Houston's second half effort destroys Rutgers; 77-55 in college men's basketball

Photo by Robert H Kelly

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2014 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (January 18, 2014) The Houston Cougars jumped out to seven point lead at the end of the first half and came back like a team possessed with five players scoring in double figures to down the Rutgers Scarlet Knights by the score of 77-55 in front of 3,115 fans at Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston on Sunday, January 19, 2014.

The Cougars were never seriously challenged in the second half, outscoring the Scarlet Knights 42-27 in the final 20 minutes.

Danrad Knowles scored  16 points in his first start as a Cougar.

He was 6-of-8 from the floor and 3-of-3 from the line in addition to snatching eight rebounds.

Danuel House, who returned to the Cougars’ lineup after knee surgery, scored 14 points and pulled down six defensive rebounds in 27 minutes of play.

TaShawn Thomas and Brandon Morris each scored 12, with Jherrod Stiggers adding 11.

The game was in stark contrast to three days earlier, when the Cougars faced the defending national champion Louisville Cardinals, and came away with a 91- 52 loss.

The bench was the difference in the game against Rutgers, with Houston scoring 35 points off the bench while Rutgers could manage only 15.

When questioned about the fact that the Cougars looked like they were having fun on the court, sophomore guard Danuel House commented:

“The coaches talked to us and we talked to each other that it is not fun if you are not winning and what the coaches and the players came together to do was we found a way where we could play team basketball where everyone is happy, everyone is having fun, share the ball and play defense and win basketball games and that is the most important thing.”

Head coach James Dickey was pleased with the outcome of the game, but after the loss to Louisville on national television, he was asked if they did anything different to prepare for the game:

“No, we talked about the reality. We got it handed to us. They played great. We didn’t play very well. That's embarrassing to play like that in a conference game on national TV. Our guys realized that, and they know they’re better than that. We talked about our approach mentally and physically. Get yourself to whatever the level to be ready to play, you have to be there. Our guys did a really good job preparing. We didn’t do anything special. Our guys coaches did a marvelous job spending time with the guys as a team and individually.”

With the win, the Cougars are now 11-7 for the season and 3-2 in conference play; tied in third place with SMU and Memphis.

The Cougars will face Memphis for the first time this season on Wednesday, January 23, 2014 in Memphis and SMU on Sunday, January 26, 2014 at Hofheinz Pavilion.

Both games will be broadcast on television on the ESPN News channel and on the radio at 950 AM KPRC.

HBU Huskies down Northwestern State for first Southland Conference win

Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2014 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (January 12, 201`4) Houston Baptist’s Tyler Russell scored 16 points against Northwestern State on Saturday evening, but his final two points of the game will be remembered for years to come.

With HBU railing 97-96 late in the game, the junior guard hit a baseline jumper with seven-tenths of a second remaining to give the Huskies a 98-97 win over the Demons at Sharp Gymnasium in Houston on January 11, 2014.

HBU led by 15 points at the 16:47 mark in the second half, but the Demons battled back to take a one point lead with 16 seconds left in the game.

The Huskies got the ball back after the score, which allowed Russell to take a shot with six seconds remaining.

His shot missed and was quickly rebounded by Marcel Smith, who passed the ball back to Russell for the winning shot.

The win was the first-ever for HBU in Southland Conference action and raised their season record to 4-12 and a 1-3 conference mark.

Smith tallied 21 points for HBU, followed by Rob Lewis with 20 and Russell’s 16.

Cody Joyce also scored in double-digits with 10 points.

Eleven Huskies got into the scoring column, with the bench recording 37 of HBU’s 98 points.

The Huskies scored 40 points in the paint, 18 second chance points and six on fast-breaks.

Reveal Chukwujekwu pulled down 11 of the Huskies 39 rebounds while Dauson Womack added eight.

For the Demons, Jalen West scored 31 points, with Zikiteran Woodley adding 24 and DeQuan Hicks with 20.

HBU will hit the road for their next two contests, facing Nicholls State on January 16 and McNeese State on January 18.

The McNeese State game will be broadcast on ESPN3.

Fonde Recreation Center plays host to Hall of Fame Games

By Robert H Kelly

Copyright 2014 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (January 5, 2014) Those fans in attendance at Fonde Recreation Center on Saturday, January 4, 2014 in Houston were witness to some of the best high school basketball action in the nation in the Fonde Hall of Fame Games.

Day two of the Fonde Hall of Fame Games saw eight teams battling it out on the hardwood inside the Fonde Recreation Center with each of the games named after a basketball legend that was in attendance to present awards to those players and teams in their signature named game.

The first matchup, the Dave Lattin Game, featured Trent International (4-5) from Sugar Land, Texas facing Bellaire High School (10-4) from Houston.

Lattin, who was Houston's first high school basketball All-American when he played at Worthing High School, was the starting center for the Texas Western Miners when they won the 1966 NCAA basketball championship. 

He later played professionally for the San Francisco Warriors and the Phoenix Suns.

In a match that had Bellaire leading 28-22 at the half, those in attendance saw Trent rally back, scoring 33 points in the second half, to win the game 55-53.

Simonas Januskis scored16 points for Trent, followed by DaRon Curry with 14 and Lbrahim Dumbia with 10.

For Bellaire, Christian James connected for 22 points, while Jarren Greenwood added 11.

In the 3:30 p.m. game Tulsa SOYLA faced Episcopal (Houston) High School in the Elvin Hayes game.

Hayes played his college ball for the Houston Cougars and currently is a radio analyst for the Cougars.

He is a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and was the NBA’s 50^th Anniversary All-Time Team.

In the Elvin Hayes game, Episcopal downed SOYLA, 59-42.

Jamel Williams was the high scorer for Episcopal with 17 points, with Qyemah Gipson leading SOYLA with 12 points.

The 6:30 p.m. match, the Calvin Murphy Game, saw Euless Trinity facing off against St. John’s School from Houston.

Murphy played his entire professional career for the Houston Rockets, from 1970 to 1983

Prior to 1992, the Houston Rockets were known as the San Diego Rockets.

Tied at 45-all in regulation, St John’s edged out Trinity 51-49 with Justine Winslow scoring 34 points for St. John’s.

The 6-6, 205 pound guard has signed with Duke and is ranked 14^th nationally also had 16 rebounds.

He was quoted after the game:

"You hear the hype around the city about the game, but coach keeps us grounded. We approached it like a regular game. We just wanted to win. If I would have had two points and we won, I would be happy. I just want to put my team in the best position to win."

For Trinity, Myles Turner has 16 points and seven rebounds.

He is ranked number two in the current ESPN rankings.

The final game of the evening, the Moses Malone Game had Milwaukee’s Rufus King High School playing Yates High School from Houston. 

Moses Malone played for nine different professional teams, including the Houston Rockets from 1976-1982.

Yates, who came into the game sporting a 7-4 record, fell to Rufus King (8-1) by the score of 80-59.

J.C. Washington scored 21 points for Yates while Chris Howell tallied 22 for Rufus King.

Rice downs Incarnate Word 72-57; Kuster moves to third on all-time scoring list

By Robert H Kelly

Photo by Robert Franklin/rlfphoto

Copyright 2014 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (January 5, 2014) Leading by as much as 21 points at one point in the game, the Rice Owls went on to defeat the Incarnate Word Cardinals by the score of 72-57 in women’s basketball action in front of 393 fans at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston, Texas on Friday evening, January 3, 2014. 
 

The Owls had three players in double figures; Christal Porter with 17 points, followed by Jasmine Goodwine with 16 points and Jessica Kuster with 13 points.

With her 13 points, Kuster (shown right) moved into third place in team career points with 1,712.

She is now only 79 points away from second place on the list, which is currently held by Holly Jones, who played for Rice from 1984 to 1988, and scored 1,791 points during her tenure.

The Owls were never really threatened by the Cardinals, who were ahead by two points 30 seconds into the game.

After that, Rice did not relinquish the lead the rest of the game.

Kuster also tallied 13 rebounds to lead all players.

The Owls shot 45% (29-of-64) from the field and 93% (14-of-15) from the free throw line.

For the Cardinals, Rose Whitehead scored 20 points, followed by Joslinn Douglas with 17 and Ifunanya Mora with 11.

Kosisio Mora led the Cardinals with eight rebounds.

With the win, the Owls moved to 7-6 for the season and will begin Conference USA play on January 8 when they travel to Miami to take in Florida International with a 6 p.m. ET start.

They return to Tutor Fieldhouse on January 15 where they will face Louisiana Tech in a 7 p.m. CT matchup.

Syracuse wins 2013 Texas Bowl with 21-17 win over Minnesota

Syracuse quarterback Terrel Hunt was selected the MVP
of the 2013 Texas Bowl.
Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2013 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2013 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (September 29, 2013) Regaining the lead on a 12-yard run by game quarterback Terrel Hunt with 1:14 remaining in the game, the Syracuse Orange held on the defeat the Minnesota Golden Gophers by the score of 21-17 in the Texas Bowl held at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas on Friday evening, December 27, 2013.

The Orange went into the fourth quarter with a 14-3 lead, but Minnesota scored two touchdowns within three minutes of each other to take the lead for the first time in the game.

The first score of the game occurred at the 10:04 mark in the second quarter when Jerome Smith scampered one-yard to cap off an 11 play, 80 yard drive to give Syracuse a 7-0 lead.

Minnesota came back with no time remaining in the first half with a Chris Hawthorne 41-yard field goal to make the score 7-3.

Syracuse upped the score to 14-3 at the 2:57 mark in the third quarter on a Hunt five-yard run and a Ryan Norton extra point.

Minnesota then scored their two fourth quarter touchdowns to make the score 17-14 prior to Hunt’s late fourth quarter score.

Members of the Syracuse Orange hoist the
2013 Texas Bowl trophy.
Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2013 All Rights Reserved

With the win, Syracuse lifted its season record to 7-6, while the Golden Gophers fell to 8-5.

Hunt, who was selected the game’s MVP by a vote of the media, passed for 188 yards, while competing 19-of-29 passes and one touchdown.

In addition, he rushed for 89 yards on 15 carried and scored tow touchdowns on the grown.

For Minnesota, quarterback Mitch Leidner completed 11-of 22 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns.

David Cobb carried the ball 18 times for 91 yards for the Golden Gophers.

Minnesota became the first team to appear in the Texas Bowl twice. The Golden Gophers met Texas Tech in the 2012 Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas, where they lost by the score 34-31 to the Red Raiders.

The total paid attendance for the game was 32,327.

The 2014 edition of the game will feature teams from the SEC and the Big 12 facing off at Reliant Stadium.

The date for the 2014 game has yet to be determined.

2014 Houston College Classic set for February 28-March 1

Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2013 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (December 24, 2013) The Houston Astros have announced the field for the 2014 Houston College Classic to be held at Minute Maid Park on February 28-March 2, 2014 in Houston, Texas.

The Houston Cougars and the Rice Owls will join four other teams from Texas in only the second time tournament history that all the teams competing will be from Texas.

Houston, who finished in second place in Conference USA in 2013 with a 36-22 record, will face Texas Tech at 12:05 p.m. on Friday, February 28, Texas at 3:35 p.m. on Saturday March 1, and TCU at 5:05 p.m. on Sunday, March 2.

The 2013 Conference USA champion and Super Regional finalist Rice Owls, will play Texas at 7:05 p.m. on February 28, TCU at 7:05 p.m. on March 1, and Texas Tech at 1:35 p.m. on March 2.

The Texas Longhorns, who are ranked number 20 in the 2014 Collegiate Baseball Preseason Poll, finished with a 27-24 overall record in 2013, with a 7-17 record in the Big 12 Conference.

Texas Tech tallied a 26-30 overall record in 2013, finished in eighth place in Big 12 action, while TCU finished in seventh place with a 29-28 overall record and a 12-12 mark in the Big 12.

Sam Houston State University will round out the tournament field, playing TCU at 3:35 p.m. on February 28, Texas Tech at 12:05 p.m. on March 1, and Texas at 10:05 a.m. on March 2.

Houston and Rice have played every year since the tournaments inception in 2001, with the Texas Tech Red Raiders participating eight times.

Houston Cougars come up short, fall to San Jose State, 72-68

Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2013 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (December 7, 2013) Despite career scoring highs by Jherrod Stiggers (shown at left) and Brandon Morris, the Houston Cougars men’s basketball team could not overcome a late game surge by San Jose State; falling to the Spartans by the score of 72-68 in front of 3,105 fans at Hofheinz Pavilion on Saturday, December 7, 2013.

The Cougars, who lead by 13 points with 8:38 remaining in the game, were outscored 25-8 to close out the game, and as a result, dropped their second game in a row and four of their last five.

Rebounding was an issue in the loss, with no Cougar pulling down more than five boards.

Head coach James Dickey addressed the lack of rebounding in the post-game press conference:

“We were standing around too much. We knew that they were going to play soft and collapse. That’s the way they play. They were going to play the gaps. You can’t fall into that trap, and we did. I just didn’t do a good enough job getting our guys moving and popping. We stood around, and as a result we got tentative and, that’s what that defense is designed to do. I didn’t prepare our guys as well as I needed to.”

Offensively, the Cougars shot 49.7% from the field and scored only 27 points in the second half.

The Spartans, on the other hand shot near 50% from the field (48.9%), while making 93% of their free throws.

Stiggers, who was 6-of-14 from the field, scored a career high 20 points and was 4-of-4 in free throws.

Morris contributed 17 points, along with five rebounds and three steals.

TaShawn Thomas, who was honored prior to the game as the newest member of the 1,000-Point Club, scored 10 points.

With the loss, the Cougars fall to 6-4 for the season and will return to action on Monday, December 9, 2013 when they face Alcorn State with a 6:30 p.m. tip-off at Hofheinz.

Houston Cougars shutout SMU, 34-0; await bowl invitation

Greg Ward Jr. (1) catches a 19-yard touchdown pass from
John O'Korn at the 13:05 mark in the second quarter.
Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2013 All Right Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2013 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (November 29, 2013) When the Houston Cougars took to the field on Saturday, November 30, 2013 at Reliant Stadium to face their long-time rival, the SMU Mustangs, they were looking to come back from a three-game losing streak that stretched back to November 9.

Not only did their get out of the losing streak, they set themselves up for an invitation from three possible bowl game.

The Cougars wasted no time dispatching the Mustangs back to Dallas in a 34-0 shutout, their first of the season and their first ever over SMU.

On their first play from scrimmage, freshman quarterback John O’Korn unleashed a 67-yard touchdown to Daniel Spencer to get on the board at the 13:32 mark in the first quarter.

The Cougars came back for their second score of the game when Adrian McDonald intercepted a Neil Burcham pass at the SMU 29 yard line.

After failing to get the ball into the end zone, Kyle Bullard booted a 27-yard field goal to put the Cougars up 10-0 with 5:23 remaining in the first quarter.

They added a second touchdown in the second quarter when O’Korn connected with quarterback playing receiver Greg Ward Jr. on a 19-yard pass route to take the score to 17-0.

Kent Brooks capped off the first half scoring with a one-yard plunge with 34 second left in the half.

The Cougars got the ball with SMU fumbled on a team rush, which allowed Eric Eliand to scoop it up and run 62 yards down the field to the SMU to set up the score

Bullard connected on all three extra point attempts to close out the scoring in the first half.

They continued their scoring juggernaut with a 37-yard rushing touchdown by Ryan Jackson at the 8:07 mark in the third quarter.

That touchdown was the results of a six-play, 59 yards drive that lasted 2:26.

Bullard added a 27-yard field goal at the 2:45 mark in the quarter to give Houston a 34 point lead.

O’Korn passed for 245 yards, while completing 25-of-41 passes and two touchdowns.

The Houston Cougars should know their bowl
destination by Saturday, December 7, 2013
Photo by Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2013 All Rights Reserved

Spencer caught seven passes for 100 yards while Jackson carried the ball seven times for 63 yards.

The contest saw SMU flagged 10 times for penalties, costing the 90 yards while coughing up the ball once and being picked off three times.

Burcham generated little offensive punch, completing 27-of53 passes and the three interceptions, and could not find a way to get the ball into the end zone past the Cougar defense.

The linebacker duo of Efrem Oliphant and Derrick Matthews each had four unassisted tackles and had a hand in a total of 15 more.

Adrian McDonald had 13 total tackles, with three of them being solos.

Now the Cougars will have to sit back and wait to see which bowl game comes a-knocking with an invitation.

The top prospects look to be the Pinstripe Bowl in New York City, the Belk Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Liberty Bowl in Memphis. Tennessee.

The Belk Bowl and the Pinstripe Bowl will both be played on December 28, 2013 at Bank of America Stadium and Yankee Stadium, respectively.

The Liberty Bowl will be played on New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31) at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.

Bowl invitations and opponents should be known around December 7.

Beadle scores 30 as Sam Houston downs Rice in overtime

Angela Beadle scored a career high
30 points against Rice.
Photo by Darla Tamulitis
Copyright 2013 La Vita Loca Photography

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2013 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (November 28, 2013) Paced by Angela Beadle’s 30 points, the Sam Houston Bearkats downed the Rice Owls by the score of 79-74 in non-conference women’s basketball action at Tutor Fieldhouse in Houston, Texas on Tuesday, November 26, 2013.

Beadle tallied eight of her points in overtime to give the Bearkats their third win of the season and dropped Rice to 3-3 with the loss.

Sam Houston looked to take a 66-63 win at the end of regulation to the locker room, when Rice’s  Breion Allen connected for three with six seconds remaining to send the game to overtime.

The Bearkats lead by a nine points at the 15:41 mark in the second half, as Rice began the comeback and tied it at the end of the second half.

Beadle, whose 30 points was a career high, also pulled down 16 rebounds with 12 on the defensive end of the court, to lead all players.

The All Southland Conference selection in 2013, shot 13-of-25 from the floor and was 4-of-5 from the line while plying 35 minutes.

Jessica Kuster scored 22 points
pulled down 15 rebounds for Rice.
Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2013 All Rights Reserved

For the Owls, Jessica Kuster (shown right) was 7-of-21 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from three-point range and 5-of-7 from the line, for 22 points.

Sam Houston shot 39% for the game, including 57% in overtime and was 67% from the line.

In addition to Beadle’s offensive performance, the Bearkats’ Jasmine Johnson accounted for 21 points and Taylor Dorsey tallied 12.

Rice also had two players, in addition to Kuster in double figures; Megan Palmer with 10 points and Allen with 10.

The Bearkats will next travel to Kansas City Missouri to face the University of Missouri at Kansas City in the first round of the UMKC Thanksgiving Tournament on Friday, November 29.

The Owls will also be on the road for their next contest as they head to Boulder, Colorado to play in the Omni Hotels Classic on November 29, facing Samford with a 6 p.m. CT start.

Houston's Richie Leone honored by The American with 2nd Special Teams Player of the Week honor

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2013 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (Houston, Texas) Houston Cougar senior punter Richie Leone was been named Special Teams Player of the Week by The American Athletic Conference as announced by press release on Monday, November 25, 2013. 

Leone, a senior majoring in organizational leadership and supervision, averaged 44.7 yards per punt on 10 attempts against Cincinnati on Saturday, November 23 at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston.

He had one punt for 64 yards, two of 55 and 50 yards, and four between 40 and 49 yards.

The award was the second of the season for Leone. He was also honored with the award on September 2, as the conference’s first award honoree for 2013.

Leone is also a three-time semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award, which is presented annually by the Augusta Sports Council, to college football’s top punter.

The award is named after Ray Guy, who was a punter for Southern Mississippi and the Oakland Raiders.

For the 2013 season, Leone has punted 59 times for 2,540 yards, averaging 43.1 yards per punt.

He has 13 punts of 50 yards or more and has booted the ball inside the 20-yard line a total of 29 times.

In addition to his punting duties against Cincinnati, Leone kicked off four times, resulting in three touchbacks and a single return of only 13 yards.

Leone was honorable mention All-Conference USA in 2011 and first team All-Conference USA in 2012

Mario Andretti appears in Kyle, Texas to the delight of fans

test

KYLE, TEXAS (November 25, 2013)  Central Texas race fans were granted a treat Friday morning as Mario Andretti helped open the new Firestone Complete Auto Care with store manager Don Mack in Kyle, Texas. The event was coordinated with a ribbon cutting with the Kyle Chamber of Commerce.

Not many have driven a race car better than Mario Andretti. He could make a bad car competitive and a competitive car victorious. He won the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500, the Formula One World Championship and the Pikes Peak Hillclimb. He won the Indy Car National Championship four times and was a three-time winner at Sebring. He won races in sports cars, sprint cars and stock cars - on ovals, road courses, drag strips, on dirt and on pavement. He won at virtually every level of motorsports since he arrived in America from his native Italy at age 15. He is a racing icon, considered by many to be the greatest race car driver in the history of the sport.

Assessing his legacy is easy...he drove the careers of three men. He drove with a passion and joy that few have equaled - and he won. Mario Andretti took the checkered flag 111 times during his career - a career that stretched five decades.

And he was competitive all of those years: He was named Driver of the Year in three different decades (the 60s, 70s, 80s), Driver of the Quarter Century (in the 90s) and the Associated Press named him Driver of the Century in January, 2000.

The admiration for Andretti has been for his achievements on the race track. He is in the very elite, top-superstar category of his game. Yet, if you look at his whole life, he has seen the world that most people will never see. And the journey he has made is what made him a very rich man.

Career highlights for Andretti include:

• Four-time Indy Car National Champion (1965, 1966, 1969, 1984)
• Formula One World Champion (1978)
• Daytona 500 winner (1967)
• Indianapolis 500 winner (1969)
• Three-time Indianapolis 500 pole winner (1966, 1967, 1987)
• Pikes Peak Hill Climb winner (1969)
• Three-time 12 Hours of Sebring winner (1967, 1970, 1972)
• USAC National Dirt Track Champion (1974)
• International Race of Champions (IROC) Champion (1979)
• Only driver to be named Driver of the Year in three different decades (1967, 1978, 1984)
• Named Driver of the Quarter Century (1992) by vote of past Drivers of the Year and a panel of 12  journalists
• Named Driver of the Century by The Associated Press (December 10, 1999)
• Named American Driver of the Century by RACER magazine (January, 2000)
• All-time leader in Indy Car pole positions won (67)
• All-time Indy Car lap leader (7,595)
• All-time leader in Indy Car race starts (407)
• All-time leader in wire-to-wire Indy Car victories (14)
• Second all-time in Indy Car victories (52)
• Only driver ever to win Indy Car races in four decades
• Oldest race winner in Indy Car history, with 1993 victory at Phoenix at age 53
• Only driver to win the Indy 500, Daytona 500 and the Formula One World Championship
• From 1961 to 2000, competed in 879 races, had 111 wins and 109 poles (includes all forms of motorsports)

Andretti told the crowd, “It’s great to be in Kyle, Texas and meet so many race fans.” 

Andretti spent plenty of time with fans and did not rush them, as the line ran outside the store on a blustery day with temperatures in the 30’s with a light sleet falling.”

Local race fan Hayden Oswalt of Buda, Texas said, “My Dad had told me about him, but after watching his videos on You Tube, he is easily the greatest driver of all time.”

Houston Cougars drop 3rd game in a row; fall to Cincinnati, 24-17

John O'Korn (5) was well below his season passing average 
of 247 yards against the Cincinnati Bearcats.
Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2013 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2013 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (November 23, 2013) The Houston Cougars could not seem to get their offensive punch going on the grass on Saturday, November 23, 2013 at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, Texas, as they fall to the Cincinnati Bearcats by the score of 24-17.

With the loss, the Cougars fall to 7-4 in 2013 and to 4-3 in The American, while Cincinnati’s record to 9-2 with a 6-1 mark in conference play.

The game started off slow for Houston as the Bearcats scored ten unanswered points before the Cougars were able to get on the scoreboard.

Cincinnati scored on a 40-yard touchdown pass from Brendon Kay to Chris Moore to cap a seven play, 47-yard drive at the 14:32 mark in the second quarter.

They followed up with a Tony Miliano 25-yard field goal with 8:13 to go in the half.

Houston cut the Bearcat lead to three when John O’Korn connected with Deontay Greenbury with a 12-yard pass for the touchdown.

Kyle Bullard’s kick split the goalposts to round out the Cougars’ scoring in the first half.

Greg Ward, Jr. saw his first game action vs.
Cincinnati since Halloween.Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2013 All Rights Reserved

The Bearcats added another touchdown with under to minutes to go until halftime when Kay again connected with Moore on a three-yard pass.

The Cougars began to rally in the third quarter following another Cincinnati touchdown when Trevon Stewart ran 15-yard for the score after recovering a Bearcat fumble.;

Bullard’s kick was good to cut Cincinnati’s lead to 10 and added a 27-yard field goal five minutes later to take the score to 24-17 to close out the third quarter.

Houston attempted to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter, but was unable to find the goal line.

The statistics showed that Houston could not muster enough offense to put points on the score board.

The Cougars managed only 278 yard of total offense as opposed to the 573 yards output of the Bearcats.

Quarterback John O’Korn was well below his season passing average of 247.8 yards per game with Greg Ward, Jr., seeing his first action since Oct. 31, completed five passes for 74 yards.

He completed 13-of-30 passes for 171 yards and one touchdown with two sacks.

Kenneth Farrow (35) carried the ball nine times for
38 yards against Cincinnati.Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2013 All Rights Reserved

Kenneth Farrow carried the ball nine times for a mire 38 yards, which was also below his season average of 52.9 yards per game.

Deontay Greenberry had six catches for 64 yards, while Daniel Spencer had five carries for 66 yards.

Defensively, Efren Oliphant tallied 13 tackles, three of them unassisted with Adrian McDonald accounting for nine solo tackles.

Stewart was asked after the game what he did in recovering his sixth fumble of the season.

“I saw the ball and picked it up and scored.”

The Cougars have now lost four games by a total of 20 points as they begin to prepare to face long time, in-state rival, SMU on Friday, November 29, 2013 at Reliant Stadium with am 11 a.m. kickoff.

SMU is currently 4-5 overall in 2013 with a 3-2 conference record.

The Mustangs face off on Saturday evening (Nov. 23) against the South Florida Bulls at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

The Cougars faced USF on Halloween and defeated the Bulls 35-23.