2011 UH Cougar Watch-Cougars Maul Marshall

This was the first game in the 2011 NCAA season that the University of Houston Cougar footballers have played while ranked, and oh yeah did I forget to mention that it was homecoming as well?

In front of the fourth largest crowd to attend a game at Robertson Stadium the number 21 ranked Cougars scored early and often to handle their football business and maul the Marshall Thundering Herd 63-28.

Um UH, can y'all teach your pro counterparts on Kirby Drive how to close out games in the second half?   I'm just sayin'.

But back to the Cougars. Case Keenum only needed 130 yards to pass Hawaii's Tommy Chang and the become the all time NCAA offensive leader and eclipsed that record in the first quarter.
 
A 70 yard touchdown bomb to Patrick Edwards a mere eight seconds into the start of the game got the scoring party started to stake UH to an early 7-0 lead.   Marshall fought back to tie the score at 7-7 but UH responded with another lighting strike drive capped off by a 12 yard TD to Tyron Carrier to bump the lead to 14-7. 

After the Herd scored seven seconds into the second period to once again tie the game at 14-144, the Cougars broke the game open with three unanswered touchdowns and a critical defensive stop of Marshall's Tron Martinez on a fourth and goal on the 1 yard line just before halftime that allowed the Cougars to take a 35-21 lead into the locker room.

After Marshall quarterback AJ Graham scored on a 6 yard run to narrow the gap to 35-21 early in the third quarter, the Cougars put the game away with another Keenum TD strike to Justin Johnson and a Derrick Matthews 20 yard pick six

Keenum was 24 of 28 for 376 yards and six touchdown before yielding to his backup Cotton Turner who also tossed a TD pass in mopup duty.

The Cougars move to 7-0 and 3-0 in the C-USA West Division and have a short week.  They have a Thursday night Bayou Bucket showdown with our crosstown rivals Rice at the Rob and the Owl.faithful haven't let us forget who won last year's game. 

You know the Owls would like nothing better than to do unto us what they did last year and ruin what is shaping up to be a very special season here on Cullen Blvd.

2011 UH Cougar Watch-Homecoming At The Rob Versus Marshall

It's homecoming weekend for my fave college football team and the University of Houston Cougars find themselves at 6-0 for the first time since the 1990 season.

They are one of ten unbeaten NCAA FBS squads left in the nation, are ranked number 19 in the BCS poll, number 21 in the AP one, number 20 in the USA today coaches poll and tied for C-USA West Division lead.

We've had more intense media scrutiny at Cullen Blvd since the announcement of the rumored Big East invite and having ESPN's camera around campus filming our homecoming festivities.and the Cougar footballers.  Even quarterback Case Keenum is finally getting some media love that will hopefully translate into some Heisman votes for him.

But rolling into town is a Marshall Thundering Herd team that is 3-4 on the season but tied for the C-USA East Division lead with a 2-1 record after knocking off our crosstown rivals Rice 24-20.

Herd senior defensive lineman and C-USA Defensive Player of the Week Vinny Curry was a one man wrecking crew in that game that compiled 3.5 sacks, had nine tackles with 4 of them being for losses, forced a fumble and recovered another one.

The Coogs offensive line will get one of their major tests of the season.  They will probably be making sure they are aware of where Mr. Curry is at all times in this game before they unleash their NCAA number one ranked offense upon the Herd. 

Case Keenum is on a quest to rewrite the NCAA and University of Houston record books.  He only needs 130 yards of total offense to break Timmy Chang's of Hawaii's record in that category.  

He needs 11 more touchdown passes to set the new NCAA standard in that category which is also held by Timmy Chang and needs 1,178 passing yards the rest of the season to pass Chang and become the NCAA's all-time passer.

The Coogs will also be wearing throwback uniforms from the style when we were in the dearly departed  SWC kicking butt, taking names and going to the Cotton Bowl on the regular.as Southwest Conference champions 
  

Game will be at 3:30 PM CDT tomorrow at Robertson Stadium, and hope my boys are 7-0 when they're done.

UH Formally Invited to Join Big East

You have failed Emperor Palpatine (oops DeLoss Dodds) in your burnt orange mission to keep the University of Houston out of a BCS conference. 

UH got that rumored invitation to formally join the Big East Conference in all sports late last night after the Big East presidents and chancellors met via conference call to discuss expansion.   AD Mack Rhoades and UH President and Chancellor Renu Khator will head to New York later this week to meet with Big East officials.

If they accept, they would join the Big East for the 2013 season.  They would not only get that coveted AQ spot in football, but it would be a major boost to the men's and women's basketball programs.  Where it would hurt would be in baseball, where C-USA is one of the strongest collegiate leagues but right now the grins over on Cullen Blvd and in Cougar Nation are as wide as Texas.

After being Left Behind during the formation of the Big XII, we're now in a better conference than the Big XII that Texas AD DeLoss Dodds was keeping us out of.   He and his bretheren in the Big XII-3+1 will pay for his lack of vision and the burnt orange flavored hateraid he was drinking when it comes to UH.

Take that Longhorn Elementary.   As the old saying goes, when you dig a grave for one, better dig one for yourself as well.

Being that the University of Houston not only has Tier One academic status and sits in the fourth largest city in the nation, the largest in Texas and the prime recruiting area for Lone Star high school talent in all sports, potential Big East membership will not only help the financial bottom line, it also helps UH tremendously in terms of recruiting.in football and especially basketball since the Big East is the premier basketball conference in the collegiate men's and women's game.

So we'll see how this conference realignment drama will play out, but for now a long sought after UH return to the stage of big time collegiate athletics is within its grasp.

2011 UH Cougar Watch-Movin' On Up!

The good news just keeps on coming for the University of Houston Cougars.  In addition to the rumors flying that the school may be about to get a well deserved all sports invitation to the Big East Conference, it is also one of ten unbeaten teams left in the collegiate football ranks.  They also moved up in the AP and USA Today polls while chillin' during their open date weekend..

And speaking of polls, the first BCS one was released with the Cougars starting out in the number 19 spot.  It is their highest ranking in the BCS poll since they climbed to the number 15 spot in 2009.

The Cougars moved four spots to number 21 from the number 25 spot they occupied in last week's AP poll and in the USA Today Coaches poll they jumped three spots from their initial ranking to number 20.

But leave it to UH Coach Kevin Sumlin to keep it real.

“It’s a good thing when you see your program represented in the BCS standings and it certainly helps with visibility for our university, but as a football team, it doesn’t change our approach,” Sumlin said in a Houston Chronicle interview. “Again, it just means we have played well to be one of ten remaining unbeaten programs, and it means we have a lot of opportunity ahead if we continue to prepare and play at a top level.”

The next team they'll have to prepare and play at a high level against is the Thundering Herd of Marshall who come to Robertson Stadium on Saturday.

Just need to keep this spotless season going so we have a shot at being a BCS buster.

Big East To Invite UH?

The burnt orange wearing Emperor Palpatine up in Austin, AKA Texas AD DeLoss Dodds may be about to fail in his mission of keeping UH downtrodden and out of a BCS conference.

In the process, because of the Big XII-3+1's (and Dodds) lack of vision they may be about to lose the Houston and Dallas markets in the process.

The other delicious part of this it that should this invitation come to pass, it's about to become much harder for the Longhorns to recruit the Houston and Dallas metro areas in all sports.

UH is not publicly commenting on it, but what we have wanted since we were unceremoniously kicked to the curb during the formation of the Big XII  in 1996 may be about to happen for UH athletics.

UH AD Mack Rhoades is quoted in the Houston Chronicle as saying,“We are aware of the growing speculation regarding conference realignment and do not feel it would be appropriate to comment on the possible intentions of another league. We are flattered to be mentioned as an athletics program of national importance and we are grateful for our strong traditions and the dedication of our fans, alumni, staff and student-athletes.”

Understand his caution, but the BCS conference that is considering your school for membership is one that also has some serious basketball chops. 

The rebirth of the UH basketball program is about to take a quantum leap forward if this is true.  UH basketball coach James Dickey after only 18 months on the job is quietly putting together one of the nation’s best roundball recruiting classes .  One of the kids that will be on the roster for the 2011-12 season will be Joseph Young, son of Phi Slama Jama baller Michael Young.

Can you say Phi Slama Jama 2.0?   Thought you could.

The rumors are flying that the University of Houston will be extended an invitation along with Boise State, Air Force, Central Florida, Navy and SMU to join the Big East with Air Force and Boise State's invites being for football only.  A conference call has been scheduled for Monday with the Big East chancellors and school presidents to discuss expansion, although the timetable for it is still murky at this time. 

This also comes on the heels of yesterday's announcement that the Cougars current Conference USA home is setting up a 22 team football only merger with the Mountain West Conference in a bid to get AQ status for their leagues in the Bowl Championship Series.

If the Big East invite for UH is extended on Monday and is accepted by the UH administration, there's going to be a serious party on Cullen Blvd.

I'm cautiously optimistic but won't start celebrating until it's official.