Rice to open practice
2010-03-05
By Dennis Hall / Texas Football
Which Rice team will we see in 2010: The one that wowed fans with a 10-3 record in 2008, or the one that plummeted to 2-10 in 2009?
We’ll start to find out Monday when the Owls kick off spring practice, fresh off a week of Spring Break. Coach David Bailiff and his staff will start putting the pieces in place for the 2010 season with four weeks of spring ball, and you can expect heavy competition for starting jobs across all positions.
Rice’s spring game will take place March 27. That’s the earliest date of any of the state’s 10 FBS programs. Rice will wrap up spring practice on March 31.
As usual, fans will focus much attention on the quarterback and running back positions.
Nick Fanuzzi is the returning starter at quarterback, and he showed promise in 2009 with 1,598 passing yards and 11 touchdowns. But he has no guarantees of being under center for the 2010 season opener. Taylor Cook, a Miami transfer, will get his chance to impress the coaches this spring with his size (6-7, 235 pounds) and talent. Redshirt freshman Taylor McHargue is a dark-horse contender.
Running back Sam McGuffie also will get a lot of attention this spring. He’s a transfer from Michigan who is expected to challenge Charles Ross (491 yards, 11 TDs in 2009) for a starting position. Rice’s other key newcomers on offense are on the coaching staff: coordinator David Beaty and running game coordinator John Reagan.
Bailiff and his crew will be looking to improve the team in all phases. Rice’s resurgence needs to start on the offensive and defensive lines, where the Owls were often overmatched in 2009. Most of last year’s starters return on both lines, so coaches will be looking for better efforts to go along with another year of maturity.
