I don't know about everyone else, but I went to UofH and I'm so happy they're kicking arse right now...It's about time...What a turn around from a year ago and Kolb is the man... UH fights off Tulane 45-42 By JERRY WIZIG Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle RESOURCES COUGARS: • College scoreboard • Season results • Roster • Schedule • Stats -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- • C-USA » -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHRONICLE COVERAGE: • UH/C-USA Notebook: Early success no surprise to Gulley, Gibson NEW ORLEANS -- The University of Houston continues to put up impressive offensive numbers, but the difference in Saturday's game against Tulane might have been one big defensive play at the end. With the Cougars protecting a three-point lead and the Green Wave driving, defensive end Joe Clay sacked quarterback J.P. Losman to preserve a 45-42 Conference USA win at Tad Gormley Stadium. Tulane was near midfield with 14 seconds and no timeouts remaining, hoping to complete one more pass to get into field-goal range. But Clay's sack enabled the clock to run out. "When I came around the edge and finally was able to get my hands on him, I felt like the weight of the whole world had lifted off my shoulders," Clay said. "Why wouldn't I have been worried with the best quarterback in the country (as rated by NFL scouts) with the ball in his hands?" With the win, the Cougars (5-1, 2-0 Conference USA) surpassed their total from last season, are one victory from being bowl eligible and, along with TCU and Southern Mississippi, are one of only three teams unbeaten in C-USA play. The Cougars were ahead comfortably most of the game, including 28-7 at halftime, and it didn't appear the outcome would be in doubt at the end. But Tulane has made a habit of coming from behind this season, rallying from a two-touchdown fourth-quarter deficit to beat Mississippi State and nearly overcoming a 28-point deficit against TCU. "We're climbing, getting to be a team that makes plays and does the things we have to do to win," said UH coach Art Briles. "We knew (at the half) that 21 points is not a safe lead on that team. They can score so quickly. You want as many points as you can get." UH freshman quarterback Kevin Kolb and Losman each passed for three touchdowns. The Cougars totaled 539 yards on a school-record 105 plays from scrimmage and were 14-of-21 on third-down conversions. They also overcame 112 yards in penalties, a recurring problem. Kolb was 22-of-39 for 283 yards and threw touchdown passes to Vincent Marshall (14 yards), Jonathan Pritchett (12) and Leonard Gibson (27). Kolb, who also threw just his second interception of the year, set a UH freshman record with 12 touchdown passes. "We hit some bumps in the second half, but we hung in there," Kolb said. "We knew we could get lots of points. We fought to the end. Our offensive line was unbelievable again. When we had to run the ball, we put the game on their shoulders, and they won it for us." Anthony Evans scored two touchdowns and ran for a career-high 103 yards as the Cougars gained 256 yards on the ground. UH dominated the time of possession, 42:57 to 17:03, and its defense was on the field for just 19 plays in the first half. "We were able to get them off the field, and they seemed to be off-balance after that," said Cougars cornerback Stanford Routt, who had his fourth interception of the year and recovered a fumble. "On their last drive, I was just praying we'd come out with a win." Tulane (3-3, 1-2) didn't need much time to score. Four of its drives took less than two minutes, and the other two were just over two minutes. The Cougars took 5:28 off the clock during a third-quarter drive that culminated with Evans' one-yard run and consumed 8:34 with a 17-play drive that ended with Dustin Bell's 27-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter, giving UH a 45-28 lead. That field-goal drive was kept alive on Chad McCullar's 30-yard reception on third-and-15. "That might have been the biggest play of the game," said Briles, whose 5-10, 175-pound receiver was hit by three defenders.
Holy crap, UH is 5-1 and 2-0 in their conference?! I go there and I didn't even know. I guess their years of sucking made me not care... Perhaps I should jump on the bandwagon now, you know, considering I never supported them when times were tough.
Of course the year after I leave UH they get their **** together... Oh well, now I'm at UT! And now I get to watch them lose...
Sorry, Danzel, but we are going to have to ask you to NOT cheer for the Rockets. I'm sure you understand.
I really do actually, its the best thing for everyone... Guess what the first UT game I attended in person was? Arkansas.
the teams UH has beaten so far are pretty bad with a combined record of 6-24.. except Tulane and Miss. State (both games UH was the underdog in) However, UH is headed in the right direction. Briles has kicked the program in the ass and has the entire community abuzz. If we can beat Memphis next week it will set up a HUGE home game vs. a ranked TCU team.. if we beat them.. you might see some goalposts come down
You can't argue with Briles' results... man... a couple years ago I seem to recall the team being winless. Of course they pick up when I graduate... I understand that Briles left the Stephenville high school team under some shady circumstances... allegations of embezelment and the like. Water under the bridge as far as I'm concerned. I hear his son coming over from UT next season is pretty damn good, too.
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES Missouri 127, Utah 113, Pittsburgh 105, Bowling Green 66, Air Force 39, Louisville 32, Maryland 32, Miami (OHIO) 27, Boise State 27, Kansas State 24, Florida 22, Virginia 21, UNLV 11, Georgia Tech 6, Clemson 5, Boston College 3, Houston 1. Houston gets 1 vote in the top 25 AtM, North Texas, Rice, etc get 0. Hopefully UofH can keep on winning and possibly get a bowl birth. But even if they dont its pretty obvious Briles has this team going into the right direction. Go Cougars!!!
Agreed. The game with TCU will be huge, as long as we beat Memphis, which should not be a problem, they dont have near the talents of U.H. I heard a rumor of the TCU game getting picked up by ESPN, we'll see. I went New Orleans for the Tulane game, what a great time. Bourbon St. was a blast, and then we went to the game, which was great for 3 quarters. U.H. was up 42-21 in the 4th and got conservative, Tulane then made it interesting. But the Cougars held on....5-1!
good to see the old city college perhaps on the path back to past glories... anyways, what ever happend to john jenkins ?
That bowl wouldnt be a bad at all, I think Houston could beat Kansas. But if the Coogs can pull of the upset of TCU, you never know, conference champs is still a possibility. Although Louisville is coming up now too.
There's a lot of Cougars on this board.. come on guys, where are y'all? Come on out to the Memphis game. This is the start of something big.
http://www.collegefootballnews.com/2003/Whos_Hot_Not/Whos_hot_and_not.htm CFN giving us some love EAT 'EM UP!
