SWC Game of the Week: East Carolina at Rice

This week’s SWC Game of the week features the Rice Owls playing host to the East Carolina Pirates. This correspondent knows where South Carolina is located, and knows where North Carolina is located, but not sure about East Carolina. Anyway, this game’s focus will be the Rice Owls, winners of 4 in a row. This is the first time they have won 4 in a row in one season since 1999. They have improved their 2005 record by 4 games, with only SWC foe Arkansas improving their record by more games (5). This season they have won their first two road games as a member of Conference USA, over UCF and last week’s win over Tulsa, a preseason favorite in C-USA. Wide Receiver Jarrett Dillard has been named one of the 14 semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award, which goes to the best receiver in the country. The architect of this Rice Owl explosion, first year head coach Todd Graham. Todd Graham has the best first year turn around of any Rice coach since Jess Neely, back in the days when teams like Alabama had to have subs jump off their bench to tackle streaking Rice ball carriers. Graham comes to Rice from Tulsa, where he coached under Steve Kragthrope and they turned a 1-10 program around to C-USA champions in year 4. This game will be played at Rice Stadium on the Rice campus in Houston. Now, for this writer, no stadium is better than Rice Stadium. Built for the 1950 season to house the large crowds the SWC champion Rice Owls were drawing, it has hosted many memorable events, including Super Bowl VIII. This year Rice Stadium underwent a 6 million dollar renovation, replacing the athletic surface with field turf, installing new bleachers and a new scoreboard. If you have never been to a game at Rice Stadium, you don’t know what you are missing. It is a true masterpiece. The end zone seats have been covered this year to reduce capacity to 47,000, but they can regain the original 70,000 seats.

Other games this week:

Arkansas at Mississippi State

Baylor vs. Oklahoma

Houston at Memphis (To clinch hosting C-USA championship)

SMU vs. Tulsa

TCU vs. San Diego State

Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma State

Last week’s game:

U of H came back to beat SMU 37-27 and take one step closer to hosting the C-USA Championship game.

Other games:
Arkansas 31 Tennessee 14

OSU 66 Baylor 24

Houston 37 SMU 27

Rice 41 Tulsa 38

Kansas State 45 Texas 42 (UPSET ALERT)

Nebraska 28 Texas A&M 27 (Nov. woes continue)

TCU 27 New Mexico 21

Oklahoma 34 Texas Tech 24