it was actually pretty filled until we started raping you guys...people started leaving because Rice made it TOO BORING SCOREBOARD BRO
A few things that stuck out to me- The Rice QB was absolutely horrific, no joke. I couldn't believe how terrible his reads were. Its not like he was getting hit on every play, either- huge step down from last year. Attendance was good, but not great. I dont know what the reported numbers were, but obviously Rice wasn't bringing a lot of people and the stadium was not full. It was the last game of the season and that place should have been packed at kickoff. The Mob really really really pissed me off this year. The Tulsa thing was good (its the first time I remember applauding them in a long time), but WTF with the cart. I still cannot get over the fact that they had a "Marshall band" cart. I dont think they made obvious reference to it (student section can never really hear anything anyways) but I got really pissed that they would stoop that low, esp after we stopped playing that back and forth game about 3 years ago.
Attendance was around 28k. Like you said, good but not great and I only saw a handful of Rice fans at the stadium.
They didn't make a band cart reference. Rice always has a cart out there for their stupid props. They DID make a reference to Edwards' injury last year though, which I thought was incredibly classless... and besides that, it wasn't even creative/funny.
Apparently not if that is the best that bigtexxx can come back with. He doesn't seem all quite right up stairs. As if his brain cells got bent over 73-14 by bongs and beer funnels during his years at Rice.
yeah, thats what i said- they didnt say anything about it, but they had the same cart out there at halftime (it was the one with the keyboard in it). they knew exactly what they were doing.
No, they weren't making a reference to Marshall. They've had that cart and have used it at halftime for years.
Wait... the Andre Ware game was 59-0? Then I must be losing my mind because I thought it was 59-14 at the half. Hmm...
Rice gets trashed 59-0 at the half and 73-14 in the game (would have been much worse but UH pulled the plug at halftime), and you claim it is because they weren't mentally prepared. That is the most moronic sports statement I have ever read. They were not mentally prepared, or plysically prepared. They were completely outmatched and got pushed around on both sides of the ball. Most high school teams could beat that Rice squad. Pathetic.
I'm trying to figure out what exactly Rice could do long term. Like Houston, they're in a non-BCS conference and their local recruiting base is scavenged by better programs; but, worse still, their (ultimately worthwhile) academic standards trim their recruiting pool even further. Something tells me the smart and talented kids that would make Rice a respectable program might probably rather go to Stanford, Berkeley, Duke, Northwestern, Vanderbilt...
I think for the foreseeable future, Rice football is simply going to float along with the talent, which is was it's been doing the past 4 years. When the recruits pan out, we'll make a bowl game and even compete for the conference title every once in a while (see: 2006, 2008); on the flip side, when the recruits don't pan out and/or we lose a ton of players to graduation, there are going to be awful seasons (see: 2009). Of one the positives of the Bailiff regime is that he's been able to have a couple of decent classes, so hopefully that'll get things turned around for the upcoming season or two. But yeah, barring some unforeseen and bizarre changes, Rice football is going to continue to be a roller coaster ride.
The relevant question after this game is basically this: Did the Cougars stomp such a humongous, paw-sized mudhole in Rice University Men's Football so as to not allow them to recover? By that I mean permanently - the program may not be able to get back from this. The board of regents should be looking very seriously about their options as far as remaining in the FBS subdivision. At this point, it seems to be a very serious albatross around the neck of the university and its finances. Just a complete drain. FCS seems to be more their speed, if not Division II or III.
Well, the part about Division II or III was. As for the rest of it...why not move down to FCS? Is there any more shame in that than in being a more or less semi-permanent FBS doormat? It's definitely a lot cheaper.
