University of Houston Athletics
Our Journey from Pop Warner to Saturday’s 41-Yard Score
10/6/2023 7:41:00 AM | Football
Carnes, Huff add new memory in Houston’s inaugural Big 12 road matchup
By Dalton Carnes, Houston Redshirt Freshman Wide Receiver
By Jett Huff, Houston Redshirt Freshman Quarterback
The College Station Raiders
Jett Huff: Once I moved to College Station, there was a group of six to seven guys in our grade who stuck together. We all played Pop Warner for the College Station Raiders. Dalton's two older brothers played for my dad, so he was always around, and he was my age.
Dalton Carnes: We'd walk up to the high school and play football after school. We were all playing together in fourth, fifth and sixth grade. It was a small-town vibe. Our families were friends.
JH: We went to school together. That's when I figured out this dude is pretty good.
Weighing the options
DC: My dream was to play both baseball and football. I realized that's not going to happen because it's almost impossible to do so nowadays so I was trying to keep every option open.
JH: I thought Dalton would play baseball in college. He was a really good player.
DC: I had a couple JUCO baseball offers. All the Division II football offers I received, I asked about playing baseball too. I would have been able to go that route, but I also felt like I could play at a really high level.
JH: I had some Division II offers and some schools I was choosing between. There were some coaching changes with two schools and I was left with no school to go to. I started making some calls and figured out I wanted to come to Houston. I still wasn't sure what Dalton was going to do. That's when we started talking when he hadn't made a decision yet. I asked my dad, who coached us both at College Station, to reach out to Coach Meekins to look at Dalton. My dad and Coach Meekins have known each other for a long time.
DC: Like any walk-on, I'm betting on myself. I was reaching out to schools. I was told I could have an opportunity at Houston.
Getting acclimated in a new city, with a new team
JH: I got here at the beginning of last summer. My dad being a coach for so long was able to help make connections and that's how Houston found me. I'm incredibly thankful for him and this opportunity.
DC: I came in last year right before the season started after fall camp. Everyone else in my class came in during June. I felt a bit out of place at first because everyone had already been there for months and I'm just rolling in. I was trying to take advantage of every opportunity because you don't get as many as everyone else.
JH: When you start as a walk-on, you feel it's kind of a label and you feel out of place at times. I was on scout team for the first year. I had to be mentally tough – especially the first year. The first year is the hardest. I felt like I was drowning the whole time. You're not certain what the future will be like. I just knew I had to stick with it.
Opportunities arise
DC: I felt like I had a good spring and good fall camp. I was running with the 2's mostly. At the beginning of the season, I was playing outside receiver and backing up Sam Brown. I would get a couple reps here and there.
JH: As a signaler, I'm involved in every offensive snap. It's a good way to know what's happening and study the defense. We're checking plays. It's almost like a coaching role. They're telling me things on the headset which I'll relay to Donovan (Smith). I want to coach, so this is great practice and to be able to do something like that.
DC: When Josh (Cobbs) got hurt against Sam Houston, they needed someone to back up at Y (wide receiver position). I moved over there for the week. It was my first time playing there so I had to learn a bit. I was backing up (Joseph) Manjack. In the Y position, you rotate a bit more. I knew I'd get a little more playing time from that.
It was a blur
DC: On the first play of the game, Manjack cut open his knee and he was battling through that. He had to get stitches before halftime so we flipped roles and he was giving me breathers.
JH: The play we initially called was not the go-route to Dalton. It was a different play. If they see something different from the defense up in the booth, they'll make a change. I saw the defender come up and press Dalton. It was 1-high safety which they'd given multiple times. It was going to be straight man coverage.
DC: I'm looking at Donovan (Smith) and he checked the 'go' to me. I saw the corner walk up and I knew it was either me or Boogie (Johnson) on the other side. I was focused on winning off the line.
JH: We checked the route to Dalton. I look at Dalton and looked at the defender. I kind of told myself, 'he may actually score right here.' He's either going to score or it's incomplete. It's
going to be 40 yards on the red line and we were on the 41. I knew signaling in that play, it had a chance.
Right when the ball was snapped, Dalton had a great release. I just put my hands on my end. I kept thinking, 'please, throw the ball to Dalton.' He had three yards of separation. I was watching the ball in the air and thought there was no way this was about to happen.
DC: I got into the endzone and at first, I thought there might be a flag. It's so loud then it gets so quiet when you're at an opposing team's stadium. I thought there could be a flag, but everyone was celebrating. When I got to the sideline, Jett came up to me, screaming in my ear, and gave me a big hug.
In front of the family
DC: My grandfather and my uncle on my dad's side have a business in Lubbock called The Range. They live up in Lubbock and I have family in Waxahachie whose son goes to Tech. I probably had 15 people there rooting me on including my mom and dad. There was no better venue for that first score. They were all there to see it live instead of on TV.
Gaining trust
DC: The main thing with playing time is trust. I'm focused on making all the plays I should be in practice. I want to be trustworthy to gain more snaps in the game. As a team, we're focusing on the details to ensure we're doing the little things right.
Under the bright lights
JH: When you're younger and you think of college football, you think about running out and the stadium is packed – night games. It's been a huge difference from last year having so many people at the stadium. We work super hard and it makes all the difference having fans out there.
Known it all along
JH: Dalton is special. I've known that for a long time. It's hard to get snaps as a walk-on. As a second-year guy to earn enough trust to be put out on the field, much less score a touchdown in a Big 12 game, I think lots of people don't grasp how hard that is. There are thousands of dudes across the country who will never catch a ball. I think people see that now and see that Dalton can play with everyone else. I've known that forever. I've just been waiting to see that come to light.
DC: I couldn't have written up a better scenario with my family in the stands and Jett calling in the play. It was an extremely special moment.
Go Coogs! 🐾
By Jett Huff, Houston Redshirt Freshman Quarterback
The College Station Raiders
Jett Huff: Once I moved to College Station, there was a group of six to seven guys in our grade who stuck together. We all played Pop Warner for the College Station Raiders. Dalton's two older brothers played for my dad, so he was always around, and he was my age.
Dalton Carnes: We'd walk up to the high school and play football after school. We were all playing together in fourth, fifth and sixth grade. It was a small-town vibe. Our families were friends.
JH: We went to school together. That's when I figured out this dude is pretty good.
Weighing the options
DC: My dream was to play both baseball and football. I realized that's not going to happen because it's almost impossible to do so nowadays so I was trying to keep every option open.
JH: I thought Dalton would play baseball in college. He was a really good player.
DC: I had a couple JUCO baseball offers. All the Division II football offers I received, I asked about playing baseball too. I would have been able to go that route, but I also felt like I could play at a really high level.
JH: I had some Division II offers and some schools I was choosing between. There were some coaching changes with two schools and I was left with no school to go to. I started making some calls and figured out I wanted to come to Houston. I still wasn't sure what Dalton was going to do. That's when we started talking when he hadn't made a decision yet. I asked my dad, who coached us both at College Station, to reach out to Coach Meekins to look at Dalton. My dad and Coach Meekins have known each other for a long time.
DC: Like any walk-on, I'm betting on myself. I was reaching out to schools. I was told I could have an opportunity at Houston.
Getting acclimated in a new city, with a new team
JH: I got here at the beginning of last summer. My dad being a coach for so long was able to help make connections and that's how Houston found me. I'm incredibly thankful for him and this opportunity.
DC: I came in last year right before the season started after fall camp. Everyone else in my class came in during June. I felt a bit out of place at first because everyone had already been there for months and I'm just rolling in. I was trying to take advantage of every opportunity because you don't get as many as everyone else.JH: When you start as a walk-on, you feel it's kind of a label and you feel out of place at times. I was on scout team for the first year. I had to be mentally tough – especially the first year. The first year is the hardest. I felt like I was drowning the whole time. You're not certain what the future will be like. I just knew I had to stick with it.
Opportunities arise
DC: I felt like I had a good spring and good fall camp. I was running with the 2's mostly. At the beginning of the season, I was playing outside receiver and backing up Sam Brown. I would get a couple reps here and there.
JH: As a signaler, I'm involved in every offensive snap. It's a good way to know what's happening and study the defense. We're checking plays. It's almost like a coaching role. They're telling me things on the headset which I'll relay to Donovan (Smith). I want to coach, so this is great practice and to be able to do something like that.
DC: When Josh (Cobbs) got hurt against Sam Houston, they needed someone to back up at Y (wide receiver position). I moved over there for the week. It was my first time playing there so I had to learn a bit. I was backing up (Joseph) Manjack. In the Y position, you rotate a bit more. I knew I'd get a little more playing time from that.
First career tuddy @CarnesDalton! 😤#GoCoogs | #TEAM
— Houston Football (@UHCougarFB) September 30, 2023
pic.twitter.com/XnjWNHWbr1
It was a blurDC: On the first play of the game, Manjack cut open his knee and he was battling through that. He had to get stitches before halftime so we flipped roles and he was giving me breathers.
JH: The play we initially called was not the go-route to Dalton. It was a different play. If they see something different from the defense up in the booth, they'll make a change. I saw the defender come up and press Dalton. It was 1-high safety which they'd given multiple times. It was going to be straight man coverage.
DC: I'm looking at Donovan (Smith) and he checked the 'go' to me. I saw the corner walk up and I knew it was either me or Boogie (Johnson) on the other side. I was focused on winning off the line.
JH: We checked the route to Dalton. I look at Dalton and looked at the defender. I kind of told myself, 'he may actually score right here.' He's either going to score or it's incomplete. It's
going to be 40 yards on the red line and we were on the 41. I knew signaling in that play, it had a chance. Right when the ball was snapped, Dalton had a great release. I just put my hands on my end. I kept thinking, 'please, throw the ball to Dalton.' He had three yards of separation. I was watching the ball in the air and thought there was no way this was about to happen.
DC: I got into the endzone and at first, I thought there might be a flag. It's so loud then it gets so quiet when you're at an opposing team's stadium. I thought there could be a flag, but everyone was celebrating. When I got to the sideline, Jett came up to me, screaming in my ear, and gave me a big hug.
In front of the family
DC: My grandfather and my uncle on my dad's side have a business in Lubbock called The Range. They live up in Lubbock and I have family in Waxahachie whose son goes to Tech. I probably had 15 people there rooting me on including my mom and dad. There was no better venue for that first score. They were all there to see it live instead of on TV.
Gaining trust
DC: The main thing with playing time is trust. I'm focused on making all the plays I should be in practice. I want to be trustworthy to gain more snaps in the game. As a team, we're focusing on the details to ensure we're doing the little things right.
Under the bright lights
JH: When you're younger and you think of college football, you think about running out and the stadium is packed – night games. It's been a huge difference from last year having so many people at the stadium. We work super hard and it makes all the difference having fans out there.
Known it all along
JH: Dalton is special. I've known that for a long time. It's hard to get snaps as a walk-on. As a second-year guy to earn enough trust to be put out on the field, much less score a touchdown in a Big 12 game, I think lots of people don't grasp how hard that is. There are thousands of dudes across the country who will never catch a ball. I think people see that now and see that Dalton can play with everyone else. I've known that forever. I've just been waiting to see that come to light.
DC: I couldn't have written up a better scenario with my family in the stands and Jett calling in the play. It was an extremely special moment.
Go Coogs! 🐾
Players Mentioned
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