HOUSTON – The Rice Owls did not do themselves any favors with their 2010 non-conference schedule.
Rice opened the season with Texas, then followed it up two weeks later with Northwestern, schools which went to high profile bowls a year ago.
They lost both, struggling to find an offensive rhythm in each, but according to head coach David Bailiff, they’ve learned a lot from each experience.
"Well one way to solve that problem is to not schedule teams like Texas and Northwestern," said Bailiff with a smile. "We have to keep doing what we believe in and get better at it and that’s exactly what we’ve been doing."
One problem for Rice in the early going has been turnovers. In Saturday’s 30-13 loss to the Wildcats, Rice committed 4 turnovers which led to 17 points. That’s an issue that cannot continue as they move on through the season, no matter who they play.
"We’re a pretty good football team, but we don’t have a large margin for error," said Bailiff. "We can’t overcome those things and those 17 points were the difference in that football game."
The Owls now find themselves 1-2 and this week they welcome Baylor to town, a team hungry to finally break-through in the Big 12.
"Baylor has a lot better team speed than they’ve had in the past," said Bailiff. "They’re offensive line is massive and Art (Briles) is doing what he did at Houston, building a fine program."
The Bears feature arguably the most explosive player in the state in quarterback Robert Griffin. The dual-threat quarterback poses a lot of problem for all defenses, but Rice feels their experience this past weekend against Northwestern’s Dan Persa will help.
"Everybody in Texas knows about Robert Griffin," said Owls linebacker Justin Hill. "Persa was a great runner and it’s going to give us a little bit of an advantage when we come up against a dual-threat quarterback.
Kick-off with Baylor is scheduled for 7 pm CT on Saturday.
