University of Houston Athletics
Football Opens 2012 Season vs. Texas State
8/29/2012 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 29, 2012
Game Notes | Fan Primer | Fan Guide
FAST FACTS ON THE SERIES
« Series Record Overall Texas State leads 3-1« Series Record at Houston Series tied 1-1
« Series Record at Texas State Texas State leads 2-0
« First Meeting Texas State 21, Houston 7 (Nov. 22, 1946; at San Marcos, Texas)
« Last Meeting Houston 68, Texas State 28 (Sept. 4, 2010; at Houston)
THE GAME
« Houston opens the 2012 season at home against Texas State at 7 p.m. Saturday in the beginning of a season in which the Cougars will bid farewell to both Robertson Stadium and Conference USA. « The game also marks the opening of the first season as Houston's head coach for Tony Levine, who spent the previous four years in the program, two as assistant head coach and two as the special teams coordinator and assistant coach. The 13th coach in program history, Levine was named the head coach of the Houston program on Dec. 22, 2011, and coached the Cougars to a 30-14 win over #24/23 Penn State in the TicketCity Bowl on Jan. 1, 2012, Houston's ninth bowl championship. The game is also the first for five assistant coaches on the Houston staff.
« A win would make Levine just the third coach in Houston's history to win his first two career games at the school. Bill Yeoman accomplished the task in 1962 (7-4) while John Jenkins won his first eight games in 1990 to finish 10-1.
« Houston is coming off a 13-win season, topping the program's previous single-season record for wins of 11 set in 1979. The 13 wins were the most nationally in 2011. In the last four years that included Tony Levine on staff, Houston owns a record of 36-17.
THE Tony Levine SHOW
« The weekly one-hour call-in radio show will take place each Wednesday from 7-8 p.m. CT and will be broadcasted on KBMF-AM SportsTalk 790. Join Houston head coach Tony Levine and host Jeremy Branham each Wednesday at Rajun Cajun restaurant on Richmond for the show. COUGAR INSIDER ON FOX SPORTS HOUSTON
« Cougar Insider, the official television show of the Houston Athletic Department, will be aired on Fox Sports Houston each Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., as well as other Fox Sports affiliates throughout the season. The 30-minute show, hosted by Bart Ennis and featuring the Houston football program and the Houston athletic department began airing on Wednesday, August 29th. THE MATCH UP
« Houston opens its 67th season of football with its first of four non-conference games, taking on Texas State in the final season opener at Robertson Stadium. « The season-opening game at home marks the fifth consecutive season that Houston has opened at home as it looks to extend its season-opening winning streak to five games. The last four season-openers, all at Robertson, have seen the Cougars defeat UCLA (38-34) in 2011, Texas State (68-28) in 2010, Northwestern State (55-7) in 2009 and Southern (55-3) in 2008.
« The first game at Robertson Stadium has been a good one for Houston fans lately as the Cougars have not lost their home opener at Robertson since 2002, a 10-game winning streak.
« Saturday's game is Heroes Day at Robertson Stadium as Houston pays tribute to its heroes in the community. Also, the Houston Athletics Department will give the crowd its chance to sing the national anthem in a tribute to the armed forces and all men and women serving our country.
THE OPPONENT
« Texas State enters its second season on the FBS level under head coach Dennis Franchione, who is in his second stint as head coach of the program. « The program enters its first year in a FBS conference, joining the WAC for one season before moving to the Sun Belt in 2013.
« In 2011, the Bobcats finished with a record of 6-6, falling to its two FBS opponents, Texas Tech (50-10) and Wyoming (45-10).
TIES WITH THE OPPONENT
« Houston head coach Tony Levine served as assistant wide receivers and tight ends coach at Texas State from 1997-99 in his first collegiate coaching experience. « Houston running backs coach Travis Bush played at Texas State from 1996-99 and coached at the program from 2004-09.
« During that time, Bush was on the same staff as Texas State defensive coordinator Craig Naiver and cornerbacks coach Jason Washington.
« Bush also worked alongside Texas State's assistant head coach and Co-Offensive Coordinator Mike Schultz at TCU from 2001-03 when Bush was a graduate assistant and Schultz was the Horned Frogs' running backs coach.
« Houston offensive coordinator Mike Nesbitt also has previous history with Schultz, as Nesbitt played at New Mexico from 1992-93 when Schultz was the assistant head coach/secondary coach for the Lobos.
« Nesbitt's head coach at New Mexico (1992-93) was Texas State head coach Dennis Franchione while also playing under Texas State offensive line coach Dennis Darnell, who was the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for the Lobos.
« Nesbitt worked with Texas State linebackers coach Brad Franchione when Nesbitt was the offensive coordinator at Blinn Junior College (2005-06). Franchione was the head coach in those two seasons and the two teamed up to win the NJCAA national championship in 2006. Franchione was also a student assistant when Nesbitt played at New Mexico.
THE SERIES
« Houston and Texas State have met four times with the Bobcats owning a 3-1 series advantage. « All three of Texas State's wins in the series came in Houston's first three years as a football program: 1946 (21-7 in San Marcos), 1947 (2-0 in Houston) and 1948 (3-0 in San Marcos).
« Houston claimed its first win in the series the last time the two teams met in 2010, a 68-28 win in Robertson Stadium. That season-opening win saw Case Keenum throw for five touchdowns in front of what was then a stadium-record 32,119 fans. That mark is currently tied for third on the Robertson Stadium chart.
« Jacolby Ashworth and Phillip Steward were the only current Houston players to start the 2010 game while 25 other current Cougars saw game action against the Bobcats.
FINAL YEAR AT ROBERTSON
« The 2012 season marks the final year of Robertson Stadium as the 70-year old facility will be torn down following the conclusion of the season. Houston will return to a new on-campus stadium in 2014. « Nine of the top 10 Robertson Stadium crowds have come in the last two years with four coming in 2011.
« Houston set an attendance record of 32,413 in last year's Conference USA Championship against Southern Miss on Dec. 3.
« The regular-season attendance mark of 32,207 was set last season on Nov. 19 against SMU when ESPN Gameday made its way to campus. The home-opener attendance record came in 2010 against Texas State as 32,119 fans passed through the gates.
HEAD COACH Tony Levine
« Houston opened a new era on Dec. 22, 2011, when Tony Levine was named the 13th coach in program history. Levine quickly made his mark on the Houston program by defeating #24/23 Penn State, 30-14, in the TicketCity Bowl. « Levine is the first UH head coach to open his career with a win vs. a nationally-ranked opponent since Harold Lahar in 1957.
« The TicketCity Bowl victory marked the eighth time in Houston history that a head coach has won his opening game at the school.
« With a win over Texas State, Levine would join Bill Yeoman and John Jenkins as the only Houston coaches to win their first two games. Yeoman's 1962 squad won its first two games before finishing 7-4 while Jenkins' 1990 team won eight straight to open the season before finishing 10-1.
SENIOR CLASS EYEING VICTORY RECORD
« The 2012 senior class enters the fall just nine victories away from capturing the record for the most wins by a single class in a four-year period at the University of Houston. With 28 wins, Houston's senior class of 27 currently sits 18th on the class wins chart, just four away from tying for eighth. « Last year's 2011 senior class is one of three classes in Houston history to win a program-record 36 games, joining the 2009 senior class and the 1979 senior class in accomplishing the feat.
« The 1979 senior class also owns the progam's top winning percentage, .766, with a four-year record of 36-11.
« The 2012 senior class currently owns a winning percentage of .700 with a record of 28-12.
ON THE OFFENSIVE
« No team in college football has racked up more offensive yards over the last six seasons than Houston. | Rank | Team | Total Yards | Season Average |
| 1. | Houston | 42,560 | 7,093 |
| 2. | Oklahoma | 38,239 | 6,373 |
| 3. | Oregon | 37,721 | 6,287 |
| 4. | Nevada | 37,647 | 6,275 |
| 5. | Boise State | 36,860 | 6,143 |
PRESEASON WATCH LISTS
« OL Jacolby Ashworth: Lombardi AwardConference USA: DE Jamie Collins, Southern Miss; LB Jeremy Grove, ECU; DE Margus Hunt, SMU; LB Trent Mackey, Tulane; LB Taylor Reed, SMU; TE Luke Wilson, Rice.
« DB D.J. Hayden: Jim Thorpe Award
Conference USA: S Kemal Ishmael, UCF; S Dexter McCoil, Tulsa; CB Deron Wilson, Southern Miss.
« P Richie Leone: Ray Guy Award
Conference USA: P Ian Campbell, UTEP.
« RB Charles Sims: Walter Camp Award
Conference USA: RB Zach Line, SMU.
« RB Charles Sims: Maxwell Award
Conference USA: RB Zach Line, SMU.
NO SHORTAGE OF OFFENSIVE MINDS
« The Houston coaching staff will have no shortage of offensive minds that have called plays in the past as three of the five offensive assistants have served as an offensive coordinator on the collegiate level.« Offensive coordinator Mike Nesbitt is in his fifth season and fourth program as a collegiate offensive coordinator, quickly establishing himself as a young offensive mind. Nesbitt got his start as a playcaller at Blinn Junior College in 2005 and 2006. After spending three seasons as an assistant at West Texas A&M, the Belen, N.M., native was elevated to OC for one year at the school before spending a season as the playcaller at Stephen F. Austin where his offense ranked in the top 15 nationally in passing, scoring and total offense.
« Running backs coach Travis Bush has four years of experience as an offensive coordinator on the collegiate level, most recently spending a year as the OC at UT-San Antonio after spending three seasons as co-offensive coordinator at Texas State. In his final season at Texas State, the Bobcats finished the season No. 8 in passing offense while his quarterback Bradley George was named the Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Year.
« Offensive line coach Lee Hays adds six years experience as an offensive coordinator with stints at Tarleton (2011), Baylor (2006-07) and West Texas A&M (2003-05). Hays also has experience at Houston, having spent the 2010 season as the program's assistant offensive line coach. His final West Texas A&M squad led the FCS level in passing offense before his offenses at Baylor broke several program records.
THE BRICK SQUAD
« Self nicknamed "The Brick Squad", the Houston offensive line returns four of five starters from the 2011 squad. Senior Jacolby Ashworth, junior Ty Cloud, junior Kevin Forsch and sophomore Rowdy Harper started all 14 games for Houston last season. Combined the group owns 71 career starts. The group lost just starting center Chris Thompson from 2011. Forsch slides over from right guard to replace Thompson while junior Ralph Oragwu has stepped in Forsch's old spot.« Across the line, the group weighs an average of 312 pounds and stands at an average height of 6-4. Harper leads the group of five at 6-6 while Cloud leads on the scale at 335 pounds.
« Ashworth leads all Houston offensive players with 29 career starts and a streak of 21 consecutive starts. The Lombardi Award watch list candidate has the versatility to play both tackle, he was the team's left tackle in 2011, and guard.
« Harper, a freshman All-American in 2011, started all 14 games last season at right tackle and has the ability to swing to either tackle spot.
« The 2011 line ranked fifth nationally allowing just 3.86 tackles for loss per game while giving up just 19 sacks.
PACKING HIS OWN SHOES
« Houston head coach Tony Levine has often said that Case Keenum took his shoes with him when he left the Houston program and that David Piland doesn't have to fill those shoes. A quick look in the Houston locker room confirmed Levine's statement.« The sophomore is actually in his third year with the Houston program. Piland started eight games as a true freshman in 2010 after Keenum and Cotton Turner went down with injuries. Piland threw for 2,641 yards with 24 touchdowns and 14 interceptions while leading Conference USA with 316.5 passing yards per game.
« Piland opened his career with 301 yards against Mississippi State before eclipsing the 300-yard mark three more times with games against UCF (334), Southern Miss (467) and Texas Tech (441).
« After Keenum was granted a sixth year of eligibility in 2011, Piland redshirted his second season on campus to save a year of eligibility.
CHARLES IN CHARGE
« After splitting carries with Michael Hayes and Bryce Beall in 2011, junior running back Charles Sims is ready to shoulder the load in 2012. Named to Conference USA's first team last season, Sims led Houston with 821 yards on 110 carries for an average carry of 7.5 yards.« Sims leads all running backs nationally with 121 career receptions, 41 more than his closest competitor. The versatile back has mutliple receptions in his last 21 games. The junior needs just 37 receptions to break into Houston's top-10 career receptions chart. Sims had 70 receptions in 2009 and 51 in 2011.
« Sims has 11 career games with at least five receptions coming out of the backfield including 10 receptions vs. Southern Miss in last year's Conference USA Championship.
« Carrying the ball, Sims has 10 career games with at least 10 carries and three career 100-yard rushing games including 207 yards against Tulane last season on just 10 carries. Sims' effort against the Green Wave set a Houston program record with an average of 20.7 yards per carry, topping the previous mark of 19.9 set by Donn Hargrove in 1953.
« In 2011, Sims ranked No. 4 nationally in yards per carry (7.5) and his 51 receptions ranked No. 2 nationally among running backs..
A WHOLE CAST OF CHARACTERS
« With five of the top six receivers from the 2011 Houston squad graduating, an array of receivers have been given the opportunity to replace the 354 receptions, 4,839 yards and 44 receiving touchdowns that the five accounted for in 2011. « Running back Charles Sims actually led all returning players with 51 receptions for 575 yards and four touchdowns last season. Ronnie Williams led all returning wide receivers with 16 catches for 138 yards and one touchdown. « The 11 returning players who recorded a catch in 2011 combined for a total of 125 receptions for 1,462 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. « Levine's first signing class included five players at the wide receiver position: Junior college transfer Xavier Maxwell and freshmen Deontay Greenberry, Larry McDuffey, Devin Parks and Andrew Rodriguez.
BEST HANDS IN THE LAND
« He may play on the defensive side of the ball but linebacker Phillip Steward claims to have the best hands on the team. If last year's defensive performance is any indication, the senior may be telling the truth as Steward finished the year with six interceptions, leading all linebackers nationally. « Steward's six interceptions was 11th nationally regardless of position as he helped the Houston defense to a total of 21 interceptions, a number that led the Conference USA and was third nationally.
« Of the nine players accounting for the 21 interceptions in 2011, seven who combined for 17 pick offs return in 2012.
« One of two defensive captains alongside D.J. Hayden, Steward leads all Houston players with 35 career starts, starting every game since the sixth matchup of the 2009 season.
MAKING THE SWITCH FROM 3-4 TO 4-3
« With 16 defensive players accounting for 156 career starts, the Houston defense will not have a lack of experience as it switches from a 3-4 to a 4-3 defense under defensive coordinator Jamie Bryant in 2012. « Last season the Houston defense ranked 12th nationally in pass efficiency defense in 2011. With opposing passers holding an efficiency rating of 111.75, the defense was third in Conference USA in the category.
« The defense also ranked third in the conference in scoring defense in giving up just 22.4 points per game.
EXTRA POINTS FOR HOGAN
« Houston senior kicker Matt Hogan enters his final year with the program as one of its most prolific scorers. The Keller, Texas, has a chance to become just the second player in program history to lead the team in scoring for three straight years. The only player to accomplish the feat? Kicker Ken Hebert from 1965-67. « With 300 career points, Hogan currently sits second on the Houston career scoring chart behind the 423 points from former kicker Roman Anderson (1988-91).
« Hogan is also second on the Houston career chart for extra points with 183, behind Anderson's 213.
« On the program's career field goal chart, Hogan's 39 three-pointers are currently tied with Dustin Bell (2001-04) for third behind Mike Clendenen's 41 field goals (1981-84) and Anderson's 70.
« Hogan leads all active kickers nationally with his 183 extra points.
« The senior is third nationally among all positions with 300 career points trailing Wisconsin running back Montee Ball (366) and Florida State kicker Dustin Hopkins (326).
« Hogan finished last season 10th nationally among all positions with 130 points off 91 extra points and 13 field goals.
« The 130 points from Hogan were just one point away from tying the Houston single-season kick scoring record set by Anderson in 1989. Manny Hazard holds the Houston single-season scoring record with 134 points off 22 touchdowns and one two-point conversion in 1989.
« Hogan set the NCAA record for consecutive extra points made in a season in 2011 with 78 straight PATs. Hogan made every attempt in the season's first 11 games before recording his only miss of the season against Tulsa in the season's 12th game.
THE OTHER FOOT
« Helping to form of the nation's top kicking duos, junior Richie Leone will handle Houston's punting duties for the third consecutive year. The 2011 Ray Guy Award semifinalist, Leone had 12 punts over 50 yards and 15 punts downed inside the 20-yard line in 2011. « Leone enters the season ranked sixth on Houston's career punting average. Through two years, Leone owns an average of 41.2 yards per punt with 86 punts for 3,547 yards.
« Leone will also once again handle kickoff duties for Houston. Leone has 94 kickoffs over the last two seasons for 6,027 yards, an average of 64.1 yards per kick.
NEW RETURNERS HOPE FOR SAME RESULT
« Much like at wide receiver, Tony Levine and special teams coordinator Jamie Christian will let an array of players audition for the punt and kick returner positions vacated by graduation from the 2011 team. « Combine the special teams background of Levine, who has 13 special teams touchdown as the unit's coordinator at Houston, and Christian, whose Arizona State's special teams squad picked up seven return scores over the last two seasons, and hopes are high for Houston's return game.
« Former Houston standout Patrick Edwards accounted for the majority of Houston punt returns in 2011 while classmate Tyron Carrier took back 30 of Houston's 41 kickoff returns last season. Six players accounting for eight kickoff returns totaling 105 yards return this season.
GET IT TO YOU IN A SNAP
« Senior Brandon Hartson returns for his fourth season as Houston's long snapper. The Fairfield, Texas, native did not have an errant snap the entire 2011 season which included 17 field goals, 51 punts and 92 PATs. SWINGING THE FIELD
Information on returns during the Tony Levine era at Houston ...• Kickoff Returns -- 86 returns of 25 yards or more with eight touchdowns.
• Punt Returns -- 17 returns of 15 or more yards with three touchdowns.
• Interception Returns -- 27 returns of 10 or more yards with eight touchdowns.
• Fumble Returns -- three returns of 15 or more yards with one touchdown.
Players Mentioned
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