially for a coach who brought his school its first conference title since 1957 just four years ago (sorry, not counting the 1994 one!). But with seven wins in the last two years, things seem to be bottoming out. Hopefully, the Owls put together a better performance when they go to El Paso to play UTEP on Sept. 9.
