Houston Cougars Thump Marshall 63-28: Where Do They Go from Here?

By Robert H Kelly

Copyright 2011 TexSport Publications

Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loco Photography, 

Copyright 2011, All Rights Reserved.

HOUSTON, TEXAS (October 22, 2011) What can one say after a football game that ends in a 35-point win for the home team and raises the team’s season record to 7-0?

Some may think that the score says it all and that nothing more needs to be said.

If the world was so simple that above statement would simply be enough.

More precisely, if the game of college football was so simple it might make for an easier time of understand the game as a whole.

But college football is not that simple. One must indeed look at what else happened in the game.

Yes, the Houston Cougars are now 7-0 after their 63-28 thumping of the Thundering Herd of Marshall.

Marshall came into Robertson Stadium sporting a 2-1 Conference USA record and leading the East Division of the conference.

The Thundering Herd controlled the ball for 42 minutes of the game. That means the Cougars’ defense was on the field for nearly 3/4 of the game.

No matter what one thinks about the Houston defense, that fact definitely had an impact on the game.

Add that to the realization that Houston has been struggling with their defense all season makes for a dangerous situation if their opponents offense ever gets on the move.

Case Keenum threw for 376 yards and six touchdowns in Houston's 63-28 win over Marshall. Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loco Photography, Copyright 2011, All Rights Reserved

Houston gave up 506 total yards to Marshall. That is way too much.

Holding them to 28 points was a factor in the game, but the fact is Marshall failed to capitalize on their offensive drives and Houston scored easily when they did have possession of the ball.

Case Keenum had a very successful day. He competed 24 of 28 passes for 376 yards and six touchdowns.

That performance did enable him to become the NCAA's career total offense record holder.

If he keeps this up, he should have no problem breaking both the NCAA all-time passing yardage record and the NCAA all time touchdown passes record.

The Cougars should have their next game against cross-town rival Rice. The Owls

sport a 2-5 record and should be no match for the Cougars. But the way college football is, nothing is guaranteed.

Houston head coach Kevin Sumlin needs to evaluate the defensive performance from today’s game and continue to tweak and refine where the defense is going.

To his credit, the Houston defense has shown improvement this year and is steps above when it was this time last year.

However, if he hopes to build on what has dome so far and continue to see improvement, he must expect…no, he must demand that the defense step up and do a better job than it did against Marshall.

After all, he has at least five games to go in 2011 and possibly two more if he gets to the C-USA championship game and the eventual bowl game that may come at the season’s end.

Add that to all the speculation of a possible move to the Big East Conference and all that implies makes the defensive situation crucial.

After all, this is college football and anything can happen.

Action Continues on Day 3 of C-USA Swimming and Diving Championships

HOUSTON, TEXAS (February 29, 2008) The 2008 Conference USA Women's Swimming & Diving Championship and Invitational continued on Friday evening at the CRWC Natatorium on the campus of the University of Houston with SMU turning in another record breaking day. The Mustangs set four new meet and pool records, recorded four one-two finishes and set nine career and two season bests to extend their lead in the team standings. Marshall also highlighted day three when the Herd won its second individual event since joining the league in 2005-06.

SMU closed the evening with its fourth one-two finish when senior Anja Carman out-touched junior Petra Klosova to set a new meet and pool record in the 100-yard backstroke. Carman's time of 53.38 broke the previous record by almost two seconds and was good for an NCAA `A' qualifying time. Klosova was also ahead of the previous record and touched the wall in 54.67, an NCAA `B' consideration. Nan Liu of invitational member Northern Colorado grabbed third with the NCAA `B' time of 55.57.

Marshall claimed its first event win of the championship when senior Micheala Sceli posted an NCAA `B' time of 1:02.03 to win gold in the 100-yard breaststroke. Her mark was a school record and the win marked just the second individual win for the Herd since it joined the league in the 2005-06. Sceli holds 17 of MU's all-time top 20 times in the 100 breast.

SMU sophomore Devon Callaghan was just out-touched by Sceli and took second in 1:02.09. Her mark was also good for NCAA `B' consideration. East Carolina freshman Stephanie Harper claimed third place in 1:03.86.

The swimming resumed after the men's 3-meter diving event with another SMU victory. Twin sisters Jennifer and Candace Blackman had a one-two finish in the 200-yard freestyle with Jennifer taking the win in a meet and pool record time of 1:45.52 for NCAA `A' consideration. Candace's second place time of 1:47.09 was also an NCAA `A' mark. Junior Sasha Schwendenwein of Houston placed third in a school record time of 1:47.55, good for NCAA `B' consideration.

Event number four featured another Mustang one-two finish that saw both swimmers down the previous meet and pool record. Senior Angela San Juan Cisneros took gold in 53.65 an NCAA `A' mark and a new record. San Juan Cisneros broke Ann Degenstein's previous record of 54.41. The mark was one of the few still held by a former league member. SMU freshman Elzanne Werth took second in 53.81, while NCU's Liu claimed third in 54.80. Both marks were NCAA `B' qualifying times.

The Mustangs finished one-two once again in the 400-yard individual medley, as both junior Jennifer Basel and freshman Maroua Mathlouthi finished faster than the previous meet and pool record. Basel touched the wall in an NCAA `B' time of 4:17.29, to set the new meet and pool record. Mathlouthi was just behind in 4:18.14, also good for NCAA `B' consideration. Former record holder junior Andrea Pa'lmai of Houston took third in 4:21.67. Her time was also faster than the record she set last season and made the NCAA `B' cut.

The second event of the night was the women's 1-meter diving competition. Houston regained its dominant form and swept all three places to grab 53 points. Three-time C-USA Diver of the Week freshman Courtney Forcucci grabbed the gold, scoring 287.15 points. The mark was good for NCAA `A' consideration. Senior Ginni van Katwijk came in second with 284.30 points, while Lacey Truelove totaled 279.85 points. Both times were also NCAA `A' qualifying marks.

Britney Yancey (272.25) of SMU, last evening's 1-meter champion, and teammate Audra Egenolf (269.45), finished third and fourth, respectively. Both of their marks were also NCAA `A' considerations.

SMU began Friday evening where it left off the previous night with a win in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The team of Klosova, C. Blackman, Werth and Sascha Van den Braden were just off the record pace and finished in an NCAA `A' time of 1:30.83. Rice finished in second with an NCAA `B' time of 1:31.57, while East Carolina took third in 1:34.36.

SMU extended its lead in the C-USA Championship team scoring after its impressive day three and now leads with 628 points, followed by Rice with 407 and East Carolina with 352. Houston sits in fourth with 286 points, while Marshall is fifth with 217 points.

First-year women's invitational members Northern Colorado (211) and Cal State Bakersfield (157) sit in sixth and seventh in the invitational team scoring.

Men's teams from league schools East Carolina and SMU along with Hawaii and Cal State Bakersfield are also competing in the C-USA men's invitational. SMU leads that event after day three with 648.5 points, followed by Hawai'i with 553, East Carolina with 452.5 and Cal State Bakersfield with 290.

The meet resumes at 10 a.m., Friday with the preliminaries of the 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly and 1,650-yard freestyle. The women's and men's platform diving preliminaries will begin around 1 p.m. The finals for those events are slated to begin around 6 p.m. with the championship awards presentation immediately following.

SMU Leads After Day 2 of C-USA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships

HOUSTON, TEXAS (February 28, 2008) The 2008 Conference USA Women's Swimming & Diving Championship and Invitational continued on Thursday evening at the CRWC Natatorium on the campus of the University of Houston with another dominating performance by defending champion SMU. The Mustangs set new meet and pool records in two events, while winning all five events that took place during day two.

The 400-yard medley relay squad of Anja Carman, Devon Callagan, Elzanne Werth and Petra Klosova closed out the evening by taking the event gold in 3:38.86. The time was good for NCAA `B' consideration. Rice (3:47.52) and Houston (3:51.74) took second and third, respectively.

The Mustangs made history in the 3-meter diving event, becoming the first team other than Houston to win gold in a diving event. SMU Sophomore Britney Yancey claimed first place with a mark of 329.50, an NCAA `A' qualifying score. Three-time C-USA Diver of the Week Courtney Forcucci (314.80) of Houston took second also with an NCAA `A' qualifying mark. Mustang freshman Audra Egenolf claimed the bronze with an NCAA `A' mark of 306.05.

In the 50-yard freestyle, SMU had a one-two finish with junior Candace Blackman taking gold in 22.79 and senior Angela San Juan Cisneros just behind in 22.92. Both times were NCAA `B' qualifying times. Rice junior Carly Miller was third with a time of 22.96.

The Mustangs were dominant in the 200-yard individual medley, taking the top six places. Klosova, the 2007 C-USA Swimmer of the Year, set a new meet and pool record, taking the gold in 1:59.48. The time was also an NCAA `A' qualifying mark. Junior Jennifer Basel, was just off her record pace from last season and finished second in 2:00.99, while freshman Maroua Mathlouthi won bronze in 2:01.89. Both times were good for NCAA `B' qualification.

Callaghan (2:03.08), Carman (2:03.37) and sophomore Justine Clark (2:03.66) took places three through six for SMU, respectively. All three of their times were good for NCAA `B' consideration.

SMU took two of the top three places in the 500-yard freestyle final to begin the night, with Jennifer Blackman claiming her second consecutive 500 free title in an NCAA `A' qualifying time of 4:45.27. Rice's Brittany Massengale touched second (4:48.38) for an NCAA `B' qualifying time, while SMU's Katie Roberts grabbed third in 4:52.47, also an NCAA `B' qualifying time.

SMU took control of the C-USA Championship team scoring after the dominant day and now leads with 323 points, followed by Rice with 213 and East Carolina with 178. Houston sits in fourth with 125 points, while Marshall is fifth with 116 points.

First-year women's invitational members Northern Colorado (106) and Cal State Bakersfield (90) sit in sixth and seventh in the invitational team scoring.

Men's teams from league schools East Carolina and SMU along with Hawaii and Cal State Bakersfield are also competing in the C-USA men's invitational. SMU leads that event after day two with 337.50 points, followed by Hawai'i with 270, East Carolina with 218.50 and Cal State Bakersfield with 135.

The meet resumes at 10 a.m., Friday with the preliminaries of the 400-yard IM, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke and 100-yard backstroke. The women's 1-meter and men's 3-meter diving preliminaries will begin around 1 p.m. The finals for those events are slated to begin around 6 p.m.

All-session tickets are available for only $25 for adults and $10 for youth. Single-day tickets are available for $10 for adults and $5 for students with ID. Youth includes children from 3 years old to high school. Children who are 2 years old and younger are admitted free.

All students from Conference USA schools are admitted free with a valid student ID.

Fans should note that cash only will be accepted at the Tickets table.

Gates will open, and tickets will be sold beginning one hour prior to the meet. In addition, a wide variety of Championship merchandise will be available near the Tickets table.

Click here for complete meet results, team scores, and live stats.

SMU Makes NCAA "A" Cut in 800-yard Freestyle Relay

By Robert H. Kelly
Copyright 2008 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (February 27, 2008) - The 2008 Conference USA Women's Swimming and Diving Championship and Invitational got off the an exciting start on Wednesday evening at the CRWC Natatorium on the campus of the University of Houston with a record performance by the SMU 800-yard freestyle relay team.

The squad of Jennifer Blackman, Petra Klosova, Candace Blackman and Sascha Van den Branden finished with the time of 7:04.87, shattering the pool and meet record they set last year of 7:10.49. The mark was good for an NCAA `A' qualifying time.

Rice came in second (7:21.75) with an NCAA `B' time, while East Carolina finished in third (7:34.43). The host Cougars finished in fourth (7:37.63) and Marshall took fifth (7:42.73).

In the first event of the meet, the 200-yard medley relay, the Rice team of Angela Wo, Pam Zelnick, Skylar Craig and Diane Gu finished in 1:43.29 to take the win and grab 40 early points. Defending champion SMU finished in a record time of 1:39.32, making the NCAA “A”cut. but was disqualified fot an early takeoff. League members East Carolina (1:45.01) and Marshall (1:47.64) officially came in second and third, respectively.

Rice leads the C-USA Championship team scoring after day one with 74 points, followed by East Carolina with 66 and Marshall with 60. SMU sits in fourth with 40 points on the strength of their record-setting relay, while Houston is fifth with 30 points.

On the men's side, teams from league schools East Carolina and SMU along with Hawaii and Cal State Bakersfield are also competing in the C-USA men's invitational. SMU leads that event after day one with 108 points, followed by East Carolina and Hawai'i with 104 and Cal State Bakersfield with 44.

The meet resumes at 10 a.m., Thursday with the preliminaries of the 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley and the 50-yard freestyle. The women's 3-meter diving preliminaries will begin around 1 p.m. The finals for those events are slated to begin around 6 p.m.

All-session tickets are available for only $25 for adults and $10 for youth. Single-day tickets are available for $10 for adults and $5 for students with ID. Youth includes children from 3 years old to high school. Children who are 2 years old and younger are admitted free.

Click here for complete meet results, team scores, and live stats. Championship information came be accessed by clicking here.