Charles Sims (#5) rushed for 87 yards and two touchdowns in Houston's 73-14 defeat of Rice. (Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loco Photography-Copyright 2009 All Right Reserved)By Robert H. Kelly
Copyright 2009 TexSport Publications
HOUSTON, TEXAS (November 28, 2009) With a crowd of 28, 243 in attendance, the Houston Cougars (10-2 overall, 6-2 Conference USA) overwhelmed a struggling Rice Owls team (2-10 overall, 2-6 in Conference USA), defeating their cross-town rivals 73-14 at Robertson Stadium to win the Bayou Bucket.
The Cougars, who bolted out to a 24-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and increased their lead to 59-0 at the half, never was challenged by Rice in winning the Conference USA West title.
Houston’s junior quarterback Case Keenum, a finalist for the Davey O’Brien Award, went 24 for 31 and 323 yards in the air with two touchdowns. He also rushed for 8 yards and scored one touchdown on a 1-yard run with 10:10 to go in the first quarter.
Keenum left the second half to his backups, Cotton Turner and Austin Elrod. Turner went 6 for 8 and 52 yards passing with 1 touchdown; while Elrod rushed for 16 yards on 3 carries.
Houston tallied a total of 684 yards total offense (221 yards rushing and 463 yards passing) while holding Rice to 377 yards (243 yards rushing and 134 yards passing).
Rice never seemed to get into the offensive end of the game until the second half, when the Cougars virtually cleared their bench to allow players down on the depth chart a chance to play.
In fact, Houston ran off a string of 66 unanswered points before Rice could get on the board. Rice finally scored with 9:00 left in the 3rd quarter on an 11-yard run by Charles Ross to take the score to 66-7.
Houston head coach Kevin Sumlin was quoted in saying his players knew how important the game was. “Everyone knew what was at stake here tonight from a big-picture standpoint. The more you can reduce things to feelings about rivalry games, the more I think it helps the guys focus a little better. Our guys came out today and showed how important this game is to them.”
Sumlin was further quoted “This was one of our primary goals – to win the West. We haven’t been perfect but we’ve gotten better and have gone through quite a bit but our guys keep fighting,” Sumlin said. “They have put our team in a position to win a championship and as a coach and program, that’s where you want to be. The only way to do that is to win games. These guys have fought to do that and that’s where we’re at right now but the season isn’t over yet.”
Now it is off to Greenville, North Carolina to face the East Carolina Pirates (8-4 overall, 7-1 Conference USA) on Saturday, December 5 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium for the 2009 Conference USA Football Championship.
Copyright 2009 TexSport Publications
HOUSTON, TEXAS (November 28, 2009) With a crowd of 28, 243 in attendance, the Houston Cougars (10-2 overall, 6-2 Conference USA) overwhelmed a struggling Rice Owls team (2-10 overall, 2-6 in Conference USA), defeating their cross-town rivals 73-14 at Robertson Stadium to win the Bayou Bucket.
The Cougars, who bolted out to a 24-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and increased their lead to 59-0 at the half, never was challenged by Rice in winning the Conference USA West title.
Houston’s junior quarterback Case Keenum, a finalist for the Davey O’Brien Award, went 24 for 31 and 323 yards in the air with two touchdowns. He also rushed for 8 yards and scored one touchdown on a 1-yard run with 10:10 to go in the first quarter.
Keenum left the second half to his backups, Cotton Turner and Austin Elrod. Turner went 6 for 8 and 52 yards passing with 1 touchdown; while Elrod rushed for 16 yards on 3 carries.
Houston tallied a total of 684 yards total offense (221 yards rushing and 463 yards passing) while holding Rice to 377 yards (243 yards rushing and 134 yards passing).
Rice never seemed to get into the offensive end of the game until the second half, when the Cougars virtually cleared their bench to allow players down on the depth chart a chance to play.
In fact, Houston ran off a string of 66 unanswered points before Rice could get on the board. Rice finally scored with 9:00 left in the 3rd quarter on an 11-yard run by Charles Ross to take the score to 66-7.
Houston head coach Kevin Sumlin was quoted in saying his players knew how important the game was. “Everyone knew what was at stake here tonight from a big-picture standpoint. The more you can reduce things to feelings about rivalry games, the more I think it helps the guys focus a little better. Our guys came out today and showed how important this game is to them.”
Sumlin was further quoted “This was one of our primary goals – to win the West. We haven’t been perfect but we’ve gotten better and have gone through quite a bit but our guys keep fighting,” Sumlin said. “They have put our team in a position to win a championship and as a coach and program, that’s where you want to be. The only way to do that is to win games. These guys have fought to do that and that’s where we’re at right now but the season isn’t over yet.”
Now it is off to Greenville, North Carolina to face the East Carolina Pirates (8-4 overall, 7-1 Conference USA) on Saturday, December 5 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium for the 2009 Conference USA Football Championship.
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