Lyons spurs big win with speech, key play
It’s the same thing that happened against Western Kentucky, Baylor and Texas. The Rice football team entered the second half, and its play slipped.
Against Florida Atlantic two Saturdays ago, Rice’s first three drives of the second half — totaling 11 plays — ended in a punt, a missed field goal and a fumble.
The Owls’ hopes for a fourth consecutive bowl were teetering.
They were down 26-14 and facing their fourth loss when lightning caused a delay in the fourth quarter.
For nearly an hour and a half, the Rice players sat in the locker room listening to music, trying to ignore the touchdown they’d allowed that put Florida Atlantic ahead by 12 and trying to stay focused.
As the lightning-delay clock ticked down, Rice coach David Bailiff called the team together.
As the players kneeled, an upperclassman realized how tired he was of losing. Enough was enough. From the back of the room, redshirt junior running back Darik Dillard peaked through the heads of his teammates to see who was shouting and pounding on the lid of the Gatorade cooler.
“And I see Alex Lyons,” Dillard said.
Lyons, a 6-1, 225-pound redshirt junior linebacker, is not known on the team as a rah-rah guy. He had never made a speech. He’s more about one-on-one motivation.
Lyons knew the Owls were in a tough spot, a need- to-win situation. He told his teammates to play with heart and give it all they had and that they wouldn’t lose.
Defensive l i neman Preston Gordon remembered that Lyons said they should leave it all out on the field because he wasn’t going to do anything less than that.
“Whatever everybody has to do, do your job, and we’re going to get the win,” Gordon said. “There’s a lot more Alex Lyons language in there, though.”
Dillard felt the atmosphere of the locker room change.
“You could see the entire team putting on a whole new attitude,” he said. “When we walked out, we knew we were going to win the game. It’s as simple as that.”
After a stalled first drive, Rice quarterback Driphus Jackson scored a touchdown on a run up the middle. A drive later, he connected with Dillard for a touchdown, and then the defense held.
Lyons upheld his promise to his teammates. On the final play for Florida Atlantic, with Rice leading 27-26, Lyons had a sack with help from Gordon.
“A lot of coaches were talking about self-fulfilling prophecies, about the leader stepping up,” Dillard said. “Alex stepping up vocally and then making the big play, it’s like fulfilling that prophecy.
The Owls smile when Lyons’ speech is men- tioned. Dillard called the moment “comforting” and “convicting.”
“You’re kind of begging for that one person to step up and really make it known,” Dillard said. “A lot of guys want it to be them, but it’s the brave one who steps up and just makes it happen.”
On Oct. 10, that was Lyons. But he would prefer to not be giving speeches in the coming weeks.
“I hope I don’t have to,” Lyons said. “Hopefully we’re in a situation where I don’t have to come out of myself — out of my element — to give a rah-rah. Hopefully we’re in a comfortable position from here on out.”