Tech overpowers the Owls 59-24
slide show included
Ben Maki
Issue date: 9/17/07 Section: Sports
HOUSTON - As the Rice Owls football team ran onto the field, the Rice banner was dislodged from its staff and floated to the ground.
That omen proved to bring misfortune to the Owls as Texas Tech scored on its first two drives and never surrendered the lead, eventually winning 59-24 Saturday at Rice Stadium in Houston. The opening-drive score marked the first time in the Mike Leach era the Red Raiders scored on their opening drive in each of the season's first three games.
"The first two drives we had really bad field position," Tech quarterback Graham Harrell said. "I thought offensively, we did a really good job of playing through that field position, going down and getting a couple of quick scores."
Rice quarterback Chase Clement said his team's start against the high-powered Red Raiders (3-0) made it tough for the Owls (0-3) to make a comeback.
"We just kind of came out a little bit slow," he said. "If we kept that tempo up in the first half, I think we would have been in good position, but we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot and making mistakes we don't need to be making."
Harrell completed 34-of-48 passes for 414 yards and six touchdowns before being relieved by Taylor Potts with 10:18 remaining the game.
Of those 34 completions, Crabtree caught 11 of them for 244 yards and three touchdowns.
"(Crabtree) was fortunate today just because there was open field and he was able to go for it," Tech coach Leach said. "He's a good receiver, and he does a good job catching the ball, but the yards are going to come a little harder than maybe they did today."
After getting down 14-0, Rice fought back to within four points with 8:55 remaining in the second quarter, but Tech scored five unanswered touchdowns.
That omen proved to bring misfortune to the Owls as Texas Tech scored on its first two drives and never surrendered the lead, eventually winning 59-24 Saturday at Rice Stadium in Houston. The opening-drive score marked the first time in the Mike Leach era the Red Raiders scored on their opening drive in each of the season's first three games.
"The first two drives we had really bad field position," Tech quarterback Graham Harrell said. "I thought offensively, we did a really good job of playing through that field position, going down and getting a couple of quick scores."
Rice quarterback Chase Clement said his team's start against the high-powered Red Raiders (3-0) made it tough for the Owls (0-3) to make a comeback.
"We just kind of came out a little bit slow," he said. "If we kept that tempo up in the first half, I think we would have been in good position, but we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot and making mistakes we don't need to be making."
Harrell completed 34-of-48 passes for 414 yards and six touchdowns before being relieved by Taylor Potts with 10:18 remaining the game.
Of those 34 completions, Crabtree caught 11 of them for 244 yards and three touchdowns.
"(Crabtree) was fortunate today just because there was open field and he was able to go for it," Tech coach Leach said. "He's a good receiver, and he does a good job catching the ball, but the yards are going to come a little harder than maybe they did today."
After getting down 14-0, Rice fought back to within four points with 8:55 remaining in the second quarter, but Tech scored five unanswered touchdowns.
Disclaimer:
Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of The Daily Toreador, the department of Student Media or Texas Tech University. Student editors have the authority to make all online content decisions without censorship or advance approval and are solely responsible for the content of this Web site. None of the opinions expressed on this page are previewed by any university official. Any postings, SPAM or otherwise, considered by the editorial staff to be campaign endorsements for political candidates other than opinions of users attached to articles pertaining to election issues will be deleted immediately.
View the online policy here.
To report questionable content, send an email to dtonlineeditor@gmail.com
Be the first to comment on this story