UH players and coaches said all the right things in the week leading up to Saturday’s game against Memphis. They talked about controlling what they could and not worrying about what anyone else did.
Then, the No. 25 Cougars (9-2, 5-2 in Conference USA) went out and did just that.
UH didn’t let a pair of early mistakes rain on an already-soggy parade and recovered nicely to trounce the Tigers, 55-14, in front of 22,036 poncho-clad fans.
After having to call a timeout on the first play from scrimmage and having the first snap hit the turf for a 14-yard loss, quarterback Case Keenum led a focused attack, engineering touchdown drives on UH’s first three possessions to jump out to a 21-0 lead.
Head coach Kevin Sumlin said he was pleased with his team’s focus.
‘I thought we came out and had some intensity,’ Sumlin said. ‘I don’t know that a coach is ever completely satisfied with a game, but I thought that our guys responded well coming off of (a loss) last week.
‘I thought the preparation and our plan was good from all phases, and our guys played hard.’
The Cougars continued to play hard with the 21-0 lead and had a response for Memphis when the Tigers cut the deficit to 21-7 on running back Curtis Steele’s direct snap 2-yard touchdown plunge with 2:27 remaining in the first quarter. Unlike in losses at UTEP and UCF in which the Cougars failed to extend early leads, Keenum and company kept their foot on the pedal, scoring on two of their next three possessions to up the advantage to 35-7 with 6:52 left in the first half.
Memphis would answer, drawing to 35-14 with 2:38 remaining, but that proved to be too much time for UH’s quick-strike offense. The Cougars used eight plays to cover 73 yards, capped by freshman Charles Sims’ second rushing score of the game, to extend the margin to 42-14 with 40 seconds remaining before halftime. It was the third multi-touchdown game of Sims’ season, and the freshman finished with 90 yards on 15 carries and the two scores.
Before giving way to walk-on sophomore Cotton Turner with 9:24 left in the third quarter and 49-14 lead, Keenum completed 29 of 39 passes for 405 yards and five touchdowns.
Along the way, Keenum connected with Chaz Rodriguez for the third of his five scores and broke the UH record for touchdown passes. He ended the day with 94 touchdown passes for his career, surpassing the previous mark of 91 held by David Klingler.
As he has throughout his stellar junior campaign, Keenum emphasized how his personal accomplishments are a direct byproduct of the team’s success.
‘It’s definitely an honor with the quarterbacks who’ve played here before,’ Keenum said. ‘We’re definitely not finished yet. You can ask any of my receivers that (the record is) ‘and counting.’
‘It’s an honor anytime I get mentioned with those guys from the past. They’ve done great things in blazing the trails for us. Just to follow in their footsteps is pretty cool.’
A week after allowing Central Florida to dominate the time of possession battle and repeatedly convert on third down, the Cougars allowed the Tigers (2-9, 1-6) to cross midfield only twice and convert on only 6 of 15 third down attempts. Not surprisingly, UH held a 35:36 to 24:24 advantage in time of possession.
Linebacker Marcus McGraw was particularly encouraged by the Cougars’ ability to limit Memphis’ scoring chances.
‘It gave us a lot of confidence,’ McGraw said. ‘It showed us that if we play hard for all four quarters, we can stop them, and we can only give 14 points in a game.
‘It gave us a big confidence boost.’
With the win, the Cougars also received a boost in their chances to reclaim the lead in the C-USA West race, which they relinquished after last week’s setback at UCF. UH still needed SMU to lose at Marshall, and a few hours after the final whistle at Robertson Stadium, the Cougars received the good news. The Thundering Herd used a 24-point second-half outburst to break a 10-10 halftime tie and top the Mustangs 34-31.
The Cougars still have to win their final contest at 7 p.m. on Saturday when they host in-town rival Rice. Should the Cougars win, they will play the winner of Saturday’s Southern Miss-East Carolina. If the Golden Eagles win, UH will host the C-USA Championship on Dec. 5, but if the Pirates win UH will have to travel to Greenville, N.C.
