University of Houston Athletics
[GAME NOTES] #NR/24 Houston vs. UCF
10/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
GAME NOTES - HOUSTON | GAME NOTES - UCF
| THE GAME AT A GLANCE | |
|---|---|
| Date | Saturday, Oct. 29 |
| Time | 11 a.m. CT |
| Location | Houston, Texas |
| Venue | TDECU Stadium |
| Capacity | 40,000 |
| Surface | Synthetic Turf |
| TV | ESPNU |
| Radio | KPRC 950 AM |
| Live Stats | |
HITS ON HOUSTON |
« NR/#24 Houston (6-2, 3-2 The American) opens a three-game home stand Saturday vs. UCF (4-3, 2-1 The American) at 11 a.m. Houston is coming off a 38-16 loss at SMU while UCF enters the game following a 24-16 win at UConn. Saturday's game airs on ESPNU (TV) and on KPRC 950 AM (radio) with radio pregame coverage starting at 10 a.m.
« Winners in 20 of its last 23 games, Houston started 5-0 in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history before snapping its eight-game winning streak at Navy. Houston's 19 wins over 2015-16 rank third behind just Alabama (22) and Clemson (21).
« Houston's Greg Ward Jr. and Louisville's Lamar Jackson are the only two players nationally to average over 300 yards passing and over 50 yards rushing. Ward is fourth nationally in total offense (370.9 yards per game) and is 12th nationally in passing (311.3 yards) while rushing for 59.6 yards per game.
« Houston is the only team nationally in the top 10 for both offensive 1st downs (No. 10 - 26.0 per game) & defensive 1st downs (No. 8 - 15.3).
« The Houston defense is imposing its will, ranking sixth in the nation in rushing defense (98.5 yards per game) while ranking 13th in total defense (312.1 yards per game). Houston leads The American in both along with scoring defense (21.4 points per game).
« When it held UConn to just 62 rushing yards, it recorded its seventh straight game with less than 100 yards rushing allowed. The Huskies joined Texas State (33), Cincinnati (30), Lamar (15 yards), Oklahoma (70 yards), Florida State (16 yards) and Temple (98 yards) in being held to less than 100 rushing yards. After ending the streak vs. Navy, the defense held Tulsa to less than 100 rushing yards in (94) in Saturday's win.
« The defense set a program record in holding Lamar to 73 total yards, besting the previous record of 74 yards from Mississippi State in 1969. After Lamar ran for 237 yards in its season opener, they were held to just 15 yards by the Cougars.
« The group is led in part by true freshman defensive tackle Ed Oliver who leads all defensive linemen nationally with five pass breakups and is second nationally with 46 tackles. He also ranks second in The American and 17th nationally with 10.5 tackles for loss.
« Even with 146 plays of at least 10 yards or more, third best in the nation, the Houston offense is controlling the clock and ranks 13th nationally in time of possession with an average TOP of 34:10 per game.
« No. 3 Oklahoma became the highest-ranked foe to fall to Houston since the Cougars defeated No. 3 Texas, 29-15, on Nov. 10, 1984. Houston also defeated No. 3 Michigan State, 37-7, on Sept. 23, 1967. With the win, Tom Herman joined College Football Hall of Famer Bill Yeoman as the only other Houston coach with a win against a top-3 opponent.
« With its win over No. 3 Oklahoma, Houston has a program-record five straight wins over top-25 opponents, a number that also ranks second nationally among active streaks against ranked opponents behind just Alabama (11).
« Houston is one of just three programs nationally with at least 13 wins on two different occasions over the last five years, joining Alabama and Florida State in accomplishing the feat.
« The Cougars own the longest winning streak by a non-power 5 team against power 5 opponents with five consecutive wins over the last three seasons. Houston now owns wins over Oklahoma, Florida State, Vanderbilt, Louisville and Pitt in its last five power 5 matchups. The Cougars will look to extend their streak to six when they host Louisville on Nov. 17.
ABOUT THE COUGARS |
« Twenty-three full or part-time starters returned in 2016 for Houston. The 2015 leaders in rushing, passing, field goals, kick returns, scoring, total offense, sacks and forced fumbles all returned.
« The program welcomed an incoming signing class of 24 that is comprised of 17 high school student-athletes, four junior college transfers and three four-year transfers. Eight of the 24 newcomers enrolled in the program in January for spring workouts - QB Kyle Allen, RB Duke Catalon, DB J.J. Dallas, TE Alex Leslie, WR Terry Mark, OL Na'Ty Rodgers, QB Bowman Sells and DB Terrell Williams.
« Houston's roster sports 42 upperclassmen and 57 underclassmen. Seventeen players redshirted last season.
« Since 2011, Houston owns the second-most wins in the state of Texas among FBS schools with 53. The Cougars are just five wins behind Baylor and four ahead of third-place TCU and Texas A&M.
« The current class of Houston seniors owns 35 wins since starting in 2013, a number that ranks fourth among classes in Houston history. With its 36th win, the group would move into a tie for second and needs just two more wins to capture the program record of 36 from the classes that started their four-year clocks in 1976, 2006 and 2008.
« Houston, Alabama and Florida State were the only three teams to defeat a ranked opponent by double digits in the opening weekend of the season. They were also three of five schools nationally to score at least 30 points on a ranked opponent in the opening weekend, joining Georgia (33 vs. North Carolina) and South Dakota State (41 vs. TCU) in accomplishing the feat.
« Houston started 5-0 in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history.
« Over the last two seasons, Houston has 19 wins, the third-best total in the nation behind the 22 of Alabama and 21 of Clemson.
« Houston's 19 wins over two seasons is the third-best two-season total in program history. A win would move the 2015-16 seasons in a tie for second at 20 with 1978-79. The 2014-15 seasons have the best two-year win total at 21.
ABOUT UCF |
« In its first season under head coach Scott Frost, UCF enters Saturday's showdown at 4-3 and 2-1 in The American. The Knights have wins over South Carolina State (38-0), FIU (53-14), East Carolina (47-29) and UConn (24-16) with losses to Michigan (51-14), Maryland (30-24) and Temple (26-25).
« UCF is led offensively by senior running back Dontravious Wilson who has 371 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. Sophomore Tre'Quan Smith leads UCF in receiving with 23 receptions for 360 yards and three touchdowns. Freshman McKenzie Milton leads UCF in passing with 960 yards and eight touchdowns against two interceptions on 71-of-117 passing.
« Defensively, the Knights are led by senior linebacker Mark Rucker who has 52 tackles including 6.5 tackles for loss. Senior safety T.J. Mutcherson leads UCF with two interceptions while totaling 40 tackles. Junior Shaquem Griffin leads UCF with six sacks and nine tackles for loss.
« Saturday's matchup is the eighth meeting between the two schools with UCF owning a 5-2 series lead including a 2-1 mark in Houston. The Cougars claimed the largest margin of victory in the series with a 59-10 win in Orlando last year.
DEGREES IN HAND |
« Seven Houston student-athletes entered the season having already earned an undergraduate degree. Chris Johnson (Baylor), D'Juan Hines, Cameron Malveaux, Tyler McCloskey, Steven Taylor, Davonte Thomas and Brandon Wilson all completed degree requirements prior to this season.
« Six additional Cougars will complete their degree requirements this December: Tyus Bowser, Zorrell Ezell, Mac Long, Hunter McCoy, Byron Simpson and B.J. Singleton.
LAST TIME OUT |
« Houston fell to 6-2 overall and 3-2 in The American after a 38-16 loss at SMU. The Cougars fell behind 21-0 with 10:58 left in the second quarter and were unable to recover after cutting the deficit to 28-14 with 7:52 left in the third.
« Duke Catalon returned after missing three games and led Houston with 54 rushing yards on 17 carries while adding four receptions for 66 yards. Greg Ward Jr. completed 21-of-33 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns.
« Steven Taylor had a game-high seven tackles while Ed Oliver forced one fumble that was recovered and returned for 13 yards by Matthew Adams to set up Houston's first score of the night.
TOP 25 RANKINGS |
« Houston entered the season at No. 15 in the AP poll, its highest ranking since checking in at No. 12 in the 1991 AP preseason poll.
« Following its win over Oklahoma, Houston moved up to No. 6, its highest AP ranking since No. 3 on Nov. 10, 1990. It also marked the first time to be in the top 10 in the month of September since Sept. 8, 1980.
« Houston just ended a streak of 16 straight polls in the AP Top 25, the fourth-longest in program history and the longest since a record streak of 42 weeks from 1988-91.
« It followed a five-week stint in the top 10, the third-longest in UH history and the longest since 15 straight weeks in 1979-80.
« Houston has won its last five games vs. ranked opponents and its last three games vs. top-10 opponents. Both streaks rank second nationally behind just Alabama.
ON THE OFFENSIVE |
« Since 2006, only Oregon (70,406) has racked up more offensive yards than Houston who has 69,326 yards in that time.
Rank Team Total Yards (06-present)
1. Oregon 70,406
2. Houston 69,326
3. Texas Tech 68,333
4. Oklahoma 66,938
5. Nevada 62,606
« Houston has scored in 207 straight games dating back to Sept. 30, 2000.
« Houston has not dipped below 300 yards of total offense in it last 34 games.
« Nine of Houston's 46 scoring drives this season have lasted less than two minutes with two lasting less than one minute, the quickest just 41 seconds with a two-play, 54-yard drive to open scoring at Cincinnati.
« Houston has seven scoring drives of four plays or less including two two-play drives.
« With a balanced attack, Houston is one of just eight schools nationally, and the only in The American, to average over 180 yards per game rushing (182.8) and over 290 yards passing per game (297.1).
« The Cougars are one of six teams nationally with at least 20 rushing touchdowns (22) and 14 passing touchdowns (14).
« Houston is third nationally with 146 plays of 10+ yards and 27th nationally with 41 plays of 20+ yards.
« The versatility of the offense is evident as seven different players have rushing touchdowns this season for Houston while seven different players have receiving touchdowns and two different players have passing touchdowns.
« Houston totaled over 600 yards of total offense in four games last season. Houston now has 74 games with 600+ yards in program history.
THE WORD ON WARD |
« Houston quarterback Greg Ward Jr. entered 2016 after claiming the 2015 Earl Campbell Award, presented annually to the top player from the state of Texas. Ward became the first Houston quarterback to rush for 1,000 yards in a season, finishing 2015 with 1,108 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns to go along with 2,828 passing yards with 17 touchdowns. Ward ranked ninth nationally in completion percentage, completing 232-of-345 passes on the year, while throwing just six interceptions, seventh-best nationally among quarterbacks with at least 300 attempts.
« Ward and Louisville's Lamar Jackson are the only two quarterbacks nationally averaging over 300 yards passing per game (311.3) and over 50 yards rushing per game (59.6).
« He won his 24th game as Houston's starting quarterback with the win over Tulsa, the fourth-best total on the Houston career victory chart. He needs one more win to move up to third on the list.
« Ward leads Houston with a .857 (24-4) career winning percentage as a starting QB. Gary Mullins is second in school history with a .833 (25-5) percentage. They are the only QBs in UH history with 10+ starts and a winning percentage over .800.
« None of Houston's opponents have been able to fully lock down both elements of Ward's game the last two seasons. He has at least 200 passing yards or 100 rushing yards in every full game he has played last the last two years, missing parts of two games with injury.
« Despite missing Houston's game vs. Lamar, Ward ranks fourth nationally with an average of 370.9 yards of total offense per game and 12th nationally with an average of 311.3 passing yards per game. Both averages lead The American.
« Showing his accuracy, Ward ranks seventh nationally in completion percentage, completing 178 of his 257 attempts. He also ranks ninth in completions per game (25.4) and 17th in passing efficiency (153.3).
« In the win over UConn, Ward threw for a career-high 389 yards and three touchdowns as he connected on 84.2 percent of his passes (32-of-38). He also ran for a game-best 65 yards and two touchdowns on 12 attempts.
« Ward is currently second on the Houston career rushing TDs chart with 35, four away from the UH record.
« With two passing touchdowns at SMU, Ward now has 43 career passing TDs and moved into a tie for sixth with Chuck Clements (1993-95) on the list. He needs just three more to move into a tie for fifth with Jason McKinley (1997-00).
« SMU marked Ward's 13th career game, and his fourth this season, with multiple passing TDs and his 22nd with over 200 yards passing.
« The Cincinnati win was his second career game with multiple passing and rushing touchdowns in the same game.
« The game at Navy also marked Ward's seventh career game with at least 300 yards passing, and his fourth this season, a number that leads The American.
« Ward is sixth nationally with 92 of his passes accounting for at least 10 yards.
« He now has 9,601 yards of total offense in his career, ranking third on the Houston career chart.
« He became the 15th player in Houston history with over 2,000 career yards rushing vs. UConn and now has 2,274 yards, ranking 13th on the Houston career rushing yards chart. He needs just 97 yards to move into the top 10.
« The win over Cincinnati was Greg Ward's fifth comeback victory in the second half during his career. It was his first second-half comeback victory since leading Houston to a 34-31 win at Louisville on Sept. 12, 2015.
« He became just the third player in the last 14 games to throw for over 300 yards against Oklahoma as ended the day with 321 yards against the Big 12's top passing defense from 2015 as Oklahoma gave up just 202.8 yards per game through the air
« Ward was accurate on third down vs. OU, completing 10-12 passes for 158 yards. All 10 completions resulted in first downs.
« The Tyler, Texas, native has been responsible for a touchdown, either passing or rushing, in 26 of his last 29 games.
« Ward is sixth on Houston's career passing yards list with 7,327 yards and needs 875 yards to move into the top five.
« With 1,108 yards in 2015, he broke the UH single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback of 656 set by Lionel Wilson in 1981. His effort marked the 25th 1,000-yard rushing season in Houston history.
« The UH single-season rushing by a QB record was one of 14 Houston or The American Athletic Conference records Ward broke last season while tying three others including the Houston single-season rushing touchdowns record with his 21 scores.
« Ward and Clemson's Deshaun Watson were the only two players in the nation to rush for at least 1,000 yards and pass for at least 2,000 yards last season.
« The electrifying Ward was eighth nationally with 16 rushes of at least 20 yards and nine rushes of at least 30 yards in 2015. The 16 rushing attempts of 20+ yards led all FBS quarterbacks and all players in The American, regardless of position.
« Ward ranked in the top 25 in five of the NCAA's final recognized stat categories: completion percentage (ninth), points responsible for (12th), points responsible for per game (15th), rushing TDs (fifth) and scoring (25th). He finished seventh nationally in scoring among non-kickers with 126 points.
« With his four rushing TDs vs. SMU, Ward broke the Houston QB rushing touchdowns records for a game and a season, snapping the previous record of nine from Case Keenum in 2007.
« Ward collected his third straight game with at least three rushing touchdowns with three rushing TDs at Tulane, the third-longest such streak on the FBS level over the last 10 seasons. Ward had multiple rushing touchdowns in six games last season.
« With 21 rushing touchdowns on the year, Ward set the UH single-season touchdown record, regardless of position, breaking the previous record of 15 set by running back Jackie Battle in 2006.
« He ranked fourth nationally in 2015 in percentage of rush plays that gained five or more yards among ball carriers with 150 or more carries (51.4 percent).
« His 21 rushing TDs in 2015 ranked second nationally among all returners behind just the 22 from LSU's Leonard Fournette.
« He was third among all returners with 126 points and sixth among all returners with a completion percentage of 67.2 percent.
THE LINE ON THE LINE |
« Houston lost a combined 83 starts from five senior offensive linemen and the loss of sophomore Colton Freeman, due to career-ending injuries in the spring, but returns a combined 26 starts from five returners.
« Houston ranked 10th in the nation in points per game (40.4) last year, despite having four freshmen offensive linemen who racked up more than 2,100 combined offensive snaps.
« The line took significant hits last season with three season-ending injuries enabling several returners to receive valuable experience. In 14 games, the line saw 11 different starting combinations with 11 different linemen receiving starts.
« A 2015 Freshman All-American, Will Noble started the final eight games of the season at center. Two other freshmen - Mason Denley (six starts) and Kameron Eloph (four starts) received action at the guard spots as well.
« Junior college transfer Na'Ty Rodgers, ranked the No. 7 overall junior college player by ESPN, earned his first career start at right tackle against Oklahoma while Josh Jones picked up his first career start at left tackle. Senior right guard Mac Long rounded out a trio of first-time starters on the line against Oklahoma. Junior college transfer Alex Fontana earned his first career start, coming at left guard, against Lamar.
« This season has already seen five different starting combinations with nine linemen receiving starts.
ON THE RECEIVING END |
« Houston is spreading the ball around this season as it has had at least seven players with a reception in seven games with nine receivers in two different games. Fifteen different players have a reception with four with at least 25 - Linell Bonner (59), Chance Allen (38), Steven Dunbar (36) and D'Eriq King (25).
« Houston and Cincinnati are the only schools in The American with three receivers with at least 35 receptions, and are part of four schools nationally (Syracuse, Washington State) to accomplish the feat.
« With Bonner (677 yards), Allen (526) and Dunbar (500), Houston is the only school in The American, and one of just two nationally (Fresno State), with three players with at least 500 receiving yards.
« UH, Louisiana Tech and Western Kentucky are the only teams in the nation with two players ranking in the top 25 for receptions of at least 10 yards as Bonner is 10th with 31 and Allen is 23rd with 25.
« Bonner recorded his first career 100-yard receiving game with 119 yards from eight receptions at Cincinnati. Six of his eight receptions at Cincinnati were at least 10 yards.
« He added his second 100-yard receiving game with career highs in both receptions (12) and yards (159) against UConn, pulling in a one-handed four-yard TD reception that ended up at No. 1 SportsCenter's Top 10 plays.
« He ranks fourth in The American with three 100-yard receiving games this season after 117 yards at Navy and just missed his fourth with 97 yards on 13 receptions vs. Tulsa.
« With Bonner recording his second 100-yard game of the season, Houston has had at least one receiver with multiple 100-yard receiving games in a season every year since 1997.
« Seven different players pulled in receptions against Oklahoma, led by Steven Dunbar who tied a career high with seven receptions en route to his second career 100-yard game with 125 yards on the day.
« Dunbar nearly had a second 100-yard game with five receptions for 97 yards and a touchdown against UConn.
« He did manage to eclipse the century mark at Navy, finishing with nine receptions for 112 yards including a 32-yard touchdown. He had three receptions for 58 yards on Houston's first drive alone.
« Against Texas State, King became the first player in Houston history, and the first in the NCAA since 2010, to pull in a touchdown reception (48 yards), throw for a touchdown (15 yards to Dunbar) and return a kick for a touchdown (99 yards) in the same game.
« Senior Chance Allen set a career high with seven receptions vs. UConn, resulting 85 yards through the air, and tied it with seven for 87 yards and a touchdown at Navy. Tulsa was his third straight game with seven, resulting in 89 yards.
« The tight end returned in 2015 led by Tyler McCloskey. He pulled in his second career touchdown reception against Oklahoma on a two-yard scoring reception to close out the third quarter scoring against the Sooners.
« McCloskey has two additional TDs, a three-yard catch vs. UConn and a two-yard catch at SMU.
FIRST YEAR FACES IN NEW PLACES |
« What Houston lacked in returning numbers, it makes up for in potential with sophomore Duke Catalon joining the program after transferring from Texas. The former four-star recruit redshirted in his lone season at Texas after being ranked the No. 10 running back in the nation coming out of Houston's Eisenhower High School.
« Catalon had a game-best 88 yards in the Houston-Oklahoma season opener on 22 carries. He also added four receptions for 29 yards including a 15-yard pass for Houston's first touchdown of the day.
« With Catalon held out of Houston's week two game against Lamar, the duo of redshirt-freshman Kevrin Justice and true freshman Mulbah Car took the rushing game reigns, with Justice rushing for 111 yards and Car 109.
« Six players have at least 100 rushing yards, led by 417 from Ward, while seven have rushing touchdowns.
« Walk-on Dillon Birden, who shifted from cornerback to running back the week of the Cincinnati game, received his first career start against UConn, finishing with 27 yards and one touchdown on nine carries.
« Birden received a second start at Navy and became the first UH player since 2014 to have rushing and receiving scores in the same game, finishing with 51 rushing yards and one touchdown and 22 receiving yards and one score.
« Birden tied The American's best this season with three rushing touchdowns, part of a career-best 82 rushing yards vs. Tulsa.
« He is ninth in The American with six rushing touchdowns.
« After missing three games with a concussion, Catalon returned vs. SMU with 17 carries for 54 yards and four receptions for 66 yards.
THIRD WARD DEFENSE |
« The Houston defense enters week nine with the No. 6 rushing defense in the nation, allowing just an average of 98.5 yards per game through eight contests. Houston also ranks 13th in total defense (312.1 yards per game), 20th in first down defense (122) and 29th in scoring defense (21.4 points per game). All four categories lead The American.
« Navy snapped Houston's seven-game streak of not allowing an opponent to rush for over 100 yards when it ran for 306 yards. Prior to the streak, the Midshipmen were the last team to rush for over 100 yards. During the streak, Houston held Temple, Florida State, Oklahoma, Lamar, Cincinnati, Texas State and UConn to a combined 324 rushing yards.
« Houston bounced back with another sub 100-yard rushing effort against Tulsa as it held the Hurricane to 94 yards rushing.
« Houston has forced a three-and-out on 39.3 percent of its drives, ranking seventh nationally, and is also seventh nationally with an average of 5.3 three-and-outs forced per game.
« The Cougars set a program record when they allowed Lamar just 73 total offensive yards, besting a 47-year old record of 74 yards set by the 1969 Houston team against Mississippi State.
« The Houston defense held Oklahoma to 23 points in its season opener, just the third time in the last 14 games the Sooners have been held to under 30 points.
« Oklahoma, who averaged 530.2 yards per game in 2015, had 393 total yards against the Houston defense including just 70 on the ground. OU averaged 222.1 rushing yards per game in 2015.
« Houston held Cincinnati to its lowest output of total offense at home (307 yards) since Dec. 4, 2010, against Pittsburgh. The 30 total rushing yards on 25 attempts were the Bearcats fewest since rushing for 15 yards on 32 attempts in their 2010 season opener at Fresno State.
« Defensive coordinator Todd Orlando is the coordinator in the nation to place two players in the top 20 for tackles for loss in both 2014 and 2015 with Zach Vigil (11th) and Nick Vigil (18th) accomplishing the feat at Utah State in 2014 and Elandon Roberts (13th) and Steven Taylor (16th) doing so in 2015.
« The 2015 Cougar defense led The American and was eighth nationally in allowing opponents just an average of 108.9 yards rushing per game. The Cougars ranked 20th nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 20.7 points per game.
« The 2015 Houston defense held 10 of 14 opponents below their total offense average and 12 of 14 below their scoring offense averages. The two teams that did exceed their scoring averages, Tennessee Tech and UConn, were held within a point of their season average.
« In its win over Florida State, the Houston defense held FSU star running back Dalvin Cook to just 33 yards on 18 carries, an average of 1.8 yards per attempt. Entering the game, Cook had averaged 150.7 yards per game and 7.9 yards per carry. Among the Power 5 Conferences entering bowl season, Cook had the most rushes of 20 or more yards at 22. Houston limited his longest rush to just nine yards.
« Last season's win over Vanderbilt was the first shutout of an SEC team by a non-conference opponent since Sept. 5, 2004 when Louisville defeated Kentucky 28-0.
TURNOVER U |
« Since the start of the 2013 season, no program has taken the ball away from opposing offenses more than Houston with 117 turnovers forced in that time with nine in 2016, 35 in 2015, 30 in 2014 and 43 in 2013.
« In his first year with Houston, defensive coordinator Todd Orlando continued the turnover theme as his defenses had 95 turnovers from 2013-15. Orlando's Utah State defense ranked eighth nationally with 59 turnovers forced over 2013-14 and tied Houston in 2014 with 30 turnovers forced and 19 interceptions.
« Orlando ranks third nationally among defensive coordinators with an average of 2.26 takeaways per game over 2013-15.
« Orlando, Brent Venables (Clemson), Bud Foster (Virginia Tech) and Gary Patterson (TCU) are the only defensive coaches nationally to rank in the top 15 for turnovers per game, defensive third down percentage and tackles for loss last season.
« UH has forced multiple turnovers in 41 of its last 55 games.
« Houston once again established itself in the turnover battle in 2015 as it ranked second nationally with a +21 turnover margin and 10th nationally with just 14 turnovers lost.
« Houston was opportunistic, turning its 35 turnovers into 128 points including four defensive touchdowns.
« Houston forced at least three turnovers in seven games last season, capping the year with a season-best five vs. Florida State.
« Cameron Malveaux and Howard Wilson each came up with fumble recoveries against Oklahoma as the Cougars turned the Sooners' two turnovers into seven points.
« Against Lamar, cornerback Dillon Birden came up with Houston's lone turnover, ripping the ball out of a Cardinals' receivers hands and retaining possession as he hit the turf.
« Houston upped the ante against Cincinnati as it recorded three turnovers, all fourth quarter interceptions, to help Houston overcome a 16-12 fourth-quarter deficit en route to a 40-16 win. The Houston offense followed Howard Wilson's first interception of the night with an 11-play, 60-yard touchdown drive before Steven Taylor and Wilson ended the next two Cincinnati drives with back-to-back pick-sixes. After Taylor returned a Bearcat interception 74 yards for a touchdown, Wilson returned one on the very next play 28 yards for his first career defensive touchdown.
« Garrett Davis and Emeke Egbule teamed up for one of Houston's biggest turnovers this season when Davis hit Tulsa quarterback Dane Evans for a fumble-forcing sack that Egbule scooped up and returned 24 yards for the winning touchdown with 1:21 left in Houston's 38-31 win.
« The Cougars have been opportunistic when creating turnovers, turning their 10 turnovers into 56 points this season, including 21 points directly from the interception returns from Taylor and Wilson at Cincinnati and Egbule's fumble return vs. Tulsa.
UP FRONT |
« Known for occupying blockers and knocking offensive linemen into the backfield in 2015, the defensive line group has quickly established itself as a group that likes to create chaos in the opposition's backfield.
« The group has been bolstered by the addition of true freshman Ed Oliver, ranked the No. 2 defensive tackle in the nation by ESPN in the 2016 signing class. Oliver did not wait long to make his impression felt for Houston, earning his first career start against Oklahoma and leading all defensive linemen in the game with seven tackles including two sacks. Playing at the nose tackle position, Oliver penetrated the Oklahoma backfield throughout the game to disrupt the Sooners' offensive flow.
« He continued to wreak havoc in the backfield against Lamar with a game-high 2.5 tackles for loss and while he had just two tackles against Cincinnati, he continually collapsed the Bearcat offensive line despite multiple double and triple teams.
« Oliver pulled in his third sack while breaking up two passes in the win over UConn.
« With a non-stop motor, Oliver had 11 tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss at Navy.
« Oliver has 23 tackles in his last two games after piling up 12 vs. Tulsa and leads all defensive linemen in The American with 46 tackles on the year.
« He ranks 17th nationally and second in The American with 10.5 tackles for loss.
« Oliver also leads all defensive linemen nationally with five pass breakups.
« A team captain in 2016, Cameron Malveaux enjoyed a breakout year in 2015 under the new coaching staff, finishing the season with 33 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks in an increased on-field presence.
« The group was bolstered with the emergence of junior Nick Thurman and sophomore Jerard Carter in 2015. Thurman finished the year with 27 tackles, including five for loss, and two fumble recoveries. Carter also recovered two fumbles on the year while picking up 13 tackles.
« Singleton has started 25 games at defensive tackle for the Cougars and was named to The American's second team in 2015.
« With a three-man front not always showing up on a defensive stat sheet, defensive line coach Oscar Giles charts the groups impact with two other stats - twofer's (occupying multiple blockers to allow another defender to make a play) and knockbacks (knocking offensive linemen into the backfield to disrupt the play). Oliver leads the group with 24 twofer's and 15 knockbacks followed by Carter with 18 twofer's and six knockbacks. Malveaux rounds out the top three with five twofer's and six knockbacks.
TAKE FLIGHT WITH CAUTION |
« Howard Wilson picked off his fourth career pass in Houston's win over Texas State last season before suffering a season-ending injury in the same game. A medical redshirt was granted on his behalf to restore his sophomore season.
« Howard Wilson claimed his first career fumble recovery against Oklahoma to end the Sooners' second drive of the second half.
« He upped his turnover game against Cincinnati with a career-best two interceptions, one of which he returned 28 yards for a Houston touchdown while collecting eight tackles. Wilson nearly added a third interception and a second pick-six, eventually dropping a bobbled pass on a jumped out route.
« Wilson added his fourth interception of the year, and the seventh of his career, with a near pick-six against Tulsa.
« He leads The American and is ranked third nationally with his four interceptions.
« Paired at corner with Wilson is Jeremy Winchester who leads the team with six pass breakups, a number that ranks third in The American.
« With six pass breakups each, Wilson and Winchester are tied for third in The American in the category.
« Brandon Wilson now has 26 career starts and was the team's second-leading returner with 58 tackles in 2015. He led all returners with eight pass breakups last season while also picking off a pass and recovering a fumble, returning both for touchdowns. Wilson also saw time at running back in two games last year, finishing the season with 188 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 37 attempts.
« Playing in the nickelback role, Brandon Wilson got his season started off on the right foot with a career-high 10 tackles, including one for a loss, and one pass breakup against Oklahoma and was named the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week.
« At safety, junior Khalil Williams and sophomore Garrett Davis have both stepped into the starting lineup with junior college transfer Terrell Williams, who earned his first career start at Cincinnati, and true freshman Collin Wilder providing depth at the position.
« Davis is third on the team with 42 tackles and leads all defensive backs with six tackles for loss including the fumble-inducing sack that helped seal Houston's win over Tulsa.
« Khalil Williams had a career-high 10 stops at Navy after totaling 16 tackles in the season's first five games.
A LOOK AT THE LINEBACKERS |
« Steven Taylor has taken over the emotional leader duties for the Houston defense from current New England Patriot Elandon Roberts and has quickly established himself with 5.5 sacks on the season.
« He is seventh nationally among all active players with 22.5 career sacks.
« Taylor has moved into fifth on the Houston career sacks chart with 22.5 and is four away from fourth. He has also moved to fifth on the career tackles for loss chart with 44 and is six away from fourth.
« With no sacks at Texas State, Taylor ended a five-game sack streak including multiple sacks in each of the first three games this season.
« He is 14th in The American with six tackles for loss and fourth with the 45 yards lost by the opposition.
« He picked off his fourth career pass against Cincinnati and returned it 74 yards for his first career defensive touchdown.
« Taylor owns 10 career games with double-digit stops and is the team's returning leading tackler from 2015 with 92 stops on the year. He also led Houston on the year with 10 sacks and was second on the team with 18.5 tackles for loss.
« Taylor led The American with his 10 sacks last season and was second in The American, behind Roberts, in tackles for loss.
« Bowser made the move from defensive end, where he earned three starts in his first two years, to outside linebacker in 2015 and finished the year with 5.5 sacks, fourth-best among all returning players in The American.
« Bowser also had a sack streak come to an end at Texas State, snapping a four-game streak. He has 3.5 sacks this season, giving him 16.5 for his career, just 2.5 away from cracking the Houston top-10 chart for career sacks.
« Matthew Adams finished the 2015 season with 49 tackles including two sacks while pairing with Roberts in the middle of the 3-4 defense and coming off the field in the nickel situation. He opened the year with his third career forced fumble while totaling nine tackles against Oklahoma.
« Adams also had a career-high 12 stops against Navy to tie D'Juan Hines for the game best and currently leads Houston with 49 stops on the year.
« The 12 stops against Navy was also a career best for Hines who now has 29 stops on the year with two starts on the year.
« Emeke Egbule has stepped in with three starts this season and has one of three Houston defensive touchdowns after scooping and scoring the game-winning touchdown against Tulsa on a 24-yard fumble return.
TY ONE ON |
« Ty Cummings holds the starting role as the team's kicker after taking over starting placekicking duties last season vs. SMU in addition to his already held kickoff role.
« In the first half alone against Oklahoma, Cummings became the ninth kicker in Houston history with at least four field goals in a game with his career-high four including a career-long 47-yard kick on the final play of the first half to give the Cougars the lead for good. Cummings also connected to on all three extra point attempts to remain perfect on his career in kicking.
« After his streak of consecutive made field goals ended at 12 against Lamar, Cummings bounced back with 32-yarder at Cincinnati.
« His ranks second in The American with an average of 63.3 yards per kickoff and owns 24 touchbacks, also second in The American, on 54 attempts.
« Cummings is third in The American with 64 points on the year - 37 extra points and nine field goals.
THE PUNT-AH |
« After losing two-year starting punter Logan Piper, Houston turned to down under for its newest punter. Dane Roy, a 27-year old true freshman from Bunyip, Australia, joined the Houston program this fall after a career as an ice-cream salesman.
« Roy picked up the art of punting at ProKick Australia.
« An Australian rules football player for Richmond Central, he won the longest kick competition at the AFL grand final in Melbourne, Australia, after booting a torpedo 73 meters, which equates to 79 yards. Roy, who stands 6-7, also has a personal-best hang time of 5.4 seconds.
« In his debut against Oklahoma, Roy had four punts for 176 yards, an average of 44.0 yards per punt. He followed with one punt for 50 yards against Lamar before dropping four of his six punts inside Cincinnati's 20-yard line.
« He's placed nine of his 31 punts inside his opponent's 20-yard line and his high-hanging punts have helped Houston to rank third nationally in punt return defense, allowing just 0.3 yards per return.
THE RETURNS DEPARTMENT |
« Houston returned The American's most dangerous kick returners in Brandon Wilson and it shows as Houston is third in the league with an average of 23.0 yards per return.
« Against Oklahoma, Wilson scored his eighth career touchdown in the sixth different fashion when he returned a missed Oklahoma field goal 109.99 yards from the back of his own end zone for a Houston touchdown. Wilson also has touchdowns via rushing (2), kick returns (2), fumble return, interception return and a blocked field goal return.
« He added his fourth career kick return of at least 50 yards against Cincinnati when he returned a Bearcats' kick 56 yards.
« He is one of 13 players nationally with two returns of at least 50 yards this season.
« Wilson's kick return average of 24.7 yards per return is fifth in The American.
« Even with Wilson out at Texas State, the Houston kicking game did not fall off as true freshman D'Eriq King returned two kicks for 130 yards including a 99-yard touchdown return.
« King is making his mark on kick returns as well, ranking fourth in The American with an average of 25.4 yards per return.
« Wilson led the league in 2015 with two kickoff return touchdowns while ranking fourth with an average return of 26.6 yards.
« Wilson knotted Houston up with Louisville at 17 in the third quarter of UH's win with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The return was Wilson's second career special teams TD as he returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown vs. UTSA in 2013.
« Wilson became just the second player in Houston history to return multiple kickoffs for touchdowns in a season and a career, joining Tyron Carrier who had four in the 2009 season and seven in his career, with a kick return for a score at UConn.
A CLASS OF ITS OWN |
« With the first full year of recruiting under their belts, Tom Herman and his staff signed what is being praised as not only the top signing class in Houston history, but the top class ever among all group of five programs.
« The group ranked No. 30 by ESPN included defensive tackle Ed Oliver who is the highest ranked player ever to sign with a group of five program. Oliver was ranked the No. 2 defensive tackle nationally by ESPN and the No. 4 player regardless of position in the nation by ESPN.
« The class includes three players in the ESPN 300 -- Oliver, receiver Courtney Lark and quarterback D'Eriq King -- and six players ranked in the top 10 nationally at their positions -- quarterback Kyle Allen (No. 1 quarterback in 2014), running back Duke Catalon (No. 10 running back in 2014), offensive lineman Keenan Murphy (No. 5 center), Oliver (No. 2 defensive tackle), offensive lineman Na'Ty Rodgers (No. 4 junior college offensive tackle) and defensive back Terrell Williams (No. 9 junior college safety).
« The class of 24 signees consists of 19 players from the state of Texas and one each from Arizona, Louisiana, Maryland, Oklahoma and Canada. Of the 17 high school players in the class, 16 hail from the state of Texas with one from neighboring Louisiana. The class covers seven position groups with six defensive backs, four offensive linemen, four receivers, three quarterbacks, three defensive linemen, two running backs and one tight end.
« Fourteen from the class have already seen action through the first two weeks including 10 true freshman - Oliver, who has started at defensive tackle, Rodgers, who has started at right tackle, Catalon, Williams, Mulbah Car, Keith Corbin, Aymiel Fleming, Alex Fontana, Braylon Jones, D'Eriq King, Courtney Lark, Terry Mark, Javian Smith and Collin Wilder.
WON'T BACK DOWN |
« Houston VP for Athletics Hunter Yurachek and Tom Herman announced in 2015 a commitment to non-conference scheduling with a goal of two power 5 opponents and two group of 5 opponents each year following 2016 to avoid scheduling FCS opponents.
« Houston's 2016 non-conference schedule is the last to feature an FCS opponent in Lamar and its 2017 non-conference schedule is set with trips to Arizona and UTSA while hosting Texas Tech and Rice.
« UH has just one spot to fill in 2018 with the second end of home-and-home series with Arizona, Rice and Texas Tech filling three of the four spots. Houston wraps up its series with Oklahoma when they visit the Sooners in 2019. UH also has future series with Kansas (2019-2020), Texas Tech (2021-2022) and UTSA (2022-2024) on the docket along with a return trip to Vanderbilt on Oct. 2, 2021.
Future Non-Conference Games
2017: at UTSA, at Arizona, Rice, Texas Tech
2018: at Rice, Arizona, at Texas Tech
2019: at Oklahoma, Kansas
2020: Rice, at Kansas
2021: at Rice, Texas Tech, at Vanderbilt
2022: at Texas Tech, UTSA
2023: at UTSA
2024: UTSA
