The Cougars lead the nation in passing yards with 421.7 yards per game through the air. UH’s four starting receivers — seniors Patrick Edwards, Tyron Carrier, Justin Johnson, and E.J. Smith — rank in the top 13 in Conference USA in receiving yards. | Newton Liu/The Daily Cougar
When the Cougars take the field against Georgia State on Saturday, it will be the first time a game has been played at Robertson Stadium in 21 days.
After dealing with abrasive crowds at Joe Aillet Stadium in Ruston, La., and Apogee Stadium in Denton, UH has good reason to look forward to a return to its home field.
“I hope our fans are just as crazy on the opposing team’s sidelines as some of these other fans were to us these past few weeks,” senior quarterback Case Keenum said. “They were pretty riled up and rowdy.”
The Cougars fell behind early, allowing their opponent to score first in their last two contests. Playing a full four quarters will be the priority against the Panthers (1-2).
“We can start a little bit faster,” Keenum said. “That would be nice. Just getting going early. Offensively, we need to execute when the defense gets stops and gets the ball back. Staying on the field, converting on third downs and making first downs, we need to keep drives going.”
UH has been in a variety of different situations through three games. For a time, the Cougars had a comfortable lead in their win against UCLA, beat North Texas by 25 and didn’t lead against Louisiana Tech until less than two minutes remained in the fourth quarter.
“We believe we can win every game from the start, no matter what situation we get in,” Keenum said. “We can come through in any situation that we need to. That’s big for confidence for a lot of guys to see that who haven’t been around.
“When we needed to turn it on we did, let’s just learn to turn it on when we want to, not when we have to. Let’s come on and flip the switch right from the start, and not necessarily wait around like we did.”
UH is heavily favored to crush Georgia State — the Panthers may be the easiest game on the schedule.
But as per usual, the Cougars have to worry about the obstacle in front of them, and avoid planning ahead too early for next week’s Conference USA opener against the UTEP Miners.
“This is opportunity No. 4,” senior running back Bryce Beall said. “We’ve had three opportunities. It’s a great thing we won them, but this is another opportunity to go out there and show what we can do.
“We aren’t going to look ahead. The only thing we know is we have 12 guaranteed games, it’s the fourth one coming up and we’ll be looking to get another W.”
The previous two games were streamed via ESPN3.com, but the Cougars’ remaining nine games will be on TV. Saturday’s game begins at 7 p.m., and will be televised on Comcast Sports Southwest (Ch. 129), and will be broadcast on 790 AM.
