Houston Cougars drop final season opener at Robertson Stadium to Texas State Bobcats 30-13

David Piland (8) completed 17-of-44 passes for 211 yards and 

one touchdown. Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca

Photography, Copyright 2012, All Rights Reserved.

By Robert H Kelly

Copyright 2012 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (September 1, 2012) The Tony Levine era of Houston Cougars football officially began on Saturday night and the result was not what the fans and the alumni were looking for.

With the inability to stop the Texas State Bobcat offense, the Houston Cougars dropped their final opening game at Robertson Stadium 30-13 in front of 32,207 fans.

The Cougars could manage only one touchdown and two field goals offensively.

Houston accounted for 326 total yards on offense but their inability to maintain drivers and get the ball into the end zone was a major factor in the loss.

The Bobcats had control of the ball for 43 minutes of the game which severely limited the Cougars scoring potential.

David Piland, who had not seen action as quarterback since 2010, completed 17-of-44 passes for 211 yards and one touchdown.

He also threw one interception and was sacked twice.

Head coach Tony Levine addressed Piland’s performance in the post-game press conference:

“I will notice more once I see the video. Nobody plays exceptionally well offensively when you have the ball for 16 minutes and score 13 points. We have to distribute the ball into the hands of our play makers better. We have to get Charles Sims going better than we did. I’m not saying he didn’t play well, but I would hesitate to say anybody on offense played an outstanding game based on sheer number of points.”

Piland was also critical of the Cougars’ performance, stating

“We had chances and didn’t exploit them how we should’ve. We should’ve made more easy throws. We needed to move the ball down the field and over the middle.”

Defensively, Houston pretty much allowed the Bobcat offense to score at will.

The Cougars gave up 248 rushing and 196 passing yards to Texas State allowing them to score three touchdowns and three field goals with 17 unanswered points in the second quarter.

For Houston, Charles Sims rushed for 77 yards on 14 carries to lead the Cougars on the grown.

Larry McDuffey caught two passes for 73 yards and one touchdown while Daniel Spencer accounted for 49 yards on six receptions.

The Cougars next opponent will be against Louisiana Tech on Saturday, September 8 with a 7:00 p.m. kickoff.