There's no doubt local boys love to eat up their rice. Owls know how
to ruffle ChangBut the Hawaii quarterback
UH plans Michigan State series
hopes to change that Saturday
By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comBut it's worked the other way with Rice, the football team -- especially for Hawaii's homegrown quarterback, Tim Chang.
Two of the third-year sophomore's worst games were against the team from Houston. As a freshman he was intercepted five times by the Owls. As a sophomore, he was picked off "only" three times, but that loss was more physically painful; Chang injured his throwing wrist and didn't play again for 11 months.
Hawaii is 0-3 against Rice (4-6, 3-4 WAC), but the Warriors (7-2, 6-1) will likely be a slight favorite when they conclude their conference schedule by visiting the Owls on Saturday.
Chang's worst Rice nemesis, linebacker Dan Dawson, graduated last spring. Dawson intercepted Chang five times in two games.
"Dan Dawson, my man," said Chang, after a rainy practice session yesterday. "He did some good things against us, had some big games against us, probably a lot of the reason why we lost. He doesn't hound my dreams, though. I shot myself in the foot the first game. In the second game, he made good plays. He intercepted a screen and a quick-out. Credit to him."
Chang's touchdown-to-interception rate has improved vastly since he was intercepted four times against Brigham Young on Sept. 6. In the first 15 games of his career, Chang threw 28 scoring passes and was picked off 30 times. Since then, it's 14 TDs to seven interceptions in UH's last seven games for Hawaii's all-time passing yardage leader.
UH has already accepted an invitation to play in the ConAgra Foods Hawaii Bowl on Christmas. But Chang said that won't dull the Warriors' motivation. There are other goals to achieve; if Hawaii beats Rice, UH will have its second-consecutive season with a winning road record.
"It would mean a lot for us to come back 8-2," Chang said. "This Rice game is important. It ends our road games and our conference games. That's a big chapter in our season."
The book will be over for 15 Rice seniors. The Owls complete an 11-game schedule Saturday.
"Hawaii is nationally ranked in almost all the passing, scoring and total offense categories," Rice coach Ken Hatfield said. "It'll be an exciting game. We've played Hawaii well in the past and would like to give our best for our seniors in their last game."
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