For the 36th time, UH will meet cross-town rival Rice on Saturday for the annual Bayou Bucket at Rice Stadium.
Head coach Kevin Sumlin hopes to keep the Cougars' undefeated Conference USA record intact when they take the short trip to Rice on Saturday. | Pauline Alderete/The Daily Cougar
After being blown out by Mississippi State last weekend, the Cougars get back to business with Conference USA competition.
“Nobody is happy with our performance last weekend,” head coach Kevin Sumlin said. “The best thing for this team and coaching staff is to play another game. I think our guys are looking forward to Saturday. We understand that this is a rivalry game and a conference game. We have a lot of reasons to be ready to play Saturday based on last Saturday night. Our guys will be ready to go.”
There is no quarterback controversy between true freshmen David Piland and Terrance Broadway, as Sumlin said Piland will be the starter for Saturday’s game against Rice. In his first start last weekend, Sumlin said he thought Piland put up a noble performance. Piland turned the ball over twice, but there were other players who also made mistakes.
“In light of everything that was going on, particularly early in the game, he moved the ball well,” Sumlin said. “There were a number of opportunities in that game for us to make more plays and help them out. Based on everything that went on throughout the course of the game, and what we asked him to do, he operated pretty well.”
“As I’ve said before, football is a team game — not a one man game. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the surrounding cast playing as well as they needed to play for us to win. He played above average and well enough to execute and do some things for us to win.”
In both losses the Cougars scored first, showing that they weren’t out of the whole game. Sumlin said the team has to work on playing four solid quarters of football.
“Out of two losses, we’ve been sporadic in our play, and played in spurts,” Sumlin said. “That’s not good enough. We’ve been ready to play, and scored first in those situations and had either turnovers or something happen. We have not responded the way we needed to in those two loses. That’s a point of emphasis for us, and it has been. As a coach, you try to address the little things because little things lead to big things.”
On the season Rice is 1-5 overall and 0-2 in Conference USA. Last week they were bounced 44-24 by UTEP.
Nick Fanuzzi is the starting quarterback for the Owls. So far this season, Fanuzzi has completed 112 of 179 passes for 1104 yards and tossed four touchdowns and six interceptions.
Running back Sam McGuffie was a viral sensation when he played at Cypress Fair High School. He turned the most heads when a video of him hurdling a defender surfaced.
He went to Michigan his freshman year but decided to transfer to Rice. Now in his junior year, he leads the Owls in rushing and receiving. He has 336 yards on 86 rushes for two touchdowns, and has 230 receiving yards with a touchdown.
“You’ve got two of the most talented guys in the state of Texas on the same team,” Sumlin said. “They are both dangerous guys.”
Though Rice is off to a sluggish start, the Cougars are not playing down what the Owls are capable of.
“We respect the Rice Owls just like they respect us,” right guard Chris Thompson said. “It’s another game on the schedule, but it’s the biggest game of the season because it’s the next game. They are a good, hard team. Their record doesn’t really say what they are capable of. They are going to come into this game on fire and we are, too.”
Last season, the Cougars stomped the Owls 73-14 at Robertson Stadium. UH is 26-10 all-time against Rice. In 2008, the Cougars fell 56-42 at Rice Stadium.
The game starts at 2:30 p.m. and can be seen on CBS College Sports.
After this weekend, the Cougars will travel to Memphis for another C-USA matchup.
