Oct 29, 2001

By The Associated Press

Rice is off to its best start since 1960 with a 6-2 record, but the Owls' most inspiring moment so far has been a loss.

Down 31-0 in the second quarter against Louisiana Tech on Saturday, Rice tied it at 38 before losing 41-38 in overtime.

No matter. It might be the one game the Owls remember longer than any other in a rebound season from last year's 3-8 finish.

"It starts with a belief," coach Ken Hatfield said. "Every one of those guys to a man looked at each other and said, `I'm not going to let you down. I'll do the best I can.'

"The end result was a loss but I don't think there's any doubt the opportunity that came to the kids is something they'll never forget the rest of their lives because they were part of it."

The greatest comeback in college history occurred in 1984, when Maryland rallied from a 31-0 deficit and beat Miami 42-40 at the Orange Bowl.

The Owls, picked to finish at the bottom of the Western Athletic Conference standings, have won their share of close games. They barely beat winless Duke 15-13 in the second game, edged Hawaii 27-24 and beat Nevada 33-30 in OT the week before falling to Louisiana Tech.

Until Saturday, their only loss was to No. 2 Nebraska, 48-3.

Next up is a trip to fading Fresno State (6-2), college football's surprise team that rose to No. 8 in the AP poll before losing its last two games - to Boise State and Hawaii.

The 1960 Owls went 7-4 and played in the Sugar Bowl. The 1961 Owls also finished 7-4 and played in the Bluebonnet Bowl, their last postseason appearance.

POLL SHAKEUP: Three of the top 5 losing on the same day? Or more?

It's happened before - 21 times in the history of the AP media poll.

On Saturday, No. 2 Oklahoma lost to No. 3 Nebraska 20-10, No. 4 UCLA lost to No. 20 Stanford 38-28, and No. 5 Virginia Tech lost to Syracuse 22-14.

Last time three top 5 teams lost was January, 1996: No. 2 Florida lost to No. 1 Nebraska 62-24 in the Fiesta Bowl, No. 3 Northwestern lost to No. 17 USC 41-32 in the Rose Bowl, and co-No. 4 Ohio State lost to co-No. 4 Tennessee 20-14 in Citrus Bowl.

I-AA SHUFFLE: College football's other major college division - I-AA - also had a wacky weekend with three of last week's top 5 teams losing, including No. 1 Georgia Southern.

Georgia Southern (7-1), the two-time defending I-AA national champions, lost to East Tennessee State 19-16, and fell to No. 4 in this week's Sports Network's Top 25 poll. The Eagles were replaced at No. 1 by Montana (7-1), which beat Portland State 33-13.

Also losing were Youngstown State (6-2), which fell from No. 5 to No. 10 and Rhode Island (7-1), which dropped from No. 4 to No. 9. Western Kentucky beat Youngstown State 24-14, and Richmond beat Rhode Island.

In I-A, three top 5 teams also lost Saturday - Oklahoma to Nebraska, UCLA to Stanford and Virginia Tech to Syracuse.

EXTRA POINTS: Jesse Chatman, RB, Eastern Washington, was the Big Sky Conference player of the week after running for 277 yards and five TDs and catching six passes for 47 yards and another score in a 63-35 win over Cal State-Northridge. He also scored on a 2-point conversion for a school-record 38 points ... ESPN's College GameDay will travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., for Saturday's Army at Air Force game ... One more loss and Vanderbilt (2-5) clinches its 19th straight losing season. The Commodores are at No. 4 Florida on Saturday ... Marshall QB Byron Leftwich became the first Mid-American Conference player to pass for more than 400 yards three games in a row when he threw for 434 and four TDs in a 50-33 win over Akron. He goes for four in a row Saturday against Kent State.