University of Houston Athletics
Houston Ranked No. 13 in Amway Coaches Poll
8/4/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
HOUSTON -- The highest ranked team in the state of Texas, Houston came in at No. 13 in the opening Amway Coaches Poll announced Thursday by USA TODAY. The No. 13 ranking marks the highest opening ranking for Houston since checking in at No. 12 in the 1991 Associated Press preseason poll.
Houston finished No. 8 in the final 2015 rankings in both the Amway Coaches Poll and the AP Poll, its highest finish in either poll since 1979.
Houston's opening opponent, Oklahoma, checks in at No. 3 in the opening coaches poll as the season-opening Advocare Texas Kickoff at NRG Stadium is one of just two season openers to feature two teams in the top 15 of the coaches poll, the other No. 4 Florida State vs. No. 12 Mississippi.
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The #HTownTakeover is coming off a historic 13-1 season that was capped off with a 38-24 win over then-No. 9 Florida State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. In a game it never trailed in, the Houston defense held FSU to 16 total rushing yards and running back Dalvin Cook to 33 total rushing yards. Entering the game, Cook had averaged 166.3 rushing yards per game in six games vs. top-50 rush defenses. Offensively Houston became the first team of the season to score more than 24 points against the Seminoles.
The American Athletic Conference Champions were led by FWAA First-Year Coach of the Year Tom Herman, who became just the fourth coach in NCAA history with at least 13 wins in his first season, joining Boise State's Chris Petersen (2006), Penn's George Woodruff (1892) and Yale's Walter Camp (1888), and just the fifth to win the first 10 games of his career.
Houston was one of just two schools nationally to play at least four ranked opponents last season and remain undefeated in the matchups with three of Houston's wins over ranked opponents coming by double-digits, the fourth-best total in the nation.
Houston was one of eight teams nationally with at least four wins against ranked opponents, and was third nationally with seven wins of 21 points or more as 10 wins were double-digit wins including Houston's 38-24 win over No. 9 Florida State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Houston ranked fifth nationally with an average margin of victory of 19.7 points per game.
The program ranked eighth nationally in rushing defense, allowing just 108.9 yards per game, while ranking 13th in rushing offense with an average of 235.8 yards per game. Houston was the only team in the nation to rank in the top 13 in both categories.
Ranking 10th in scoring offense (40.4 points per game) and 20th in scoring defense (20.7 points per game), Houston was the only program in the nation to rank in the top 10 in scoring offense and the top 25 in scoring defense.
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