Rice receiver: Enough is enough to losing ways
stephanie.kuzydym@chron.com
Donning a 2013 Conference USA Championship polo, Rice junior wide receiver Zach Wright stood before the media and spoke honestly for 14 minutes during Rice’s weekly press conference on Monday.
“I’d like to apologize on behalf of the team to our followers, our fans,” Wright. “That wasn’t Rice football on Saturday. I don’t know what it was, but we’re going to do everything we can to get everything back on track.”
Wright’s apology came two days after the Owls were shamed during a 6510 conference loss to Southern Miss in which the Owls gave up basically everything — yards, big plays, even their will to fight.
Wright’s statements were similar to those spoken after previous losses, but this one was filled with a new sense of urgency.
“We have 120 minutes guaranteed left of this season and we’re going to make every single one count,” Wright said.
Rice has two games left, Saturday at UTSA at 6 p.m. and a Nov. 28 home game against Charlotte. The Owls need to win both to make school history and head to their fourth straight bowl game for the first time in program history.
Wright refused to make excuses.
“We always talk about young guys and lack of experience, but there’s nothing we can do about that,” Wright said. “We need guys stepping up. … We’ve had three years of some of the most winningest years of Texas college football. As that’s been great, a lot of those young guys have been part of it but weren’t on the field. They were in the background. Sometimes you have to realize winning in college football is hard, but losing is hard too.”
It’s especially hard when the score at halftime is a crushing 42-0.
Wright and junior linebacker Alex Lyons agreed that was when they first felt embarrassed about their play.
“I don’t even think the Baylor score was that bad going into halftime,” Lyons said. “We missed some tackles and gave up a touchdown on the opening drive (of the second half ). It was hard to get everybody’s spirits back up after that.”
Wright recalled his freshman year when the team was 1-5.
“Everything was crazy,” he said. “People thought the wheels were falling off. We had a group of older guys who put their foot down and said this is enough. We’re changing the Rice football culture.”
For years, other football teams saw Rice on their schedule and marked it down as an easy W. Those who came before the current Rice Owls wanted that to change. They wanted to be feared. Wright wants to bring that attitude back. Bailiff can say his team needs confidence and swagger, but earlier this
season he handed back the game ball for his 500th career victory because he doesn’t make the tackle or the catch or score the touchdowns. Conversely, he doesn’t drop passes or fail to wrap up opponents. Wright is the first member of this Rice football team in 2015 to step forward and say enough is enough.
“We don’t have any more second chances,” he said. “This is it. We need to start taking responsibility and accountability for what’s happened.”
Rice can’t spend another Thursday practice in which multiple guys in multiple units miss a play call or a route or a read. So what’s the answer to Rice’s problems? More accountability.
Last Tuesday, the team ran sprints for a personal foul injury picked up by V.J. Banks against UTEP. During the sprint, Rice quarterback Driphus Jackson called out Banks for not being at the very front of the sprint.
“You have no excuses,” Jackson told him.
On Monday, accountability seemed to be the message Wright was preaching to his teammates in a long unprompted statement he made.
“You have to look a teammate in the eyes and know 100 percent that I gave everything I did for you and I didn’t let you down,” Wright said. “It’s going to take everybody on this team and something bigger than just the game of football.”