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End Zone: UT Rockets

Owens and Reedy's time to emerge from rut

10/24/2013
BY RYAN AUTULLO
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
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  • Prior to their TD hook-up ending a two-overtime standoff with Navy, Terrance Owens and Bernard Reedy were mired in senior-season slumps.

    Owens, the second-year QB, had regressed into a rut of ugly interceptions and overthrows. His role on many Saturdays slid from game changer to game manager. His favorite target, Reedy, dropped too many passes, drew too many penalties. The struggles of the friends appeared intertwined, manifesting in a pass offense that currently ranks 10th in the MAC.

    Their late-game heroics last week may have signaled a new beginning, one Owens' and Reedy's teammates are banking on in their quest to run the table and win a league title. UT, a team battling an array of injuries, needs its senior duo to perform the way they are capable, the way they've performed for much of their careers. There's no better time to emerge from a rut than now, especially with running back David Fluellen's availability in question.

    The last time UT played BG, Owens had 300-plus yards passing. The year before Reedy snared six balls for 106 yards.

    The challenge is for Owens and Reedy to now prove the first six games to this season, and not the Navy win, was an aberration.

    Contact Ryan Autullo at: rautullo@theblade.com, 419-724-6160 or on Twitter @AutulloBlade.