Matt Hogan kicks six field goals to lead Houston to 39-17 win over UAB

Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2012 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (October 13, 2012)Getting the ball inside the red zone and failing to score a touchdown can be a major problem for some teams, but note the Houston Cougars,

Houston had to settle for five field goals when the University of Alabama-Birmingham defense shut down the Cougars’ offensive drives, but in the end they prevailed, downing the Blazers 39-17 at Robertson Stadium in Houston.

David Piland continued his offensive assault in the air, completing 32-of-44 passes for 362 yards and one touchdown.

Charles Sims showed the Blazers, and the fans at The Rob, why Piland hands the ball off to him so frequently.

The swift running back, who played his high school ball at Houston’s Westbury High School, carried the ball 26 times for 133 yards.

The Cougars got the ball into the zone at the 9:52 mark in the first quarter on a 25 yard pass from Piland to junior wide receiver Shane Ros.

Ros finished the game with seven receptions for 114 yards

The Blazers tied it up at the 6:32 mark in the first quarter with the Cougars settling for the first of their four red zone field goals; a 23-yarder, three minutes later.

Matt Hogan connected on five more field goals of 27, 23, 29, 52, and 29 yards.

His six field goals set a school and Conference USA record for total number of field goals in a single game.

When asked in the post game press conference about the records, he replied,
 

I was just actually told after the game. I had no idea so I guess the feeling is pretty nice. Everybody wants to see six, but I like to try and get three when I can. It’s all actually very surprising. I just go out there when I’m told, but it’s always nice to get a three when possible.

Red shirt freshman Kenneth Farrow and true freshman Ryan Jackson both added to the Houston scoring onslaught on runs of one-yard and 10-yards respectively, both in the third quarter.

Houston’s offense continued to show improvement, but they did have issues capitalizing on long drives as shown by their failure score touchdowns five times while inside the red zone.

Head coach Tony Levine addressed that very issue when questioned by the media after the game.
 

It’s nice to have one of the best kickers in the nation with [Matt] Hogan, but we would prefer seven over three. We have to do a better job of that, and I give UAB credit. They weren’t going to let us run the ball. When you get inside the 10 and the field is condensed, your passing game is limited. We’ve got to do a better job of finishing and executing blocks in the red-zone.

On the defensive side of the ball, senior linebacker Phillip Steward reeked havoc on the Blazer offense; totaling 13 tackles and sacking quarterback Austin Brown twice for major losses.

Brown spent much of the game looking up at the Cougars after being sacked a total of eight times.

In fact, the entire Houston defense contributed to the win with three players, D.J. Hayden, Chris Cermin, and Derrick Mathews accounting for nine, seven and seven tackles, respectively.

The 25,212 fans at Robertson Stadium were treated to a different kind of entertainment during halftime when a red-clad masked man rushed onto John O’Quinn Field.

He was quickly dispatched by security personal and was taken into custody by the Harris County Sheriff’s Department and University of Houston police.

Houston will have a quick turn-a-round this coming week as they prepare to face SMU in just five days.

The Cougars will travel to Dallas on Thursday to take on the Mustangs with a 7:00 p.m. kickoff.

Houston Cougars to face UAB in second conference game of season

Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography

By Robert H Kelly

Copyright 2012 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (October 12, 2012)  After coming off their second win of the season by defeating North Texas 44-21 last Saturday at Robertson Stadium, the Houston Cougars will be looking for their second conference win as they take on the University of Alabama-Birmingham with an 11:00 a.m. kickoff on Saturday morning at Robertson Stadium.

The Cougars are currently 2-3 in head coach Tony Levine’s first year at Houston.

Houston and UAB have split the last meetings with the Cougars winning last year’s game by the score of 56-13 in Birmingham.

The Cougars are 1-0 in Conference USA, defeating Rice 35-14 on Sept. 29 while the Blazers are 0-1 in conference play after losing to Tulsa 49-42.

UAB only victory this season was a 52-3 win over Southeastern Louisiana last weekend.

The Cougars will look to sophomore quarterback David Piland and junior running back Charles Sims to continue their offensive assault on the field.

Piland has throw for over 300 yards in each of his last two games while Sims rushed for 207 yards in only 10 carries against North Texas.

In games where Sims has rushed for over 100 yards, the Cougars are 5-0.

In his past two games, Sims has rushed for a combined 368 yards, which is number three on the all-time school list for two-game totals.

Sims is also number six on the school’s all-time list for rushing touchdowns with 24.

Bryce Beall, who played from 2008-2012 tops the list with 39.

Piland is number eight on both the career completions (356) and career passing yards (4,363).

Case Keenum (2007-2012) leads both lists with 1,546 and 19,217, respectively.

The game will be the central event of Family Weekend as the families of current UH students come to campus to attend and take part in various activities.

North Texas Mean Green drop non-conference game to Houston Cougars, 44-21





Charles Sims rushed for a career high 210 yards
against North Texas. Photo by Darla Tamulitis-
La Vita Loco Photography, Copyright 2012,
All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly

Copyright 2012 TexSport Publications


HOUSTON, TEXAS (October 6, 2012) What a difference a new offense coordinator and four weeks can make.

The Houston Cougars scored 31 points in the first half and running back Charles Sims rushed for 216 yards in three quarters to win their second game of the season by the score of 44-21 over the North Texas Mean Green at Roberson Stadium in Houston.

Four weeks ago, the Cougars suffered a 30-12 loss to Texas State in a game that some predicted would lead to a 0-12 season for the Cougars.

Head coach Tony Levine quickly made changes, including the replacement of his offensive coordinator, and things started happening.

Despite losing their next two games and going 0-3 before their bye week, the Cougars have rallied to beat Rice last week, 37-6 and downing North Texas to raise their season record to 2-3.

The main reason is the improved performance and confidence of quarterback David Piland and his getting the ball into the hands of Sims.

Piland completed 3 1of 41 passes for 321 yards and two touchdowns while handing off to Sims for 21 carries.

Sims rushed for 216 yards while only losing six for a net total of 210 yards and one touchdown.

In addition, he also had five receptions for 55 yards and another touchdown.

However the confidence of Piland, who is looking more and more like a quarterback who enjoys commanding the offense and getting the ball to Sims, is one of the reasons for the Cougars  improved performance five games into the season.

Kenneth Farrow also contributed to the rushing total; carrying the ball eight times for 88 yards and a single touchdown.

Piland also kept the ball on two carries for 13 yards, scoring his own rushing touchdown.

Dewayne Peace scored the other touchdown for the Cougars while rushing for 83 yards on nine carries.

Matt Hogan was 3-for-3 in field goals, contributing nine points, with a game best of 55-yards along five extra points.

On the defensive side of the ball, Phillip Steward and Everett Daniels each had three solo tackles and nine assists to lead the Cougars with 12 each.

Kent Brooks and Chris Cermin both had one interception.

The Cougars will next face the University of Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday, October 13 with an 11:00 a.m. kickoff at Robertson Stadium.

Houston falls to 0-2 on the season; loses to Louisiana Tech 56-49

 

Louisiana Tech's Kevin Saia (57) loses his helmet
while trying to open a hole against the Houston
Cougars defense. Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La
Vita Loca Photography, Copyright 2012,
All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2012 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (September 9, 2012) "I told our team no side of football, offense, defense or special teams, should leave here feeling good or satisfied about what just happened,"

That was the message Houston head coach Tony Levine told his team and later relayed to the media late Saturday night after the Cougars lost their second straight game of the season, 56-49 to the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.

The Cougars got better on the field since their opening season loss to Texas State but they are still miles away from where they need to be this season.

Quarterback David Piland's performance against the Bulldogs was much improved, comlpeting 53 of 77 passes for 580 yards and four touchdowns,

He even had four carries with a fourth quarter scamper of 33 yards, however many big gains were nullified by penalties.

Houston committed 15 penalties for 138 yards and that very fact was addressed by Levine in the post-game press conference.

"Penalty wise those mistakes are largely technique. On holding call, if our guy gets a hand outside the framework of a defender's body that error leads to a penalty. On some false starts, there were some things going on the field, some communication errors and other factors. We had a number of face-mask penalties where our guys would be playing hard, but again that is mostly a technique related issue. Twenty-six penalties combined on both sides is a sloppy football game, and that will not be tolerated by us."

　

Offensively, Charles Sims got the ball more than he did against Texas State.

That was one of the issues involved in the resignation of offensive coordinator Mike Nesbitt and was stressed to his replacement, Travis Bush.

Sims had 21 carries for 65 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught 11 passes for 53 yards.

It was evident on the field that Sims needed to get the ball more and when asked after the game about that very fact, he replied, "I felt pretty good and going earlier. We need to get rid of the little things."

　
Houston will now have one week to prepare before they head to Los Angeles for their first road game of the season against UCLA.

The Cougars will be facing a Bruins team which is 2-0 in 2012, including a 36-30 upset win over No. 17 Nebraska on Saturday night.

UCLA stunned the Cornhuskers with 653 yards of total offense.

Houston will have to take their game to the level against UCLA if they want to avoid going 0-3 for the first time since 2001.

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.