2011 UH Cougar Watch-Coogs Are C-USA West Division Champs!

The Dream Season continues!   For the first time since 2009 the University of Houston Cougar footballers are the C-USA West Division Champs after their 48-16 victory yesterday over the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.   

Like every UH Cougar fan and alum I was nervous before this critical showdown with Tulsa in a sold out H.A. Chapman Stadium started and knew the stakes were high for the BCS number 8 ranked Cougars. 

A C-USA West Division title, a berth in the C-USA Championship game, the undefeated season and a possible BCS bowl berth was on the line. 

We were facing a tough Tulsa team whose only losses were to Top 10 ranked opponents and was the top ranked defense in C-USA.    Now 8-4 (7-1 C-USA West) Tulsa was determined to make their season by getting to the C-USA title game and knocking us from the ranks of the unbeaten at the same time.

But it was the Cougar defense that stepped up big and gave the Cougar offense time to get into the game by stopping Tulsa on a fourth and one deep in the red zone and forcing a fumble on another drive in the red zone to protect a 13-10 lead they took into halftime.  

And then the Cougar offense had that second half explosion we were waiting for.  They scored five touchdowns in the second half but the most critical one was the 38 yard fourth down strike from Keenum to Patrick Edwards that pushed UH to a 27-16 lead late in the third quarter.  The Coogs pulled away with three fourth quarter TD's to close out this game and the first undefeated run in C-USA division play for any school since the 2005 realignment.  

"Fifteen weeks ago, we set out for one goal and that goal has not changed all year," said UH coach Kevin Sumlin. "I think a lot of people have tried to talk our team into all these other scenarios and stuff that's happening out there

"Our guys understand that and they've put themselves in a position to achieve that goal. Along the way, there's been a bunch of records broken and a bunch of milestones crossed, but the ultimate goal for us from day one was to win the conference championship."

Keenum threw for 457 yards and 5 touchdowns and in the process (ho hum) set another NCAA record with his 37th 300 plus yard game.  Patrick Edwards had 181 yards receiving and racked up four touchdowns  

The Cougars are now 12-0 (8-0 C-USA West) for the first time ever in school history and with Friday's victory earned the right to host this year's C-USA title game for the second time in school pigskin history   They face either Southern Mississippi or Marshall at what is sure to be a rollicking and sold out Robertson Stadium on December 3 for an opportunity to win their first C-USA championship since 2006. 

Coach K's press conference.



Eat 'em up!

2011 UH Cougar Watch-Huge Game With Tulsa Today

The number 8 ranked University of Houston Cougars have a ginormous 11 AM CST regular season closing game in Tulsa with the Golden Hurricane that will not only determine who wins the C-USA West Division but who hosts the C-USA Championship Game next week against what looks like it may be C-USA East Division champ Southern Mississippi.

That's assuming Southern Miss handles their pigskin business tomorrow against Memphis.  If it doesn't and Marshall wins their showdown against East Carolina, the Thundering Herd would be the C-USA East Champs because they have the head-to-head tiebreaker on the Golden Eagles.   .

Southern Miss would advance with a loss if East Carolina beats Marshall. 

UH along with LSU are the only unbeaten FBS schools left, and the game with Tulsa has major BCS ramifications.  UH has a leg up on Boise State for the automatic BCS bowl bid because they are still in the running to win their conference championship despite Boise State's higher ranking.    

TCU clinched the Mountain West title last weekend thanks to the upset win and has the tiebreaker on Boise State and their win over Colorado State. 

One of the BCS rules for a non AQ conference school is that they must be their conference champ to be considered for an automatic bid to a BCS game.   So far the only thing the Cougars have clinched with that sparkling 11-0 record is bowl eligibility. 

The Cougar seniors painfully remember along with Coach Kevin Sumlin what happened to them in 2009 when they were experienced the same buzz and lofty BCS ranking, then lost to an unranked UTEP.  They also fell short that year of winning the C-USA championship with a 35-31 loss to East Carolina in the 2009 C-USA title game and are determined not to repeat that sequence of events in addition to accomplishing something no Cougar football squad has ever done by winning 12 games.

It will also have major effects on Case Keenum's chances for the Heisman Trophy.    As long as Case and the Cougars keep winning, he's still in the discussion for it and a trip to New York despite the media's attempts to coronate Andrew Luck and Alabama's Trent Richardson  for it. 


8-3 (7-0 C-USA West) Tulsa will be a formidable opponent.  UH leads the all time series with them 19-17, but the Golden Hurricane have a great quarterback in G.J. Kinne and have won 12 straight C-USA games.  One of those dozen wins was a 28-25 defeat they pinned on the Cougars at Robertson Stadium last season

Tulsa has only lost to Oklahoma, Oklahoma St and Boise State and took out UTEP 57-28 last week in El Paso to remain unbeaten in C-USA West play at 7-0. The Cougars were dispatching SMU 37-7 to match them at 7-0 in C-USA West and set up the title showdown at H.A. Chapman Stadium.   
   
The Coogs need to beat Tulsa and win the C-USA title game next week to secure their status as BCS bowl busters and get that elusive BCS bowl berth.  Once they handle their pigskin business against Tulsa today, then they can exhale and pay close attention to what happens to the teams in front of them BCS standings wise.

Eat 'em up!

2011 UH Cougar Watch-Coogs Number 8 In BCS Rankings

After a remarkable Senior Week which saw the ESPN GameDay show appear on campus for the first time ever and a sold out Robertson Stadium witness Case Keenum break (ho hum) another NCAA passing record, the unbeaten University of Houston Cougars parlayed their 37-7 victory over the SMU Mustangs to the highest ever ranking in the BCS poll and their first Top Ten AP and Coaches Poll rankings since 1990.

And hopefully it at least raised Case Keenum's profile in the Heisman race.

The Cougars jumped up three spots in the pols thanks to all of the losses last weekend by other schools.  They are now number 8 in the BCS and AP polls, and number 7 in the USA Today Coaches one.

Damn, what we wouldn't give for a NCAA football playoff right now.

Saturday's win for the 11-0 Cougars also sets up a regular season closing 11 AM CST showdown in Tulsa on Friday for the C-USA West Division title and a hosting berth in the December 3 C-USA championship game. 

2011 UH Cougar Watch-Coogs Beat SMU

It was Senior Day at The Rob as a special and historic BCS busting football season continues at my alma mater.

The senior class who helped lead the 11th ranked Cougars back to national relevance and the cusp of elite football status played their last regular season home game against C-USA West Division foe SMU.   It was also a week that included a first time visit to the city and our campus by the ESPN GameDay crew and heightened sports media attention about what happening with UH Cougars athletics.  

And oh yeah, don't look now Texas, but you have an emerging problem on the hardwood too. The UH men's ballers beat Arkansas 87-78 in North Little Rock, AR to go to 3-0 to open the season for the first time since 2006. 



So Rick Barnes, when are your chicken Horns gonna play us?

But back to focusing on Senior Day.   In front of a record crowd at the Rob, the UH Cougar football team fought an upset minded SMU squad to take a 37-7 win over the Mustangs.  . 

UH Coach Kevin Sumlin talks about the seniors in the post-game press conference.



They moved to 11-0 on the season (7-0 in C-USA West) and set up the showdown in Tulsa on Friday with the Golden Hurricane for the C-USA West Division title, a spot in the C-USA championship game on December 3 and a potential BCS bowl game for the first time since 1985.