The SMU Mustangs (1-5, 1-2 WAC) will face the Rice Owls (5-3, 4-0) in the school's 72nd Homecoming game on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 2:00 PM Central time at the Cotton Bowl. It will be SMU's last WAC game in the Cotton Bowl before moving to its on-campus facility, Gerald J. Ford Stadium, next season.
The rivalry between the two schools extends back to 1916. Since then, SMU and Rice have squared off 76 times, with SMU holding a 42-33-1 series advantage. SMU is hoping to continue its WAC success in the Cotton Bowl. The Ponies are 10-4 in league games at home since joining the conference.
In other news, SMU head coach Mike Cavan announced Wednesday that the team will wear a decal on its helmet the remainder of the 1999 in honor of Payne Stewart, who died earlier this week in a plane accident. Additionally, there will be a moment of silence before the SMU-Rice game for Stewart.
Cavan and players Austin Adami and Chase Schavrda addressed the media at the school's weekly press luncheon. All spoke in detail about the Owls' potent running game:
Head Football Coach Mike Cavan
ON POSTPONING THE SAN JOSE STATE GAME LAST WEEK: "What concerned me about playing the next day (November 24 at San Jose State) was having a short week to prepare for Rice. Had it been an open week for us, I would have been excited to stay and play the next day."
"There is no right answer, but what was decided was right at the time. I think that with the distances teams in this conference must travel, some written policy will come out of this game (San Jose State)."
"I have never been through a postponement other than natural caused in 20 years of coaching - certainly not one for the lights going out at the stadium."
"I hope that this game (San Jose State) will be meaningful and that we'll have to fly back out to San Jose in December and play it."
ON RICE: "I've told the guys that we have an opportunity for the second straight game to play the best team in the WAC. I'm concerned about having 17 days off with such a young team - you want them to stay sharp and focussed. We would have liked to keep playing the next week with the momentum from the Fresno State win, but the other side is that we've had plenty of time to heal and get nearly everyone 100 percent healthy for Rice."
"Last week was a very impressive win for Rice over TCU. Their quarterback can really run the option and has done so all season. The difference in this Rice team is that they are better on defense than they've been in the past."
"Saturday will be a challenge for us on both sides of the ball. This is the best team we've seen so far this season."
"The key to defending their attack is sticking to assignments. They'll keep picking and pecking at you until they find something in their offense that you haven't prepared for or are not expecting -- then they'll start gashing you with it."
"Coach Schumann has a lot of experience with the option offense and I know he'll get the defense ready to play against it, but he can't play. It will be up to the players to go out and execute."
"Any touchdown passes that Rice gets are dictated by how well they throw the ball. Their offense can get guys so wide open you could shot put the ball to them. If they are having great success running the ball, you better believe they'll hit you with a pass sooner or later."
"I'm fully prepared for Rice to be the best prepared football team we've played. You cannot hope to catch them down after a big win because that is all you'll be doing - hoping."
"The key to our success is how quickly we can adjust to the stuff on the field, because you cannot simulate it all in practice. How well we adjust during the game will determine our success in the game."
"Sustaining drives offensively is something we prepare to do each week, and it certainly plays an important role in limiting what the opponent's offense can do. But I've always said that the defense just has to go out and stop the offense three times and make them punt. If they don't want to be on the field a long time, just stop them. You cannot put the responsibility of success on just one unit. Everyone works together."
#70 Austin Adami - Senior Offensive Lineman
"Rice has always been a good game for us. It's not the big rivalry game like TCU, but it's a game that has always been a turning point in the season for us."
"My body feels fine with the extended rest, but it has been a long time since we did anything at game speed. Everyone is feeling good and are wanting to go out and play."
"I tried wearing one of those jackets the quarterbacks wear, but it was a too small and I couldn't breath too well. The company doesn't carry any in a size 48 so we've had to get one specially made. Last week I knew my back was going to hurt but I was mentally prepared to play through it. I had so much padding on I looked like the Michelin man or something."
#13 Chase Schavrda - Junior Defensive Lineman
"It's tough to prepare to defend the option, but it comes down to Coach Schumann. He always has us prepared to play well against an option team."
"We basically use the same game plan against every option team we face, but Rice has always been the better one and they are a little different than they were last year."
"As a defensive line, we're having to do a lot of reading during the play. How we react dictates what their quarterback does. Our goal is to string them outside on every play. If we can prevent them from getting to third and short, it will put pressure on their offense and force them to do some things they don't like to do."
"The defensive lineman just need to take care of our assignments, string their offense to the outside and get our safeties up to make a play."
