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TCU's Ranorris Ray
Bowl Diary Entry #3 - Dec. 30, 2005
Included below is the final installment of TCU defensive tackle Ranorris Ray's EV1.net Houston Bowl diary. The Mountain West Conference champion and 14th-ranked Horned Frogs face Iowa State Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Central. Practice the last two days, especially yesterday, has gone extremely well. At today's walk-through, everybody seemed real focused, keyed in to what's going on and ready for the game. It's getting to be crunch time. We attended banquets last night and again today at lunch. They're enjoyable and it's part of bowl week. We're getting tired of seeing other teams play in bowl games on TV, and we're just ready to play now. The week here in Houston has gone by real fast. We've done a lot of fun things and now the game is coming up. It hasn't seemed like it's been that long since we played, but it really has. It's starting to hit me a little that tomorrow is my final college game. I hope I won't get emotional, but I probably will a couple of weeks afterwards. All the seniors are ready to go since it's our last time playing together, so we hope to have a good game. Included below is his bowl entry for Thursday, Dec. 29: We had a good day today. Practice went well this morning and we're really starting to focus in on Iowa State. It was great to practice at the Houston Texans' facility across the street from Reliant Stadium. The facility is outstanding. We also had a chance to walk through Reliant Stadium. It's the best stadium I've ever seen and will have a chance to play in. The stadium gives you extra motivation to have a good game. After practice, we had a barbeque and Iowa State's players were also there. We had fun with some of the games and contests set up between our teams. It included a pie-eating contest with Drew Coleman, Cash Cameron, Jason Phillips and Ryan Schlenger competing against Iowa State players. It was fun to watch, but the real competition comes when the game starts. We went out to eat tonight and also did some bowling. We have some pretty good bowlers on the team. It's just nice to be here for four days, have time to relax and enjoy some fun. We're looking forward to another good day of practice tomorrow and continuing to be focused. It's a business trip, but we're also able to chill and have a good time.
A senior from San Antonio, Ray is a second-team All-Mountain West Conference selection after totaling 5.5 tackles for a loss among his 31 stops in 2005. Ray was the only Frog to serve as a game captain in all 11 regular-season contests. Included below is his journal entry for Tuesday, Dec. 27: It's great to finally be in Houston. We had a long bus ride and it's kind of tiring since we had practice on campus this morning. It's exciting, though, since we're counting down to game day (Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Central). As a senior, being in this bowl game is a big thing for me since we played in Houston my freshman year (the 2001 galleryfurniture.com bowl versus Texas A&M at the Astrodome). All the seniors are excited about having their first and last bowl games down here. We came back to campus Monday after having a couple days off for Christmas. It was great going home and just talking with family. We all sat around, mingled and had a great time visiting with each other. It's nice to be playing in a bowl game so close to home. My whole family and a couple of friends will be here. That gives you even extra motivation to do well. The veteran players, like myself, share with the younger players what it means to go to a bowl game. It's good to have fun, but you have to keep your eyes on the real goal - winning the game. That starts with having good practices. It's nice to enjoy the town. However, you really have to keep that to a minimum and focus on the game.
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