In his debut game as Texas Southern's coach, former Houston Oilers cornerback Cris Dishman guided the Tigers to their first Labor Day Classic win over Prairie View A&M since 2014.
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Rice suffered an unsettling defeat as well as a sound whipping last week on the football field. Texas Southern’s emotions were quite the opposite when the Tigers walked off the field at Panther Stadium.
Making his college head coaching debut, Cris Dishman had his team ready, and TSU easily knocked off rival Prairie View A&M 27-9 on the road, ending a nine-game skid in the Labor Day Classic. A former Houston Oilers cornerback, Dishman aced his "welcome to the SWAC" moment.
Rice however, is looking to correct things and trying to get back into form. A heavy favorite at home, the Owls were bullied 34-14 at the hands of Sam Houston, in only its second year at the FBS level.
“There’s no way I can say stay the course, because the course was not good enough on Saturday,” said Mike Bloomgren, in his seventh season guiding the Rice program, which is coming off back-to-back bowl appearances. “We’re not at a point where something just went wrong or we lost the game by a point. That wasn’t the case. There’s things we've got to address and change.”
TSU is riding high, as it should be. Rice needs a get-well-soon outcome. The two Houston schools play each other for only the third time, but the second consecutive year, inside Rice Stadium at 6 p.m. Saturday.
“We've got to stop talking about Cris Dishman the great player,” Bloomgren said. “Right now, it’s Cris Dishman the great coach.”
Until last Saturday, TSU had not defeated Prairie View since 2014.
“The victory over Prairie View was a long time coming,” Dishman said. “Our alums, our other student-athletes and athletes in the past, that victory was for them.”
K.J. Cooper engineered the Tigers’ decisive victory, getting the surprising start at quarterback over incumbent Jace Wilson. Cooper threw for 180 yards and a touchdown without an interception, adding 52 yards rushing on six carries. Freshman Danny Green Jr. was just as instrumental in the win, picking up 81 gritty yards and two touchdowns, mostly running between the tackles.
“As a coaching staff, we coach the little things here,” Dishman said. “We coach the details, and we do drills to make sure our guys understand the why of the drills. We want our guys to have a high football IQ so they understand the game.”
Texas Southern certainly understood what it was doing against the Panthers. The Tigers did not allow an offensive touchdown, outgaining Prairie View 346-240. TSU outrushed PV 166-21. The Panthers averaged 1 yard per attempt. The Tigers were 3-for-3 in the red zone, scoring two touchdowns and a field goal.
“They (TSU) look like a good team,” said Rice defensive end Charlie Looes, among seven Owls with a sack against the Bearkats. “We definitely can’t overlook them, but it’s just about us at this point.
“We've got to fix the mistakes we had and improve on what we know we can do and play our game. They do have a good team. It seems like they’re rebranding their offense from what they did last year. They have some new guys, but they have some really good athletes.”
Dishman's opting to go with Cooper over Wilson, the 2023 SWAC Newcomer of the Year, has merit.
“From the quarterback to the specialists, nobody has a job. Every job is won during the week,” Dishman said. “We have a competition each week. Just because you start one week does not mean you start (the following week).
“We don’t have starters. We have a first 11, a second 11 and whatever. And everyone has to earn the right to be part of that first or second 11.”
Against Sam Houston, Rice fell behind 17-0 in the first quarter, and the Bearkats held the ball for more than 20 minutes in the second half to thwart the Owls' hopes of a comeback. Rice was limited to three rushing first downs and only 47 net yards rushing. Sam Houston ran for 178 yards.
It was not all bad for the Owls. Dean Connors caught a career-best nine passes out of the backfield, leading all FBS running backs. Matt Sykes set a career high with six receptions, one more than his previous career total of five during time at UCLA (four) and with Rice (one) last season. John Long, who missed last season due to injury, graded out best of the offensive linemen against SHSU.
Making his Rice debut at quarterback, Temple transfer E.J. Warner passed for 227 yards and a touchdown, finishing 27-of-44 with two interceptions. Josh Pearcy had a team-high eight tackles and forced a fumble.
There just was not consistency from the Owls to Bloomgren’s liking.
“I don’t think we understood or we didn’t play with the understanding of the strength it takes to win a college football game,” Bloomgren said. “It goes back to the physicality. There’s not many times we walk on the field against whatever team where they didn’t feel our presence physically.
“I don’t know if that was the case on Saturday. We absorbed the blows instead of giving them for the most part.”
The Owls are not in panic mode following a lackluster performance against an improved Sam Houston team. The time to get things turned around begins Saturday for Rice, which is starting the season with back-to-back home games for the first time since 2018.
“It’s clear we got away from who we want to be as a football team,” Bloomgren said. “We have another opportunity to play football this weekend, and we get to play another game in historic Rice Stadium. I believe in this team in all aspects and to the guys who are coaching.”
Sep 6, 2024
Richard Dean
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